Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Daytrotter Sessions: A Musical Haven
Daytrotter.com offers free exclusively produced EP-length performances by independent bands and musicians. There are currently over 1000 songs available from over 200 bands in the sessions and although I have only explored about 10-20% of what is available here, the selections and quality are remarkably strong and consistently good. And if something doesn't work for you, there is no risk because, as I mentioned before, the content is free. Samplers are okay, but one track, at least for me, is not enough to find out if a group is going to connect with me; the four or five tracks Daytrotter serves up is just about right. In addition to the sessions, many other bands have tunes available from their regular releases on interview and review pages from the site.
And I think it is notable that the site is more than just downloads. The illustrations of the bands are pretty nifty and help give daytrotter a kind of nice branding and vibe. The content of the features I have read show a real enthusiasm for indie bands and other expressive art forms.
I came across daytrotter from Wolfgang's Vault, the stream concert archive, store, and repository for Bill Graham's Legacy and home of dozens of FM concert soundboards that appeared on King Biscuit Flower Hour and other syndicated shows. Not all daytrotter content is available at Wolfgang's, but the sessions can be downloaded or streamed as individual content.
My approach is to download a few shows and check them out as a cluster to see what appeals to me. Some shows are by bands or artists I am familiar with such as Grizzly Bear or Jim White. But the beauty of daytrotter is that it is filled with what they call "your next favorite bands." Because of daytrotter, Yeasayer and the Dodos are currently likely to be in that category for me. All though my wife disagrees, I maintain you can never have enough bands.
The spirit of daytrotter is probably best described by the folks involved on the site, as in this August 2006 post describing the sessions.
These fine people – as they’re traveling through America’s heartland – take two hours out of their travels between shows to stop in for a Daytrotter Session at Futureappletree Studio One in downtown Rock Island, Ill. The name of the city is not ironic. They use borrowed instruments, play with their touring mates, utilize an often unkempt toilet, eat some food and then cram back into their vans for the last half of the drive. What they leave behind is a pile of ashes, sometimes a forgotten stocking hat and four absolutely collectible songs that often impart on whomever listens to them the true intensity that these musicians put into their art, sometimes with more clarity than they do when they have months to tinker with overdubs and experiments. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour – dirty and alive. We want you to make this your new home as it is ours. We promise that you will love it here.
A week or two ago in this web space, I celebrated My Damn Channelas a site that was doing most of the right things when it came to delivering entertainment content on the web. I also believe that daytrotter is another that will serve as a kind of a model as the web medium evolves. They have found a wonderful way to allow the Econoline van riding bands who play small clubs introduce themselves to us who have the interest but no longer stay up that late or have hours to spend talking to black t-shirted dudes at record stores to find out what is good and new. Thanks Daytrotter.
posted by well-executed buffet at 10:45 PM
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