Preview | Moogfest 2014 April 23rd - 27th

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One sure-fire ways to tell Spring is on it's way, is to drop by Speakers in Code HQ and check out the daily festival training regimen we subject ourselves to beginning March 1 each year. This highly specialized group of stretches and exercises was developed by pioneering music blogger Morty Jancobsen, who as we all well know, was tragically paralyzed from the neck down at Lilith Fair 1998, after attempting to hippy dance to a Paula Cole song after downing a chili dog in the media concourse. We will never forget the plight of Morty, nor will we ignore the gift he's given all bloggers by developing a program to help us prepare for festival season.

This winter has been unconscionably rough, so we've been doubling up on high-impact exercises like "the EDM" which involves laying complacent until the beat drops, then freaking the fuck out. We've also been experimenting on some variations on Morty's stretch called "The Southby" which is basically a speed-walking exercise from room to room, mirroring the mad rush you experience trying to get from show to show at SXSW.

This year, we've incorporated a few new routines to prepare us for the quickly approaching Moogfest 2014 in beautiful Asheville, NC, which has historically celebrated electronic music in general. But this year brings many changes that challenge the typical definition of "music festival" most interesting of all, a series of daytime collaborations featuring the likes of Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound) as well as a class where Nile Rodgers will play selected pieces of his music and reveal his inspirations. Our workouts for these includes a mandatory all-staff rendition of the Soul-Train Dance Line.

The festival itself is jam-packed with triumphant technological talent, which includes 3 Kraftwerk concerts, M.I.A, Flying Lotus, Pet Shop Boys, Giorgio Moroder and Q - Tip.  But the list of bands we've covered here at SIC is too long to list in paragraph format, so here's a short rundown of Jam of the Day alumni that will be in performing:

Adult.
Avery Tare's Slasher Flicks (Animal Collective)
Black Dice
Com Truise
Dan Deacon
Dillon Francis
El-P
Escort
RJD2
Saul Williams
Wolf Eyes
YACHT

And that's just people who've made our JOTD list!  Many, many more are listed below. Check out the day and night lineups and if you're a non-blogger, make sure to scour the Pirate Bay to illegally download Morty's routine if you're planning to attend. Ticket info can be found here.

-Matt Smith

Preview | Moogfest 2014

Tweet

One sure-fire ways to tell Spring is on it's way, is to drop by Speakers in Code HQ and check out the daily festival training regimen we subject ourselves to beginning March 1 each year. This highly specialized group of stretches and exercises was developed by pioneering music blogger Morty Jancobsen, who as we all well know, was tragically paralyzed from the neck down at Lilith Fair 1998, after attempting to hippy dance to a Paula Cole song after downing a chili dog in the media concourse. We will never forget the plight of Morty, nor will we ignore the gift he's given all bloggers by developing a program to help us prepare for festival season.

This winter has been unconscionably rough, so we've been doubling up on high-impact exercises like "the EDM" which involves laying complacent until the beat drops, then freaking the fuck out. We've also been experimenting on some variations on Morty's stretch called "The Southby" which is basically a speed-walking exercise from room to room, mirroring the mad rush you experience trying to get from show to show at SXSW.

This year, we've incorporated a few new routines to prepare us for the quickly approaching Moogfest 2014 in beautiful Asheville, NC, which has historically celebrated electronic music in general. But this year brings many changes that challenge the typical definition of "music festival" most interesting of all, a series of daytime collaborations featuring the likes of Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound) as well as a class where Nile Rodgers will play selected pieces of his music and reveal his inspirations. Our workouts for these includes a mandatory all-staff rendition of the Soul-Train Dance Line.

The night will bring the festival itself which is just jam-packed with triumphant technological talent, which includes 3 Kraftwerk concerts, M.I.A, Flying Lotus, Pet Shop Boys, Giorgio Moroder and
 Q - Tip.  But the list of band we've covered here at SIC is too long to list in paragraph format, so here's a short rundown of Jam of the Day alumni that will be in performing:

Adult.
Avery Tare's Slasher Flicks (Animal Collective)
Black Dice
Com Truise
Dan Deacon
Dillon Francis
El-P
Escort
RJD2
Saul Williams
Wolf Eyes
YACHT

And that's just people who've made our JOTD list!  Many, many more are listed below. Check out the day and night lineups and if you're a non-blogger, make sure to scour the Pirate Bay to illegally download Morty's routine if you're planning to attend. Ticket info can be found here.


ALWAYS STRETCH.

10 to Spin | Clare Burson

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Photo Credit: Erica Beckman

Sometimes I think of how life must have been for you here
What life could have been like for you here
What life should have been like here with you

On November 9th, 1938, Clare Burson's grandmother, Helga Rabinowitsch, left Leipzig, Germany, for the United States. Rabinowitsch fled moments before the event now known as Kristallnacht, or "The Night of Broken Glass." Or, frankly, the beginning of the Holocaust.

Sixty-five years later, while on tour, Burson returned to Germany and visited her grandmother's home. She wrote "Magpies" about the experience, one of many songs off her latest album, Silver and Ash, about her grandmother's early life.

It's Burson's finest hour as a songwriter, an honest and beautiful tribute to her grandmother and family. I'm glad I found it.

On Sunday, Burson, who now lives in Brooklyn, will be performing these songs at Off Broadway. $10 will get you in the door, so don't miss it.

We're proud to have Burson take part in our 10 to Spin series on the eve of her Saint Louis performance. Enjoy.

I’ve never been a particularly future-minded person. The question: “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” has left me stumped on many occasions. Instead, I’ve been more oriented towards the past – somewhat less uncertainty there, right? I was a history major in college, historical fiction (and sci-fi) clutters my bookshelves, and my most recent batch of songs mines the past for its subject matter. With this in mind, I’ve picked out a collection of songs that revolve around memory, nostalgia, impermanence, and what was as opposed to what will be. I wish I had written them all! --Clare Burson

Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait

Big Star - Nature Boy

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric

Laura Veirs - Make Something Good

Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945 

Kathleen Edwards - Pink Emerson Radio [listen]

Elliott Smith - Between the Bars

Wilco - Kamera

Sam Phillips - Taking Pictures

Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow [listen]