Back in NY (aka Post for Maggie)

Well, I'm back in New York. SXSW was a blast! A whirlwind weekend of djs, panels, new friends (and old), and fun. I had the pleasure of meeting many inspiring professionals (Brian Malouf, Marian Goodell, Ashley Capps, to name a few) and a handful of my favorite DJs (Skrillex, Adrian Lux, Le Castle Vania) while catching up with some Columbia folk and running around Austin.

After 4 straight days of morning-to-afternoon panels followed by evening-to-morning showcases, parties, and concerts I was beyond exhausted and not quite ready to return to the real world but more inspired than ever to keep on trucking through the music industry.

The countdown to SXSW 2012 has officially begun.

Austin, TX

Made It To Austin!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

SXSW Prep

In preparation for SXSW next week I've been listening to every showcasing artist listed as either a dance, DJ, or electronic artist, and some of the hip hop/rap artists. I've discovered a few things:

1. Despite the thousands of crappy artists out there that us music fanatics are subjected to listen to as a result of being handed homemade EPs, attending two-to-six shows a week, and a general inability to turn down hearing a new aritst because maybe - just maybe - they will rock your world, there are some amazing musicians out there. Thank you, SXSW, for weeding them out for me so that this process has been overall enjoyable. I know I'm shockingly behind on some of these discoveries, but bear with me - some notable musicians worth pointing out pre-SXSW follow (note: I've only gotten through L on the SXSW list):
• Afrojack
• 12th Planet
• Badbwoy BMC
• Black Milk
• Dillon Francis
• Eclectic Method
• Gobble Gobble
• High Rankin
• Le Castle Vania
• Lynx
2.  Soundcloud and Bandcamp have proven to be the best method for getting the average schmo to hear your music. I consider myself a pretty average schmo... or maybe I'm just above average in terms of how deep I will dig to find an artist's music. MySpace has never been the best platform and now that they require users to sign in after a certain number of listens in order to continue listening to full-length songs free, the site is even less appealing.
   
   Second, whereas MySpace takes ages to load a page, Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages load quickly so I can click "play" within 2-3 seconds, which is how I'm ultimately going to judge your music. Yes, a brightly colored background that says "We play synth keyboards and have fun!" grabs my attention but at what cost? If I can't hit play within twenty seconds I'm onto the next artist. (Think that sounds harsh? Try waiting twenty full seconds for a webpage to load. You will see it's a generous amount of time.) Both Soundcloud and Bandcamp offer great features. I won't go into detail, as that isn't my purpose here, but they include unique listener commenting options and easy free downloading (should the artist choose to enable it).
3. Did I mention how much I hate MySpace?

Not Quite New York-Related but Exciting Nonetheless

 

Yes, I will be volunteering in Peru this summer! Any travel tips in the area - please send my way!

I Won't Let Go At Any Price

OMD @ Terminal 5.

Oh Land

Central Park

Edit: I decided to do my homework in Central Park on Saturday. It was supposedly 60 degrees so I eagerly headed out with a towel, a sandwich, and my math book. The temperature must have dropped on my way over because I ended up shivering through four lessons of math! But I managed to snap this great view of some city buildings towering over a patch of snow in the park.

Produce stand running at 1:15 am? Yup.

 Edit: I walked 25 blocks home from Union Square. The streets are crawling with people, even at 1:30 in the morning, and most of them are just starting their night. This is definitely not L.A.

April 30, 1789

Where Washington took his oath as first President of the U.S.

Venti.

#starbucks

It's the little things that count. Like this morning's Starbucks cashier not charging me, and then super-sizing my drink. Shout out to you, my friend! After 4 hours of sleep, you made my work day a good one.

Yes.