kcrw, new music, on the rise

[on the rise] TRISTEN

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I was first introduced to Tristen last week, via KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune, and was instantly intrigued.

Originally hailing from Chicago, where she first began recording music at the age of 14, Tristen packed up after graduating from college and headed for Nashville to experience the city’s one of a kind music scene. That, and with such influencers as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton, Tristen has effortlessly blended pop, rock, folk, and country to create a fresh and organic sound, which she describes as, “neo-traditionalist pop”. Her latest, Charlatans at the Garden Gate, is due for release February 1st, 2011, and I can already tell it will be in heavy rotation on my iPod.
Tristen is currently in the middle of a South East tour (check the dates here), ending December 4th in Nashville, with an in store 7″ release show at Grimey’s New and Pre Loved Music. Hopefully she’ll make it out West for some shows after Charlatans at the Garden Gate is released.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Tristen is offering up her Eager For Your Love 7″ for free download at her site, tristen.com.
The 7″ includes Eager For Your Love, Baby Drugs (KCRW’s Todays Top Tune aka the track that introduced me to Tristen), and Cheatin (previously unreleased b-side).
Want a physical copy of Eager For Your Love 7″ and tour poster? Leave a comment with your favorite Tristen track and a winner will be randomly selected on 12/15 at 12pm.
More Tristen @ facebook, myspace, & twitter
35mmbeats, music

1 Year Down

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Wow. I’m usually not one to brag, but I’m feeling pretty accomplished today. What started out as a simple creative outlet, with very little direction, is officially 1 year old today!

Over the past year, I’ve learned that managing a music blog is a whole lot harder than people think. Other than the few collaborations with Brendan over at 35mmBeats, I’ve been at this by my lonesome, while at the same time working my day job and finishing up grad school.

There have been (more than a few) times when I’ve dropped the ball and posted pure rubbish and/or wasn’t able to make frequent or regular posts, but for the most part, I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished in such short time. I know there’s still a lot more to the music blogsophere I have yet to grasp, but I really feel like I’ve got some good momentum going and I look forward to the future of this little creative outlet of mine.

Thanks to Brendan/35mmbeats, I wouldn’t have started this blog, had you not started yours. Thanks to all/any of my readers (I think I have few out there) for thinking my thoughts and ramblings about music are worth a mouse click. And a big THANKS to all the bands/musicians/artists that continue to create music that excites, interests, and inspires me to write about it.

Here’s to many more years!

~ Billy/Concrete Opinions

p.s. since this is a music blog, here are some of the songs i’ve listened to the most since Nov 21, 2009

[mp3] The Big Pink – Velvet

video

Arcade Fire + Spike Jonze

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Arcade Fire and Spike Jonze recently teamed and released a short film for AF’s title track, The Suburbs. The film is shot by Jonze in a Texas suburb (not far from where Win Butler grew up) and chronicles a day in the life of some suburban teens. For those of you lucky enough to catch Arcade Fire on the band’s most recent tour, you’ll most likely recognize scenes from the film. For those of you not so lucky, here’s a taste of what you missed. (if player below does not work, visit the source)

music

FINALLY CHAMPIONS

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November has been (and continues to be) a fantastic month. My SF Giants finally brought home their long-overdue World Series Championship, I finished my final grad school project (with a month to spare!), Concrete Opinions will be celebrating it’s 1 year bday next week, and my wife and I will celebrate our 3 year anniversary!!!
To celebrate the Giants big win, True Panther has released a World Series themed compilation of SF bands. Finally Champions features the likes of Girls, the Fresh & Onlys, Sonny & the Sunsets, Magic Bullets, oOoOO, Young Prisms, Ty Segall, Nodzzz, and more.
The comp costs a mere $1 and all proceeds benefit the charity San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness. You can stream and/or purchase the entire comp below. (if the player doesn’t work, try the source.

Expert Music Lover//Amateur Music Blogger