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Paul McCartney playing on top of the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater- pure joy. Letterman seemed taken back to a place of wonder during his interview. Seeing the crowd on Broadway gathered together to take it all in just makes me feel hopeful.

Enjoy the mini-concert set not shown during the broadcast-



Set List:
Coming Up
Band on the Run
Let Me Roll It
Helter Skelter
Back in the USSR

A SocialNet perspective- It's refreshing to see CBS offer this as an embeddable video and I'm impressed with the live Facebook chat integration on their page. The Late Show site features a running blog of the show but the majority of the show clips are hosted on CBS's Hulu like site.

msw

Mention Opera to me and I respond like a puppy hearing a strange sound- tilt of the head and a puzzled look. I know there is something magnificent there, the staging, the story the complete artistry. Recently our long-time friend, former radio diva, Lori Lewis approached us with a series idea revolving around Opera. I love a mystery and we decided to take it to the next level by shooting a teaser. The idea is to bring Opera to everyone in an environment that is welcoming and friendly. Lori had a vision to bring together friends, interesting people gathered around the dinner table. Our goal is to celebrate the BIG idea behind living life full voice.

Welcome to the journey.

everyday Opera Follow the updates on Twitter

Teaser:



The response is exciting, a gathering of the most respected names in Opera, Science and fans of great food coming together to make everyday Opera happen.


msw

We know that music has the power to heal, stimulate our imaginations and bring us closer together. Recently President Obama and The First Lady invited Poets and Jazz Artists to fill the room with BIG ideas. I could not be more encouraged that they invited the world to witness the power of Jazz.



The President quoted Louis Armstrong: "What we play is life."

More video of The First Lady on Jazz:



Washington Post has the details.

msw

For about a month now I've been engaged with an exciting collaboration. The words 'musical and theater' aren't part of my everyday life but hang around artists long enough and it's bound to happen. Some backstory- our Music Director, Lanny Cordola and I have walked down a wide creative path for nearly 15 years. Back in my 'label' days, Lanny would propose project after project. One week it would be an all-star Bluegrass album, the next, an ambient world sound-scape collection. I would feign mild protest but knew that once Lanny had a sound swirling around his noggin' there was only one option- express. We very rarely lost money on these ideas and occasionally actually made a little something. I'm aware that the journey begins with a yes.

As I evolved into tv and film, Lanny came with- scoring the picture. I could throw out a cue description like 'we have a scene with a grizzled custom chopper builder from a swampy part of country,' he would create a sonic extravaganza that had me tasting gator on a stick. His notes caused me to re-think and the end result grander that what I could have imagined.

Now he's turned the table on me, writing the scene and widening the circle with a very talented group of dreamers. His mind heard a musical about a rock star obsessed with poetry, art and theology. Knowing Lanny as a brother, it seemed natural that he would write about Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, Yeates, Virginia Woolf, Frederich Nietzche and a dozen other wild pen wielders. The vision of pulling it all together was a journey he started with writer Shawn Perry for a project called 'The Road.' He wanted to show a world of confusion and discovery of a globe traveling musician searching for wonder and answers. Cut to Lanny meeting Donovan Leitch, the son of the Hurdy Gurdy Sunshine Superman iconoclast. Donovan's approach to music is as wild as Lanny's- there are no limits to what will be done. It's an abandonment and a soul embrace of symphonic ideas. Donovan has pulled off some of the wildest shows in town including starring as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Itch during its four month residency at legendary Los Angeles venue The Roxy. The two re-worked the material, brought in the cross-pollinated Gyspy sounds of Fishtank Ensemble and attracted veteran stage Director Ken Roht. After months of pre-pre-pre production the seeds of Dark Root of the Dream had bloomed.

Tomorrow night at the Largo at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, the first unveiling of Dark Root of the Dream happens. I've been documenting the joining of divergent worlds, hearing strange sounds, witnessing the birth of something special. I've been able to have a front row of these creative realities. There's talk of a tv show, a tour, multiple extensions of Dark Root of the Dream. What I know right now is that I want to celebrate the accomplishments of artistic bravery. To acknowledge the experience, mark the occasion here and share it with you.

When you have a chance to draw near to creative energies expressing everything they have without fear of failure - do it. Take a moment to breathe in the awe of art- in all of its forms. We are surrounded by the providence of life.



Google Search for Dark Root of the Dream
myspace
facebook
twitter of Mr. E


msw

The weekly streamcast of music + tech. Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins and myself, break-down the latest news including the release of Pandora One, Hulu's live streaming plans and much more.

After the show we were joined by the immensely talented Lanny Cordola (our Music Director) and saxaphonist Ryan Zoidis for some free flowing Jazz wonder.

'Are You Really Experienced?' continues to grow each week and we're dedicated to improving every aspect of the experience. Adding live music and video to the show is a natural - we hope you will continue to tune-in, give feedback and join us each week as we explore the ways Music + Tech are changing OUR world.



The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

LIVE video streamcast powered by Wirecast

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here






To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here


Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s

So you're a big artist on a major label, team up with David Lynch and the have a new project that your fans have been waiting for- releasing said project should be a no brainer - right? In the ever bizarre world of big co's and music, EMI and Danger Mouse just can't come to terms with regards to releasing "Dark Night of the Soul" a collaboration with Sparklehorse and David Lynch. Not one to be stopped by sheer short-sightedness, DM has decided to take to the torrents for relief. He's selling DKNOTS as a poster book complete with a blank CDR that you can use for (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) anything you want.

From the website:

This limited edition art book contains 100+ pages of original photographs by celebrated film director David Lynch. Only 5000 copies have been printed and each one is hand numbered. The book will also come with a 24" X 36" poster as well as a custom designed CD-R (poster comes folded).

Please note: Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to include music on the CD without fear of legal entanglement. Therefore, he has included a blank CD-R as an artifact to use however you see fit.

DNOTS should have been one of the BIG summer releases, the project features James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils. (source: NPR)

Thankfully, we can enjoy the full stream of the project via NPR Music

In the words of the great Casey Kasem - "Ponderous man, _______ ponderous." [most def. nsfw]


msw

The weekly streamcast of music + tech. Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins, Steven Hodson of Shooting At Bubbles and myself celebrate a milestone for the show. We are now live every Wednesday Night at 7pm PDT from The Garden in Dana Point (formally known as The Wicked Garden- a reference to the Stone Temple Pilots song.) Our first week went great with a few bandwidth issues that are being cleared for the next show which will feature a HD video feed as well.

We're joined by the immensely talented Lanny Cordola (our Music Director) and Sandra Stephens. Sandra's vocals have graced many records and is much loved throughout the artist community. She has just now released her first stunning solo project. Sandra's melodies inspires us daily.

'Are You Really Experienced?' continues to grow each week and we're dedicated to improving every aspect of the experience. Adding live music and video to the show is a natural - we hope you will continue to tune-in, give feedback and join us each week as we explore the ways Music + Tech are changing OUR world.

We're pleased to offer this HD video of Sandra and Lanny's intimate performance-



Please visit Sandra's Myspace page for more music!

The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

LIVE video streamcast powered by Wirecast

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here






To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here


Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s

I had all but giving up on terrestrial radio in the City of Angels until 100.3 - The Sound - started beaming around town. The number two market in the country is just a morass of piffle stingers and hits for the masses. Even the once mighty cutting edge stations long ago abandoned the notion of being different and truly breaking new sonic ground. The national congloms swooped into LA and took the local flavor out- programming from afar and strangling the fun right out of the airwaves. A market this big is an expensive proposition and taking risks are costly but for the love of X- we are supposed to be taste makers!

One magical day I was zooming up the 405 and came across a station playing Elvis Costello's '(The Angels Wanna Wear) My Red Shoes' followed by Mark Knopfler's 'Sailing to Philadelphia.' Was this a mirage? Could it be that sanity had returned to the dial? Turns out that my radio had landed on a village of passionate music lovers armed with a huge record collection. I locked it into my presets - actually assigned several buttons so as to not fumble around with lesser stations. The more I dug into The Sound, the richer the layers became. Soon I was hooked into their brilliant Sunday Night programming of letting artists have "my turn" by becoming the M.D. for a shift. Who they select for this role speaks loudly of a grand musical ethos. Tom Chaplin of Keane turned me onto some sonic Brit wonders. Michael Franti spun us around the globe and Brian Wilson danced with Power Pop. Other guest maestros include Kevin Nealon, Beck, The Pretenders and even B.B. King!

Each week as I drove to Santa Monica to Direct Peter Himmelman's Furious World, I would use The Sound's giant electronic billboard in Lawndale as my 'event horizon.' They light up the sign with the song currently being played and it would often give me inspiration for that weeks show. The diverse artists being played gave me hope that quality still mattered here. We even received a Skype call from one of their hosts during the show saying she was a fan. The interaction lifted me and I know the call encouraged Peter as well.

If deep radio is to survive, it must connect, build a fierce and loyal tribe and (gasp) empower music discovery. Last Sunday (May 10th) at about 9:10pm I heard a band that reminded me of The Talking Heads but they were singing about tech. The on-air host said the name of the artist and gave the album title but I was distracted by a phone call and missed the exact details. The song stuck in my head and I went hunting for title. To my shock - The Sound has a listing of all the songs played on the station by time and date. I clicked on the appropriate details and came up with- 9:11 - The Great Defector by Bell X1. Pleased by this discovery, I blip'd it out and added Bell X1 to my iTunes.

I started looking under the hood of their site and smiled. The just get 'IT.' You can subscribe to their RSS feed of recently played artists. Follow their updates on Twitter, become a fan on FaceBook or friend them on Myspace. Observant surfers will notice that each SocialNet Silo is treated unique by The Sound - they know to speak in the tone appropriate for each particular 'space.'

Their own site is complete with layers of nifty jquery, clever css and plenty of rich media. Of course there is a live stream option for those who live outside SoCal. The site has an interesting layout that doesn't copy the standard blather, clutter of other radio station sites. I don't think it's a coincidence that most stations sport the worst sites on the net - it's just cookie cutting laziness. But The Sound proves that when you care enough to find your own voice - people sit up and take notice, become evangelists and champion the cause of quality.

Now go forth and fill your ears with The Good Sound!

msw

Thanks to Hulu, we can now enjoy the excellent documentary 'The Mayor of Sunset Strip.' He never set out to be a mogul of music, just a connector of music and community.

You just have to love a life filled with musical passion.




msw

The weekly talkcast of music + tech. This week, Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins and I are joined by Jeff 'The Dude' Dowd. Calling all little achievers: Lebowski Fest LA is Thursday and Friday. Stay tuned for details on a live stream of the Friday events.

The Dude reminds us of the great film Standing in the Shadows of Motown - If you are a Motown fan, you really should see this documentary!

The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here






To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here

We record the show live every Monday at 7 pm PDT. You can join the live stream/ chat here

Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s