"But Frankly I Think You Are So Much More"

Right now, everyone needs to turn their Jonas Brother’s CDs from 8 to zero and pay attention: Brighten is the best band you’ve never heard of. Aside from the occasional sound-clip in a tour video on MySpace from The Maine, you have probably never heard anything by Brighten and I can almost guarantee that you care even less. However, you need to start caring. Immediately.

First and foremost, this band has better production values (reference footnote A) than half of the money-maker bands out there. In a very Buddy Holly sort of way, this band arranges a trio to play complex pieces of music better than a band of five or six could pull off. Second, their music is a true breath of fresh air. Not only are the songs a brilliant mix between Copeland, Brand New and Sherwood, but their vibe is instantly contagious. If you’ve not heard any of their junks before, peep it all here.

*A* And while we are on the note of great production values, you need to double check the Pennsylvania band The Right Coast. The band is bound to be picked up very soon (my money’s on Fearless) and have huge potential. A particular track of note is their dope steeze cover of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”

“It’s always a nice surprise to come across something that you honestly haven’t ever heard before" - Boomkat.com

If anyone asked me prior to today, I would have told them that the music industry lacks the one thing that it thrives on - unique creativity. Why not just creativity? Because anyone can be creative by morphing other peoples’ work into their own. Not that that’s a bad thing. In fact, I relish in hearing renditions of songs originally performed by one artist and done by another. Unique creativity, in my mind, is something entirely different. The few surviving souls that possess unique creativity hide amongst pretenders and never-will-be’s and rarely show face, unless they are sampled by someone famous. It seems to me that artists with uinique creativity have no outlet to popularize their music. Last.fm changed my whole perspective on this concept.

Their answer? Architeq. Because I can not currently sum up what this man does on my own, I will let him speak for himself.

I make music exclusively with old analogue synths, modulation units, tape echos and spring reverbs all pushed and pulled into something I can eventually call a ‘tune’ on a computer. I don’t sample… If someone hears a snare roll in one of my tunes I want them to be able to know its an Architeq roll.

Claiming Dundee as his home base, Architeq is the true embodiment of uniqe creativity. He has no concern for conventional song compsition. Pushing aside such standard songwriting essentials such as tempo, key and structure, the man known to his friends as Sam Annand embodies the term originality. First introduced to me through an iTunes sampler offered to me because I am a fan of “Apple Students” on Facebook, I didn’t even give Architeq a first listen. In all honesty, unless I am already a fan of the artist, I don’t listen to those songs that are given to me at no cost from iTunes. I have always seen free playlists from iTunes as a way for record execs to cleverly market their artists to impressional teenagers who have nothing better to do than stalk Facebook. And to further my honesty, my iTunes library’s choice to play the “Fugleance Emotronical” remix of his song “Birds of Prey” was completely random and on accident.

I rarely trust re-mixes. All too often are remixes slower and less interestring than the real thing. However, one listen to this remix and I was begging for more. Rather, I was begging to hear the original. Well…I got what I wanted. And then I saw this. Another version of the same song done with the addition of a live drummer. If anything, this adds to the unique originality of Architeq. If nothing else, it’s a comment on the drummer’s ability to play along to a song with no set tempo or time signature.


An artist so original, the way I would normally describe or critique an artist seems irrelevant. In fact, there isn’t a single piece of Architeq that I can critique. Instead, I will let his music speak for him.

Shot In The Back of the Head

Least original blog posting thus far by yours truly.

Moby gets shot in the back of the head by David Lynch. Sadly, it's not as great as it sounds...



In my opinion, Moby's been on a downward spiral since Play which I see has been discontinued by the label. If you haven't bought it, there are 144 used copies at the link starting at a penny...seriously! For the more technologically-inclined, you can buy it on iTunes, complete with the B-Side collection that followed it for $9.99.

He Is Somebody's Drunk Uncle...

As I write this, the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players are sleeping in my two spare rooms. Tina (Mom) and Rachel (daughter) is sleeping in my sister's room. Jason (Dad) is sleeping on a couch. Opening act TY (Touching You) is sleeping in the spare room. They had just put on a very interesting and conceptual show at the Boot. The concept: rummage through estate sales, auction houses, yard sales, etc. and buy up all the photo slides they can find. Arrrange such photo slides so they Jason can write a song around them. Play song live with slideshow accompaniment. Check them out here.

In the middle of the show, they hosted a Q&A session. At the end, they asked their own question, "Does anyone have the room to hole us up for the night? We're a small band and literally can't afford to stay the night in a hotel. If anyone has extra room, we'd really appreciate it. We'll give you our sincerest gratitude and gladly give you a bunch of free merch from our collection."

Seeing as there was only 4 of them, I figured "What the hell?" and made the offer. Unbeknownst to me, I was actually in competion with another generous Boot-ian. Both of us had one problem: Tina has a completely unbased psychological fear of cats and we both had one cat. I told her I'd try to kep the cat out of the rooms they were in and Tina said, "Deal".

We stopped at a local 7-11, Tina bought some bread so they could make "phony baloney sandwiches" as they are all vegatarians. They offered me one; I passed as I enjoy my meat and never liked baloney past the 3rd grade.

While they made their sandwiches, Jason and I discussed this appearance and how frustrating it can be being a conceptual act appearing on television. I had previously seen David Byrne on The Colbert Report and felt that the travelling cameras and multiple angles ruined the presentation Byrne was looking for. Since he had backing dancers and musicians whose movements were choreographed to the song, I felt a fixed camera located center-stage would be best. Jason agreed and said, "When we were doing this show, we told them it was VERY IMPORTANT that the camera be focused on he screen at certain times because we very well couldn't have me singing words that made no sense because there wasn't a corresponding image along side it."



Afterwards, I showed them their respective rooms, gave them towels for their morning showers, and said our goodnights.

What will await me in the morning? I have no idea but I have told them I hope to be awake when they leave. It would seem rude of me to not say my goodbyes and wish them well...even if they are total strangers.

The Villains

Friday March 13th at the Taphouse, The Villains, a local Norfolk garage punk band will be playing at 10pm with the Dielectrics.  Get there early before it fills up!

Music and Integrity have nothing to do with it!

The film we viewed in class was a classic way that bands rise to fame and fall out of the graces of their fans. The film discusses bands like Metallica and how they change their sound to gain a larger audience.  Bands who water down their music are considered to be sell outs.  If they stuck to their original sound they would probably keep their core audience while gaining new fans.  The film goes on to talk about how it hard to stay in the music business because it so trendy, because fads come and go so quickly.  The film also touches on what goes into creating a tour.  The example they use is Guns n Roses tour's.  Talking about Guns n Roses and Stone Temple Pilots are making a collaboration as Velvet Revolver.  The only reason they get any recognition is because they have members from famous bands and record companies have spent millions of dollars on advertising. Velvet Revolver would probably have not made it with out this advertisement.  Music and Integrity have nothing to do with it. 

A.M. Architect

A.M. Architect is a side project of Diego Chavez AKA Aether216 and Daniel Stanush of the Panic Division. Their press release describes their sound as being based in jazz, hip-hop, and organic ambient music. Their debut album, The Road to the Sun, features a mixture of Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, pedal steel, field recordings, and more.

The lead track, Unspoken, reminds me of the first time I heard Air's Moon Safari album minus the vocals of Beth Hirsch. Glitchy beats that sound like brushed drums, Fender and guitar play a repeated melody that could be best described as "jazz lite". Upon feels as though it would have fit in with the less erratic but still overtly psychedelic moments of Caribou's Milk of Human Kindness.

Not quite emotionless and cold, but also not fiery in its' delivery The Road to the Sun has a perfect release date of April 2008. Be sure to listen to it before the ridiculously humid summer ruins the mood.

MP3: A.M. Architect - Unspoken

MP3: A.M. Architect - Upon

(Road to the Sun will be available April 2008 on Exponential Records.)

Since We're Discussing Innovation (?)

Does anyone reading this remember the days of split EPs? Be it 7", 12", or the CD-split. Well, last week a new label, FoF Music began selling their first release: a split EP that comes with a free shirt. Or is it a shirt that comes with a free EP?

Here's the press release.

The Story:

While the music industry is getting a much needed make-over, for fans there lies a fresh opportunity to change the way we value and understand music as a whole. The Internet in many ways has been "the great equalizer" for both artists and music fans giving us all new opportunities to release, buy and receive music. Artists are able to reach new listeners with ease, while interested fans have plenty of avenues to express their own voices online and discover something new. And while people aren't buying music at the stores at the same rate as in the past, they certainly are willing to support the people that make art they love. Fans still want something tangible and by evidence of current blog/Twitter culture, are seeming just as interested in the story and method as they are in the final product.

Thus leads way to the introduction of a new type of label called FoF Music (Friends of Friends), the name itself is the driving force behind the label and website, referring to the most effective way (yet traditional way!) people learn about new music...through Friends! The hope is to help re-invent how music is released in a way that is not only more involving for the artist (A&R, artwork, marketing) but more importantly truly enticing for the fans. We want to create releases that are inspiring for artists and fans alike; with the intention to create a product that is not a useless plastic memory holder but rather is worth the hard earned money spent to create and purchase.

The concept in short for our inaugural release is FoF invites an artist to join the FoF family by signing on to do a split EP; they in turn invite another musician or group to complete the split release and commission a designer to create the EP's artwork on a limited edition T-Shirt which will include a download card(100% seed paper card; Included will be the release, exclusive remixes and special content: ie videos, mixes etc).



For the first in the Friends of Friends series, FoF has invited a great friend and HERO of ours: Santa Monica based electronic genius Alfred "Daedelus" Darlington whom you may know from his solo work on labels such as Ninja Tune, Mush, Plug Research and more or even more recently with his wife as The Long Lost (also on Ninja Tune).

With the power to choose his cohorts, Daedelus has brought in homies Jogger; Amir Yaghmai and Jonathan Larroquette for their first EVER release! Not only did Alfred attend High School with Amir but the duo are the active live band members of Alfred's The Long Lost project with wife Laura as well as collaborators on his 'Exquisite Corpse" release. He's also managed to bless us with the INCREDIBLE husband and wife art duo Kozyndan for the cover art/t-shirt design. They all 5 are truly friends and we're happy to now call them ours!

The fans receive a beatiful, 100% organic-shirt printed on Alternative Apparel's "Alternative Earth" shirts and the album with bonus material all in one swoop. The album will also be available through all digital retail outlets separately...

There's only 300 shirts available. This post is kind of late on the "Breaking News" front, so they may already be sold out. Find out here.

I Knew It!

By the way, this chart is a complete joke. Read all about it here and here. The site that hosts the chart is completely flooded right now; see the whole thing here.

The Raconteurs' Simultaneous Release of 2008

Around this time last year, Warner Brothers recording artists The Raconteurs released their new album, Consolers of the Lonely, to all outlets at the exact same time. This was done in such a way that the public had one week's notice before the album was released. There would be no advance single sent to radio, no promotional videos shot, no advance copies sent to the press...nothing, prior to its release.

You can read their rationale behind this decision here.

At first, I found this to be an interesting idea. However since Warner Brothers is on the West Coast, I ended up having to wait until the following Monday to receive a physical copy for my station. Thankfully, I had signed up for a digital distribution service that services certain releases from the Big Four and a few select independent labels, so I was able to download it Tuesday morning. Though I wouldn't do this in the first place, if I had attempted to upload the files to a blog/website/p2p service, etc. the files from that service are watermarked in my name and could be traced back to me, causing all sorts of legal action against myself and the station.

Also, while "The Raconteurs" gave all sorts of reasons for this decision, I couldn't help shape the feeling that this was an attempt by the label to combat a leak of any form. By doing this, consumers simply couldn't base their judgment on whether or not to buy the album by a song heard on the radio, passed around on the Internet, or blogged about on sites like this one. The record-buying public would need to put their hard-earned money down on the counter (or "checkout now" screen) and pay to form an opinion.

Link to the digital service referred to in article: http://plaympe.com/v4/

S-Curve Was Paying Attention (?)

I have to admit, I'd completely forgotten about Velvet Revolver. Around the time the Frontline special aired, Scott Weiland was a mess, his albums weren't any good, and Guns N Roses had gone MIA. So, a super-star collaboration by them was exciting to me as tap-water. It was kind of creepy watching all those mid-30's, early 40's pasty white guys bob their heads slowly and then rock the f*ck out when appropriate. It finally dawned on me why anyone would have let a news crew into a scenario like that: FREE PUBLICITY!!!


I also wondered whatever became of poor Sarah Hudson. By "poor", I mean I know she was aiming for that late-teen, early-20's crowd, but I couldn't shake the image of her playing her little teen angst heart out for groups of soccer moms at some radio festival that couldn't attract a younger crowd if they promised free beer with no ID required. Turns out I was only half-right. S-Curve Records folded shortly after the Frontline special and "Naked Truth" was shelved. Hudson is now playing shows in Europe with a new 80's era re-hash dance band called Ultraviolet Scene.

In 2007, S-Curve was relaunched after the head of the company served as President of Columbia Records. I'm not sure if he learned anything, but the new S-Curve roster consists of alt-pop group Fountains of Wayne, 60's crooner Tom Jones, wanna-be 60's UK blues singer Joss Stone, and the up-and-coming rock sensation Tinted Windows.

What? You've never heard of Tinted Windows? They've got Velvet Revolver beat with not one, two, or three, but FOUR former members of groups gone by. We're talkin' James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, and on vocals Taylor Freakin' Hanson! Check out this promo shot.



How can you not be ready to hear this album? You may not be able to yet, but you can visit their website and hear their first single now! What's it sound like? Imagine if you took Fountains of Wayne/Cheap Trick rock-pop rhythm, Siamese Dream era fuzzed out buzzsaw guitars, and the voice of the oldest member of Hanson. In other words, just like in Velvet Revolver, a total lack of originality and/or creativity!

Things are not Always as they Appear

I think The Way The Music Died is the first emblematic music documentary of our time. In class, professor Anderson said that the documentary

has something for everyone.

I found this hard to believe, at first, as I knew the documentary was released before mash-up music made waves in the industry. I was not expecting to find anything relevant to my paper's topic of Girl Talk and copyright law evolution in the music industry. I found my connection in the most arbitrary of places; the portion of the documentary that chronicled the rise of Velvet Revolver. I realized something that I had never considered before - mash-ups can be much more than the chopping and screwing of audio files. Mash-ups can occur at the most fundamental level of music-the performers. While the music performed are not mash-ups of multiple bands, the members that comprise the band in question come from two or more bands to create a unique sound.

Comprised of members of Guns N' Roses and the Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver's lineup represents two crucially influential acts of the 90s. Through the combination of the voice of STP and the musicians of GNR, Velvet Revolver has mashed up two sounds of a single generation in order to impact a new generation. It is because of this new concept of the mash-up that I find it necessary to address a statement I made in a previous blog. I had previously said that mash-up music was created out of the lack of quality music being produced by bands on the scene today. Is it perhaps possible that the lack of quality music in today's industry is a direct reflection of the lack of quality musicians/personalities?

While bands come a dime a dozen these days, as self-production becomes easier and more professional sounding, the general public can only identify with the bands that impacted them at a young age. A more recent example of this is the band Two Tongues. The bands Say Anything and Saves the Day are two bands that just about every indie act in existence today can say that they drew influence from. Fall Out Boy's first practice ever consisted of current singer/guitar player, then drummer Pat Stump and bass player Pete Wentz playing Saves the Day's "Through Being Cool" cover to cover. Say Anything and Saves The Day are two bands with an instantly recognizable sound. The singers of both bands have created Two Tongues as a side project for both bands. I believe that bands like Two Tongues and Velvet Revolver have put a new spin on the concept of mash-ups. While their music is original and not mashed up in any manner whatsoever, their membership is mashed up from bands that have become heavily influential in their own right.

Links:
Click here for an article on the release of Two Tongues' debut CD.

Interested in how to mash-up? Click here for details.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Further impacting my theory that the music industry is leaning towards a trend of mash-up music and cover albums (no thanks to such albums as Punk Goes Crunk and such artists as the Reel Big Fish), there is now a festival that embraces this art.

In preparation for the summer season, which could be called the summer of Warped Tour, The Bamboozle hosts two festivals, one on each coast, that combines some of the hottest musical acts around, or at least some of the hottest indie and punk-pop acts around. Think of it as a junkie's fix between South By Southwest and Warped Tour. The unique thing about this festival, is that they also expose older artists from different genres during the festival (can you say Brett Michaels in 2008?)

Moving on.

As a sublet to the Bamboozle, there is something called The Hoodwink Festival. Taking place at the same time, this festival honors the music industry's seemingly inability to create timeless pieces of audio gold by contracting relevant bands of today to play cover sets of the relevant bands of yore. Just as Bamboozle divides its two festivals into Left and Right (one for each coast East and West), the Hoodwink is doing the same thing, with different artists covering different bands at each. Here's 2009's Hoodwink Lineup

To be honest, I would give nothing short of my liver and first born child to see We The Kings cover Jimmy Eat World. I think We The Kings is somewhat of a generic rock group by today's standards, but they do a phenomenal job at what they do. Girls love them and they have a knack for writing relevant music. In the indie scene, Jimmy Eat World has influenced EVERYONE. I'm not kidding. The fact that We The Kings is covering J.E.W. is a little bit of a surprise to me, though. Why not choose a band that came up after Jimmy? I feel like there are a thousand bands that WTK listened to other than Jimmy that they can credit for their sound. Why doesn't WTK cover Blink-182 or Fall Out Boy? These styles of music are more interchangable then WTK and Jimmy. Jimmy Eat World has created music that is instantly a hit (reference their breakthrough CD Bleed American). Songs like "The Middle" have been on countless movies and feel-good T.V. shows due to its spirited nature and positive outlook on even the worst things in life.

I wish more noticable (or more talented) bands would have been chosen to cover some of the bands that are to be featured at Hoodwink. For example: Hoodwink attendees will hear Never Shout Never cover the Beatles. What an abomination. I can't say much, positive or negative, on Never Shout never, but I wonder if the organizers of this festival have taken into account that the Beatles can not and will not ever be able to be covered without disgracing their timeless classics. I take that back. Jeff Beck. The O.G. of the Fender Strat. The Beethoven of the fingers. Known for his instrumental Rock 'N' Roll albums, he can literally say anything he wants by plucking a few strings at a time. Geroge Michael, the Beatles' former producer and sometimes referred to as the "5th Beatle", recently issued a Beatles tribute CD. On the same CD that Jim Carrey (remeber Ace Ventura?) covers "I Am The Walrus," Jeff beck does the most beautiful rendition of "A Day In the Life" without anything but his guitar, a backing band and pure, unadulterated emotion. There are few songs I would claim authorship to if I could and that song is one of them. I downloaded this CD just so I could hear Beck's version. To this day, it's the only Beatles cover that I believe is worth listening to.

However I am getting off track. The Hoodwink festival is a great idea. It exposes the unlearned "music afficianado" to the music that their parents listened to, through a channel that the kids are already familiar with (a.k.a. their favorite bands). However, have some goddamm respect for music that was never meant to be covered. When all is said and done and a few Hot Topic girls decide that Never Shout Never is their new favorite band because they gave their fans something to connect with their parents about, I hope that SIR George Harrison (you know. . .because he got KNIGHTED for his work with The Beatles) takes time from counting his money and listening to every masterpiece that labeled a geration to say "I told you so." I hope that Pete Best, the guy Ringo Starr replaced as drummer in the Beatles, is also pissed. Those sad, forsaken souls invested with the responsibility of cleaning up the environmental mess left behind at Bamboozle will have themselves a Hard Day's Night.

Johnny Ryall

the best in mens clothing
visit paulsboutique.beastieboys.com

Go ahead. Flip the card; you know you want to. Then press "play". It's sample-delic.

Paul's Boutique turns 20 this year; that means it's time to re-issue it and cash out.

If I had 129.99, I'd spend it here. Since I already own the album, I'm not sure I'd pay $11.99 for a digital download. I'm not too sure what this means, but for $15.99, you get "interactive, 3D digital album art". $18.99 gets you the CD and $23.99 gets you the album on 180-gram vinyl (for all those mix-tape kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings).

Read all about the album here. Look at that list of samples: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Costello, the Ramones. Whatever happened to these guys?

Selling Out Pt.2

A friend swears that a few years ago that I became infuriated a the fact that Bob Dylan starred in a Victoria's Secret commercial many years ago. (Does anyone remember this?) He tells me I even proposed asking him about it when he played the Norva shortly thereafter (though, in hindsight, I doubt he would have answered me). Since then, I've let up my anger and decided to say, "You know what? It's his career; he's going to do it no matter what I think, so why should I let it bother me?")

I also read in his "Chronicles, Volume 1" that he was a fan of rap music. Not so much for the music, but the politically-charged lyrics of artists like Public Enemy and NWA (Go ahead...picture Bob Dylan listening to "Fuck Tha Police"). To him, (and I'm paraphrasing here) albums like Fear of A Black Planet, It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, and Straight Outta Compton were like listening to a bomb go off. These people were pissed off and were not just going to sit around and complain about it amongst themselves. I went into those albums with the same attitude (and I'll admit, a bit of nostalgia for "911 Is A Joke") and learned to appreciate them as such...but to a lesser extent with Straight Outta Compton.

So, while I've learned to accept this, why does this bother me so much?



(Full disclosure: Pepsi sponsored the Black Eyed Peas last tour, so I'm pretty sure they own Will.I.Am lock, stock, and barrel.)

Secondly, in case no one heard, Bruce Springsteen publicly apologized today for signing on to a greatest hits package to be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. To his fans, it seemed as though the man who has spent the last 20+ years lamenting the death of "Mom and Pop America" and fighting for labor rights missed the fact that he was supporting Wal-Mart (read WAL-MART). In his apology, Springsteen claimed to have "dropped the ball" and said "[o]ur batting average is usually pretty good...but fans tend to call you on this stuff, as it should be." You can read all about this in his interview in the New York Times Sunday edition, which...SURPRISE! coincides with his appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show.)

In other news, his new album "V for Vendetta"...umm, "Working on A Dream" is in stores now.

Insert Witty T-Shirt Slogan Here

Agitated Audience-member: "TAKE OFF YOUR UNIFORM BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, MAN!"

FZ: "Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform and don't kid yourself."

Selling Out

There is a fine line between keeping real and being popular. The question is the difference between an entertainer and artist. To me an artist is someone who portrays their soul into their work. They put everything into it; it’s their ‘baby’ so to speak so everything has to be perfect. Artist’s do not need to have thousands of fans and make tons of money, they are satisfied with the work they put out. Take …And You Will Us The Trail of Dead as an example. They keep the same elements that they started from but add new things. I was driving the other day and I heard a song on the radio that I had never heard but I knew right away that it was Trail of the Dead because they have an authentic sound that is uniquely them. Sure enough when the song ended it was a song off their new album. Entertainers I feel are in it for the money, which is what being a sell out is in my opinion is. When you have artists who cannot sing but they are making so much money because they are good entertainment, where did societies taste in good music go wrong? Hello, Brittany Spear is an entertainer but not an artist in the least bit. I am sure the only reason she gets attention is just because people want to see the crazy things she will do. Which is no reason to keep people with no talent around. But then we also have the musicians/artists who were in it simply to make great music and then decided to sell out. Greenday as an example, they were awesome back in the day. Their sounds was raw and now today they sound just like any other mainstream band out their. That not to say that if an artist goes mainstream that they are going to turn out like that at all. Take Smashing Pumpkins as an example. They mainstream band but there sound has always stayed to its roots while branching out and trying new things. They have always kept that unique sound that you can tell is them. They took a break for a while, probably best so that they wouldn’t start making music that sounded like every other artists that sold out. It was probably the better choice to make, were able to recharge and come back with new ideas after they long hiatus.

Dusseldorf!

Great Moments in "Selling Out"

1999: Electronic artist Moby releases his album, "Play", on an unsuspecting mass public. On his previous album, Moby had attempted (somewhat unsuccessfully) to mix his D.C. hardcore roots with his current musical interest. Since he felt this attempt did not go over well and he was more well known in Europe than the US, before Play was released he licensed every single track from the album to a number of advertisers. His rationale was that "this would be the only way my music would be heard". Four years later, Wired magazine would call this "licensing venture so staggeringly lucrative that the album was a financial success months before it reached its multi-platinum sales total."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.05/moby.html

2003: Thirty-something "Indie" artist Liz Phair leaves Matador Records, signs to Capitol Records and gets produced by the Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Shakira, Britney Spears). Phair tries to balance a newfound innocence in her lyrics ("Why Can't I?") with her trademark overt sexuality ("H.W.C."). Fans cry "sell-out" while Phair defends her position in interviews by saying there was no way she could afford to raise her son at a label that could only pay her so much.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/arts/music/02phai.html

2007: "Indie" psych-pop band Of Montreal are riding the crest of their most successful/personal album to date, "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?". The band feels that the album deserves a better live presentation than just them on a bare stage. They want to give the audience a show and then go even BIGGER on the next tour. Their solution? License a song to Outback Steakhouse and appear in a commercial for the new T-Mobile Sidekick.


Fans cry "sell-out". In response, lead singer Kevin Barnes writes a lengthy diatribe entitled "Selling Out Isn't Possible" . In it he proposes that, "The pseudo-nihilistic punk rockers of the 70's created an impossible code in which no one can actually live by. It's such garbage. The idea that anyone who attempts to do anything commercial is a sell out is completely out of touch with reality." which brings me to my final moment of selling out.

(On a somewhat related note, read Barnes' plan to survive in the era of digital media entitled "We Will Only Propagate Exceptional Objects".)

2008: Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten shills for Country Life butter. It should be noted that the Sex Pistols have never shied away from the notion of doing things "only for the money". At one point, they went on a reunion tour with the name "Filthy Lucre" (read "dirty money" for us Yanks). Despite their "punk" image, it should be noted they really were nothing more than...yes, I'll say it...a dirtier, snottier, more drug-addled version of a "boy band". And so, the man who once claimed "and you thought that we were faking ,that we were all just money making" now says "People know I only do things that I want to or that I believe in and I have to do it my way...I've never done anything like this before and never thought I would, but this Country Life ad was made for me and I couldn't resist the opportunity."

"You know nothing about art or sex that you couldn't read in any trendy, New York, underground fashion magazine" -"Admit It," Say Anything

I believe that with being an indie artist, authenticity is the only thing defines you. It seems to be that the way indie music "sounds," though styles and themes may change, has been predetermined. Indie music can be picked out of a 1000 song catalog by Indie enthusiasts over your typical, everyday top-40 songs. Indie music is often self-produced, self-authored and self-invested. Everything done to an Indie song has a purpose above making every instrument quantized and pitch corrected. Though auto-tune can be found in a great deal of Indie records, it is not done to enhance the production value of said song. It is done to add to the atmosphere of the composition.

There is a great divide among "keeping it real" in Indie music. I haven't quite figured out what the Indie world has against making music, but it seems like the minute an Indie artist turns a profit on their music, they have sold out. When I discover a band that none of my friends have heard of, I face an internal dilemma. I want all of my friends to hear the music, but at the same time I am afraid that the music will become too well-liked that it will become a mainstream success. I remember when Death Cab For Cutie's "You Can Play These Songs With Chords" showed up on the shelves of my local Newbury Comics. This album has an immaculate cover of Morrisey's "This Charming Man," which is what immediately attracted me to this band. I loved how Death Cab's music was vastly different from virtually every other album I had heard at that point in every facet. Their production values were extremely high, though it sounded just like the demo tapes that local bands were passing out. Their music was sophisticated (and it still is), which is partly what made the relatively minor-league "sound" of the album seem irrelevant.

As Western culture moved in and out of the punk-pop fad, it seemed like the up and coming fad after punk-pop was listening to artists that no one had heard of before. It became a status point in a way if you were listening to a scarce artist or genre, which immediately made it popular. When "the OC" made its television debut back in the day, the character Seth Cohen referred to Death Cab on a number of occasions. The band even made a live appearance on the show. All of a sudden, the band I raved about for so long that my friends wouldn't stop playing their Sum 41 CDs to listen to became the new thing. Since then, Death Cab has played to mammoth-sized crowds and sold tremendous amounts of records. Their production value has gone up with each release and with that so has their popularity. The question still haunts, however, if Death Cab for Cutie sold out. My answer is "no." I believe that if popular culture never picked up on Ben Gibbard's song writing that the band would have released the same music that they've released post pop culture exposure. Though some fans of the band may call them "sell outs" for turning a profit on their music, they have continued to stay authentic in the sense that the music they are making sounds dramatically different from anything on the radio today, yet something about them still appeals to the pop culture crowd. If selling out means making music that millions of people love and being able to support one's self because of it, then Death Cab for Cutie has absolutely 100% sold out.

One last point of contention: The Beach Boys made surf music that sky-rocketed their popularity. Brian Wilson hated surf music and hated the beach. In fact, the only members of the Beach Boys that lived that lifestyle were drummer Dennis Wilson and singer Mike Love. As soon as the band released "Pet Sounds," their popularity in the states seemed to drop. Brian Wilson composed some of his most authentic songs to date on that album and was criticized for it. With that said, who can truly define "keeping it real" and what is and is not authentic?

Music to Me

Okay, let me just start by saying I have never blogged before in my life and I never thought I would see the day where I had to. So here it is… Music: is the love of my life. My passion for music is credited to my father, who would always play the guitar and sing to me all the songs from his youth, to name a view The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Who, and Elvis Presley and so on. While still holding true to these bands I also listen to bands like Nirvana, 311, Incubus, and many more. It wasn’t until about high school when my best friend Nathan introduced me to a band that is so unbelievably talented that they instantly became my favorite. Who are they you ask? There name is ….And you Will Know us by the Trail of Dead, or Tail of Dead for short. They are one of those bands where one can listen to the whole album through with out skipping to the next track. (It rarity when that happens.) And, it not just one of their albums it all of them. This band never puts out a song that sounds like they reused a melody and put different words to it. Each on of there songs is unique. Each album is never the same. Trail of Dead uses a variety of instruments to create their unique sound, which some instruments you can pick out and other you can’t. This band cannot be put into any particular category, so you will just have to listen for yourself.

"I am not a DJ" -Greg Gyllis

I think that, as this is my first post of the semester, that I should be up front with everyone reading this: I don't believe in genres of music. While I recognize a select few core styles of music (i.e. hip-hop, country, rock, jazz and horse-shit) I believe that even those can be blurred in such a way that a new style of music is formed. Take, for example, Fusion jazz. A mix of Jazz music and hip-hop created an instantaneous genre. However. . .name one chiefly Fusion artist. I'll wait while you think of one.

I believe that the blurred lines between genres have opened up an entirely new portal for musicians to explore. This portal can be found in the art of "Mash-ups." Hip-Hop artists have been doing this via sampling techniques for as long as loop machines have been on the Market. Bone Thugs N Harmony mashed their hooks and lines with a Phil Collins sample on their song "Home." More recently, MTV brought together Jay-Z and Linkin Park for a revolutionary mash-up session. While thousands of DJ's in clubs across the universe have experimented with mash-ups in their sets there is, in my opinion, one single go-to authority on the art of mash-ups.

Greg Gyllis, more commonly known as Girl Talk, left his life of tissue engineering to change the world with his mash-ups. Using the words and music from hundreds of different artists spanning a multitude of genres, Girl Talk is able to craft unique tracks through the juxtapositions found when different styles of music are combined.

I feel like when God created our universe, he bestowed upon us the musical genius to change the lives of millions. Unfortunately, this genius is not as infinite as everyone once thought. Listen to 98% of the music on the radio (coincidentally the same music Girl Talk mashes up) and you too will realize that most of these songs are crafted from similar chord structures and lyrical themes. The musical genius of the world is running dry. Through the composition of music created by other musicians, artists like Girl Talk are able to rediscover the music that was created in the last 75 years and morph said music into something reachable by today's youth and disenchanted musical fanatics.

How long will it be before the mash-up is deemed as illegal as making mixed cassette tapes and peer-to-peer file sharing? As long as acts like Girl Talk continue to bank on the musical feats of others, someone's going to be pissed. Only on his recent CD Feed The Animals has Girl Talk used a Metallica sample. Unfortunately for you, Girl Talk, Lars Ulrich really really really likes his money.

You're Dripping All Over The Galaxy

And so begins my second attempt at blogging. Last semester, I had another blog where I made shameless plugs for my (now on-hiatus) radio show, professed my love for Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, and got a creepy back massage from Bradford Cox of Deerhunter. My musical tastes haven't changed...much...since then (for instance, Ghostland Observatory wore thin after one listen; only about 5 of the Lightspeed Champion songs were any good). Still, despite my "indie" preferences, you're just as likely to see me at a GWAR show or listening to Finnish "drinking metal" bands or this song...

I hope to use this blog in the same manner as I utilized my radio show: to expose people to music that's probably not being aired on the radio (or at least not in this area). I've sent out e-mails to a few of my favorite blogs to try and figure out how you go about LEGALLY posting MP3s, though as I'm finding it's just as difficult and confusing as anything else going on within the music industry right now. (Note that these links are 3 years old.) Plus, I'm not really trying to endanger myself or the many connections I've made through WODU (various label contacts, promoters, etc.)

In the meantime, click here to view the video for my first favorite track of 2009, Animal Collective's "My Girls" from the album Merriweather Post Pavilion.