Help out Mieka Pauley

Mieka Pauley is an artist that I really like. I first saw her when she opened for Citizen Cope a few years back at a show at Jammin' Java. In the large universe of female singer-songwriters she stands out, which isn't easy to do. So when I saw this email she sent out today I had to post it:

jul 30, 2007

hey -
I am in the process of recording my second album – and it's my first full album in seven years. my producer (and good friend) brian cassagnol and I are deep in these songs – I've never been this happy with my own music.
I'm doing this album completely independently. even though I'm working with friends who have been amazingly gracious with their time, I've had to ebay a few guitars along the way to cover the inevitable expenses (like making sure brian doesn't get evicted while working on the tracks ! haha ! no seriously.)
so. I'm indie. and I want to d.i.y. with you. if you pre-order the album, I can make the album I want to make and you want to hear. the more you give, the more you get – check out the levels I created for pre-ordering or sponsoring the album.
thanks so much for reading this, I can't wait to get this music out to you all.

- mieka

Its nice to actually get a chance to help out a musician since so many of us get so much joy from them. It also gives you a nice personal stake in the music, almost like a shareholder - of course without any financial gain on your part - but that isn't what should drive great art anyway. Because of this sentiment I have posted a Mieka banner on the side of this page (you might have to scroll down) linking you to her site. Check it out.

Here is a video of Mieka performing "Run" which is the song where the title of her new album was derived from:

Hops' Top 5 Albums of 2006

You know you’ve made it in the music business when you’ve received a nomination as on of Hops’ Top 5 Albums of the Year. On the latest Hopscast (Episode 10: Top of the Hops) I’ve played a track from every album on this list. For more information about why I included these tracks check out the extended set notes from Episode 10 on the Hopscast page (click here). I highly encourage you to check it out as it contains some things I forgot to mention on the show. But for now here it is:

Hops’ Top 5 Albums of 2006

1) Return To Cookie Mountain by TV On The Radio

2) Everything All Of The Time by Band of Horses

3) Modern Times by Bob Dylan

4) The Eraser by Thom Yorke

5) Every Waking Moment by Citizen Cope

There were a bunch of other great albums that could be considered for Honorable Mention, but I’ve played something from most of them throughout the year on the show. I hope you check out samples from each of these albums on the latest Hopscast and run out and buy them.

For a recap of my favorite albums from last year click here.

Hops Sells Out!

Ok, I didn't really sell out, but speaking of selling out have you noticed the shift in music on commercials recently? It has been a while since Nick Drake's Pink Moon appeared in Volkswagen commercial. Since then pretty much every Moby song is used in an ad, the same is true for The Stones and The Who. I don't think either of those groups needs to be selling their songs, but hey, that's their choice. Recently really good music (that is usually lesser known) has been popping up. Here is a sampling:

Such Great Heights by Iron + Wine (covering The Postal Service) selling M&M's - very odd
.. speaking of Postal Service, their original version of that song was used in a Kaiser Permanente commercial. Kaiser also used Times They Are A Changing by Bob Dylan, indeed they are. That is total crap and makes me cringe. It physically makes me ill to hear that song used like that.

Back on topic...
Say Something New by The Concretes was used in a Target commercial. They also just used a Badly Drawn Boy song as well. Son's Gonna Rise by Citizen Cope was used on a Pontiac commercial, but at least they put the song information right on there (like a video).

There are a ton more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to post more in the comments section.