Changing Feeds in 2008!

Just another blog update for listeners out there!

In January my podcast host will change from Talkshoe to Podango. I will still be using the Talkshoe feed in January to give you all time to resubscribe to the new feed but by February I won't be using the Talkshoe feed any longer nor will I be using Talkshoe as my hosting site for the show.

So, I wanted to let those of you that subscribe through the Blogger blog RSS feed first. Next in January I'll be discussing this process a little more for other subscribers that get the show through Talkshoe or through some other means about the feed change.

Episode #8

Last show for December!

1. Dynasty
Kaze - I listen to the Indiefeed Hip Hop podcast and I hear a lot of excellent hip hip artists through them, like Kaze. I especially love it when they give props to the old R&B and soul artists like Curtis Mayfield by using clips from those good old soul songs. If you like what you heard from Kaze you can find him at his MySpace page. You can also buy most of his music on iTunes. He's a great artist!

2. Call Cupid
Kay B - He reminds me of Tyrese and is just as handsome as Tyrese too! When you want a good R&B song to slow dance to with your man or your girl this is perfect! I found this British artists through the podsafe music network. You can also find his music on his own MySpace page.

3. Please Stay
Mindy Smith - Like I've mentioned on another post I found this artists through one of the few terrestrial stations that still play interesting music and independent artists. I love Mindy's soft, melodic vocals. I think most consider her to be alternative country. She always makes wonderfully melancholic songs.

4. Always Love
Nada Surf - I first heard about this group through NBC's Heroes TV show, (one of my favorite shows) and I'm not embarrassed to say that. You can find a lot of great music through TV. I love finding new music through my favorite TV shows. This one's a gem from their album titled Lucky. Their newest album will be coming out ion 2008! You can find them at their official site and on MySpace and you can also find concert dates there too.

5. Five After One
Kmotive - I found this artist on the podsafe music network. He reminds me of The Dining Rooms. I really like him. He has mentioned Kenna, Postal Service, Massive Attack all as influences. You can find him on the podsafe music network and on his design website. He's a graphic designer too? Awesome!

6. When 6 Loves 9
Only Child - I have the compilation album Future Lounge 3 from Stereo Deluxe Records and it's one of the best compilation albums I own. Every song is a gem. Envision yourself with an ice cold martini in and relaxing on a leather couch in some nice pad or lounge and listening to this on a summer evening. Can you? I can! Only Child is really just one artists, Justin Crawford. You can find more about him or purchase his soulful tunes him here, here, and here. And here is a BBC interview with the DJ artist.

7. Ab Ke Baras
MIDIval PunditZ - I love the PunditZ. Been loving their work for years. They are so far out and delicious! If they are featured on a compilation album like this one they have some of the best songs on the album. The only one who tops them in my opinion is Cheb I Sabbah. This song comes from the 2002 Asian Massive compilation album from Six Degrees Records Travel Series. (one of the very best labels on the planet). I own a lot of Six Degrees albums. Yu can find them on their site a, Myspace and calabash music. On the Calabash site you can find free music downloads from them and from other world artists. Check it out! Hope you enjoyed the show!

See you next year!

Episode #7

Here is episode #7. Enjoy the show!

1. Keep Pace
J. Medeiros - I try to look for hip hop artists with a social conscience, artists that infuse important social or spiritual messages in their music. Medeiros makes great sounding music with a conscience. His commentary on today's world is always on point. You can find his music on his website. His new album, Of gods and girls, is excellent.

2. State of Emergency
Baba Israel and Yako - I respect artists that can make good music and inform people about their faith through that music. I found this hip hop group on the Podsafe Music network. It's refreshing when male hip hop artists make music about their faith in God rather than cashing in on cynicism, nihilism and hatred of women. You can find their music on their website, openthoughtmusic.com

3. It's Been Written - Overnite/Shifty
1st Supper - I enjoy music from 1st Supper. They are from the UK. I find most of their music for my shows on the podsafe music network. Currently their site is under construction and I don't know when it will be live but I think it's a good idea to bookmark it and come back to check often. If you want to contact them, they leave their email addresses on the Luv Productions site.

4. Acid Tokyo
KCentric - This artist's influences range from Medeski, Martin and Wood, PortisHead, John Coltrane, Outkast. Nice. You can find his work on the podsafe music network and his website.

5. Who Will Find Me?
DJ Shah featuring Adrina Thorpe - A beautiful song, if rather "techno like", it has a very lush sound that I like and Adrina's ethereal vocals make it even better. You can find more of DJ Shah's music on his MySpace page and on his website. Adrina's newest music can be found on her MySpace page. You can now purchase her music on iTunes!

Solipsistic Nation podcast promo.

6. Invisible Beatnik
The Other Chris Hardy - I found this artist on the podsafe music network and I love this song, the sound, the lyrics. Cool song! Look forward to hearing more from this artist in the future on the show. You can find this artist on the network , SoundClick and 3feetup.com.

7. Real Big Thrill
Whyjacks - Someone emailed me and told me about this band, Whyjacks. I enjoy it when listeners and readers let me know about other independent artists. That's the same way I found out about Grown Folks. Whyjacks make pop and acoustic music and they place a lot of importance on sound quality and craft. You can preview some of their music, and buy their music on their website and on the podsafe music network. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this band.

8. You Are Not Alone
Keram - I found this artists through Garageband.com. Alternative, folksy or acoustic pop music is one of my favorite kinds of music and this song's a good example of it. I really love this song. You can check out and preview a lot of his music on his Garageband site and also his artist website. He plays in a band called Blue Dog Pict. Check them out at their MySpace page.

That's it for this week. Cheers!

Episode #6

Up In Michigan
1. Grown Folks - Like I said last week, you can find their music on their MySpace page or on iTunes. They have a lot of great music out there. Check them out!

Travel With me
2. Arson Optics - I found this artist through KaiZen's MySpace page. Very talented hiphop artist and a cool site. He has several albums out. You can check out some streamed audio samples at www.arsonoptics.com. Travel With Me is a beautiful song. I especially like the soulful outro at the end. Real old school. It's from the album Austin2Boston.

Rebirth
3. A Forest Mighty Black - From my DJ Kicks compilation album. Every song on this album is a gem - but then I think that every album produced by Thievery Corporation is a gem! You can find more music from this group on CD Universe, eMusic discogs and compost-rec.com.

Holding the Moth
4. Underworld - I love almost everything from Underworld. This comes from their latest release. Preview the album on their MySpace page.

Palmistry
5. Tabla Beat Matrix - From the album Tabla Beat Science, this was the very first electronica album that I ever bought and it got me hooked on electronic music. I just picked up the album randomly and decided to give it a listen right in the store. From here I broadened out my tastes. They might do the same for you. Find them on Calabash Music and CD Universe.

Break: News about Arson Optics. You can find a concert video with him performing with KaiZen on YouTube. Check it out! Background song is Una Notte a Napoli by Pink Martini from their album Hang On Little Tomato. You can stream the whole album at their website. They're a local Portland band and they make cool music.

Balconey Cigarettes
6. Any Day In June - A cool artist from the podsafe music network, you can find his music there and at his website. His influences are venerable artists like Joy Division, The Cure, David Bowie, Jets To Brazil, Braid, Interpol, New Order. I can tell. Can you? You can find and purchase his music at iTunes, eMusic and you can find more information about his music on his MySpace page.

Closing In
7. Jon Beal - I found this artist on Garageband.com. Most Christian pop sucks. Hard. But every now and then I find a Christian pop music artist that makes great sounding music. You can find out more about him and his music on his Garageband.com page.

Come With Me Tonight
8. Bob Schneider - I've been a fan of Schneider's rock/pop/acoustic style for a long time. He's a multi-talented artist just like Bruce Springsteen. His latest album, Songs Sung and Played at the the Same Time With People In The Room, is a Folk/Americana album. I love artists that venture into other genres! This is one of my favorite songs by him. You can find, stream and purchase more music on his MySpace page and from his website. The website's really cool too. Not the regular ho-hum artist website.

It Takes a Thief
9. Thievery Corporation - I'll be playing more form this awesome group in upcoming shows. I think they make the best music on the planet - just my humble opinion! This song is on their DJ Kicks album.

That's it for this week's show. Hope you enjoy it!

Episode #5 - The '80s!

OK, not entirely but you get my meaning! I'm looking for more old school/retro sounding hip hop and pop artists! If you know of any let me know! Hope everyone got plenty of rest last week and remember - be thankful all year round for what you have, not just on Thanksgiving!

1. Lonely Out Here
ATL Producers - I really like this group! They make great music! They're from Atlanta, Georgia. You can find them on the podsafe music network and their webpage. They specialize in making a lot of different music for podcasts which is an excellent reason to check them out.

2. The Basis of Breakneck
Ben Base - This song kind of had that old school sound and I loved that! If you like it and want to hear more from this artist you can find his music on the Podsafe Music Network and his MySpace page. Check him out!

3. Man On Fire
Atlas - Atlas was influenced by the hip hop greats like Wu-Tang Clan and Nas and I think it shows. Like he says on his podsafe music network page, his music is straight forward with no frills.

4. My Prima Donna
Artificial Intelligence In Texas - A great new wave inspired song. This group is heavily inspired by groups like U2, The Cure, Joy Division, REM, Ramones, The Smiths. You can find their music on their podsafe page and their MySpace page.

Solipsistic Nation promo. This is a great show! If you love electronic music, check it out! News on an independent hip hop group that dropped me an email last week: Grown Folks. You can check out the music from this hip hop group at their MySpace page or you can find their music on iTunes. They have several albums and plenty of great songs to choose from on iTunes if you want to purchase their music. Background song is called Phantom Limb by local Portland, Oregon group, The Shins.

5. Swim To Me
101 - This group helped to breathe new life into the New Wave genre again by adding other influences into it. Check them out at podsafe music network and MySpace.

6. Lumen e Lumine
A Band called Quinn - Check them out on their podsafe music page
and their MySpace page.

7. Pulling Our Weight
The Radio Department - I love this song. It's one of my favorites! To be honest, I created this show as an excuse to play this song! You can find The Radio Department's music almost anywhere but especially at places like Last.fm and labrador.

8. Waltz For Koop featuring DJ Patife, remix
Koop featuring DJ Patife - I first heard music from this group on another non-music podcast. Koop is from Sweden. Their sound was so smooth and silky sounding that I was hooked. There are different versions to this lovely song. You can find more music from Koop at their MySpace page.

Episode #4

Here is the playlist for episode #4. Enjoy the show!

1. Luv Don't Live Here
1st Supper - This song is from their album Spiritually Connected. Again, like with a lot of music for this podcast I found this song on the podsafe network. For more songs from this UK group you can go to their PodShow page.

2. Minwitdropz
Bangout Productions - A fun song to listen to! Found on their podsafe network page. This hip hop group is from Alabama ( I have a lot of relatives there) and they site this web page (KhaoMusic.com) where you can find more news and info on other hip hop groups working with Kevin Khao Cates. Check it out. There's a lot of great music there!

3. Fillmore Dub
The Numb Project - I have this double album. One of the best electronica albums to come out in 2002. Chris Calarco is the name of this artist and he's a local artist. The album is called Soundbridge Sessions. The latest album out is called --. You can purchase both at CD Baby or mp3.com. If you like DJ Krush, you'll like this guy! The last time I checked he had his own website: www.thenumbproject.com. Doesn't seem to be up and running right now but maybe it was down for maintenance.

4. Louie's Last Stand
The Numb Project - From the same double disc album. I hope this artist comes out with another album soon. To be honest besides the website, which appears to e down, there isn't a whole lot to be found on this artist as far as I know right now. I did write a review of his album a couple of years ago. If you know about him or what he's doing currently email me or post a comment on the blog.

Break: audio quality issues, comments on the new improved Zune Marketplace and podcasts. The song played during the break is Eclipse by Kyoto Jazz Massive. Visit their MySpace page too!

5. Silberfisch
Pole - This song is on Pole's (Stefan Betke) third album, 3, the yellow album for people who might want to look for it in record stores. He's a long time favorite electronica artist of mine and I have the album. For some people Pole can be an acquired taste. Sort of like absinthe. Once the taste is acquired you really enjoy it and your appreciation deepens. Silberfisch is one of the more "accessible" songs on the album. You can find news on upcoming albums and remixes and concert news from this Berlin artist at http://www.scape-music.de.

6. ytinav
Dictaphone - Another minimalist group from Berlin that I enjoy. This song is from their album Vertigo II, released in 2006. You can find more current music and news from them at their MySpace page and their website.

7. Weightless
Royksopp - From Royksop's Melody AM. You can't go wrong with that whole soft rock-Ambrosia 1970's-1980's sound! I love it! Ok, it isn't exactly like that but it's kind of reminiscent of that sound in my opinion. Anyway they make great music! For more information go to their website.

8. Right On Said Jeebus
Hot Bitch Arsenal - I found this group through their Garageband page. I love this song. It's funny what you can find just listening to random stuff sometimes. You can find a lot of good music. Their website where all their news and happenings can be gleaned is at http://www.hotbitcharsenal.com/. They sound a lot like Portishead. I'd say that's a good reccomendation!

Hope you liked what you heard this week! See you next week!

Episode #3

It's amazing what you can find out there. I wonder why I never hear the artists in this show, or in the other shows on most terrestrial stations. You can just think of Urban Outside as an independent, internet version of a Z100 radio station - what Z100 ought to be but isn't.

1. All My Soul
Ques - An artist that surpasses most rappers and hiphop artists on the mainstream scene today, he has some of the best music you wanna hear. He even opens for popular artists like 50 Cent. But he's a whole lot better and more socially conscious. You can buy his newest album Open Book at CD Baby. If you want to hear more from this artist or find out concert dates, visit his MySpace page.

2. Possibilities
Amp Fiddler - I use one of Amp's songs for my intro and outro. This nu soul artist is the spaced-out, cosmic kind. He's like Medeski, Martin&Wood for Nu Soul and he's been around for a long time making great music! This dude used to work with George Clinton. You know he's funky! Catch his latest album and more info on music and concert dates at his website and his MySpace page.

3. Love, Love, Love
Lee Rogers - Lee reminds me a lot of Bob Schneider; he's a great acoustic/singer/songwriter artist. I think this song is beautiful. please forgive the awful, sucky mono sound quality. I found this song on the podsafe music network, which is also where I first discovered him. He's an independent artists that gets a lot of play from radio stations and has at least three albums out by now. He has a new website up where you can check out new music, albums and information about him.

4. Out Loud
Mindy Smith - I first heard her on Kink.fm (kudos to them) a few years ago. Kink still reserves air space for local and independent artists. One of the very few commercial stations to do this. Mindy Smith's more of a folk pop/alternative country artists but I love that kind of music anyway. You'll hear more from this genre anyway. You can visit her website here.

Promotion for Solipsistic Nation (you really should check this podcast out. It's awesome! I didn't add his promo to my own show for my health!). Information about artists Natalie Walker and Ques. Again the background music used for the break is called Elves On Patrol from the experimental jazz group Deerfoot. You can buy their album, Deerfoot, at CDBaby.com.

5. Slow Fade
Norwegian Lovebugs - I love the sound of this group. Found on the podsafe music network I've never heard of them before. This year they came out with a their debut album Love Bugs me. I hope to hear more from them because I already like what I've heard so far. They have a blog too but it's in Norwegian.

6. Crush
Natalie Walker - Melancholy, elegant, angelic voice - all of these things have been said about her music and these descriptions are right. You might have heard her music on shows like Ugly Betty and Big Shots. I've already described how much I like some of her songs in the show. Natalie is another artist I found through the Podsafe music network. Her website is chock full of music and information about past and up coming tour dates and concerts and tour projects. Check it out!

7. Always The Sun
Organic Audio aka Andy Spence aka half of The Freakniks - I bought this album because I wanted to hear Nurega, the track heard in The Fast and the Furious during the house party scene. But after having heard the entire album it's hard to decided which track is better. well, Always the Sun is my favorite track, obviously. It's an old favorite. Hope you enjoyed the show.

Episode #2

Here is Episode #2 with links and information on all of the songs played on this week's show. Basically the playlist:

1. Rize
Median - Maybe you've noticed a pattern? No? Well ok I haven't been doing this show long enough for anyone to notice a pattern but I really love Median! You can find this song on his MySpace page or his Last.fm page. Buy his album. Doesn't stuff like this deserve to be in your music collection?

2. Strong Man
KaiZen - I first of KaiZen on Fanboy Radio. He and Scott were talking about some up and coming projects from the RZA. Strong Man is the current song on his MySpace page. Also known as KingZen, you can find his work at the Arson Optics site along with many other independent hiphop artists. A gold mine of great music! I look forward to hearing more of his work!

3. Biodiesel Willie
2012AM - Cool, experimental band I found this song on the podsafe music network. They really do remind me of Wilco! You can find the song at the podsafe music network and for more information on concerts and album go to their MySpace page.

4. Move On
Ted Lumley - One of my favorite kinds of music is good pop. I mean really good pop music. Ted Lumley makes great music like that. Lumley lists the influences for his musical sound on his Garageband site and you know what? I would add to the list Bob Schneider, one of my favorite local artists. Well, ok maybe he reminds me of Schneider on only one song. This one. I really love this song. Beautiful melody! Check out Ted Lumley on Garageband or MySpace!

Break: info about podsafe music network artists featured on this episode, .22 and 2012AM. Background music for news break was from Deerfoot. The song was called Elves On Patrol. Deerfoot is an excellent experimental jazz band from Canada. If you liked that song check out their band website and preview or purchase their self titled album Deerfoot.

5. Peter and Jane
.22 - Interesting name for a band. Reminiscent of Gang of Four. Well, to me anyway. I found this song on the podsafe music network. You can also find out more music and other information about .22 at their website.

6. Shoulda Never
Oh Darling - This is a local band to Portland, OR. You can find more information on their music, music videos and upcoming shows at their My Space page and the their band website. Actually, what I forgot to say in the show is that you can download each song on the album individually by going to this page on their site: http://www.ohdarlingmusic.com/music.html.

7. Pecados Da Madrugada (Sins Before Dawn)
Suba - Suba's music stays in my CD changer all of the time. He's a genius, or, rather was a genius . Tragically he died in a fire in 1999. I was crushed when I heard it. We will never hear any new music from this master again. This song comes from the album Sao Paulo Confessions, from my music library. You can find most information on his other albums and projects starting here.

8. Agra (The Emerald Mix)
DJ Cheb i Sabbah - This comes from my own CD collection the song is from his album As Far as . . . I've amassed quite the little collection of electronica. Sabbah is one of the best in the business. I love all of his stuff. When you listen to Sabbah, you go on a journey. . . .

Funny how MySpace.com has become the "grand central station" for music. See ya next time!

Episode #1

This is the first episode of Urban Outside. Most of these songs are from my own music collection, the Podsafe Music Network and Garageband.com. Hope you enjoy the show!

P l a y l i s t :

1.Beats - Sumter Boys Hiphop I love this song and I found it on the podsafe music network. It's so old school! A great sound that reminds me of back in the day when hiphop was fun to listen to! When it was about the music instead of the hos and cars and. . .whatever. I haven't found a website from this artist yet. If anyone knows, let me know.

2. Ian Axel - Afterglow
A New York artist who reminds me of Mark Joseph and John Mayer, he doesn't have an album out yet as far as I know. I bought this song through Garageband. You can visit him and hear more of his music at his MySpace page and his official website, which is really cool. Great, well-crafted music.

3. Adrina Thorpe - Midnight
There's a commercial radio station here in Portland, OR that seems to be way ahead of the curve when it comes to breaking new music. It's Kink.FM .They play music from new artists at least 4 to 5 months before the other commercial stations even know the music exists. They've been playing music from Adrina Thorpe for awhile now and she's been one of my favorite pop artists of recent memory. Here is one of her more recent singles. You can find more of her music on her Myspace page and her website for more information. You can buy her music through CDBaby.com.

4. Underworld - Trim
A long time electronica/ambient favorite of mine. This track is from their album A Hundred Days Off . You can get tour dates and new music tracks on their Myspace page and you can get more info on current and future projects from their non-music output page. Interesting stuff. Check it out. Become a member to the underworld live site and you can get exclusive music and video downloads from the group and artwork and all kinds of stuff.

5. Median - How Big Is Your World?
I first heard from this artist through the Indiefeed podcast. I love this song! He has a Myspace page (of course) and you can find his music through Last.fm. He has a lot of great music on both of those sites. Check him out!

6. J. Medeiros - Silent Earth
This dude blew up! I last saw him on Miami Ink (that show kinda sucks now that Kat's gone) and then I heard him on the radio! It's not hard to find out where to find his music. His album Of gods and girls is one of the best albums around right now. You can download it or get a preview of the entire album at his website and get more info from the Myspace page. A lot of great music can be found by Medeiros.

7. Pablo - Reincarnation
I did a lot of carping on one of my other blogs about not being able to find more info about Pablo after hearing this beautiful song Reincarnation on one of my Future Lounge compilation albums. This song is on Future Lounge 3. You can find Pablo under different aliases and a lot of great music from him if you look. Start here: www.pabloslab.com, Myspace.com/pabloslab. Reincarnation remains one of my all time favorite songs.

8. Ryehollow - Any Way You Say It
This is a local Portland band they're been getting airplay from Kink.FM from time to time. they make wonderful folk pop and its a wonder the other stations don't pick them up. Their loss. Don't let it be yours. This song stays in rotation in my mp3 player and in all of my iTunes playlists. I just love it! You'll probably hear it again in the future. You can find more music and information from Ryehollw at their Myspace page and their website: www.Ryehollow.com. They have two albums out now and you can also buy their music at CD Baby and Amazon.com.

The song that I use for my intro and outro is called Waltz of a Ghetto Fly from Amp Fiddler and it's off his album, Waltz of a Ghetto Fly.

Kink.FM, though it's a commercial radio station is definitely one of the better stations here in Oregon. They do mix it up with local and independent artists and have done so for many years. I've found out about quite a few local artists through them. See you with another show next week!

First Episode Really Is Coming!

I know I said that a show would appear last weekend but so many things came up I couldn't get it out then. It will come up before the end of October! Promise!

Coming This Weekend

Never fear! I'm back! I'll be rolling out a short test show by the end of this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my favorite independent artists with everyone as well as exploring the music of new independent artists. Podcasts are the wave of the future, both for music fans and musicians. Who needs big labels anymore? I've written quite a few impassioned articles on the subject and now I'm trying to put my money where my mouth is! Stay tuned!

What Is Urban Outside?

So, you might be wondering what this is all about? To be honest, I'm still finding my way through this! What I can say is that I've been thinking about Urban Outside for a long time. I've wanted to host a pop/hiphop podcast before I even thought about creating a tango music podcast. So here it is, or at least it's coming soon.

Now, you might be asking: "Why are you playing pop along with hiphop Vargas?" My answer to that is: "Why not?" Urban Outside will be mostly a pop music podcast that will play a broad swath of music. You will find mostly pop and singer-songwriter artists but you will also find a little bit of hiphop and some electronica. I hope that doesn't scare you off. Don't let it. So many of us are used to having our entertainment boxed, packaged and ready to go like fast food and if they encounter some mixture of genres they feel doesn't fit neatly into a box they become indignant! If you like pop music you'll like Urban Outside but don't freak out on me if you hear a hiphop song or an acid jazz song thrown in every once in a while. One thing you can count on with this podcast is that the artists that will be showcased here will be independent.

For the past seven years I've been exploring and buying lots of independent music, all the way from world music to pop. I have a nice little collection of both big label and independent artists. It's too bad that I can't play stuff by U2 or Black Star. The big labels have a problem with the internet. They don't want podcasters to play their precious stuff. Boo to them! You know what? With the vast amount of great independent music out there who needs to play RIAA music? KaiZen, Adrina Thorpe and Koop make some great music. Expect to hear some of their music on Urban Outside. But then if you're a music lover I'm sure that you already know this so why I am blabbing?

So the question now is how often will I put out shows? So far as I can see either once or twice a month. I haven't decided yet. I'm just now gettin' the hang of this podcasting thing, so bear with me!

Under Construction!

This will be the site of a new podcast for independent pop and hip hop in October. Stay tuned!