Bumbershoot.

So, to celebrate and get ready for what I imagine will be a great time, I’ve selected some great songs from artists that will be featured at this weekends festival. They’re all artists that I’m personally interested in, and while I think they provide a pretty good variety, they can’t really capture the diversity and energy that Bumbershoot brings to the city. As always, the information about the artists is below. Hope you like this one.

Link: Podcast #10 : September 1, 2005 (36 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 25.90mb)

Playlist

• “Infanta’” by The Decemberists [Info]
• “Bleeding Powers” by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists [Info]
• “Motion Movement” by Blue Scholars [Info]
• “Don’t Stop” by Brazilian Girls [Info]
• “All Medicated Geniuses” by Pretty Girls Make Graves [Info]
• “Massive Cure” by Smoosh [Info]
• “The Only Gift That I Need” by Dashboard Confessional [Info]
• “I Know I Know I Know’” by Tegan & Sara [Info]
• “Every Bitter Drop” by The Posies [Info]
• “Say What You Mean (Live at KEXP)” by Maktub [Info]

My Odeo Channel

Also, before I forget, I’ll be away for a few weeks (wedding, honeymoon—you know, important and fun stuff) so there won’t be a podcast (unless it’s a drunken one from Mexico) until I get back. Have a great rest of the summer everyone!

Link: Podcast #9 : August 5, 2005 (32 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 21.60mb)

Playlist

• “Wish’” by Solvent [Info via Vu D’ici]
• “Stevie Nix” by The Hold Steady [Info]
• “Take What’s Mine” by Baumer [Info via Molly O’Poverty]
• “Aside” by The Weakerthans [Info]
• “Cover” by Engine Down [Info]
• “10:1” by Rogue Wave [Info]
• “Chemocentric’” by Pris [Info]
• “Death By Mixtap” by The Lashes [Info]

My Odeo Channel

Link: Podcast #8 : July 24, 2005 (33 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 23.74mb)

Playlist

• “NeverUmind’” by Pris [Info]
• “Sound Scientist” by Bill [Info]
• “Clinically Dead” by Chad VanGaalen [Info]
• “Tainted Love (Rough Love)” by Shaun Inman [Info]
• “Secret Society” by Postcard [Info]
• “Sad Eyed Woman” by Tricky Woo [Info]
• “20/20” by De La Vega [Info]
• “The Godfather” by Harry and The Potters [Info]

My Odeo Channel

Ah well. In any case, I’ve got some great stuff this time though, leading off with one of my favorite hip-hop acts—The Bluescholars—and some killer music from Japan. Enjoy!

Link: Podcast #7 : July 11, 2005 (27 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 19.72mb)

Playlist

• “Freewheelin’” by Blue Scholars [Info]
• “Commodoll” by Polysics [Info]
• “Not What You Think” by No-Fi Soul Rebellion [Info]
• “The Burn” by Ghost Story [Info]
• “The Wives of Artie Shaw” by Kinski [Info]
• “Rock & Roll Can Rescue The World” by Electric Eel Shock [Info]

My Odeo Channel

So, this week I’ve got some great stuff for you. Seems like every week I’ve got one more avenue for finding good music that I can share. I want to thank everyone who’s helped out with tips and requests and encouragement. I know my audience is pretty small, but you guys (and gals) are the best!

Link: Podcast #6 : July 1, 2005 (37 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 26.8mb)

Playlist

• “Three Birds” by James Apollo [Info]
• “Meant to Be” by Rob Costlow [Info]
• “Breaklights” by Man In Grey [Info]
• “Back, Black and Still Reliable” by Midwest Product [Info via Scissorkick]
• “Jaia Jaia” by Masala [Info]
• “Problemes d’Amour by Alexander Robotnick [Info]
• “Out” by Lo and The Magnetics [Info via CBC Radio 3]
• “So Sorry (bootleg)” by Runner and The Themodynamics [Info]

My Odeo Channel

As always, if you’ve got a line on some good music, for the show or otherwise, please let me know. Hope y’all like this one. I’ll be back with another in a few weeks.

Link: Podcast #5 : June 10, 2005 (41 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 29.65mb)

Playlist

• “Clowne Towne” by Xiu Xiu (live) [Info]
• “Dirty Lives” by Love As Laughter[Info at Sub Pop]
• “Body Technology” by Femme Generation [Info via CBC Radio 3]
• “Through The Broken City” by Bend Sinister [Info via CBC Radio 3]
• “Our Song” by Ripley Caine [Info via Staccato]
• “R.F.O.” by Fug [Info]
• “Cheer Up Baby” by Dolour [Info]
• “Be Movie Bass Music” by Kobayashi [Info]
• “Run” by Sonny Jim [Info via Staccato]

My Odeo Channel

Enough blather, check out the ‘cast and, please, let me know what you think.

Link: Podcast #4 : June 10, 2005 (42 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 30.29mb)

Playlist

• “Straight Outta Compton” by Nina Gordon [Info via Jeff. Thanks bro!]
• “Touch You Touch Me” by Hot Hot Heat [Info]
• “No Natural Law” by The Catheters [Info at Sub Pop]
• “Protection Act” by The Cops [Info]
• “Hope” by Under Electric Light [Info via Vu D’ici]
• “Heartless Romantic” by The Dears [Info]
• “Hurt Mutant” by Climber [Info]
• “Too Mean Mix” by No-Fi Soul Rebellion [Info]
• “Entertain” by Sleater-Kinney [Info]
• “Foundation” by A Gun Called Tension [Info]
• “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum” by The Murder City Devils [Info]

It’s actually a great time to listen also. You get to hear all sorts of testimonials from people who listen to the station and you get to learn a lot about how independent, audience supported media works and the struggles they face. See, with all the media consolidation going on, a station like KEXP is very rare. They don’t have advertising (although it wouldn’t bother me if they did) and they have the freedom to play the music they want to play—which is the key, and the reason why I hope they never go away.

Big Media / Small Media

Among traditional media like radio it seems that the players keep getting bigger and bigger. To me, when it comes to music, this isn’t a good thing. What this makes for is a culture where non-music lovers choose what gets played based on how well it will sell itself, and sell product. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m open when it comes to music and just because something is “popular” doesn’t mean I hate it right off the bat. However, I like a bit of variety in my music and it’s hard enough to find a wide range of great music, even with a channel like KEXP.

It would seem that KEXP is struggling with traditional media, and my advice to them might be to turn to where the small are starting to thrive. Things like podcasts and web-based radio (which they do, if you have iTunes you can listen to them) are great ways to get your music or message out to a vast audience easily. In fact this kind of small media is seemingly making a dent in the power and size of big media in some ways.

(Big media is also looking like they want a piece of the small pie, but that is a different story.)

Could monetization be a problem?

The thing many small media producers are struggling with is how to make a living and keep providing content. Many of us do it on the side, or for little (or no) money. This might be fine for some, but for a radio station the size of KEXP to keep running, they’ll need to be able to pull money in. Right now they do it with pledge drives and sponsorships. If they went to some kind of all-Web based delivery I wonder if that’d still be possible. They could also thing about going small to save money.

It’s not without challange though. The Web really levels the playing field. While someone like KEXP might be having a hard time competing with big media, you’d think they’d be able to do very well in smaller circles because of their resources, etc. Not necessarily. And that’s one of the problems all small media faces. There are so many people out there, doing so many things that it’s almost too small. At least for making any money. Seth Godin talks about this and he makes a good point:

If there were thousands and thousands of stations to compete with, it would be an amateur medium, with nobody making enough to invest.

KEXP, and stations like them, are by no means amateur, but they still might suffer from the fact that people only have so much money and might be giving it elsewhere.

Advertising?

I know that independent and small media publishers can make a decent amount of scratch from advertising and still remain true to their message. I’d guess that for most this is a much more viable solution than audience donated funds. The problem here is often perception. People don’t like ads. They especially don’t like ads when it comes to small media as is smacks of big media. I know if I could bring money in without ads, I’d certainly do that, and I wouldn’t need near as much as KEXP or the like would.

New medium, new ways

As big media keeps getting bigger and small media carves out it’s own niche, I see outlets like KEXP, who fall somewhere in the middle, having to make a choice. Can they go the big media route and still stay true to their music and message? Can they go small and still manage to keep their employees fed and happy? My guess is both of these options might have a way about them. Big media can only get so big, one would hope, before there’d be a need to add some “balancing” outlets. And small media will find ways to get paid, especially for those who have the experience, content and talent to stand out from the millions.

For me, I’m hoping for a small media solution.

This is all just speculation, but it’s an interesting time we’re living it when it comes to media. I may be way off base with some of my theories, but I’ll tell you this—things are going to change. You can bank on that.

This time it might seem a bit awkward. That’s mainly due to the fact that I kept having interruptions. I try to set aside time to listen to music, pick some good stuff and record the podcast, but life has a way of getting in the way at times. Ah, well, the music is what matters and there is some good stuff in this one. It is funny to see how my voice and delivery changes as I record under different conditions. In this one you can really tell that it’s not done all in one sitting. Ah well, living and learning…

Link: Podcast #3 : May 25th, 2005 (49 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 33.35mb)

Playlist

• “Lapis Lazuli” by Fragile Human Organs [Info]
• “In Words” by Instant Winner WA [Info at Garageband.com]
• “Let You Go” by Damsel Fly [Info]
• “Chicken Pox” by Noah23 [Info via Vu D’ici]
• “Curious Smile” by Pleasurecraft [Info]
• “Inside A Moment” by Infomatik [Info]
• “Do I Know You?” by PINE*am [Info]
• “La Isla Bonita” by 94th Street [Info]
• “More of The Same” by Howard Hello [Info]
• “Come With Me” by The Clintons [Info at Garageband.com]

As far as I can tell everything in this podcast is “A-OK” to share, and I’ve got some great stuff for y’all this time around.

Link: Podcast #2 : May 14th, 2005 (45 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 32.60mb)

Playlist

• “Charlie” by Deadpan [Info at CCmixter.org]
• “No Denial” by El Centro [Info]
• “Boys and Children, Sing For Summer” by Those Transatlanctics [Info]
• “Don’t Fade Out” by Aerovox [Info]
• “Hidden Land” by GimmiJapan [Info]
• “Men of Station” by 13 & God (The Notwist & Themselves) [Info]
• “Fan of The Bean” by The Clintons [Info at Garageband.com]
• “Chasing The Sun” by Fire At Will [Info]
• “Not Heather” by Complete [Info at Garageband.com]
• “Simplicity” by Pleasurecraft [Info]
• “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” by The Hold Steady [Info]