Song of Fire

The demonically brilliant music of Sweeney Todd

Jon O — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:36:45 +0000

"Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd." So begins the 1979 musical by Stephen Sondheim about a London barber who murders his customers and the accomplice Mrs. Lovett who turns his victims into meat pies.

Specters of Twilight

Jon O — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:59:31 +0000

After a four-year hiatus, I'm getting ready to release my sixth CD, "Specters of Twilight." It's a major departure from my previous music, reflecting the influence of Nine Inch Nails, MeShell Ndegeocello ("The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams") and Tori Amos ("Venus and Back"): industrial, strange, anti-pop.

Music piracy: some things never change

Jon O — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:59:57 +0000

The RIAA is waging a war against music piracy, trying to stop what has become as common as breathing. It's probably too late.

Music, madeleines and memory

Jon O — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:44:17 +0000

Whenever I hear Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters," it's suddenly fall of 1980 when I first moved to San Francisco. I relive the emotions of those early days in a new city, the excitement tinged with longings. Most songs don't have this kind of emotional valence for me. But some do. Why is that?

The transformative power of music in “The Visitor”

Jon O — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:37:38 +0000

The storyline of the 2008 film "The Visitor" uses music to signify transformation. Widowed economics professor Walter Vale (played by Richard Jenkins) has been simply going through the motions for far too long. In his Connecticut home, he takes piano lessons, perhaps trying to reconnect with life through the instrument his late wife played, but his fifth piano teacher finally tells him that it is difficult to learn an instrument in mid-life, especially when one "has no natural ability."

Concert attendance plummets

Jon O — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:56:37 +0000

Concert promoter Live Nation yesterday announced what many musicians already know: fewer people are attending concerts. The company reported a first quarter loss of $102.7 million — on top of last year's loss of $37.2 million.

360 deals: the latest music industry rip-off

Jon O — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:47:09 +0000

Driven to desperation by declining CD sales, record companies are requiring new artists to sign "360 deals" that take a percentage of every single thing the artist does: merchandising, ticket sales, paid appearances, interviews. Any band which signs such a deal might as well consider changing their name to Faust.

What happened to the jazz?

Jon O — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:50:09 +0000

Every spring the historic California town of Sonoma hosts Sonoma Jazz+; visitors can spend the afternoons sipping wine, strolling around the plaza, and listening to bands in different venues. What I want to know is: what happened to the jazz?

Bells as the voice of God

Jon O — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:46:07 +0000

Bells in the Russian Orthodox tradition are not just bells. Because they are not tuned to a major or minor chord, as Western European bells commonly are, they don't represent a note or a chord but, rather, the voice of God.

Motor City paving over its musical past

Jon O — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:45:17 +0000

Detroit — unlike cities such as Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans — has never been able to cash in on its famed musical history. Despite being well known as birthplace of the immensely influential Motown, not to mention major artists from Aretha Franklin to Madonna, the Detroit metro area is one of the most significant places when talking about the history of American music.