After recently doing an interview with GrungeCake, I decided to go on a little online scavenger hunt for nifty websites. What makes a good music website? Some websites combine a love for art and music with simple and aesthetically-pleasing design, some have really cool premises, and some are just about the content. Here are a few websites I came across that offer a variety of music and artistic indulgences:
GrungeCake
GrungeCake describes itself as “an independent, inclusive New York based printed art publication that deals with social issues in a thematic manner, expressing and showing views-resolutions through art.” GrungeCake lives up to this description starting with its tagline “Where Art Lives!” all the way to the large-sized, high quality images on its pages and in-depth music interviews.
The site is fun to navigate with its Flash interface, but it doesn’t jump in your face or distract you like some other Flash-based sites. The site is built with Wordpress – it is elegant in its layout but not formulaic like many other blogs using the Wordpress software.
The website is pretty new and updates on a frequent basis. Try GrungeCake out if you have an interest in not only music, but also cherish an artistic lifestyle in all senses of the word. The name of the website alone warrants a visit, no?
Mo ‘Gravy
This one is another one of those hip tumblr blogs (not being too sarcastic, tumblr is cool). Unlike many of the cat-infested, and arguably useless, blogs, Mo ‘Gravy is practical, fun, and has a search capability to boot.
What’s the premise? Take those cool funk tracks from back in the day and display a list of artists who sampled the songs. Why is this useful? If not just to satisfy your curiosity for music’s rich sampling history, you might want to check out some of the newer tracks and see if you can pick out the samples yourself. When artists sample other artists, there is the possibility that the newer songs add something new and interesting to the mix. Time for a warped sense of nostalgia.
If you’re too lazy to compare songs, you can still enjoy the funky grooves already playing on the site. Make my funk the P.funk!
The Black Cab Sessions
Ever wondered how music would sound if performed in a moving cab? No, me neither. If you were one of the few people waiting for someone to create a site where you got to see intimate performances of cool artists playing in the back of a black cab, then your wait is over. I found the site for you!
The Black Cab Sessions sticks true to the taxi cab theme with a black and yellow color scheme and a long list of artists with close-up pictures linking to their taxi cab session. The videos are hosted on Vimeo, ensuring superior quality to the YouTube embeds that are ubiquitous on the web. YouTube is a little more convenient to reach a wide audience, but if you want an artsy destination site like The Black Cab Sessions, then Vimeo is the way to go.
With great artist and design choices, The Black Cab Sessions will impress those looking for a unique music site that is also visually and sonically rewarding.