Keeping my Summerphones blog, reading up on Billboard, NME, Pitchfork, and various other blogs and music sites taught me a ton. From Spotify to Summer Tours to Warehouse Fires to Amy Winehouse's death so much has happened over the past few months in the world of music, as it always does and I got a taste for just how much news there is to report on. Plus, interning at Nettwerk taught me a ton from pitching songs for music licensing, to creating press kits to social media management for touring artists...
...All the while, I was writing songs for my own band, The Cables and even gigging a bit as Kara Ali along with Ursula Ellis and my good friend Rachel Naar around the Lower East Side. Fat Baby, Rockwood Music Hall---some fun stuff for sure.
In a few weeks I will be going back to Chicago for my final year at Northwestern, and my first year as president of Niteskool Productions, the student music group on campus. Along with being Outreach Chair for WNUR, rehearsing with The Cables again, and sound designing a few shows and movies, I will be planning a bunch of awesome events to promote student music. The first, being Rock at the Rock, which will have artists playing around NU's famed "Rock" in early October. Never thought I'd be ready to leave NYC, but I'm actually looking forward to all that's in store this year!
What better way to celebrate my return to Chicago than with a listen to Wilco's new album--The Whole Love--due to be released September, 27th.
But wait, their 8th full length album comes out the 27th? How could I possibly be listening now? Well, thanks to Pitchfork, I found out the album would be stream-able for 24 hours, today only and completely free on the band's website. (Still a few hours left, one more if you're in the Midwest so get on it people!) I am loving what I hear so far with a variety of sonically fulfilling sounds, highs and lows, with a mix of soothing down tempo folk melodies and catchy upbeat repetitions. The page features a spinning vinyl, with track names to the left as the album is played from start to finish. There is no skip option, no button but pause, and a simple thumbnail of the album artwork in the upper left hand corner. Not only does this give listeners a chance to listen the way the album was intended--from start to finish--but I would venture to say that it's an awesome promotional tool for the upcoming September release. Just as Radiohead released In Rainbows as a free download, and then decided to release King of Limbs days before its intended release date, the free streaming from Wilco only makes fans more excited. In the digital age, why not? 12 tracks and a bonus of pure bliss. Enjoy!
Expect even more intriguing sounds to be playing through Kara's Headphones.
Peace.Love.Music
Kara Ali
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