December 2011
2 posts
2011 Wrap-Up Mix
A confession: my annual wrap-up mix this year has exploded beyond the length of a CD. When Sam Smith told me about his yearly mixes when we first met in 2004 his rule was that they ought to fit onto a burnable CD. This is the first year I’ve broken the rule. I think the world is ready for it.
These include songs by some friends new and old, bands I’ve always loved and bands I’ve...
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Best Albums of 2011
These are my picks for 2011. I loved this year in music. My “flow” of listening became smoother — Rdio is still my preferred discovery platform and buying vinyl still satisfies the collector and the desire to support. Spotify is there to fill in the gaps, but I can’t stand the user interface. It’s a wonderful time to have first world problems like deciding which...
May 2011
1 post
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“On A Friday” ended up on 2007’s...
December 2010
2 posts
2010 Wrap-Up Mix (Friends, Singles, More!)
My second mix for 2010 includes a few more songs from my best albums of 2010 list but it also includes some singles that I think rule as well as music from my friends who, of course, also rule. It’s a 22 song powerhouse, so settle in, kiddies.
You can listen to a stream of the mix on 8tracks for free.
You can just go for it and preview/buy the mix on iTunes.
Two of the songs...
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Best Albums of 2010
I’m going to be posting my 2010 wrap up in a few parts this year. Here are my picks for best albums of 2010.
In other posts I’ll put up a 2010 mix playlist for you to enjoy, highlight albums my friends made this year and then sweep up some 2009 albums that saw their day in the sun for me in 2010.
I’ve linked to youtube videos for a single from the album in question as well as...
November 2010
1 post
July 2010
1 post
June 2010
1 post
Un-"Fair" practices at Ourstage?
The first record that I was given the opportunity to produce was “Momentum” for Lisa Piccirillo. Together with our team at The Co-Op, we’ve worked hard from day one to make the songs great, the record great, and to help Lisa continue to pursue her career.
So it was with great optimism that she entered the Ourstage.com competition to get a slot on a side stage at Lilith Fair in...
April 2010
3 posts
Yep.. The secret is OUT. Officially retire this... →
don’t know about retiring the chord structure, but I used to do this with the medley I did on the road…they do it much better. I never explicity said why it worked, but the audience always went nuts.
(via maybeitsjustme)
one forty plus.: Twitter Isn't "Over", I'm Over... →
It was cool to be there for Mayer’s interview at the ASCAP expo. I’ve been feeling a bit personally ambiguous about twitter myself recently. Sam Smith and I had some good, deep technology talks out on the road a few weeks ago. I’m definitely taking a close look at my relationship with technology. So, apparently, is John Mayer. So should you?
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Introducing The Midnight Society
We will be performing new songs written by Zac Clark, songs written by Syd and a few classic rock covers for your enjoyment.
Join the facebook event here.
See you there.
November 2009
1 post
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on key commands in itunes and ratings
I like to rate songs, but iTunes doesn’t have any built in key-commands to make rating a song a simple flick of the wrist.
I used to use Synergy to control itunes playback and allow me to have system-wide ratings key commands for a while, but it sucks up system resources, and paying for software just to have system-wide ratings key commands? Seems a little excessive.
So, with many thanks...
October 2009
2 posts
why I use tunecore
I was just about flooding my friend Christopher Dallman’s twitter stream in response to the very simple question “do you use tunecore for digital distribution as well?”
I had earlier recommended he check out their short run CD program. It doesn’t yield the most spectacular looking product, but they’re fine, and I’d much rather go small batches at a time these...
We had some great entries for the Syd Remix Contest over at Remix Comps.
The winner is: Giulio Maddolini: listen
The runners up are:
Lerry Müeller: listen SatisfiedScientist: listen
The winner will be a part of the Syd Upswing Remix EP, to be released digitally. We’ve decided to give the runners up a prize as well. They will have the opportunity to remix the other songs from the...
August 2009
2 posts
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For those of you that were watching the stream...
East Coast Fall Tour // Remix Contest // FuseTV →
LINKSsyd on myspace | syd on twitter | the official syd site | the co-opHELLO FROM SYDWhile the summer days rain themselves stupid on the east coast, I’m in that perpetual meteorological pur…
July 2009
4 posts
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touring in "this economy"
This is not a story about how much it sucks to tour. This is a story about what I’m going to do about it.
So, first it was gas prices, and that was the story, and that sucked, because we’d go out and be on the road for a couple of months and our gas bills were doubled and when your margins are so narrow, that extra expense really hurt. But at that time (let’s say 3 years ago) at...
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the facebook debacle.
I just posted this simple tweet earlier today and have been getting a lot of people wondering wtf I’m talking about so here it is:
When I first joined facebook, I just joined using the name everyone knows me by. Syd. It’s what I’ve been called for years. By everyone. My family and friends found me on facebook that way. But then, so did fans. And I thought that was great, because...
[Syd] The Pattern Remix Contest! | Santa Barbara... →
THE PATTERN REMIX CONTESTSummer is here and that usually means long, lazy days with nothing exciting to do. Well, we’ve come along and created something that’s bound to keep you busy. For all you out…
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The Pattern Remix Contest!
Summer is here and that usually means long, lazy days with nothing exciting to do. Well, we’ve come along and created something that’s bound to keep you busy. For all you out there who have the desire to put a new spin on an existing song, listen up. Have you ever wanted to step behind the mixing board and tweak what you’re hearing? If you have a remixing hat, or are trying...
June 2009
3 posts
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a note to my cunhado re: Siamese Dream by The...
Oh shane. You have walked into something and you don’t even know what it is. It’s a room filled with leather and velvet and cool cigarettes that don’t kill you and men wearing rings and not giving a shit what their parents did. Because here’s the thing, Billy Corgan, let’s admit it, now I know, he’s a fucking toolbag. He’s a sanctimonious prick and an...
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advice from patrick thomas before I started...
When I started writing the tunes for what would become “Upswing” I was turning to my friends and asking for writing assignments, anything to guide the direction. Here’s some advice that someday Patrick Thomas will be able to charge a premium for.
Do a chorus every day for a week, after you finish that week, start writing a verse a day to a previous chorus as well as a new...
May 2009
6 posts
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Computer--engage.
So wolframalpha’s beta launch was today. And listen, I don’t know anything about this guy. I haven’t googled the whole thing to death or anything. I simply heard about it on twitter, watched the screencast, and have been playing with it for an hour.
But it strikes me that wolframalpha is actually The Next Big Thing. It’s the next google, facebook, etc. And the reason for...
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multitracks and deep liner notes in the modern...
Mark Hoppus of blink182 posted a track sheet from the tracking of their hit “All The Small Things” (a song that is 10 years old now!) on his blog and on twitter today, and studying it while I listened a few things struck me:
a. that record is so ridiculously simple compared to the modern punkpop that’s out there, it was recorded to tape and that limitation serves the songs...
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last.fm/blip.fm/8tracks/itunes - working together...
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the way I listen to music, about the way that I want to experience music within my community and the tools that are available to help me do that.
First of all, we all know the cloud is coming. The day that the internet is your ipod draws ever nearer, and someone at Apple has probably figured out a way to own that and sell it back to us and make us...
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may newsletter [Fall Tour Planning | Interview |...
Happy May!
This is a big month everyone. I will celebrate my birthday at the end of the month but that celebration will be greatly overshadowed by my wedding just a few short days before! So while I go do that I just thought I’d take a minute to update you all on goings on over here.
FALL TOUR PLANNING UNDERWAY—YOU CAN HELP
We’re planning our east coast fall tour (maybe to be followed by a west...
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#balderdash on twitter with @timblane
Yesterday we decided to start playing the game Balderdash on twitter. We’re not really sure how you win, or what the point it, but it is pretty damn funny.
Here’s a stream of yesterday’s #balderdash game, from the bottom up.
My favorite? mattyork’s. so, I guess, the “winner” is “when weak dimples end up becoming like dominant dimples. Sad….. every...
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08 was great. (an 8tracks mix)