Written by Susie Salva
Marcy Playground are excited to release their forthcoming album, “Indaba Remixes from Wonderland,” by Capitol/EMI Records which is a new CD and digital collection of remixes from the band’s 2009 critically acclaimed album “Leaving Wonderland…In a Fit of Rage.” For the release, the band partnered last fall with the top online destination for music creation, Indaba Music, to offer fans the opportunity to put their own stamp on Marcy Playground’s songs by remixing them. The band then selected their favorite mixes, from hundreds submitted, for inclusion on this special release. The album is a clever collection of music from electronic, hard rock, country and pop music dealing with the theme of love…finding it, losing it, and finding it all over again. The remixes take an original song and build on it to create something completely new and brings forth an innovative piece of music.
Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak comments: “I wanted to make this record to show people what the online community is capable of. I believe the talent reflected in these tracks speaks for itself. This community is thriving. It’s thriving because musicians feed on inspiration they get from other musicians. Music is not meant to be a solitary endeavor. It’s something we like to do with other people. But maybe you live in a remote part of the world, or have problems with mobility because you’re physically disabled, or have sever social anxiety, or simply can’t find other musicians in your local who share your musical talents. Indaba side-steps these limitations, giving musicians all over the world a way to get together and create anyway which is revolutionary.
“Indaba Remixes from Wonderland” marks the first time that an entire album has been produced exclusively using crowdsourced remixes from IndabaMusic.com’s worldwide community in which the winners will receive royalties from album sales. The mixes were judged by the band, with the prize being the opportunity to have the winning entries included on the album.
The winning songs where produced by the following countries: Australia, France, Sweden, Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, Antigua, Argentina, and Canada. Truly a cornucopia of talented musicians coming together to put forth some of the most wonderful and unique music all in one place. Who would have thought that through the internet you could communally put together an entire album from producers across the globe.
“Marcy Playground was very forward-thinking in planning for “Indaba Remixes from Wonderland”. Their faith in the independent music community’s ability to deliver was well founded as evidenced by the overwhelming response,” said Mantis Evar, Co-founder of EVP, Artists & Community of IndabaMusic.com.
Wozniak continues, “Before the contest started, most of us expected to see between 50 and 100 remix submissions, which is still a lot of music. But we underestimated. By the end, members of the community submitted some 337 individual remixes, amounting to over 20 consecutive hour of music. Not only were we overwhelmed by the response, we were impressed by the multitude of musical directions and interpretations in different musical genres. It took a lot of time to judge the winners because every single submission deserved consideration, and multiple listens. I kept a notebook filled with observations in order to keep track of what I liked and what I didn’t like. Eventually I whittled those 330 down to about 60 of the best remixes, and then took that list to the band. The guys helped trim those 60 to 30. But we had to get those 30 down to 13, and that was painful. Those 30 finalists were all outstanding. At the end of the day, everybody put so much love into their remixes, I’m just thankful to have had the opportunity to experience them all.”
“Blackbird,” (Max Kourilov Remix) gives an electronica-pop sound which is up-tempo and gutsy. “Memphis,” (Thomas Leclercq Remix) has the feel of a video game on overdrive. “I Must Have Been Dreaming,”(Soundminister Remix) which opens up with a message being left on an answering machine and “Irene,” (Spoon Mix) both have a country vibe to their tracks. “Star Baby,” (Star Capella Baby Remix) is reminiscent of the doo-wop era of the ‘50s.”Gin & Money” (Ben Crea Remix) has that disco ‘70s vibe here the vocals evoke the feeling of being pushed to the edge. “I Burned the Bed,” (Metal Monger Mix) couldn’t have said it any better…this track is an uber hard rock verging on metal track version of the song. “Devil Woman,” (Orby Spectre Remix) sounds as if the sound was being played backwards and finally “Down the Drain,” (Morescode Remix) caps the album off espousing the feeling of finding that person as if they were all one had ever wanted. All the remixes are worth listening to and are entirely an imaginative, artistic, ingenious endeavor. For all things Marcy Playground please go to: www.marcyplayground.com
For those of you interested about Indaba Music: It launched in New York City February of 2007, Indaba Music has been a pioneer in the online music collaboration space, enabling anyone with Internet access to connect with musicians from around the world to create, edit and mix studio-quality music together online. In addition to social networking, production and collaboration applications, Indaba Music now provides musicians with a growing collection of third-party applications, information resources and lifestyle benefits from a diverse collection of industry leading companies, including iTunes, Alfred Music, Hal Leonard, Sweetwater, Electronic Musician and more. IndabaMusic.com, a “Musical ecosystem,” seamlessly guides musicians through all the stages of development, fusing music education, creation, promotion, sales and talent discovery into a unified online experience.
To date, IndabaMusic.com has provided collaboration opportunites with musicians including Mariah Carey, Crystal Method, Peter Gabriel, John Legend, Linkin Park, Matisyahu, The Roots, Snoop Dog, T-Pain, Weezer, YoYo Ma and more.
