Sunday, May 13, 2007

Ryan's Webcast 3 - Third time's a charm???

In this fantastic installment of my webcast series, I've decided to take a look at some singer-songwriter's I've been paying attention to recently. But while we're partaking of this musical adventure together, I'd like us to ponder our own personal definition of the phrase "singer-songwriter". I guess, technically, all one has to do is write the music they sing. But if this is the case, then why isn't everyone this side of Eddie Vedder considered a singer-songwriter. As is turns out, in the past, I had typically considered a singer-songwriter to have a particular sound about them (i.e. they wrote, sang, and played their own music on an acoustic guitar). And I don't think I'm the only one that's ever felt like this. However, the technology associated with today's recording industry has rendered this definition essentially useless. Now, if a person was so inclined, they could play a number of instruments for one song and have these recorded over each other to produce the finished product, becoming a virtual one-man band. So, now an artist can played a myriad of instruments over the course of an album, and thus still be considered a singer-songwriter.


Not the kind of one-man band I'm talking about

I'm always fascinated when reading an album booklet and I see a particular artist played all the instruments. So, here is my tribute to the ever-changing definition of singer-songwriter. I hope you enjoy......

Also, a big shout out to whichever of my comrades discovered this wonderful StreamPad. Now, you KGB listeners can listen to the webcasts and single mp3 posts while browsing and reading the articles, without opening a new window. Anyways, onto the webcast:

Ryan KGB Webcast 3 - The Art of the One Man Band

1. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
2. Nick Drake - Place to Be
3. Alexi Murdoch - Wait
4. Alexi Murdoch - Breathe
5. Vandaveer - Marianne, You've Done it Now....
6. Vandaveer - However Many Takes it Takes
7. Andrew Bird - Heretics
8. Andrew Bird - Cataracts
9. Ola Podrida - The New Science
10. Ola Podrida - Day at the Beach
11. Damien Rice - Cannonball
12. Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter
13. Jack Johnson - Better Together

RR

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really enjoying the webcast. The pup and I were wrestling around while listening.

I've got lots to learn about music. I'd always heard of Nick Drake but never investigated, mainly because I was under the impression he was incredibly mellow and even depressing. I found those two tracks to not be that way at all. Where do I go from here? Looks like the rest of Pink Moon might be a good idea.

As for StreamPad, it would be a sweet application if I could get it to update. Notice that this podcast hasn't been added. I'll try to work out the kinks over the next few days.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, i was going to ask how to update it.

Yeah, the Pink Moon album is awesome. There's only like three real albums, unfortunately. But, Pink Moon is my favorite.

Anonymous said...

Right on. Big fan of the StreamPad. I'll have to figure out how that thing works.

Anonymous said...

Great webcast Ryan. I definitely like the laid-back singer/songwriter stuff. You made some good points about the one man band too. The Vandaveer was really good. My less than professional guess would be clarinet on the wind instrument. Anyway, good stuff.