rVibe Blog

We rolled out a preview version of our new service - rVibe|S80 this weekend and it went great!  rVibe|S80 is live concert video streaming from venues around the country. It’s very cool, and the quality is very high - particularly the audio.

 Five bands from Rehab in NYC and 3 acts from The Cutting Room in NYC kicked things off and it went great.  We also got great HD coverage of the events and we’ll offer those up later, once they are edited down. On Saturday we streamed Kelly Greene’s live album release concert and it was awesome. KG is a great NY rocker and The Cutting Room showcased her band and tunes - all perfectly captured by rVibe. People can also buy her album on rVibe, and will be able to buy this concert as well soon (we’re working out how that works).

We have  more events coming and are starting to get tons of interest from different venues around the country.  A great start to a revolutionary service! There will be lots of changes coming as we develop the service and learn a lot about what our users need. So please be sure to let us know what you want and we’ll work on it!

I personally love rVibe|S80. As a parent with 3 young kids and also a major live music lover, I can’t get out to concerts too often, but want to enjoy the spontaneity of a live event. rVibe|S80 lets me do that. I love it.

Sometimes keeping it simple does work best as this low-budget Irish indie proves. A man singing heartfelt songs meets a woman who is a pianist, and then they make beautiful music togeher.

Leadman of ‘The Frames’, singer-Glen Hansard shows he’s more than ready for a solo career and possible screen stardom. His unltra-poignant lyrics deepen the audience’s sympathies for the central character of he film, a street singer with real talent looking for a break (and some recording studio time).

Of course, any director would consider finding a naturally, charismatic unknown star like Hansard to be a real casting coup, but this film also features a second gem of a performance by Czech singer-pianist Markéta Irglová. As the emigrated ‘girl’ living with her mother and son, Irglova’s
character adds depth to the serendipitous relationship that occurs with the ‘guy’ (Hansard).

No complicated subplots, no games, no scripted banter, just raw emotion and feelings as exemplified in the many fine songs performed throughout the film. This is not a musical, but a film with songs that you won’t soon forget.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s Once duet “Falling Slowly” garnered a best Song nod, and now it has been confirmed that the duo will perform at the February 24 ceremony. This performance by the Frames frontman and his partner should be a bright spot in the notoriously long show

This will be a performance you will not soon forget!

Oakland, Cali based genre hoppers WHY? pull in assistance from Jimmy Tamborello on a pre-release remix of the we’re-not-sure-what-this-title-means track “By Torpedo Or Crohn’s,” from the outfit’s forthcoming Anticon 7″ The Hollows. Since the album’s a few months off, I’m not too sure how to ID Dntel’s fingerprints on this one, although an educated guess says he greased up that smooth and melodic wordless chorus a good bit. Yoni Wolf’s lyrics read like notes from the urban underground, a man bored of the sights and sounds of present day city-dwelling, served up with a nice slice of CAKE — and a Jeffrey Dahmer reference. I dig.

WHY?’s The Hollows 7″ is out 11/20 and the Alopecia LP is due out March ‘08 both on Anticon.

be sure to  pick it up and check it out

I have been following Nada Surf since around 2002 and ever since they came out with Let Go I’ve been hooked. Their new album Lucky really makes me appreciate the progression of this band.

While the album doesn’t deviate too much from most of their older work, it still kept me very interested. It leads off with the song “See These Bones”, which is one of the less popish songs on the album. The song still drags you in, and keeps you listening until the next track, “Whose Authority”. This song completely contrasts “See These Bones” with an ultra catchy power-pop sound, providing a fun listen.

“Beautiful Beat” is another solid track, with every instrument blending together perfectly behind Matthew Caw’s voice singing about the healing power of love and music in general. This is followed by “Here Goes Something”, a slightly more stripped down, but very upbeat sound.

The next song, “Weightless” starts to slow the pace down a little, leading into “Are You Lightning?” a fantastic, slow mix of piano and guitar that becomes one of the highlights of the album.

The pace begins to pick up again with the liveliness of “I Like What You Say” and it’s catchy rhythm. This pace is continued with “From Now On”, and “Ice on the Wing”, which is one of my personal favorites of this album. I don’t have any particular reasoning for this, it just seems that it’s beat and sound are extremely attractive.

“The Fox” is what I consider the high point on the album. While this song is less like any other on the album I feel it is one of the best songs the band has ever written.  The album ends, with “The Film Did Not Go ‘Round”. Caws’ voice croons about having to say goodbye to a love over a calm, captivating guitar.

Everything just seems to blend together amazingly well on this album. Not only the guitars, voices, and other instruments, but also the tracks themselves mix well enough that you can easily listen to the whole album without realizing it.

I was lucky enough to see Nada Surf play last night at Bowery Ballroom, and the show they put on was beyond belief. New fans, old fans all gathered around to hear one of the most talented bands out there today play a very diverse set list, satisfying all fans. If Nada Surf is coming to your town I HIGHLY suggest you go see them, this is a show you will not soon forget.

So I went to 2 Springsteen concerts last week, the 7th and 8th that I’ve been to in the past couple of years.  There’s just something about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that is truly great.  They seem to be having such a fun time on stage that it makes the whole audience feed off of that energy. 

I think a lot of the artists nowadays need to go to an E Street Band show and take notes on how to put on a concert.  There’s no opening act (they always play for over 3 hours), the setlist changes every show, and every member of the band gets the credit they deserve during the show.  Some artists these days are more concerned with looking cool and playing their top 40 hits every show than truly having fun on stage.

The E street band shows that it’s about the music and about the fans..not about the clothes, critics, or the media.

 -Seth