Lizards From Afar triple-play on Coffee Breakz Podcast
How about some cool news for a rainy, Sunday afternoon? Nothing can beat getting three songs played on a podcast. Well, getting three songs played on a really cool podcast. That is exactly what the LFA can brag about today.
– Kung Fu Lover (the Gecko mixdown)
– Batphone
– Clipboard
Helder spins a little podcast out of NY called Coffee Breakz. This is not the kind of podcast we have found ourselves on in the past. The music is truly international. The styles can include things outside of the indie, alternative and pop genres. Some even have some “world music” flavors. Outstanding.
The fun (& frustrating) thing for me is that this podcast is Portuguese…at least I think it is. Seeing as I do not speak any Portuguese, it is just a guess. I do speak enough Spanish to sound like a mentally deficient child, and with those skills I think I am able to pick out a few things Helder says. Here’s a few things I was able to pick out:
> we are a garage band
> we record digitally…or some kind of reference to us recording virtually
> a comparison to Sonic Youth and the Jesus Lizard
But please, please, please translate for us. Any of our loyal, Portuguese speaking fans. Provide a transcript in the talkback so that I can rest assured that I have not misinterpreted. The podcast homepage for this show can be found here:
http://coffeebreakz.blogspot.com/2009/03/o-raio-da-febre-no-coffee-breakz.html
The direct link to the podcast can be found here:
http://archive.radiozero.pt/coffee20090303.mp3
Thank you Helder!
Sir Pent
Lizards From Afar 
March 8, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Do we even KNOW anyone that could translate for us?
March 8, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Use babelfish?
March 8, 2009 at 8:44 pm
No, my wife buys me Right Guard…sometimes Speed Stick.
March 8, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Actually, of course, babelfish would only work to translate text, not a podcast.
I don’t know any Portuguese, but I did run babelfish on the introduction text and, as usual, I found that translation programs produce the most amusing translations:
It rains on Kinshasa, although the likeable temperatures, and was certainly this combination of factors that left in them engripados. This week, the Coffee Breakz follows therefore in constipated way and starts for there, with the Staff Benda Bilili, that had recorded the music of opening in the exterior of the zoological garden of the small farm, with stolen electricidade. Still in the first part, we go to know Fever Ray (in the photo), projecto the ground of one of the halves of the Swedish The Knife. E also Laura Gibson, that recorded the last record in a house with sight for one of the cemetaries oldest of Portland. In the listening rank, we lean the ears to the garagista sound of the Lizards From Afar. Later, we insist on the new record of Neko Case in the day where it leaves for the streets and open the track for palpitations electrum and dub.
March 8, 2009 at 10:06 pm
I did the same thing with Google-Translate.
I was really hoping to figure out what Helder says during the podcast.
Now…go learn Portuguese and report back to me.
March 9, 2009 at 3:09 am
I just love “we lean the ears to the garagista sound of the Lizards from Afar.” That is beautiful.
Give me a scholarship to go live in Lisbon for two years and I’ll report back after I’ve learned Portuguese.
March 9, 2009 at 4:22 am
Hi guys,
Please give me a couple of days and I’ll email you what I said on the podcast.
Best,
H.
March 9, 2009 at 4:31 am
Thank you, Helder! And also mucho thanks for playing our tunes on your podcast.
March 9, 2009 at 5:58 am
@Matt- I am researching Lisbon universities, but most seem like party schools.
@Helder- That would be very nice of you, friend.
March 9, 2009 at 8:48 am
Party schools are what I’m looking for, mate! Best way to learn a foreign language.
I “taught” at the HEC School of Business outside Paris for a year. And by “taught” I mean “partied all the time.”
March 9, 2009 at 7:43 pm
In my grubby hands I hold a certain CD by the band known as Cuttlefish.
March 9, 2009 at 8:19 pm
You’re welcome.
March 10, 2009 at 7:05 am
Check the stats. This podcast spin really drove some traffic here yesterday. I wonder how many people then listened to the music on the reverbnation site. We really need to get a music player widget here.
Too bad they had to hear the “Gecko mixdown” of KFL, too, as it sucks. I’d improve it–but I figure Newt’s final mastering will arrive at some point relatively soon. And by “soon” I mean possibly in the next decade. Sorry, Chops, I couldn’t resist.
March 10, 2009 at 7:40 am
I looked at RN last night. Some listens, quite a few downloads actually, but I don’t see that anybody is making the jump from here to RN. There’s got to be a solution for getting the songs here on this site for streaming and download without sending them to another link.
March 10, 2009 at 9:06 am
Entirely right. But the wordpress people have ignored repeated requests to allow the RN widget–they have no other music widget solutions. Our only solution, I think, is to migrate to another site–probably one that costs money. Even if we pay for a WordPress upgrade, that would only allow us to upload Mp3s, not use a music player widget, which is far more convenient.
In the meantime, I’ll make another request.
March 10, 2009 at 9:23 am
Yeah…how dare they offer something for free that doesn’t provide us everything we want!
Seriously, though…it IS weird that they will not allow music widgets. I’d gladly go to another blog provider but I am not crazy about the “layout” of the others. We also get a lot of traffic from other WordPress accounts here…
Probably blogspot if we decide to jump ship…they are what most of the podcasters use.
March 10, 2009 at 9:47 am
True: we can’t complain because it’s free, but maybe we can complain a little when even blogspot allows the music widgets.
The not allowing apparently has something to do with security holes in flash code, which is what the RN widget uses. WP WILL allow a music widget, so long as it uses only html. Need to find one….
March 11, 2009 at 11:02 am
FYI, I did make another request about the widget and they responded that they put it in the suggestion “library,” as they call it. So, there must be quite a few suggestions.
March 11, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I did a brief search for an HTML music widget, but came up empty. When I have more time this week I will look a little further.
March 11, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I’m leaning more and more toward firing this blog and hiring another one.
Check out: http://www.indieguide.com, which lists a few possibles.
Boy, we got 38 hits yesterday. Must be some kind of record.
By way of comparison, my course blog regularly gets over 70 hits a day, but then they are there because they have to be. If only we could make listening to LFA a requirement.
March 11, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I also kind of dig this site for music distribution: http://www.alonetone.com/
March 11, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I just created an account for us on this alonetone site.
http://alonetone.com/lizardsfromafar
I’ll see how well it works.
March 11, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’d say that, if the widget works with wordpress…we use it…
March 11, 2009 at 2:43 pm
See if the widget works for wordpress
March 11, 2009 at 9:47 pm
It’s WP that is the problem, not these music hosting sites.
March 11, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Yeah, their player uses flash, so can’t be used here–unless WP develops a special agreement with them.
March 12, 2009 at 7:09 am
I ran into this totally by accident:
http://www.bonatimastering.com/
This studio is a few blocks from my dumbo pad. Not that I’m interested in using it, but it goes to show you: everybody and his brother is doing music recording these days. How anyone makes any money from it anymore is what I want to know. Certainly there’s no longer any money in selling mp3s, but perhaps it’s still possible to make money off CDs–maybe.
March 13, 2009 at 9:59 am
WordPress kinda blows. Last night I tried a bunch of different widgets to get our music on the front page. Kinda blows.
I had a thought though. Instead of having that link in the upper right hand corner that linked to ReverbNation…what if we used a link to one of the ReverbNation TunePaks? Clicking on it should just launch a second, tiny window music player.
If it works it might be the best of all worlds:
1) We would have a “music player” on our “website”
2) The music player would be a pop-up/second window…so people could listen to our music and STILL surf around our site with our music playing.
3) We would maintain the historical tracking of this site
4) We would maintain the historical tracking of the ReverbNation site
March 13, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I went ahead and did it. I hope you guys do not mind…but now we can kinda play our music on this website.
March 13, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I don’t mind. It works, but it’s a bit ugly.
The advantage is that it opens the player which immediately begins playing the music. But it’s too bad it doesn’t open a little moveable player–on my machine, it is a whole new page.
March 13, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Yeah. I couldn’t figure out how to force the new window to be just the size of the player…but I thought while I tried to figure it out, it was a start.
March 13, 2009 at 9:44 pm
OK…am giving up for the night. I have tried HTML code…JAVA scripts…and everything results in a full size page when it pops up.
Where is Ivan when you need him?
March 14, 2009 at 8:00 am
AWOL.
I did find an html music player code online and made a brief attempt to get it to work, but it didn’t work immediately, so I went to bed. There’s no good solution, yet, other than to host our own website.
Gave “Outside” the cartest yesterday: I need to buck up the vox and tone down the cymbals–but as I suppose you will eventually add some drums, I don’t need to bother with the drum loops. Otherwise it sounds pretty good, except possibly the overdriven guitar is too loud. But is that a bad thing?
March 14, 2009 at 10:12 am
I love Outside so much I have decided that I will be ordering the new drums today.
March 14, 2009 at 11:00 am
As my wife says, “Hoo ha!” That’s great news. Can’t wait to hear those pads in action.
I’m pretty proud of that song, too. I do have to fine tune it, but I’ll get a basic flac up next week so you can work with it.
March 14, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I must also admit that my rebate came in, I paid my bills and have some “extra” cash. Am heading over right now to find the best deal and order!!
March 14, 2009 at 2:58 pm
OK. New drums ordered. They should be here sometime next week.
As a bonus, I ordered via Musician’s Friend, which is a UPromise store. So 3% of the purchase goes into my son’s college fund.
For a visual of what I have purchased:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/yamaha-dtxpress-iv-special-demonstration/2966957214
March 15, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Does having the drum kit make you as good as the guy in the video?
March 16, 2009 at 5:55 am
That guy isn’t so great…
Take away the technical proficiency, impeccable timing and understanding of advanced theory and what do you have left?
March 16, 2009 at 7:25 am
He does look like a total geek.
March 16, 2009 at 7:27 am
I set you up for a classic slam and you pass on it.
Sir Pent: “…what do you have left?”
Gecko: “You.”
March 16, 2009 at 10:49 am
My mind is on other matters.
March 16, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Does this “other matters” guy have a name?
March 16, 2009 at 1:04 pm
That makes me so happy.
March 16, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Actually, we think it’s a girl, and we’re going to call her “Shoshana.”
But I AM wondering what keeps Chopper Newt from actually finishing Bloomington Democracy.
It reminds me of my book manuscript: something I plan to publish sometime before I die.
March 16, 2009 at 8:56 pm
OK…Matt sucked the joke right out of the thread.
March 16, 2009 at 10:12 pm
You’re welcome