GlitchNYC

I just uploaded my 4th gameboy music track, “All of Us.” It took a LOT of revisions to get me happy with this one, but I was able to bend it to my will and I’m really digging the second half. I’m going more in that “soundtrack-style” direction for my next song. I’m determined to finish my album, but I can’t decide how many tracks that should be. 12 seems right, but I might stop before then if I feel finished.

In the meantime, Noel Hidalgo go in touch the other day to ask if my music was free to use under a Creative Commons license, which it most certainly is - the super-permissive “Attribution” license that simply asks for credit with no other restrictions.

Since that means anyone can use my tunes in anything they want, he grabbed a copy of “Underclocked” to use in his latest episode of Taxinyc.tv - his new videoblog about becoming a taxi driver (also known as a “hack”). Here’s the episode, where he finally cuts off the hair and beard he grew during his last project:

I’ve spent some more time with the Gameboy and Nanoloop that Bre lent me, and I think I’m starting to get the hang of this thing.

Here’s the track:

• Underclocked
  • also available in “delay mix” and “Under-Underclocked” flavors.

My second effort on the gameboy takes the tempo down a few clicks and I dig into creating some of the fantastic vibrato-infused melody lines that I loved in the scores for games like Zelda, Metroid, and Megaman. This one also comes in two non-purist flavors, one with a delay added after the fact to give it a rich techno goodness, and an “under-underclocked” remix transposed down a few keys to make it a bit more suitable as background music.

Feedback is definitely appreciated - do you like the purisit, straight from the gameboy versions better, or do you prefer the slightly richer, worked sound of the remixes?

Next up, I’m challenging myself to write something uptempo in a major key. I love Bubblyfish’s song “Ah!“, it makes me feel like I’m playing a colorful, slightly hyper videogame!

I’ve just uploaded my first real song made on a vintage Gameboy from 1989 using Nanoloop. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

All songs are released under a Creative Commons Attribution License, please feel free to use them in your projects, podcasts, videos, or whatever you like, just be sure to let me know so I can link back to you!

Common Ground, the nonprofit charged with solving homelessness where I worked for 4+ years before migrating to Clipmarks is working together with Jezebel Music to create an excellent event in Brooklyn this Friday.

I haven’t been out to Brooklyn in a while! Is anyone free Friday evening? I’d love to see you, and the cover charge for this event ($15 for a TON of bands) goes to support Common Ground. You get great music and the opportunity to contribute to a great cause!

Drop me an email if you’d like to meet up there.

SPECIAL: THE SECOND ANNUAL JEZEBEL MUSIC BENEFIT SHOW FOR COMMON GROUND
Friday January 19th at North Six
66 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY
$15.00 - Tickets available at Ticketweb.com

For the second year, Jezebel Music presents a Benefit Show to support Common Ground’s work to end homelessness. This year’s event will support Common Ground’s new green initiative, which will incorporate eco-friendly design elements in its affordable housing residences. The benefit showcases past Jezebel Music Monthly Features, bands who have achieved acclaim as an independent act. Tickets are on sale now with all proceeds going to New York City’s homeless.

8:00: Via Audio 8:45: Black Bunny 9 :30: Leah Siegel 10:15: Jaymay

11:00: Lowry 11:45: The Black Spoons 12 :30: Proton Proton 1:15: Sexy Champions (Dynasty Electric)

After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus.

From BrooklynVegan.com:

After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus.

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney’s final dates

Jul 29 Mellwood Arts Center, Louisville,KY

Jul 31 Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia,PA

Aug 01 930 Club, Washington,DC

Aug 02 Webster Hall, New York City,NY <- Tickets still available as of June 27th

Aug 04 Lollapalooza (Grant Park), Chicago,IL

Well, MySpace was down this morning, so I did a Technorati search for GlitchCast this morning and found this really nice article by podcast reviewer Al Gritzmacher.

“But if you wanted one podcast for the holidays. One that stands out above all the rest and can be listened to over and over, I recommend the Glitchcast Holiday Special. Eric and Sara Skiff of New York City put out this podcast, which I have only started listening to recently.

Their Christmas Special puts all the essential podsafe songs together in one tastefully arranged and thought out order. Their introductions are low-key, appropriate for the season and heartfelt, making it truly a pleasure to listen to over and over. Burn this one to a CD and give it as a gift to a friend you are trying to explain podcasting to. It�s a shining example of what podcasting can be.

I hereby declare the Glitchcast Holiday Special #12 the Best Christmas Podcast of 2005!”

Thanks Al - that’s the nicest thing anyone could have said. Glad to hear people are enjoying the show!

I’ll definitely be checking out Al’s live music podcast, if you like our show, give it a listen

Well, after about 3 years of blogging here, I’m starting to take a look at what this site is about and why I do it.

Yes, it’s reached that time, I’m posting the inevitable blog about blogging…

Many of you have probably noticed the new influx of “daily link” posts. I’ve decided to experiment with splicing in my del.icio.us links. I generally annotate these pretty well, so I consider them mini-blog-entries, and I know that people have been writing me and talking to me about them, so they’re being found useful. I intend to continue doing my normal long-format articles here and there, but I enjoy seeing what other people find interesting, so I think I’ll keep the del.icio.us posts around for a while. Let me know if you hate them at webmail2004 A T glitchnyc.com

The podcast has been keeping me mighty busy, and it’s been a lot of fun to talk with so many great artists and get permission to play their stuff. I’m really really happy with the holiday special as well. It runs about 40 minutes and is all great podsafe holiday music, so it’s perfect for burning to CD and playing around the house over the holidays. Give it a listen, especially if you haven’t checked out podcasting yet. You’ll be amazed at how outstanding these indie + under-appreciated artists are.

We’ll be heading to CT and Upstate NY for the holidays, and I’m really looking forward to the vacation. I love this season, especially when music is an integral part of it. Thanks to the podcast, for the first time since I was last in a choir singing holiday tunes from September on through Christmas, I feel like this year has really milked the season for all it’s worth.

Well, there’s a lot happening here at GlitchNYC, but most of it is currently happening just off the beaten path. GlitchCast 009 features a great interview with Veronica Varlow and Burke Heffner - take a listen. If you like what you hear you can subscribe to the feed using juice and get the show delivered to you whenever there’s a new episode.

Also, I’ve just set up http://geekquiz.glitchnyc.com to host a quizshow for podcasters. Podcasters can download the show (or subscribe to the feed) and play along on their show to see “how geeky they really are”

They say that you shouldn’t publicize your first 5 podcasts. Well, I was absent the day they taught that rule, and although there’s been some mistakes and we’ve already learned a lot, I think there’s some amazing stuff “in the can” as we hit podcast number 6.

Here’s the post from GlitchCast 006, which Sara and I recorded saturday. Tune in over at http://www.glitchnyc.com/GlitchCast if you’re not listening yet and find out why radio is obsolete.

Sara joins me at “Studio 505″ as we review more great podsafe tracks - this time found by listening to some of the other music podcasts such as indiefeed and the amplified podcast.

• Candy Butchers - What to do with Michael
• Nobody’s star - Memory of You
• bill - Sound Scientist
• Low country - Lord I want an exit

Not subscribed yet? You can Listen to the show here

If you’re new to podcasting, you can subscribe to the show’s feed and have it delivered to your computer automatically whenever there’s a new episode.

• http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlitchCast

For subscribing to podcasts, I recommend the free and open source (and newly renamed) Juice (formerly iPodder Lemon - they “squeezed the iPodder out of their name, what was left was Juice!”). You can also search for “GlitchCast” in iTunes.