Daytrotter
Daytrotter is one of the most original music blogs online today. Since 2006, Sean Moeller has flown relatively under the radar with the unique format of his website. Every week, seven artists and 28 songs are recorded live and put on the Daytrotter site, and almost all are completely free to download.
Moeller has said that he was out on a run “listening to King of Leon or Ted Leo or something like that” when he came up with the idea of the site. He wanted to use his Midwestern location (he’s a native Iowan) and in early 2006, he teamed up with recording engineer and singer Paul Stolley to get an idea of the ground. Their first sessions were in February of that year with indie pop bands Catfish Haven and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.
The style is mainly improvisational, with bands having free reign over the songs they choose to record and how they wish to play them. The stationary point, however, is that the recording is done in one take, with no overdubbing or re-dos. It makes the experience much more natural.
“What the band wants to do, they get to do,” explained Moeller in an interview with SUPERSWEETS Magazine (now in hibernation). “We don’t dictate anything. It’s always fascinating seeing what actually happens.”
Sean Moeller, founder of Daytrotter
The sessions have been mostly done at The Horseshack, located in the Illinois area of downtown Rock Island. While mainly focusing on indie musicians like Bon Iver and Local Natives, all artists are handpicked by Moeller based on his tastes. He has featured other genres though, with artists like Avett Brothers, Raphael Saadiq and The Walkmen.
For myself, the most interesting part of the site is the illustrations of the artists, which are done by Johnnie Cluney and accompanied by a personal essay written by Sean Moeller. The cartoon-ish whimsy of the portraits that Cluney creates for each musician brings together the free-fall feeling of the Daytrotter website.
Take a chance to explore the website yourself and find a variety of amazing music to add to your music collection. This site is not just great for enjoying a new twist on your favorite artist, but discovering and exploring music you may have never heard.
As you find your way around the extensive archives, save a bit of time by checking out a few of my favorite Daytrotter sessions:
Ben Kweller (January 12, 2009)
Harry and the Potters (May 28, 2006)
Sondre Lerche (April 13, 2011)
Are you a regular visitor of the Daytrotter website? What do you think of it’s concept?
