Marley’s set for the recent Red Bull Thre3Style DJ battle.  Competitors were given 15 minutes to do a party-rocking DJ set and were required to play at least three different genres of music. Download the mp3 below!

2011 Red Bull Thre3Style Routine (I Deed It) by Marley Carroll

Introducing B-Side Fridays.

Every Friday, Marley Carroll will share an previously-unreleased track, accompanied by a photograph from Troy Lehman.  Some will be unfinished sketches, some will be old songs, and some will be fully-realized new tunes. We’ll even throw in the occasional remix or extended  DJ mix from time to time.

Stay tuned to the Marley Carroll Facebook page and YouTube channel for updates.  Every track will be available for free download on Soundcloud as soon as it is released. Also, don’t be too shy to comment or shoot us an e-mail and tell us what you want more of! And without further adieu…

B-Side Fridays 01 “Outside” by Marley Carroll

I also made this BlackBerry spoof a few weeks before that.  Kind of a sarcastic send-up of a recent ad that sends me into fits, for some reason. The guy is just… I hate him, and I have no idea why.  So I had to do something.

Finally, the “shreds” phenomenon (first featured here) shows no sign of slowing down.  The latest variant of this meme is “Radio Disney” versions of hardcore metal tunes (Slayer, Cannibal Corpse etc).  This one isn’t mine, but it’s pretty amazing.

First, things are going swimmingly in the world of Melanaster Records.  I just returned from Trinumeral 10 in Miami, where I performed alongside Asheville favorite DJ Bowie, recent Asheville-by-way-of-Miami transplant Panther God, and national acts like Tokimonsta, Blackalicious, and Big Boi.  I performed the first night at 7th Circuit, holding it down outside in the beautiful Miami night air to a scattered crowd of engaged onlookers (that trance-like swaying state means you’re either bored or fascinated) while Otto Von Shirach’s sideshow / carnival / performance art electro madness raged inside the club.

It was not like this. Well, kinda. We definitely said, “I’m in Miami trick!” a lot.

The rest of the time I just enjoyed the myriad performances from all colors of the electronic music spectrum.  Everything from raw hip-hop (Blackalicious) to mashup party jams (Mochipet) to techy, aggressive dubstep (Heyoka).

October has a few more things in store.  First, there’s this:

(tiny poster = humble promo)

… where I will likely display more aggressive electro / house flavors for the people (huge sound system).  Next, this date will be special for Asheville:

November 3 2010

Keep it on the calendar.  And at the end of October, of course, there’s the brain-melting lineup at MoogFest, and though I haven’t yet committed to playing, I’ll likely end up at some after-party somewhere holding it down.

So there we are.  Since you have made it this far, here’s a special secret:

There will be a new Melanaster release in October.

xo,

Marley

Keepon is an interactive robotic toy designed to be used in social and behavioral therapy.  His simple interactions can aid in developing communication in kids with autism or developmental disorders.  He’s something of a YouTube celebrity (he stars in Spoon’s “Don’t You Evah” Video), but this simple drum exercise is my favorite demonstration.

Last week, The MountainX ran a cover feature called “The Body Electric,” focused on Asheville’s burgeoning electronic music scene.  The articles cover Asheville’s place in the world of electronic music (The Body Electric), the subgenres and styles of DJing (DJ Heroics) and the critical role of promoters and venues in growing the scene (Predicting the Weather).

Featured performers and interviewees include: Sonmi Suite, Panther God, Telepath, Cleofus Williams, Brett Rock, DJ Bowie, and Marley Carroll, in addition to promoters and artist collectives like Under One Beat and Low Frequency Ops.

Here’s an excerpt:

”

This is one of those music videos that makes you experience the song in an entirely new way.  Transportive, fantastic, beautiful.  Video directed by Allison Shulnik.

Fever Ray’s acceptance speech at Sweden’s P3 Guld 2010.

The backlash against excessive compression and loudness has already begun (see: fans petition remastering of Metallica’s Death Magnetic).  Hopefully in time we can bring back some dynamics to recorded music.

Check out the (awesome) trailer below, and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for information on the final release date!

The filmmakers are still seeking donations (it’s almost done!) – here’s how to help:

“
If you’d like to help us finish this film, take it to festivals, and ultimately to the big screen and DVD, please support us by donating. Every little bit helps!

Click on the DONATE tab at:
http://www.pelada-movie.com

Two soccer players take off around the globe exploring the other less glorified side of soccer: pick up games, impromptu contests that happen anywhere and between anyone.

“

I’m really into the idea of doing away with a lot of the “extra-musical” context of artists – where they’re from, what social scene is associated with them, whether your friends think their cool, what they wear, etc.  In an ideal world, you would just take music on its merits, but this is clearly impossible in the Internet age.  I’m certainly guilty of contextualizing artists outside of their musical merits – it’s one of the reasons I can’t stand to listen to Kanye West, for example.  It’s not that the music is bad, it’s that he’s such an incorrigible egomaniac that I dismiss it “on principle.”

Pandora seems like the closest thing we currently have to this kind of ideal, because it offers you music based on your taste, not that of your friends (iLike), major label preference (radio stations), or hipness (blogs).  Anyway, the article does a really great job of summing all of these thoughts, so here you go (click image for link):

Graphic : New York Times

This week I’ve been feeling completely overworked, co-opted, sickly, and cold (the temperature in Asheville has taken a swift nosedive on the way to “wintry”).  I decided to forgo what probably would have been a fantastic night of music on the town (both Bonobo and Bassnectar are playing next door to one-another) to stave off complete SAD burnout and recreate Jen’s “magic soup.”

And I did, and it was awesome.  I rarely have successes in cooking, so when I do, I have to let the world know.  Here you go:

Unflattering picture of the finished product. Photo credit : iPhone

Winter Soul Soup (The Healer)

• 4 tsp Better Than Bullion

• 1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic

• 1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (± according to preference)

• 1 egg, beaten (optional)

Directions : chop garlic and ginger.  Bring 4 cups of water to a gentle boil.  Add Better Than Bullion (4 tsp = 4 cups) and stir.  After broth becomes consistent, add garlic and ginger.  Bring to a rolling boil and slowly add the beaten egg (you’re looking for the feathery egg-drop-soup effect), stirring while you pour.  Lower heat to low / medium, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Finally, add cayenne pepper to taste and stir.

That’s it!  The ginger is good for digestion, the garlic is good for the immune system, the egg (my idea) adds a touch of protein, and the cayenne helps clear up your mucus membranes.  Makes 2-3 servings, and it’s probably unwise to down it all yourself (like I did).

Erykah Badu – The Healer

Not pictured : Marley Carroll

Solo DJ set this Thursday, October 15 at The Hookah Bar in Asheville. $3, 10PM.

Advanced DJ techniques, challenging music and and an inviting atmosphere!

Garfield Minus Garfield is a concept comic by Dan Walsh in which Garfield (the character) is removed from the strip, revealing Jon Arbuckle’s troubled inner life – his paranoia, loneliness and existential angst.  The comics are alternately bizarre, hilarious and thought-provoking.  The sampling provided here doesn’t really do it justice; click on the strips for more.

Josh Nimoy, 2009.

Josh Nimoy is an artist, designer, technologist and digital thing-maker that creates innovative aesthetic tools with custom software. He develops the code for use in his own commissions (music videos, ads, installations, performances) and makes some of them freely available for use and modification online. His CV is encyclopedic and includes things like writing custom code for use in the visual effects for the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” video (i.e. the biggest hit in the world at the moment).

The coolest thing about his work, and the reason I’m sharing it on the blog, is that many of Josh’s hand-rolled software toys are available for free download. Some of them are very inspiring and can be easily used as idea-generators for almost anyone – designers, musicians, graphic artists, or just anybody who wants a simple widget to make really cool images.

I certainly haven’t made it through all of them, but here are a few of my favorites:

Pinch (2008)

withDRAWal (2009)

GRL Graffiti Brush (2007)

“Movie making is a trick. Songwriting is a trick. If a song is done really well, the trick works. If not, people can see through it right away.” – David Byrne

Sometimes I feel like the more I learn about the craft of music, the more difficult it becomes to enjoy listening to it.  I’ve been feeling more than ever the difference between the enjoyment of music and the appreciation of music.  The latter is what’s taught at academic music institutions – teaching you how to break down, analyze, and reduce music to its essential components to help you decide whether a piece of music is good or not.  The former is the immediate feeling of a song washing over you – the visceral reaction that makes you smile, or cry, or move your body.

Therein lies the reason why I chose to pursue music in the first place.  I wanted to channel and pass that feeling along; I wanted to make people feel the way that I feel when I listen to great music.  I’m sure a small part of me wanted to figure out its underlying principles – the real techniques and knowledge required to compose and perform – but that’s not the reason why I chose to study music.

When I listen to music now, after years of study, I can’t help but try and figure out all of the mechanizations going on behind the scenes – what Byrne refers to as, “the trick.”  Whenever I hear a song, I try to strip away each element, slowly unraveling the yarn until I can say, “a-ha, so this is what you’re doing here.”  I can’t help it.  It’s every record-store-owner clichè: “yeah, I’ve heard that band.  All they’re really doing is combining [music x] and [music y].”  And in that instant, the illusion is shattered.  The trick has been revealed, the code has been broken, and the music can be dismissed.  It’s a total drag to feel that way, especially in the company of other music fans.  I often wish I could just turn off the analytical music-student part of my brain and just hear the music, rather than mentally deconstructing it.  I sometimes practice “un-learning.”

So, I then ask myself, what’s the value of music education?  Much of the time it seems like the purpose of music study is to learn as much as possible about the construction of music, at the cost of actually enjoying it.  When I extend that idea to other art forms, I think of the proverbial film student who can’t stomach a Quentin Tarantino movie because of it’s obvious references and plot elements snatched from movies past.  See, I really like Quentin Tarantino movies.  If I were a film student, would my enjoyment be any different?  And which experience would I chose to inhabit, that of the film scholar or that of the film lover?  It seems like knowing so thoroughly the behind-the-scenes methodology is to sacrifice your enjoyment of the art as a visceral, moving experience.  I choose to be a fan.

But still, there are ways in which education can actually enhance your enjoyment of music.  You can be immensely rewarded when you encounter the rare piece that’s stunningly constructed.  At that point, the analysis dissolves, and in that moment of hearing the song, you’re thinking of nothing else but how incredible it sounds, and how incredible you feel.  Totally awestruck.  There will always be moments like this, however rare.  No matter how many songs I hear, and no matter how much I learn about music-making, someone will make something that blows me away.  And the analysis can wait.