A Daily Dose of Untapped Music

Two New York City-based websites with a daily dose of Untapped music finds:

The LivingtheDream.org Music Tournament

LivingtheDream founder Janos Marton takes his annual single elimination “music tournament” to the internet this year. Inspired by the lack of inspiration in the best of all-time lists from Rolling Stone, VH1 and the like, he resolved to find the best song of all time in a democratic way. 512 songs, 10 rounds, all genres, voted by us, blog readers. Janos writes:

“I say ‘we’ because this is a democratic process–with 10 songs up for votes every day. You can judge a match-up simply by listening to both songs, back to back, at the same volume, paying equal attention to both. When you are done, note on a ten point scale which song you like better (ie, Thunder Road 9, Changes 7). Ties are ok, because other people will break the tie for you. You can judge one match-up or ten, but do it within 48 hours, after which I’ll post the next set of match-ups.”

Check it out at  https://livingthedream.org/

The threesixfive Project

Multi-talented musician Chris Snyder took it upon himself to record a new song every day for one year. This isn’t just singer-songwriter with guitar stuff. This is full band sound, multiple instruments and mixed. He plays percussion, violin, guitar, piano, sings and puts all of us non-prolific musicians to shame. The last song was recorded on January 1st, 2011 but throughout the year I have been setting the player on and finding myself strangely productive. Most of the work is his own but here are two fantastic covers to whet your appetite:

We Used to Wait, by Arcade Fire

Walk in the Park, by Beach House

Describing the project, Chris writes “The 365 songs project is my answer to a year (2009) during which I spent almost all of my time “being a musician” – touring, promoting a record, twittering (!) – but very little time actually  writing music. By the end of the year, I was so frustrated with the situation that I decided to do something Extreme. This project is a re-commitment to music on a scale that is frankly unreasonable and unrealistic. Last-minute panic will be a daily occurrence. Which means that it must be the right thing to do.”

Funny enough, a month before the end of the project he told Untapped, “I’m really looking forward to getting out and playing some shows.” Fortunately for Chris, his band  Ace Reporter, has just released their new EP.