New Site, New Music

Happy July, everyone.

Despite having been in business for two years now, hosting a Web site loaded of marketing jargon was never at the top of our todo list.  We’ve been focusing our time on building tools that promote an artist’s brand, not promoting our own.  But having a Web site that was “just a blog” and hearing at least weekly, “I went to your Web site and I still have no idea what the hell y’all do,” was getting less defensible by the day.  So…

We’re very proud to present to you the brand new Topspin Web site, featuring more detailed explanations about Topspin’s mission, software, and services.  Please take a look around, join the mailing list, sign up for the green room, buy a t-shirt (or 10), and let us know if you find anything amiss.  Thanks to Patrick, Peter, and Gary for their work on this site in their spare time over the past month, and to Jenny for helping out with the WordPress skinnage (the site may not be “just a blog” but it is still 100% WordPress).

I’m also proud to present to you an incredible list of releases from the past month or so.  The list is too long for me to go into detail on every one, and there are certainly more releases I’m forgetting (apologies!), but take a read and a listen to the below. Hopefully you’ll get lost in the music and find a few things that suit your fancy enough to support the artists behind them.

John Forté – StyleFREE the EP
Hip hop fans will remember John Forté as the incredible talent who co-wrote and produced a couple of tracks on Fugees’ The Score and whose career was cut too short by a jail stint.  This year at SXSW John returned, opening for Talib and holding the audience rapt with nothing more than an acoustic guitar.  John has made a truly original record, full of live instruments and heartfelt lyrics delivered with the skills of a true hip hop veteran.  It’s an honor to help John deliver direct to fans his first recordings since his release, the incredible StyleFREE EP.  Please take a listen and spend the $5 on the download.  Very worth it IMHO.

The Dandy Warhols Are Sound
The Dandy Warhols said it best here:

“Long story short, or if you just got to our party, late 2001 and into 2002 we recorded an album’s worth of tracks here in Portland and took those tracks to New York’s Electric Lady Studios to mix with famed mixing engineer Russell Elavedo, and the result of those mixing sessions was The Dandy Warhols Are Sound. We absolutely loved this record. However, Capitol, our label a the time, did not. They opted out of using our preferred mixes and remixed the record on their own to create Welcome To The Monkey House, a great album that we, and most of you, also love…Now finally, after almost seven years, on July 14, 2009 The Dandy Warhols will be proud to present to you The Dandy Warhols Are Sound.”

In many ways this release embodies the trend in how records are made the direct-to-fan channel is making possible.  As I paraphrased Rodney Crowell in a blog post a few months ago: “In the past we made music for radio, in the future we will make music for our fans.”  Anecdotally I feel this happening already (is the new Wilco album — and the awesome cover — the sort of thing their label would have encouraged them to make ten years ago?).  This Dandy Warhols record is a stark example of this trend.

Yim Yames – In Tribute
Speaking of long-lost recordings seeing the light of day, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James has released an EP of George Harrison songs he recorded in 2001 under his solo moniker, Yim Yames.  Again in the artist’s words:

“The following are a selection of George’s songs I recorded back in 2001, a few days after he passed that were moving me so very much at the time… I recorded them live at above the Cadillac in Shelbyville, KY… On my cousin John’s “ol faithful” Fostex 8 track reel2reel, then overdubbed a banjitar or b. vox here or there. I find comfort knowing that all things must pass, but that as all things do pass their spirits are still out there moving us somewhere… doing what they do, just as real as they ever were in this physical world…I hear them singing and I feel them in my blood.”

Proceeds from the album will go to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

West Indian Girl
In still more rarities news, we’re proud to have West Indian Girl’s B-Sides and Rarities record being delivered via Topspin’s platform. Listen and buy it here. Very notably, they’re using the Topspin platform to run a contest to give away VIP tickets to their shows, all you have to do is share their music with a friend. See here for details.

Dave Holland
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge jazz fan, so it’s been a bit of a sore spot for me personally Topspin hasn’t yet covered more ground in jazz, a world ripe for direct-to-fan distribution.  It’s been fantastic to start working with Dave and his forward-thinking team, and we’re very excited for what they have planned.  Head on over to Dave’s new site, grab the free MP3s of this incredible sextet, and get ready for what they have coming this fall.

Fanfarlo – Resevoir
Hopefully you’ve heard of Fanfarlo by now, and if you have there’s a good chance the “buy our album for a dollar through July 4th” promotion had something to do with it.  When we first started with Fanfarlo they’d sold just a few hundred albums in the US and when the promotion was done, well, let’s just say it was a lot more than that.   They primed the pump with an incredible offer and because the album is truly fantastic, the kind of album that people send to their friends and say “you have to hear this”, it’s spread like wildfire.  Now they’re selling excellent deluxe editions (I’m told they’re even better than the beautiful handmade ones they were selling at Rough Trade last month) as well as the basics.  Highly recommended.

Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
If you’ve lost touch with the great Ill Communication, now’s a great time to reconnect, with an incredible sounding remaster available immediately in lossless digital audio as well as a limited edition box set and t-shirt.

Last week Trent Reznor tweet’d:

and wrote this blog post regarding his advice for artists.  We immediately dropped to our knees and did the “we’re not worthy” thing, but then got up, dusted off, politely said thank you, and got back to work.  Of course it’s incredibly rewarding to work so hard and get recognition from someone we respect so much.

But really, credit on this Beastie Boys project goes to not only Adam Bates and the great folks helping him in Topspin Artist Services, but to Jon, Greg, and Prod in Boston (who designed the beautiful Ill Communication site), and to the Beastie Boys themselves, who since literally the dawn of the WWW have been not only making great records on the cutting edge.  Not sure if you’ve heard, but with tongues firmly in cheek as per usual they’re claiming their new record will “save the music industry”.  In other words, wait until you see what we have coming your way this fall.  Next up: Hello Nasty, then the brand new record, Hot Sauce Committee.

SPIN Magazine – Purplish Rain
To celebrate 25 years since Prince’s breakthrough classic Purple Rain, SPIN had the likes of Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Of Montreal, The Twilight Singers, and more cover the classic album.  Available to SPIN readers as a free download here.

Patterson Hood
Patterson Hood from the Drive By Truckers has had a busy year. Not only did the Truckers make a great record with Booker T (!), but Patterson has released his long-awaited second solo record, via Topspin no less! As DBT fans, we are stoked to say the least. Buy it here.

Jonsi and Alex from Sigur Ros – Riceboy Sleeps
Jonsi and Alex from Sigur Ros have a new project called Riceboy Sleeps.  Get a taste from their site, new album coming soon.

Metric – $1 Singles Pack!
Metric are simply one of the best (and at times most controversial) stories in music in 2009.  Without a “label” they’ve had impressive sales, radio play, tv appearances, a sold out tour, and rabid fans proving when your music connects with an audience and moves people anything is possible.  But Metric didn’t come out of nowhere, they’ve been building this base for the past five years; their growth has been natural and organic.

Many new folks are getting introduced to the band through radio and tv at the moment, so they made the smart decision to offer a very low “young persons guide to Metric” package including a few singles and a video for the ultra-low price of $1.  One of the best deals on the Web.  Tell a friend.

Lenny Kravitz – Let Love Rule
I’m sure you’re already familiar with Lenny Kravitz’s classic Let Love Rule, but you may not know he just remastered and reissued it with a very special package available only from his Web site.  Head on over and pick up your lossless audio copy of this classic record now.  It sounds as good or better today as it did then.

But wait!  There’s more!  Be sure to check out new releases from Galaxie 500, All Smiles, and Wonderlick, live shows from Barenaked Ladies, the Topspin-powered stores from our friends at both Latent Records (Cowboy Junkies!) and Latchkey Recordings, and a special Travis Barker Remix of Eminem’s 3AM, only available when you buy an Eminem t-shirt from Eminem.com.

Oh and btw, our engineering team has been busy implementing the most significant improvements to our software in the company’s history, phase one released for our artists to use the first part of August. Will, for one, just gave me a tour of what he’s been doing for the past month tonight and it is NO JOKE.

Hope you’re having a busy and fruitful summer, too, and I hope to see you at New Music Seminar next Tuesday in NYC.

Sincerely,
ian c rogers
Topspin