Wouldn't it be nice to be supplied with tunes that you can share and remix like every month without lawyers knocking down your door? That is the concept behind Learning Music Monthy, a subscription service based in Los Angeles. Started in November 2006 by John Wood ((keyboardist for Inara George, Sebastien Tellier, Mike Andrews, Kelly Osbourne, Anni Rossi, etc.), each album has a different theme or modus operandi (or both).
While John Wood is the main man in this project, he can rely an a growing bunch of collaborators who even join him on stage on occassion. The cool thing that you can contribute from the comfort of your own home, downloading the stems and the sheet music, and start adding, mixing or resample. Cereated a nice sound? Upload it and it might be used. he best remixes are posted and shared.
Subscribers get their monthly CD in beautiful handmade packaging with cover art by a different artist each month. Or you can go eco and opt for digital only.
The CDS are released in collaboration with LA Label Vosotros.
The March issue is called Allegro. It is the first issue of new series filled with uptempo keyboard songs, with brin gbakc memories the legendary UK band XTC. John wood explains: "The name of the album is Allegro, in reference to the common first movement of a sonata. Some of the songs attempt to follow a sonata-allegro form, especially track one (Ask Me No Question)." Artwork by Ben White.
MP3: Learning Music - Short Tempered
The April issue is called Matchstick Monument. John Wood explains: "In writing the music I used very clear, simple chord changes. In recording I used almost only room mics, picking up all the sounds of my garage-studio (including the creaks and dog barks)–(I also tried to not use any digital reverb, just the sound of the room). In the lyrics there are numerous references to my on-going romance with my wife, including multiple unashamed usages of the word “love,” a lyrical cliche which I have attempted to avoid previously, but here I felt appropriate. It is all intentional. So in the spirit of this transparency, I would like to say that this album is for Lisa." Artwork by Max Markowitz
MP3: Learning Music - Electric Letter
The May issue is called An End Like This and revisits Season One of LMM, picking nine tracks from first 12 issues that were re-recorded. Artwork by Jeff Eliassen
MP3: Learning Music - 87 Year Old Brain
» learningmusicmonthly.com
» myspace.com/learningmusicmusic