Day and Night Digital | Irish Independent

Have your say: LOLZ and Fails of 2008

The year 2008 in internet terms will most likely be remembered for the ubiquitous use of the word ‘fail’ as a noun or the influence of a glut of parodies which helped sway opinion on the US presidential election candidates. Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin doppelganger worked wonders on Saturday Night Live, from a scarily accurate debate sketch right up to an actual appearance from the Alaskan Governer, while her answers to Katie Couric’s questions were dubbed with the now infamous Miss Teen USA geographical gaffe.

Elsewhere, John McCain’s zombie face was the starting point for many (more…)

Sites of the Week

Word of the Day
Extend your vocabulary by subscribing to Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day. Sign up by email, Facebook or RSS feed.
url.ie/zwe

File 2 HD
This online downloader site allows you to download videos to your hard drive from YouTube, songs from MySpace or practically any other media on the web.
file2hd.com (more…)

News: Google Zeitgeist, Songbird and Axl’s fan forum visit

1. Google Zeitgeist
   Google’s annual report on web trends places Sarah Palin on top of fastest rising search terms of 2008 globally followed by Obama and Jonas Brothers. Read the extensive report at url.ie/zhe
2. Songbird - The iTunes killer?
   Mozilla launched their open source answer to iTunes last week. It has an impressive feature list including the ability to subscribe to MP3 blogs as playlists.
   getsongbird.com

(more…)

Band of Blogs: The Whip, Lady Sov, Wavves, Florence and the Machine

1. The Whip
   Manchester’s The Whip played Dublin’s Think Tank last night. The band are much-feted for their dancerock style. Sample the infectious disco-rock of ‘Trash’ to see what you missed.myspace.com/thewhipmanchester
2. Lady Sovereign
   The titch with an itch, Lady Sovereign (aka Louise Amanda Harman) is back with a new album next year. She’s lost the chav tracksuit but still has the attitude. ‘I Got You Dancing’ is available as a free download from ladysovereign.com
3. Wavves
   Slacker fuzz fans will enjoy the distorted rock sound of Wavves, San Diego’s Nathan Williams. ‘So Bored’ is the key track thus far. Wavves play Upstairs in Whelan’s, Dublin on February 11.
   myspace.com/wavves
4. Florence and the Machine
   Hotly tipped on the blogosphere in 2008 and now with a Brit Critics’ Choice Award (the same Adele won last year) under her belt, expect to hear much more of Florence Welch in 2009. See myspace/florenceandthemachinemusic

Videos of the Week: Arcade Fire, The Blizzards, Police Rap and Prince

1. Arcade Fire film
   The Montreal band unexpectedly released a live documentary on Monday as a download. The film was produced by the eminent Vincent Moon and features the making and recording of Neon Bible as well as the subsequent world tours.
   http://www.miroir-noir.com
2. The Blizzards - The Reason
   Wyld Stallyons produced this stylised animated video featuring giant monsters destroying a city to the soundtrack of the Mullingar group’s new song.
   
3. El Paso Police Rap
   This public service announcement from the El Paso Police Department is not going to convince any would be gangsta to change their mind.
   
4. Prince joins Q-Tip onstage
   During a performance at House of Blues in Las Vegas, the diminutive Prince
   decides he wants to play guitar for a few minutes. People go crazy.
   

Have an Indie Christmas

Not content with giving forgotten Irish albums a new digital lease of life and releasing quality independent compilations through his online label Indiecater, Irish blogger MP3Hugger has turned his attention towards the Christmas market with the release of An Indiecater Christmas.

Artists such as Nina Hynes, Kill Krinkle Club, Jape and David Kitt, Bill Baird, Venice is Sinking and twelve more were asked to contribute a festive song to the compilation which is available at indiecater.com for €6.50.

MP3Hugger (or Kevin as he’s known to his mammy) got the idea from the serial seasonal singer Cliff Richard. “Every year he puts out a Christmas record and it’s all over the radio,” he explains. “I hope to do the same thing but hopefully An Indiecater Christmas won’t drive people to drink to the same extent. I am a big fan of Christmas but it is distinctly lacking depth in the song department so this is my attempt to redress that situation.”

Earlier in the year, Indiecater digitally released out-of-print albums from The Brilliant Trees, Sunbear and Red Star Belgrade. Kevin reasons that there is a new generation of potential fans out there who could fall for such records. Plans are afoot to release more in the new year with the possibility of a physical release on the horizon.”I have a notion to put something out on vinyl,” Kevin enthuses. “It would be lovely to see the 2009 version of An Indiecater Christmas in a record shop window, or at least being used as a frisbee by giggling children in the Phoenix Park.” For now though, An Indiecater Christmas is the only serious Cliff repellent for your stereo this Christmas.

– indiecater.com

News Bytes: End of Year Polls, Christmas Cheat Sheets

1. Christmas gift cheat sheets
   Bypass second guessing the clothes size of a loved one by getting them to fill in these vital stats cheat sheets beforehand.
   url.ie/z2d
2. Music Videos of the year
   Indie media giants Pitchfork pick their top 40 videos of the year.
   url.ie/z2e
3. Irish albums & songs of 2008 poll
   The third annual Irish albums poll has begun on Nialler9.com. Cast your votes for your favourite Irish releases and songs of 2008.
   url.ie/z2c

Band of Blogs: Eminem, Alela Diane, Halogen, mashups

1. The Return of Marshall?
   A new Eminem song leaked a few months back and with an approximate release announced for a new album entitled Relapse in early 2009, another Dr. Dre produced track called ‘Number One’ has found its way online.
   Vibe
2. Alela Diane
   Fans of Joanna Newsom will be endeared by the Nevada City native’s voice. Sample the wonderful folk of ‘White As Diamond’ from her forthcoming LP To Be Still due in February.
   Gorilla Vs Bear
3. Halogen free EP download
   Bristol’s Halogen may be unknown to all but his locality but his instrumental electronic music deserves a much wider audience. Grab the Recycled Broadcast EP for free and get listening.
   maternitymedia.com
4. Weekly Irish artist mashups
   If you’re the type that enjoys the art of getting two dissonant songs and smashing them together to create something fresh, you’ll love !Kaboogie’s weekly mashup series. Bass-heavy and grimey just like their club nights.
   kaboogie.net

Sites of the Week

1. Today FM
   Major kudos to Today FM who have redesigned their website from the headache-inducing yellow site to a tasteful, modern and extremely useful resource hub.
   todayfm.com
2. The Onion TV
   Not content with being the best satirical news source, The Onion has thrown itself into the fake news arena with devastatingly good results. Sample fake broadcast items: “How can we make the Iraq War more handicap accessible?” and “Obama win causes obsessive supporters to realize how empty their lives are”.
   theonion.com/content/video
3. Life Magazine photo archive
   Over ten million original photographs from Life’s archives have been made available through Google. The catalogue is fascinating and stretches from 1750 to present day.
   images.google.com/hosted/life

Videos of The Week: X-Factor, Kermit does LCD, Jay-Z, Kanye West

1. Scary X-Factor reactions
   Another reason you shouldn’t let your kids watch X-Factor…