Deb Talan – “River”

Alright…I’m getting personal with this tune. My boyfriend is a talented musician who travels A LOT. He’s been on the road for 7 weeks, and he’ll be home 1 week from today (!!!!!!!!!!!!!). It’s rough when he’s away…and tough to put into words what it feels like. But Deb Talan really hits the nail on the head with this gorgeous song:

“I saw your face in my dream last night.
You had just come from the water,
you were wet and laughing and your eyes were so bright.
Like the stars behind the sky,
shining and illuminating my life…
but then I woke,
and I remembered…”

I know that old saying, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’
but when I have time to be alone
my heart aches and my mind, it wanders…
to you…
what are you doing at this moment?
Maybe are you staring at the moon like me?
or are you sleeping?
Well, I don’t know…

And ohhhh, ohhhh…

You are in my head, all the time.
Every waking moment you just hover around the edge of my mind…
like a moth around a flame…
sometimes I want to shout out your name,
and how I miss you…how I miss you…

And ohhhh, ohhh…”

Deb Talan
The Weepies

Carly Simon recently had a session on Daytrotter.com where her son Ben Taylor joined her, and they created some really magical moments. I got chills while listening to them do “You’re So Vain”.

Check it out:

Click here for the Daytrotter article

Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to interview 22 virtuoso pianist, Eldar, who also performed live during the interview. Eldar talked about his family’s move from Kyrgyzstan to Kansas City as a child, and how much he learned from that city’s veteran jazz musicians. Eldar also showcased his improvisational and compositional skills with three solo piano pieces, I Should Care, Insensitive and his own Vanilla Sky/Exposition.

Eldar turned out to be one of the nicest, most enthusiastic musicians that I have interviewed to date (especially for someone who had just flown in from Ireland the day before). And as you might expect, his playing was amazing.

Below is a video of his performance of a medley of his tunes Vanilla Sky/Exposition. To hear the entire interview and performance, click here.

    
More snippets of new music I’m diggin’…enjoy!

Artists Featured in this NEW Music Preview:
One Eskimo
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard
Devendra Banhart
Tegan and Sara

Since I started working at mvyradio, I’ve been slowly digging through the archived live performances on our website. Over a year later, and I’ve barely made a dent! There are more than 700 performances and interviews in the archives at mvyradio.com and it’s all there for you to enjoy free of charge! I’ve decided to feature some of my favorite tunes out of the mvy archives here on my blog once and a while. I’ll also be hosting an hour-long Hot Seat on Monday full of archived performances (more on that later).

Today I want to share a live version of a fun tune called “Monkey” from the duo Two Loons For Tea…recorded right here at the mvy studios.

mvyradio Archives

**If you’d like to support our archives and streams at mvyradio.com click here to learn about Friends Of mvyradio.

Did anyone ever suspect that someone would mix Beyonce with Duke Ellington and his band? I can safely say I didn’t see this one coming. My music director called me into his office to give this a listen, and I truly couldn’t believe it. I must have heard Single Ladies by Beyonce a million times, but even though she is singing the lyrics, I didn’t even recognize it because of the way it was mixed with Duke.

Anyway, you’ve got to give this a listen – just for fun.

SO MUCH GREAT MUSIC! Here are some new tunes that I’ve been diggin’ lately. I’m sure to have another one of these up very soon because there’s a bunch more I want to share with you! This NEW Music Preview is nice and tight…under 2 and 1/2 minutes. Enjoy!

Artists featured in this NEW Music Preview:
Joshua James
Band Of Heathens
John Mayer
Elizabeth & The Catapult

**CLICK HERE for a NEW Music Preview featuring Peter Mulvey, The Swell Season, Bob Schneider, and Erin McKeown.

Got to interview Tosh 1 today…the son of legendary Peter Tosh. He’s a really friendly dude who seems to be putting some thought into his hip-hop music, which I like. Here’s the interview:

It’s nice to see the next generation continuing with uplifting roots, rock, and reggae. Expect a debut album from Tosh 1 sometime in the Spring…

Tosh 1

Hello All,

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend on this sunny Sunday afternoon we are having over here on the  east coast.

I’ll keep it short for today as to I want to get back outside myself and enjoy whats left of this beautiful day we’re having.

… So, just a quick update for now:

Over  the  past  few months, I’ve been testing several different blog platforms in an attempt to  find the most feature-rich, and user-friendly options available.   In doing so I’ve  ended up with several blog sites.  In an effort not to have  the  exact same content on each of  them,  I recently changed and updated one of them to an audio ONLY blog site.

You can check it out and bookmark  it at: http://AudioBlog.BenjaminKee.com.

Take a listen and let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.

Also, please take the quick survey that I created on the right-hand column of the audio blog and tell me the topics that you would like to hear more about and I’ll do just that …. Create more audio posts discussing exactly what YOU want to hear about.

I hope you find it useful and informative.

Until next time,

Ben

PS.  Now get outside and have some fun!

It’s about that time once again. As always, I’m surrounded by a bunch of great new albums here at the station…check out this short audio blog to hear snippets of a few songs that caught my ear recently:

Artists featured in this NEW Music Preview:
Peter Mulvey
The Swell Season
Bob Schneider
Erin McKeown

**CLICK HERE for a NEW Music Preview featuring Imogen Heap, Bruce Hornsby, Monsters Of Folk, and Brendan Benson.

One of my alternatives to safe office porn is Audio Porn Central. Really it does satisfy so many needs and wants… For one thing they do get an awesome selection of music all the time. Thank you Stumble Upon! If you are into the electro house, disco or indie you will really apriciate the tracks they post plus most of them are downloadable.

Check out the site here http://audioporncentral.com/

or click the image up top

When it comes to the marketing of your book, each creative direction should be exposed with the primary focus of building an audience. These days, authors have a number of options within their promotional tool belt. Less spoken of, but equally as important, is the use of a podcast for the marketing of your book. 

A podcast — or audio file — distributed over the Internet allows authors the opportunity to create a successive series of their book, converse about upcoming work and personalize the experience with their readers. A type of audio blog, a podcast’s purpose is to expand your efforts to build a diverse audience and a following of listeners.

Podcasting opens up a whole new dimension of listeners/readers. These audio presentations create a more personal relationship between author and listener. Listeners actively return, supporting your work, and are in turn inclined to purchase your book based off of the content that was heard and the author/reader connection. 

Your starting point may vary depending upon your tech interest level as well as the amount of money and time you are willing and able to devote to your podcast. Becoming a podcaster, however, can be quite easy: simply plug a microphone into your computer, record your voice and convert your file to MP3 format. 

You may also visit audacity.sourceforge.net, a free program that records and edits sound files. Your recorded audio files can then be uploaded to your own server/Web site. If you don’t have a Web site, you will need to use a podcast hosting service, such as PodHoster.com.

Another avenue for podcasting, which charges a fee and offers the service to those without Web sites, is AudioAcrobat.com.  You may record your podcast via microphone or telephone and AudioAcrobat will handle the technicalities of syndication through various directories. 

Once created, you should utilize your podcast as you would your blog — with regular updates keeping your listeners tuned in. A podcast can simply be audio, or you may include video within your downloadable segments. Include readings from your book and answer questions that listeners may have e-mailed to you. You want to create a band of listeners — a fellowship of contributors. Serialize your book and allow your listeners to read character lines. Personalize yourself and build an audience for your work.

- Melissa

There has been a TON of new music coming into the station. Here’s a taste of a few singles that grabbed my attention.

NEW Music Preview 08.15.09
(Click on the link above to listen)

Artists featured in this NEW Music Preview:
Imogen Heap
Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers
Monsters Of Folk
Brendan Benson

**CLICK HERE for a NEW Music Preview featuring The Low Anthem, Avett Brothers, David Gray, and The Black Crowes.

    
It’s been crazy busy here at the station these past few weeks…but I’ve still been enjoying a lot of great new tunes. Here’s another NEW Music Preview…have a listen, it’s just 3 minutes long. If you like it, click here for more audio blogs! I try to do these once or twice a month.

NEW Music Preview 07.30.09
(Click on the link above to listen)

Artists Featured in this NEW Music Preview:
The Low Anthem
Avett Brothers
David Gray
Black Crowes

A while back, I was honored to participate in a pretty extensive interview for a new audio blog project “Community Media 2.0. The project, made possible by the Surdna Foundation, The Media and Democracy Fund, and the Media Justice Fund, is intended to help community media centers gain insight into how CMC’s can continue to be vibrant and valuable community technology assistance organizations, as tools and technology continue to evolve.

Today, my interviews were posted and included in the Community Media 2.0 blog site. I am honored to be included, especially considering the others whose words are captured there; Sue Buske, a leading expert in the field; Helen Soule, ED of the Alliance for Community Media; and the father of community media, George Stoney. I can only hope that folks find the information helpful to their efforts to build community through media. We’re all in this together.

I have created a shiney, new web site to replace this one.

Please visit the new site at www.EastBayPlus.com

All of the content from here is there, plus many new features and tools.

Here is an audio blog about a potential redevelopment deal in Concord

Eric’s Audio Blog

Potential Deal ?

Hi All – Today, in my first audio-blog,  I’ve got some quick thoughts on technology and the barriers to social media participation…in addition to verbally introducing myself.  Let me know your thoughts and comments on the short talk and/or the new format.

Cheers, Chris
(Recording is 1:25)

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Here is an audio blog from today >>> Apartment Deal

Apartment Deal

San Leandro apartments