Art

Check out the new album from David Byrne and Brian Eno. One of my favorite albums of the year. Legendary artists collaborating again in their new work,”Everything that Happens, Will Happen Today.”

I would have blogged about this two weeks ago when it came out, but I had to migrate my blog to a Wordpress server install with Media Temple and only found time to do so this labor day weekend.

Topspin had the honor of digitally shepherding this wonderful album out to the world. Listen to the full album for free in the player above and click-through to purchase. More offers include physical CDs, videos, films, digital art, lyrics, bonus songs, screensavers, and hard bound books. Go straight to the order page. The album feels like a tapestry of funky, soulful, gospel, rock grooves with a nice variety of tempo and melodies. It’s a classic. I’ve been listening to it over and over again, and it just keeps getting better. Wise men say talking about music is like dancing to architecture. Clearly I’m not doing it justice in words so click Play above and listen to your hearts content.

As the purpose of this blog is to give major props, I have to give a massive shout out to my Topspin team. Unfortunately, only one person reads this blog, so it’s a shame I couldn’t give the team a louder shout. We started working on David and Brian’s release less than two months before it went live. The team built significant, new systems and rose to the challenge to deliver a quality product and user experience. I’m blessed to have the pleasure and privilege of working with such an amazing team of music technology professionals. The bonus is that we’re having sweet fun in the process. We’re bringing our domain experience, sweat, passion, and love to what Topspin’s main man, Ian Rogers, call’s “God’s work.” Ian does a better job describing the story of the Byrne Eno release here. There’s so much more to do and improve on our end, and I’m super psyched to be working with this team for the long haul, the best I’ve ever worked with. I better stop gushing before someone hates on me for bragging about my peeps. But this blog is about Mad Respect. If you came here for excessive veneration, idolization, and mounting people on pedestals then you’re in the right place. If you came here to be snarky, I can’t help you.

Click play and enjoy the tunes!

Last weekend I went to the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, CA, and it was a blast. Fun in the sun, soaking in cool tunes, great food, colorful friendly people, and lots of fooling around and laughter. Thanks so much to Claire and Darin for making it happen for us. I wish we had the chance to hang out on Sunday, but we will make up for it. I was impressed by how well the festival was run given how many people and vendors in attendance. It was a high quality production so I wasn’t surprised when I learned it was their 30th anniversary. They’ve had some practice in making it a well oiled machine. Makes me happy to think about how far Topspin can go one day as we’re now approaching our one-year anniversary celebration in Venice, CA.

I was largely at the Harmony Festival because Giveback is powering an album download to raise money for the World Family, an Ethiopian health services center, to construct an irrigation tunnel to better sustain one of the more remote villages. More info on the Water of Life campaign is here.

I must say I love FreQ Nasty’s new Super Mario Remix with Heavy Weight Dub Champion’s Snared on the Water of Life album. I’m listening to it on our office sound system, and if I turned up the bass it would disintegrate the cinder-block walls. If we needed music to serve as an interstellar weapon, I nominate this track turned up to 11.

Damian Marley and David Starfire’s tracks rocked me out as well. They will be on my iPhone soon. I would post a link to the music but don’t want to defeat the purpose of the artists who gave their music for this great cause. You can get the tunes here.

One thing that really resonated with me was FreQ Nasty’s reason why this campaign is exciting from a macro perspective. I excerpted it from the Water of Life campaign site:

The idea that artists can use their music and art to help create positive change in the world is one that I feel really strongly about right now. At this point in time music is selling less than it ever has, yet remains a powerful cultural force and reaches a wider and more diverse spectrum of people than it ever has. As the means of digital distribution are essentially free, and the monetary worth of any given track moves toward zero, the idea of bringing music’s powerful cultural force to bear on the lives of real peoples to help them in a tangible way is little short of a miracle. To help the people of Gara Dima in Ethiopia by creating music in a studio in California brings down barriers for the artist, the fans, and the community itself, benefiting us all.

FreQ’s point is particularly salient in my pursuit of Topspin’s mission to help artists build their businesses. Particularly, in a world of free music with P2P, what other ways are there to manifest value in art? I think the point is that we shouldn’t take the current devaluation of music as a given and work to find new methods to move people into action and towards their checkbook or credit card.

Although I’m advising Giveback’s organizational efforts, as a regular citizen I was motivated to give more than I normally would for the Water of Life album because it was for a good cause, and I wanted the music specifically from some of these artists. My after the fact ROI for giving is large since I’m really digging the music. So much so that I had to blog about it.

As a warrior for the advancement of music and especially in trying to figure out how to generate meaningful revenue for artists, I feel even more inspired and excited to know that the future of how we are all exposed to new music and causes has yet to truly unfold.

Last Tuesday we went to the opening event of Antony Micallef’s “Impure Idols” art exhibit in Hollywood with our good friends Leena and Ameet. Thanks to Simone who got the special invites from Claire Joseph. I was quite moved, and the strong impressions I have of his art are still lingering in my mind. I appreciate the way he weaves in images of pop culture, random artillery, and children with his messages on the ills of consumerism. Leena has an interesting post with more on Antony’s art and the impact it has had on her own personal creativity. Definitely a very special night as we left with a renewed sense of expression and a committed intention to experience more of the contemporary art emerging out of the UK.

Long-live the creators. Inspired and inspiring beings who bless us with better ways, their art, and overall goodness.

A favorite example is this piece from Simone Schulz (Creature Coats on the Prowl in San Francisco). More at Muchhalas. An effort in memory of a dear lost friend Jay Muchhala, a beautiful, colorful man who motivated others by his example.