KGRL.fm

February 2010 Flower-Powered Artist: Pomplamoose

2010-02-01T05:02:31Z

02.01.10

It's Pomplamoose! There's no use in hiding it as we've already announced this feature in December when we gave you your Holiday present. If you missed the mpFree download, fret not for it's still linked in the feature. What can we say about Pomplamoose? They're the funniest folks who ever graced our FPA live sessions. If you're living under a rock and have not heard of Pomplamoose yet, trust us it's worth checking out this feature!

So what are you waiting for? Check out our February 2010 Flower-Powered Artist, Pomplamoose. Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn of Pomplamoose joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive live performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of VideoSongs Vol. 1 and splendid shots of Jack & Nataly courtesy of our amazing friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Pomplamoose in video, audio, & transcribed form.

Visit their YouTube channel or MySpace page and leave them a tasty message for FPA-ship puhleeze? Don't forget to leave one on the FPA page as well. Click on this one to request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs!

KGRL's Top 10 Albums To Watch Out For In 2010!

2010-02-01T04:51:39Z

01.02.10

It's finally posted! I'm talking about our top 10 in '10! Go check out our Top 10 Albums To Watch Out For In 2010 list over at LAist, posted by our dear friend Jeff.

KGRL's Top 10 Albums To Watch Out For In 2010

I hope you would all leave some feedback on the page. Thanks in advance loves!

January 2010 Flower-Powered Artist: Inara George

2010-01-01T05:02:10Z

01.01.10

It's the beginning of a new decade and we're so happy, ecstatic actually, to present our big opener for the FPA in 2010. It has taken us quite a wee bit of time to get her into the studio but she finally did and there couldn't be a better time! No more talk, I'm just excited to announce this one...

KGRL is very honored to present our January 2010 Flower-Powered Artist, Inara George. Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Inara George joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive live performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Accidental Experimental and awesome photos shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Inara George in video, audio, & transcribed form.

Don't you just love Inara's music? We are head over heels over Inara. Please visit her MySpace page to leave a comment. Let her feel the love. Give some lovin' on the FPA page as well. Click on this one to request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs!

KGRL's Best Albums Of 2009!

2009-12-30T15:13:29Z

12.30.09

It's become a tradition for KGRL to post the best albums of the year. This year is no exception, we have another monstrous list for all of you to devour. I hope you'll enjoy reading KGRL's picks this 2009!

KGRL's Best Albums Of 2009

As always, in the event that you appreciate what is written, please do leave a comment. We appreciate your feedback!

A late special gift for you this holiday season!

2009-12-24T05:52:53Z

12.24.09

I know that we're very late in giving a gift for you this holiday season but this is more of an unplanned present. I thought that we'd do something quite different this time. We are very proud to present to you a special intimate acoustic version of Pomplamoose's Always In The Season. Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn went with us over to ReadyMix Music Studio on December 21, 2009 to record a live session video. Click on the photo (taken by Jeff Koga) below to check it out.

In the spirit of Pomplamoose's mpFrees, you can download the KGRL live mpFree version of Always In The Season when you visit the video page. Nothing says "Happy Holidays!" better than giving away something for free right?

So what does this mean? Yep, you guessed it, they're an upcoming Flower-Powered Artist! "When?" you ask? They'll grace our feature page come February so watch out for that one! We usually don't announce our upcoming FPA but this time, we're making an exception. Enjoy your holidays!

Social Networking and KGRL

2009-12-14T17:03:22Z

12.09.09

I wonder if you are all aware about the social networking sites where KGRL can be found. Well, I'll put that wondering to rest and make a buzz about it. Here is a small list of social networking sites where KGRL exists. The KGRL groups were created by loyal flowerites: Dieter for Last.fm group and Mark Smitka for Facebook group. Big thanks to these flowerites!

Add, follow, stalk, and join (or whatever you might want to call it) KGRL on these social networking sites! Oh and I should probably add this to this buzz, you probably noticed it already but there's new icons available for your convenience on all Flower-Powered Artist pages. Added to digg and del.icio.us icons are twitter and facebook icons. That means you can now easily share the FPAs on twitter and facebook. These icons were also added here on the frontpage. I hope you'll use these clicky icons. Share, share, share! We're all about sharing!

December 2009 Flower-Powered Artist - Brooke Waggoner

2009-12-14T17:02:53Z

12.01.09

The end of the year is near. The end of the world too, if we are to believe that 2012 Mayan prophecy. Hey, some people managed to make money out of it. Did anyone seriously watched that movie? Shame on you. 2009 is a hell of a busy year for KGRL, especially with regards to the FPA work. The switch to new equipment and workflow for the resulting HD video/audio proves to be quite a challenge. The great thing about it is that it exceeded our expectations. The videos look great that we are now able to lower the bitrate and still have a really good looking low resolution flash encodes. The NMM™ (New Morning Music) work is quite a workload too. It might seem like an easy task but really it's quite arduous as every song that is added to our playlist is carefully selected and do not depend on any hype or whatever.

I think I've yakked too much already. I won't say much anymore except that I wish you all a Merry Christmas (Happy Hanukkah or whatever it is you celebrate) and a Happy New Year! Alright, it's time to present our new Flower-Powered Artist.

Presenting KGRL's December 2009 Flower Powered Artist, Brooke Waggoner. Nashville-based singer/songwriter Brooke Waggoner joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive live performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Go Easy Little Doves and fantastic photos shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Brooke Waggoner in video, audio, & transcribed form.

Here's Brooke's MySpace page. Leave her a note, will ya? Leave one on the FPA page as well. Oh and don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs!

It's time to send in your recorded holiday greetings!

2009-12-14T17:02:03Z

11.12.09

Just a little announcement to let you know that you *should* send in your holiday greetings soon! If you haven't recorded one yet, you *should* get to it. Record several seconds of your sweet golden voice greeting every flowerite in the world merry happy holidays. Send the resulting recording, in mp3 format, to mysty at kgrl dot fm. Come on now, this only comes once a year!

November 2009 Flower-Powered Artist - Rie Sinclair

2009-11-02T17:57:22Z

11.01.09

As promised, the big change in the FPA videos come in today with our new Flower-Powered Artist. Not only was the video shot in high-quality professional camcorder, Sony HDR-FX1000, but the audio surpasses everything we have recorded so far. Why is that? It's because we recorded this session in a real recording studio. That's right, from now on we shall only record the FPA Live Sessions in a recording studio! Ok, enough talk. It's time to introduce the FPA.

Presenting KGRL's November 2009 Flower Powered Artist, Rie Sinclair. Singer/songwriter Rie Sinclair, along with Allison Ash (on piano) and Noelle Crabtree (on cello), joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of A Moment You Never Dreamed and marvel at the exquisite photos shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Rie Sinclair, featuring Bryan Head as the interviewer, in video, audio, & transcribed form.

We're giving away 3 signed CDs of A Moment You Never Dreamed (The CDs might not ship until December). Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

Go to Rie's MySpace page to leave a congratulatory note. She deserves one don't you think? Don't forget to leave one on Rie's FPA page as well.

Become a sponsor for the FPA recordings!

2009-10-05T17:46:37Z

10.04.09

So there's a new thing I'm introducing on this post right here, it's all about sponsoring the Flower-Powered Artist live sessions. Why do we need support for the live sessions? It's because we are moving the live sessions to a professional recording studio with a sound engineer to work on the audio pre and post production. This change goes hand in hand with the new KGRL camcorder video.

What are the perks of sponsoring an FPA live session you ask? Well, for starters you'll be listed on the Flower-Powered Artist page as a sponsor. Here's a rundown of the other perks that we're planning on giving out (subject to change based on availability): signed CD of the sponsored FPA, personalized greeting (in video or audio form), access to the live session wav files (96kHz / 24-bit MUCH BETTER than a CD), plus an early sneak peek of the live session video.

If you're interested in becoming a sponsor, please e-mail mysty at kgrl dot fm. The FPA Live Session sponsoring project is on testing phase so we might continue or discontinue according to the feedback we get. Please let me know if you have any other ideas by sending an e-mail.

I'd like to thank the very first people who already expressed their support for this project: Morley Stock and Dennis Dunlap. You guys are amazing!

October 2009 Flower-Powered Artist - Butterfly Boucher

2009-10-05T17:45:56Z

10.01.09

Just to let everyone know, our October 2009 Flower-Powered Artist feature will be the last video shot with our old camcorder (Sony HDR-SR11). The next FPAs will be shot with our new Sony HDR-FX1000 camcorder. So be prepared for a big change starting in November. Before I introduce this month's Flower-Powered Artist, I'd like to give kudos to every indie artists out there who struggles each day to continue making music and stay true to their art. You're one of the main reasons why we continue doing what we do with KGRL. I hope you'll go on writing and creating music your way, without compromise.

Our new FPA is one of those artists who recently broke free from the grip of major record label and now enjoys being independent. KGRL is so happy and very proud to introduce our October 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Butterfly Boucher. The lovely Australian singer/songwriter Butterfly Boucher joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Scary Fragile and take a peek at the stunning photos of Butterfly shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Butterfly Boucher in video, audio, & transcribed form.

We're giving away 3 signed CDs of Scary Fragile. Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

Do the clicking and start posting congratulatory notes over to Butterfly Boucher's MySpace. She's waiting to hear from you! Oh and we'll be waiting for your post in Butterfly's FPA page as well.

September 2009 Flower-Powered Artist - Leslie Mills

2009-09-01T04:20:02Z

09.01.09

Oh look, we're nearing the end of the year! It's the "-ber" months again. That means it's Christmas time soon. Oh, and next year is the beginning of the new decade. That was fast. Maybe we're all just enjoying all the great music too much to notice it. Speaking of great music, a number of recent "big" releases disappointed me. I don't know. I'm more impressed with albums of most new artists I discovered. Speaking of new albums, the Flower-Powered Artist I'm about to introduce released a new record this year. It sneaked its way into retail but it did not disappoint!

The artist I'm talking about is no other than Leslie Mills, our September 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, and the album is Falling Off The World. Leslie and her long-time collaborator Chris Pelcer joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Falling Off The World and savor marvelous photos of Leslie shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Leslie Mills in video, audio, & transcribed form.

We're giving away 3 signed CDs! But you know that already. What you didn't expect is we'll be giving 2 CDs per winner. That's one copy of Falling Off The World and Everlasting Road per winner. Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

Visit Leslie's MySpace and let her know how you enjoyed the feature. You enjoyed it, right?

iPhone users rejoice! Tune in to KGRL directly!

2009-08-20T14:32:06Z

08.20.09

As the headline says, it's time to celebrate dear iPhone users! Yay! You can now tune in to KGRL directly by visiting the KGRL mobile website. All you have to do is point your safari browser to http://kgrl.fm. And pick the bitrate you want by clicking on the play button. It's that simple!

There's no need to download any player at all! Best of all, you can have it running as a background process! Simply launch the bitrate stream of your choice and exit the browser (by tapping the home button) and you're free to do anything else! However, if you want to browse the internet, I would suggest using another browser. I recommend using Oceanus Web Browser, which is currently priced at a reasonable 99 cents! It supports full-screen view as well, as opposed to the default safari browser. Whatcha waiting for? Tune in with your iPhone now!

Major overhaul of the FPA feature

2009-08-11T17:18:50Z

08.11.09

I just thought I'd let you all know about some major overhaul in our Flower-Powered Artist feature. Starting with our August 2009 Flower-Powered Artist Ms. Holly Brook, we will now be using a new outline for the feature page. I'm not sure if we will go back to implement this change to the FPAs prior to Ms. Brook as it's going to be a LOT of work.

The main backbone of the overhaul is the new unified flash player. You'll find that both low-def and the recently added high-def flash encodes are now housed in a single player. But that's not all, the interview videos have also moved into the mix. You'll find categories (right column) and information bar (bottom part) built into the player. You can hide these menus by a single icon in the control bar.

You can also use double click to go in and out of fullscreen plus spacebar to control the play/pause function. There are also new options to share the videos, including the option to send mail to your friends! Yes. That's right! You can now spam your friends with the FPA feature! But don't worry, if they love indie artists, there's a big chance that they'll thank you for sending them the link via their beloved mailboxes. So go on, enjoy the FPA page like you've never seen it before!

Flash HD stream & FPA giveaway revision

2009-08-11T06:18:06Z

08.05.09

I have two news to tell you dear flowerites, one good and one bad. Let's start with the bad news. It seems that our August 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Ms. Holly Brook, has run into some problems. Apparently, more issues regarding her recording negotiations. In her own words "Unfortunately, the snag in my recording negotiations seems to be expanding and getting worse." How will this affect us, aside from the album pushed back further? Our giveaway will now be limited to 3 signed copies of Like Blood Like Honey. So sorry that the advance EP won't be included. Another outcome is that we'll be pulling out the new songs off of rotation. We'll only be able to play the live session for now. We are so sorry to hear about this problem that Holly is facing. I hope you all understand the situation.

The good news is that we have a new format for those of you who are not able to view the WMV-HD videos. The new format is Flash HD (H.264) in 720p. To introduce the new HD format, we decided to encode Holly's It's Raining Again and include it in the current feature. Go ahead and give it a try. Word of caution though, it does require a good broadband connection. It has a higher bitrate than our WMV-HD encode so you will notice just how good the quality is. Enjoy!

Free Sarah Fimm's Red Yellow Sun samplers

2009-08-11T06:17:35Z

08.03.09

One of our most anticipated records this year is Sarah Fimm's Red Yellow Sun. If you remember, Ms. Fimm's album is listed under our Top 13 albums to watch out for in 2009 list as posted on LAist.com. Back then it was supposedly two EPs, but it turned into a full-blown album and is now called Red Yellow Sun.

So why are we posting about it here in the buzz today you ask? It's because Sarah has given us 9 Red Yellow Sun sampler CDs to giveaway. It includes an exclusive track not in the full album. If you fancy owning one, all you have to do is write to us. Yes, e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl dot fm. Tell us why we'd send a copy your way. The two best entries can get a free shirt (limited to Large and Medium size - sorry that's all we got!). Well, don't wait too long, send in your entries now! We'll be sending this as fast as we can, that is of course before the album release, which is 08.08.09. Oh and you can also show some appreciation to Ms. Fimm via her MySpace page. Goodluck!

August 2009 Flower-Powered Artist: Holly Brook

2009-08-01T04:19:19Z

08.01.09

It's been hard completing the new FPA feature because I just returned to my real life job. The day offs are spent writing to artists, management and labels, preparing for NMM™, and taking care of the FPA. It's good that there is a "shock absorber" as we have already filmed FPAs until October. We'll film the next FPAs around September with the new pro gear (the KGRL monstah). I splurged a little bit on the pro gear including new oil fluid head tripod, beachtek phantom powered XLR adapter, and an XLR mic (either the Audio Technica AT8022 or BP4025. Whew! Spending tons of moolah for the FPAs. But let's get on to this month's new and exciting feature. It's actually a VERY special month! The new FPA will debut the album right here on KGRL! Who is it?

KGRL is very proud to present our August 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Holly Brook. Holly along with Louis Schwadron (aka Sky White Tiger) joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. The live session includes songs that will debut in this feature! Check out our CD pre-review of Holly Brook's upcoming record titled O'Dark Thirty and gaze at Holly's photos shot by our good friend Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Holly Brook and Louis Schwadron in video, audio, & transcribed form.

And because Holly's performance consists of songs that will debut on this feature, we created 3 WMV-HD videos for this month! Check out the video section for those. They're all delicious and hot off the oven! Oh and just so you know, our contest this month is SPECIAL! We are not only giving away Holly's fantastic debut Like Blood Like Honey but we're also giving away advance copies of the upcoming 5-track EP! What do you have to do? EASY! Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

Please show some lovin' to Ms. Holly Brook by posting on her MySpace. Do the same for the FPA page, leave comments!

Meet ze new KGRL monstah

2009-07-29T06:05:31Z

07.27.09

All right kids, for those of you who haven't met ze new KGRL monstah, click here. Some test vids for your viewing pleasure by clicking right here. We're so excited to use this beast for the upcoming FPA Live Sessions (starting with November 2009 FPA). Sorry no clue as to the identity of them future FPAs. You just have to wait for it. Speaking of FPA, there's a new one this Friday and I'm so excited. Oh so very excited!

I'll take this opportunity to announce that we'll have a new NMM™ this Wednesday. I don't really announce the NMM™ here in the buzz section but since there wasn't one last week, I thought I'd give you all the heads up.

July 2009 Flower-Powered Artist: Kirsten Proffit

2009-07-01T04:21:23Z

07.01.09

As far as I know, the streams have been running all perfect ever since we moved to the relay server. How is your experience after the move? Let me know! Anyway, I'm going back to doing my regular job pretty soon but I will do my best to continue the kickass NMM™. I know you all are spoiled hungry flowerites. Your momma will try to deliver! Mmmkay? Oh right, it's July and I have something to announce...

KGRL is very proud to present our July 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Kirsten Proffit. Kirsten and her band joined KGRL in the studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Lucky Girl and stare at Kirsten's photos shot by photographer extraordinaire Jeff Koga. There's also a comprehensive interview with Kirsten Proffit in video, audio, & transcribed form.

Two WMV-HD Videos are posted this month for your higly-discriminating taste, and they are: Kissing Love Goodbye and Going Under. The HD videos are presented in WMV-HD format @ 720p resolution. As per our usual monthly feature, we are giving away 3 signed Lucky Girl CDs! Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. Post some comments on the FPA page and Kirsten's MySpace and we'll be all cool. Deal?

Relay server

2009-06-21T09:07:22Z

06.18.09

The music is no longer streaming from the home PC! We finally moved all the songs to the new relay server. The best thing about it is the relay server is in the same data center as the server streaming to all you flowerites. That means no lag and maximum stability for the streams from now on. The only problem is if the data center itself has a problem. Thanks again to Geno! Happy streaming!