Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with music and bands

Small Claims Court Question

scottbass — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:15:02 -0800

I'm trying to figure out which party to take to small claims court or if i should take both. The band i play in was hired to play at a bar by a promoter we have worked with before. At the end of the night there was no check and still is no check. We have sent a demand payment letter to both club owner and promoter and both claim they are not responsible for paying us. Do we sue both or just the club owner ?

The Birth of Rock and Roll

netbros — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:50:03 -0800

What was the really good music of the fifties and sixties? Even though I am a child of the fifties, I didn't really start paying attention to music until I was in high school in the late sixties. I know... my head was somewhere else.

So what did I miss? Who were the really good groups, bands, singers, musicians and songwriters of the fifties and sixties? It's never too late to learn and enjoy.

What was this website?

Kiwi — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:27:12 -0800

Looking for a (previously linked) musical-connections bubble-diagram. I think I saw this linked on Metafilter, maybe as a FPP, many moons ago.

It was basically a bubble diagram with musical groups linked together according to their similarity. So for example, Blur might be connected to The Kinks; Gorillaz; The Good, The Bad & The Queen; and further away, Oasis.

The diagram was zoomable and panable. Might have been Flash.

Any ideas what the website was?

Help me make a rock/metal playlist!

Sufi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:47:28 -0800

I need about 40 musical artists that would please a crowd that likes mainstream rock & metal. The catch: I'm trying to avoid stuff that can easily be heard on the radio. Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Nightwish, Switchblade Symphony and Type O Negative are on the list because they are the few "heavy" bands that I actually enjoy and believe my audience would like. Could you guys help me put together a list of other artists that would fit with this genre?

I'd prefer not to play too much stuff that is or has been overplayed on the radio, and it must be danceable!

(I have looked at this askme post but I'm worried most of those recommendations may be too far off base. You tell me.)

Cover songs reworked in different time signatures.

querty — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:09:47 -0800

Looking for cover songs that have been reworked in a different time signature. I got the idea for this question when I came across this. The song you hear this band performing in the video is played in 3s (in a 6/8 feel), but on the album, the song is in 4/4 time.

So I wondered to myself, there must have been bands/artists in the past decade or two that have covered (famous) songs, but took the songs apart while keeping the original lyrics and put it all back together in a different time signature.

Youtube links would be great. 70s~90s pop/rock preferred. Would love to hear some Beatles songs redone in different time signatures. Bands have done this right?

mountie repellent

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:15:03 -0800

Do American musicians need a special work permit to play two shows in Canada? I've found some information that says we do, mostly from musician's unions that want lots of money to send you letters to give to border guards. I can't find any official word from either country or musicians informally saying what to do.

Experiences? I know, YANML, but what actually happens when we show up at the border in a van with some musical equipment?

(Would have posted this in the last touring advice thread but this seems mighty important and obscure to append to an old question.)

Thanks greatly MetaFilter of the Gods.

What bands should I check out at the Electric Picnic?

Grinder — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:58:59 -0800

What bands should I check out at the Electric Picnic? I'm going to the Electric Picnic soon. I don't know many of the bands that are playing, and although I've been checking them out via emusic, MySpace and YouTube, there's a long list and I'm hoping the hive mind can help shorten the process.

I tend to like music with a bit of an edge or quirkiness, but have very wide-ranging tastes: lots of punk/metal/indie/industrial, but also folk and country, some dance and a little bit of hiphop/rap. I tend not to like much mainstream pop and much prefer something with amplified electric guitars. Are there any bands, particularly less well-known ones, at the EP that might fit into that very vague description?

If it helps, the bands that I will be going to see are: Explosions in the Sky, Dinosaur Jr, Flaming Lips, Magnolia Electric Co, Seasick Steve and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Thanks!

Where does the good stuff hide?

Nonce — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:12:31 -0800

Help me find more of the good stuff on emusic. I've only really found a few totally awesome albums/artists on e-music.

Frightened Rabbit
Harlan T. Bobo
Murder by Death
Okkervil River
The Hidden Cameras
Neutral Milk Hotel

That's probably a fair representation of my taste, and the extent of the A-list to date. The B-list of really good but not great includes Spoon, Heartless Bastards, some Kinks, Immaculate Machine, maybe a few more.

Any recommendations?

Is it possible to have more-than-decent wedding music in the wilds of Northern New Hampshire?

soulbarn — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:43:06 -0800

Marriage in WAY northern New Hampshire (20 miles south of Canadian border - we're talking five hours from Boston.) Family is there, but we live on west coast. Great! Problem: music. We need a GOOD band and DJ. Save us from typical oldies/blues-rock/jazzy/swingy mish-mash. Doesn't have to be a typical wedding band, though it should be a group that can entertain a varied (grandparents, parents, friends, etc.) crowd. Maybe MeFiers from VT, Maine, or NH have suggestions? We don't want to spend a lot of $$$, but all suggestions, as well as creative (non-band) solutions, and off-list contacts, are welcome...

Library music?

The Card Cheat — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:51:49 -0800

I have a friend on the Local Music Committee of the Toronto Public Library, and they're looking to hire some Toronto-area bands that have a CD and a following, but aren't so popular that the library couldn't afford them or accomodate the huge crowds they'd draw. The group's music would also have to be acceptable for a fairly general audience. However, I'm very out of the loop, current music-wise, so if anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to pass them along to my friend on the committee.

¡Necesito música en español!

iamkimiam — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:58:04 -0800

Mägo de Oz to Manu Chao...what other awesomeness am I missing out on? Looking for Spanish music recommendations. Latin America Spanish preferred, but all is welcome. I am wanting and needing to learn a lot of Spanish very quickly. I have fallen in love with Mägo de Oz and Manu Chao, and would like to find more bands along this spectrum, and beyond. Links to websites with lyrics and/or translations are a big plus too! Also taking suggestions for how to incorporate more Spanish into my daily life.

FYI, I really dig Manu Chao because the lyrics are simple and easy for me to learn and sing along to. I dig Mägo de Oz because they $O#*@ kick aaasssss! More please!

What shows/bands playing this week in Houston does the hive mind recommend?

Robert Angelo — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:52:51 -0800

Houston-Live-Music-This-Week-Filter: Help me be a cool uncle! :-) My nephew is visiting from out of state and he wants to see live music. He is in his early twenties and up for rock, indie, acoustic, whatever; I am a middle-aged stick-in-the-mud who doesn't get out much. He's leaves for home Saturday. He doesn't have a car and doesn't know the lay of the land, so I've agreed to awaken from hibernation and take him out.

What's a good place to take him in Houston or more evenings between now and then? What shows/bands playing this week in Houston does the hive mind recommend?

any suggestions for what this record/band might be

iamnotateenagegirl — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:52:48 -0800

sorry if this is just so insanely obscure it is impossible. I heard this record that was apparantly a new york band. It was pretty obscure (probably the kind of thing reviewed in the Wire or a similar magazine) and may be classed under such genres as 'new weird america' or freak folk. Musically it was sort of a mishmash of electronica and some feedback and acousticy stuff with a male vocalist, and (this is the key thing) was a double album and probably quite recent (2007 or 08). May have been considered suitable for a late night mood. Any suggestions?

Rock My City

Miko — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:13:02 -0800

How do you make a town more local-music-friendly? What things can individuals, businesses, and cities do to encourage a better local music scene? I come from a small city in New England. In many ways, it has a thriving local music scene.But there are reasons to be concerned about the health of local music. The number of venues, particularly the 100-300 person type venue that is so important for regional touring acts, has declined as a major room closed and another is in financial straits. A few bars provide local music 7 nights a week, and there are a few successful music series that draw a consistent crowd. But crowds are getting smaller and, overall, it seems like the scene is in a slump.

Tonight I'll be attending a meeting of musicians, venue owners, and music fans to generate some ideas about reviving the scene. What are some things we could put on the table? How has your town or city used its resources to encourage the development of the scene? What makes your town music-friendly (or not?)

What we have:
-a number of active cultural leaders, including a great alternative newsweekly, an indie bookstore active in the culture scene, a real brick and mortar record store, a bunch of small venues, a few larger venues but farther afield, some coordinated music marketing in the form of this website, a good summer concert venue (but weather-dependent), some awesome music-focused annual events like the RPM Challenge

What we lack:
-affordable housing, population density, a lot of young people (the closest college is about 20 minutes away), large rooms, good 'draw' strategies to get people out, and .....?????

We might look at things like:
-developing alternative venues
-promoting - encouraging people to learn the art of promoting
-workforce/affordable housing - are 'creatives' being driven out of the market because of high real estate prices?
-attracting audience - how, when, what gets people out the door?
-genre variety - who goes out to hear music? What kind?
-neighbor issues, ordinances, etc
-festivals
-scene 'branding'
-whatever you recommend! What works where you live?

Please flood me with ideas! Thanks!

The economics of travelling bands

Xere — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:19:49 -0800

I'm told that for bands, the money is in live gigs - not much comes in from album sales. However. I was at a concert in Los Angeles recently, full house of about 500. Three bands, of which two had recently played Coachella. $25 general admission. This, to me, seems like terrible money. What's really going on? Help me overthink my plate of beans. So $25 x 500 = $12500 in ticket sales. Split that up between the three bands, and each gets $4166. This doesn't seem much, considering that two of the bands were from middle US, and one from London. Flights, extra baggage fees for equipment, hotels, crew members...

It's about 5 members to each band. London band: doesn't it cost ONE person about $900 to fly coach from London to LA? $4166 won't cover five members and their road crew. Mid-US bands: isn't it about $400, also flying coach? That's $2000 in flights, leaving only $2000. And each band member gets $500 before the venue takes its cut.

I'm assuming more money is accumulated over the course of playing several venues, but it seems that they're only playing five. Similar general admission fees. The mid-US bands accumulate more money here, but London seems to still be playing for pocket change.

The venue's already well-established, even without rock concerts. They don't seem to need to bring bands in at a loss in order to get their venue's name out there.

Not mentioning the bands, just in case this ever gets them into hot water with Upper Management. And anyway, I'm fairly certain this is a common scenario.

Rising sun rock and roll?

soma lkzx — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:56:43 -0800

Tokyo Damage Report's list of shows and venues has sold me on going to see bands play while I'm in Japan, are there any resources like this for cities besides Tokyo? Turns out that going to a show alone isn't so bad when you're in a foreign country and your cultural/language skills are that of a 2 year old - I just need to know where to go! My musical taste in this case is just guitars and energy; I'll take anything from hardcore to twee to psychobilly. I think my guidebook has things like jazz pretty well covered, but feel free to bring suggestions from that end of the spectrum as well.

I'm going to be hanging around in indeterminate cities between Tokyo and Nagasaki for the next ten days, so the net is pretty wide. Show lists, venue lists, or even venue names would all be really helpful.

(And while I'm at it, if you have any amazing suggestions on less rock-n-rolly things to do or festivals in the next week, you can drop that in, too!)

LA LOCAL MUSIC

klangklangston — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:55:27 -0800

LOS ANGELES LOCAL BANDS, recommend me. I used to cover local music in Ann Arbor. Now that I've moved to LA, I'd like to engage in some more blatant localism, to cop from JFA. I read the Weekly, City Pages, Onion and Record. I keep up with a couple of local blogs. Still, I want more, especially based on the WEST side, including West LA, Westwood, Santa Monica, Venice and Culver City.

Please tell me: Their name, where they're based, WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE, whether they have shows coming up, whether they have records out, WHETHER THEY HAVE FREE SAMPLE MUSIC UP ANYWHERE.

I tend to favor weirdo punk like No Age, Crystal Antlers, Underground Railroad to Candyland, as well as pop, hard rock, jazz (preferably freakout/skronk jazz), metal and rap. But the important part is that they're local and they're playing out, and, ideally, I don't have to drive for an hour to see them.

What cms should I use to host local band press kits?

stokast — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 04:43:37 -0800

I want to create a site for bands in my area to post their info, show upcoming gigs, put up a photo or two, and upload one or two mp3s to stream... something dead easy and bare bones, like The Seattle Stranger's Bands Page. ...What should I use? I've been looking for a cms that can do this for a while now, but I haven't turned up anything I like. Audition is the closest I've come, but it seems to handle only one band. Others get too fancy with social networking doo-dads.

Good country bands in and around AZ?

joshuaconner — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:22:54 -0800

Good country bands in and around AZ? I've been put in charge of booking a summer's worth of bands for the western-style steakhouse and bar where I work. I've found some leads through MySpace, and while there were some pretty good groups on there, I feel like I have to be missing a bunch of great ones too.

Who do you recommend? (While I personally happen to love alt-country, anything too indie may not fly with the brass, so fair warning I guess.)

Looking for something a little different to listen to

psmealey — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:37:27 -0800

Looking for good, guitar-driven new music that rocks, but that's away from the early 80s influenced, quirky indie pop that's been so ubiquitous of late. Can you help? So, I loved Interpol, the Stills, the Dears, Franz Ferdinand, British Sea Power, TV on the Radio, Arcade Fire and all that, but I'm done with it. Just plain bored. Is there any guitar-driven new music (on iTunes, eMusic, or elsewhere) that has really captured your imagination in the past year, that is cathartic and or just plain rocks? I am just feeling stagnant, and bored with what I've been listening to, and need help moving on.

I need new music and I have no taste.

ninazer0 — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:32:13 -0800

I need to broaden my horizons regarding the music I listen to. My last music purchase was years ago. Please suggest something new (or at least - new to me). I have no taste whatsoever. My collection is all over the place. Things I like most include The Tea Party, The Darkness, U2, Live, KMFDM, E.S. Posthumous, Evanescence, Enigma, Santana, The Cat Empire, Icebrecher, Oasis, AC-DC, and Jet. There are others, but generally it seems like goth-lite from a rock background with occasional forays into world music and electronica.

I should probably also warn you that I'm stuck in the 80's at the moment with The Hoodoo Guru's, Queen, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper with a minor dose of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi & co. I believe there's some Heart lying around somewhere...

I am partial to strong melodies, blazing guitar solo's, strong beats and the odd rock or dance anthem (although not all at once).

I hate RnB, hip-hop etc, and most Jazz. Other than that, I'm pretty game.

Based on the sad confession above, what bands or artists should I be looking at? I've tried various sites like Pandora and LastFM for suggestions and have found a few things that way, but have had to wade through way too much to want to do it again.

Just who was "Alive In Belfast" at the Warehouse Sessions?

vagabond — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:23:39 -0800

Somewhere in my travels I found the album "Alive In Belfast: The Warehouse Sessions." I have the song titles, but not the artists. Help! It is a double cd of mostly Northern Irish artists. I know Iain Archer, Brian Houston, and David Ballentine have songs on the album. Help me remove the "unknown artist" as well as figure out who some of these artists are so I can buy more of their stuff.

Suggest some songs I can learn to play on the guitar!

boyinmiami — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:49:49 -0800

GreatSongsfilter; I would like to learn a few great songs on the guitar, and need suggestions from the great people here. I would like to have some cool songs in my repertoire (sp?). I would like pick one song from each of these genres (bonus points for indie and classic rock songs).
1. love song
2. sing along song (a song everyone can sing along with)
3. just a cool song (a song that gives off the too cool for school vibe.
4. a fun song
5. your won favorite.

thanks for the suggestions!

I like Mana - who else do I like?

fox_terrier_guy — Tue, 22 May 2007 10:43:46 -0800

Latin Pop Music: I really like Mana. Who else do I like? I quite like the pop sound of Mana when driving. I also like Manu Chau, Che Guevara Band, Willie Colon and Ibrihim Ferrar, and Bene Morey so any latin music is good.

I would like to expand my horizons, but I really like the melodic components of Mana and would like to find other bands that are similarly "sing-able". (Assuming I understood and spoke spanish, that is.) Manu Chau is good, but less melodic. (Me Gusto for one...)

So, OK Metafilers; What are some similar bands to Mana that I can give a listen to while driving to the lake this summer?

Bands with more than one (good) lead singer

I_Love_Bananas — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:40:58 -0800

Mainstream bands with more than one (good) lead singer? Need help with a list of mainstream bands who had success with more than one equally capable lead singer all in the group at the same time.

Good examples: The Cars (Ocasek/Orr) and The Who (Daltrey/Townshend) had big hits from both guys.

Not good examples:
- Van Halen (lineup changes don't count)
- Queen (Mercury was front man but Taylor occasionally sang, i.e. "I'm in Love with My Car")
- 'Traveling Wilburys'-type aggregations of performers
- Obscure, indie or other groups who the "average person" would not recognize

I guess the more you have to justify/qualify/explain your response, it's probably not fitting the bill.