Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose
Origin Corte Madera, California, United States[1]
Genres Jazz Fusion, Indie rock, Alternative, Indie Folk, Indie pop
Years active 2008 (2008)–present
Associated acts Jack Conte, Nataly Dawn, Julia Nunes, Lauren O'Connell, Louis Cole, Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi, Danielle Ate The Sandwich, Wade Johnston, Ryan Lerman, My Terrible Friend, Ben Folds, Allee Willis, Zoe Keating, Matt Payne, Anton Patzner, Andy Wilke, Carlos Cabrera
Website Pomplamoose.com
Members
Nataly Dawn
Jack Conte

Pomplamoose is an American indie music duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. The band formed in the summer of 2008[2][3] and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009.[4]

Contents

Etymology

The name of the band derives from the French word pamplemousse,[5] meaning grapefruit. Pomplamoose is an English-spelling approximation of the French pronunciation.

Recordings and performances

Pomplamoose's presence is primarily videos on YouTube and MySpace with few live performances gathering over 322,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel as of October 2011. The group first gained widespread recognition when their video performance of Hail Mary was featured on the front page of YouTube. The duo recently produced the latest studio album of Julia Nunes.

Their videos mostly take the form of "VideoSongs", a medium Jack Conte defines with two rules:

  1. What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice)
  2. If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds)[6]

On April 11, 2010, the band was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered.[7] Conte discussed the "glitz-free" manner in which they record:

I guess I kinda don't like how there's such a pedestal for music culture and especially for band culture, it just feels fake; it feels like smoke and mirrors. I feel like music doesn't have to be like that. It can be something that's very normal and very accessible.[4]

Also in April 2010, their cover of The Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" was used in a commercial for Toyota's Avalon series, set in an art-deco train station.[4][8]

In September 2010, Pomplamoose recorded a collaboration with Allee Willis entitled "Jungle Animal". Willis contacted the duo after hearing their cover of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire and offered to write the new song for them. Willis also provided the single art for the song.[9]

During the Christmas season of 2010, Pomplamoose performed in several ads in the style of their YouTube videos for Hyundai singing their versions of the Christmas classics such as "O Come All Ye Faithful", "Jingle Bells", "Up on the Housetop" and "Deck the Halls".[10]

In 2011, Pomplamoose began a weekly, interactive, half-hour webcast called “Hey, It's Pomplamoose: A Show about Pomplamoose and Other Things” that airs every Tuesday. After the March 29th show, the webcast has been put on hiatus until their East Coast tour is completed. The tour includes Ryan Lerman, Carlos Cabrera, and Lauren O'Connell as backing band and opening act. For the Washington, DC show, Pomplamoose opened for OK Go, also known for their YouTube videos.

Discography

Albums

  1. Pas Encore
  2. Hail Mary
  3. Be Still
  4. Centrifuge
  5. Beat the Horse
  6. Twice as Nice
  7. Little Things
  8. Expiration Date
  1. My Favorite Things
  2. La Vie en Rose
  3. Nature Boy
  4. Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
  5. September
  6. Mister Sandman (featuring Ryan Lerman)
  7. Beat It
  8. Makin' Out
  9. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
  10. Telephone
  • Release date: June 21, 2011
  • Label: ShadowTree Music
  • Format: CD
  1. River Shiver
  2. Single Ladies
  3. Beat the Horse
  4. Centrifuge
  5. September
  6. Another Day
  7. Mister Sandman
  8. If You Think You Need Some Lovin'
  9. Achin' Heart
  10. Telephone

Extended plays

  • Release date: January 19, 2010
  • Label: ShadowTree Music
  • Format: Digital download
  1. If You Think You Need Some Lovin'
  2. Another Day
  3. I Don't Know
  1. Up on the House Top
  2. Jingle Bells
  3. Deck the Halls
  4. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
  5. Always In The Season

Solo work

Both Conte and Dawn maintain solo careers, releasing videos through YouTube and songs through the iTunes Store.[11] Conte has recorded two EPs - Sleep in Color and Nightmares and Daydreams and released them along with the compilations VideoSongs Volumes I-IV through the iTunes Store.[12] Conte's use of Electro-Harmonix audio equipment has been featured by the company in several different videos.[13][14][15] Conte's first notable appearance in mainstream media was when he supplied his voice for the "teenage boy" character in the popular videogame The Sims 2.[16] Conte first gained widespread attention when his video Yeah Yeah Yeah was featured on YouTube's main page.[17] The video, animated in stop motion, has garnered 722,176 views as of March 6, 2011. The majority of his new music is released as singles posted to YouTube in the form of "VideoSongs" (explained in Recordings and Performances).

Critics have reviewed Conte's solo work positively, citing evocative lyrics in Sleep in Color,[17] creative delivery of his videosongs,[18] and the tenacity to create his own niche in the Internet music market.[19] However, Amplifier magazine negatively reviewed Conte's music stating, "Hints of Conor Oberst, Radiohead, Patrick Watson, contemporary punk rock (screamo), radio power pop, and incalculable other singer-songwriters are more than borrowed, making for a short mishmash of electro rock."[20]

In May 2011, it was announced that Dawn would be joining Barry Manilow on his new album entitled, Fifteen Minutes, singing the song, "Letter From a Fan".[21]

In 2010, Nataly Dawn in collaboration with Lauren O'Connell formed the side project group 'My Terrible Friend'.[22]

On July 17, 2011, Nataly Dawn announced that she would be releasing her first solo album.[23] She started a funding campaign on Kickstarter where the minimal goal of $20,000 was reached in just 3 days.[24] On September 6, 2011, the album funding campaign came to a close with 2,315 people donating a grand total of $104,788 exceeding the original goal of $20,000 by more than five times.[25]

Conte discography

Albums

  1. "Push"
  2. "Eat"
  3. "These Days"
  4. "The Giant"
  5. "Lonely Ghost"
  6. "Flavors"
  7. "Passenger Seat" (featuring Louis Cole)
  8. "Yeah Yeah Yeah v2"
  1. "We Grew Up So Well"
  2. "Kitchen Fork"
  3. "This Disaster"
  4. "Ten Thousand Feet per Second"
  5. "Out of Nowhere"
  6. "Trains and Window Collection"
  7. "Impression"
  8. "On Planets"
  9. "Gulf"
  10. "I Know"
  1. "The Way it was Before" (featuring Nataly Dawn and Ryan Lerman)
  2. "Freaks and Clowns"
  3. "Bloody Nose"
  4. "Get Happy"

VS4 is the fourth album in the series of videosong albums by Jack Conte. With the release date being March 23, 2011, Conte released "Make the Grade" as the first videosong. Conte stated at the end of the video that he will be releasing a new videosong every two weeks for the next seven months.

Conte also stated that there is a 109-page book filled with the orchestral scores, lyrics, and five full page black-and-white photos. It also includes piano and vocal transcriptions for "I Wonder Where the Moments Go", vocal arrangement for "Away", and a piano transcription for the riff in "Time of Your Life".

  1. "Make the Grade"
  2. "Time of Your Life"
  3. "Sinking Feeling"
  4. "The Time Has Come"
  5. "Off with His Head"
  6. "Long Long Time Ago"
  7. "Mercenary"
  8. "Away"
  9. "Only Dreaming"
  10. "Get it Out"
  11. "I Would be Happy"
  12. "I Wonder Where the Moments Go"
  13. "Mister Money Bags"
  14. "Push It"
  15. "Reprise"

Extended plays

  1. "Starlight"
  2. "Yeah Yeah Yeah"
  3. "Tick Tock"
  4. "Unfrozen"
  1. Hollywood Endings
  2. "Like a Match"
  3. "The Greatest Hoax"
  4. "Now That's Sacred"
  5. "Carousel Waltz"

Music videos

References

  1. ^ "Contact Us". Pomplamoose.com. http://s293116852.onlinehome.us/contact-us/. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
  2. ^ "Pomplamoose: your new favourite band". The Brock Press. http://media.www.brockpress.com/media/storage/paper384/news/2008/11/04/ArtsEntertainment/Pomplamoose.Your.New.Favourite.Band-3523536.shtml. Retrieved 2009-08-25. 
  3. ^ "Pomplamoose's MySpace Music page - About Pomplamoose". Pomplamoose. http://www.myspace.com/pomplamoosemusic. Retrieved 2009-08-19. 
  4. ^ a b c "Pomplamoose: Making A Living On YouTube". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125783271. Retrieved April 11, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Last.fm - Pomplamoose". Last.fm. http://www.last.fm/music/Pomplamoose. 
  6. ^ "VideoSong 1 - Push". Jack Conte. March 9, 2008. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=105049820&blogId=365388147. Retrieved 2009-07-25. 
  7. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125783271
  8. ^ "Toyota Avalon Train TV commercial". Toyota. YouTube. April 14, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaIs3u_h02Y. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
  9. ^ "Pomplamoose - Jungle". Jack Conte. Sept 21, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic?feature=chclk#p/u/1/pQo8LMaeE8s. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
  10. ^ Port, Ian S. (November 23, 2010). "Pomplamoose Turns Its Talents on for Hyundai Commercials". SF Weekly. http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2010/11/pomplamoose_turns_its_talents.php. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Interview: Jack Conte, Internet musician". CrunchGear. June 11, 2009. http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/11/interview-jack-conte-internet-musician/. Retrieved 2009-07-25. 
  12. ^ "Jack Conte – Sleep in Color EP". DOA. October 13, 2008. http://www.adequacy.net/2009/03/jack-conte-sleep-in-color-ep/. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  13. ^ "Voice Box Demo by Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn". Electro-Harmonix. January 6, 2009. http://www.ehx.com/blog/voice-box-demo-by-jack-conte-and-nataly-dawn. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  14. ^ "Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper Soups The Heck Out Of Jack Conte's Martin". Gearwire. June 24, 2009. http://www.gearwire.com/electroharmonix-tubezipper-reviewjackconte.html. Retrieved 2009-07-25. 
  15. ^ "Electro-Harmonix Bass MicroSynth Makes Some Amazing Low End For Jack Conte of Pomplamoose". Gearwire. June 24, 2009. http://www.gearwire.com/electroharmonix-bassmicrosynth-reviewjackconte.html. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  16. ^ "The Sims 2". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/914811-the-sims-2/data. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
  17. ^ a b "Jack Conte gets emotional in new album". The Maneater. October 13, 2008. http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2008/10/13/Jack-Conte-gets-emotional-in-new-album/. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  18. ^ "Breaking Ground With Jack Conte". Antiquiet. August 4, 2008. http://www.antiquiet.com/interviews/2008/08/breaking-ground-with-jack-conte/. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  19. ^ "Jack Conte Interview with Crunchgear: from Basement to the Web". NowPublic. June 11, 2008. http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/jack-conte-interview-crunchgear-basement-web. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  20. ^ "Jack Conte - Sleep in Color EP". Amplifier Magazine. January 12, 2009. http://www.amplifiermagazine.com/reviews/cds/jack_conte_cd_ep.php. Retrieved July 25, 2009. 
  21. ^ "Barry Manilow to Release "15 Minutes" on June 14th". Artist Direct. 4 May 2011. http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/barry-manilow-to-release-15-minutes-on-june-14th/8938596. Retrieved May 4, 2011. 
  22. ^ "My Terrible Friend". Artist Direct. 01 Jan 2010. http://www.facebook.com/MyTerribleFriend. Retrieved Jan 1, 2010. 
  23. ^ Dawn, Nataly. "My first solo album!". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_PvyAkxcL4. Retrieved August 25, 2011. 
  24. ^ Dawn, Nataly. "Me singing I'll Be Seeing You, by Billie Holiday". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3IgFwzCmU8. Retrieved 2011-08-25. 
  25. ^ Dawn, Natalie. "Nataly Dawn's first solo album". Kickstarter. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/555488012/nataly-dawns-first-solo-album. Retrieved 2011-08-25. 

External links