we also ran | music

Idlewild - Post Electric Blues

2009-06-18T10:24:00.004-05:00

So Idlewild's great experiment ended for me yesterday when I received an envelope, customs declaration and all, containing the record that I preordered eons ago, and the poster with my name, and everyone else's (image of someone else's) that preordered the thing.

Also in the package was a note, asking very politely that I not give away for free that which I paid for months ago, and alerting me that each cd has been individually watermarked to track uploads. I don't know if that's true or not, but my Google search for an image of the cover revealed that it doesn't seem to have deterred a fair number of people from sharing away anyway. Sad, really.

Anyway, this has been an interesting journey for me, because it's the first time that I've participated in something like this and felt, pretty much all the way through, that the band bit off just slightly more than it could chew. Here's a recap of what was originally promised (from Myspace) with markups to reflect my experience:

By going to idlewildmusic.com you will get details on how to pre-order and what you will receive. [The order process was...sketchy? A secure purchase is a secure purchase, I guess, but make it look like something I can trust.]

These include a limited edition CD album (~~with free download version~~ [Never happened.]) in exclusive packaging & including ~~at least~~ one bonus track. This will be shipped within weeks of completion & before any standard release.

You can get your name to appear in the CD booklet with the album ~~and on a roll-call on the web site~~. [No roll call yet, not that this was a huge selling point.]

Access to download 15 free tracks from live recordings at the King Tuts "album by album" shows [Except the shows for Warnings/Promises and Make Another World. This process was riddled with bugs and caused a bit of a tempest in the WordPress teapot.] In December '08 & access to a members only section of the web site [Users needed to remember completely nonsensical passwords generated by WordPress (mine was ur2EsFuz32s@) that weren't changeable.] with album progress updates, exclusive photo and video content from the recording and preproduction process with diaries/blogs by individual band members ~~and lots more~~.

Signing up will also automatically enter you into draws for special prizes.

So here's the thing: the record is really good. A joy to listen to. And while it's too fresh still for me to rank it in the Idlewild pantheon, I'm already confident that when the dust settles I'll still like it much more than at least Make Another World, and I'll take great pride in recommending it to people, and maybe once in a while showing a friend my name in on the enclosed poster.

I like it so much, really, that I feel a bit shitty even pointing out the bumps in the road along the preorder process, because it's not like the band itself hasn't acknowledged them, and been pretty up front about most of them. Still, a little more preparation in this era of bands shrugging label support and handling distro themselves would have gone a long way. Here's to hoping Idlewild tries something like this again for the next record, and that it works a little better.

**Update** I spent some time talking to my friend Andy about this on his podcast last night, which is now posted here.

Max Bemis will Say Anything you want him to.

2009-06-04T20:03:00.005-05:00

In the days of knights and maidens, it wasn't an uncommon thing for a nobleman to glorify himself by commissioning a minstrel to write a song. I think. So while some may call Max Bemis's latest idea innovative, and more will call it downright batshit, I'm choosing to nod approvingly at the notion of kicking it really old school.

Read more about how for $150 and for a limited time only, Max will write a song for you and only you, your highness. Just like in medieval times, only with more overt references to masturbation.

Art vs. Commerce

2009-05-06T22:30:00.005-05:00

My friend (and old boss) Seth Resler posted a meditation on art and commerce yesterday, and it inspired me to sit down and write for the first time since...gosh, February? Really? Anyway, here's a quote:

The trick, of course, is to play tons of Nickelback, but make people think you’re playing Radiohead a lot more than you really are. So you “image” yourself with Radiohead by finding excuses to say their name without playing their music. Contests and specialty features are a great way to do this. I was the king of this kind of smoke and mirrors. During my time at BRU, the playlist was all Green Day, Linkin Park and the Chili Peppers, but the contests were all about Deathcab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and the Dropkick Murphys. Few people fake indie cred as well as I do.
And this never bothered me, because I knew that the only reason people would ever be able to hear the cool indie bands was because I played mass-appeal bands like Nickelback. Nickelback records pay the bills. And while the true music lovers may hate the band, they fail to realize that without Nickelback, their favorite bands would never get any airplay at all.

[Read the whole thing here.]

So, I got all fired up and started to leave a comment. And it just kinda went for a while. So, I figured, since I haven't posted on my own blo~~viation center~~g for a million years, why not take this opportunity to inch Marvin Gaye down the page a bit? So then I was all like:

Hey Seth,

In spite of myself, I agree with a lot of what you're saying here. Especially the bit about the Nickelbacks of the world indirectly making life easier for the indie band du jour. I don't think Radiohead a very good example because I'd argue they're propelled by a loyal mainstream fanbase that they accumulated long before Kid A, and that if Sr. Kroeger ever wrote a song as crunchy, gritty, or mainstream-sensible as "Creep," a lot of his detractors would just shut the fuck up and find something else to gripe about. But still, a rising tide lifts all boats and all that. I'm with you.

But I have to be picayune for a moment and take issue with what I know isn't your main point: I wouldn't be so quick to pat myself on the back for faking indie cred on the radio. That's only good enough when there's absolutely no alternative, and it breeds resentment more than loyalty. Anyone who cares about indie cred can see right through the smoke and mirrors, and will gladly "make the switch" (remember that shit?) if something more authentic comes along.

These days, I don't know a single person who really cares about indie cred that turns the radio on and listens to anything other than news, sports, or public radio. "Faking" it has chased all but the Luddites (and there aren't many indie-craving Luddites around) away from terrestrial music radio broadcast, to either their iPods, or the plethora of narrowcast options available to them via the Internet that cater more directly to their tastes.

Now, As you said, that's a pretty small fraction of the population, and I do know plenty of people who still listen to the radio. They like Nickelback. They like American Idol, too. But they don't like fake indie cred either, albeit for different reasons. To them, it's just an inconvenience. They reach for the dial when a band they don't know comes on and it doesn't sound like a hit in the first 5 seconds.

I guess what I'm surprised to find myself arguing is that faking indie cred has already cost radio one small subset of listeners, and is chafing at another, larger one. Maybe, from the radio station's perspective, it's time to cut the act, stop trying to be everything to everyone, and just play exactly what brings the ratings.

Did I really just write that?

Get it on.

2009-02-13T08:09:00.004-05:00

This is hokey, but let it never be said that, even when I'm posting as infrequently as I have been, I make careful editorial decisions with regards to the content on this site. From now until Valentine's Day, Amazon.com has decided to give away an .mp3 of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" for free. If you don't already own this (HOW COULD YOU NOT ALREADY OWN THIS?!) you now officially have no excuse. Click here, this ish is FREE.

Don't cross The Boss

2009-02-04T18:22:00.004-05:00

Bruce Springsteen will provide your company email address to the entire frothy, biley Internet. The following pretty much speaks for itself.

(As posted at MySpace)
A Letter to Our Fans:

We know there was much confusion regarding Ticketmaster and TicketsNow during last Monday's on-sale dates. We were as confused as you were, as we were given no advance notice of the major changes in the Ticketmaster-TicketsNow world. (Bear in mind that we are not clients of any ticketing company, and that all those arrangements are between venues and ticketing companies.)

Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice.

We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest. Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges. TicketsNow is supposed to be a secondary site where people who already have tickets may exchange, trade, and, unfortunately, speculate with them. We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.

We know the many cynical arguments some make in favor of the Ticketmaster system: There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges--we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow--we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect "scalping" those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow--we do.

While many of you have sent notes to us and your local promoters, you may also send accurate informational letters to Albert Lopez of Ticketmaster [Albert.Lopez@ticketmaster.com] and he will try to address your questions.

A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.

The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours.

Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team

[I found the animated .gif at Kissing Suzy Kolber, who say they found it at Texas Gal's twitter feed, so I guess maybe that's where it came from. KSK, by the way, had the best post-SuperBowl Springsteen post that I saw. Read that here.]

I scooped Kanye.

2009-01-30T19:19:00.003-05:00

Kanye West (or a nameless minion thereof) has apparently taken notice of Providence's Triangle Forest. Sure, the copy underneath the picture is nothing more than an exact rip of the band's Wikipedia page, but still. At least it's not a direct rip of the "About Triangle Forest" section of the band's own MySpace page (see for yourself, lazybones).

For what it's worth, I was one of the judges at the WBRU Rock Hunt these guys won, and they are the realest of real deals. And I said as much way back in April of 2007. Booyah.

Kanye: 282763458264, Mike: 0 1

Lily Allen - Straight To Hell

2009-01-22T10:35:00.003-05:00

Straight To Hell has always been my ~~favorite~~ favourite Clash song, so it's a pretty sure thing that if someone covers it, I'm going to listen. Lily's version is...fine I guess. It's from a charity album put together by an organization called War Child, which is a pretty good name for a group that aims to protect children living in war zones. I can get behind that.

Matt Singer interview

2009-01-05T10:00:00.001-05:00

Download: Matt Singer - The Poet (mp3)
Also check out: myspace.com/mattsingermusic

A few months ago, I wrote a review of Matt Singer's latest EP, The Drought. Then I heard about a residency he had at The Living Room during December, so I went to check out a show. He played a bunch of stuff from The Drought, a few songs I hadn't heard before, and even found time in his set for an audience participation dreidel tournament. The way every rock show should go, really. I'm a total jackass for never getting around to writing about it (blame Left 4 Dead), because I was going to call the post "From the dreidel to the grave," which would have been a big hit, I think.

Anyway, a week or so later, Matt emailed me a quick note about the first review, and I asked if he'd like to do an interview. He very graciously consented.

Mike McClenathan: When you meet strangers at parties and they ask what you do, how do you describe it?

Matt Singer: Ferocious sensitive 90’s folk rock?

Actually, I always feel like I’m answering that question for the first time, so if you’ve got any good ideas, please let me know.

MM: You write songs on a pretty wide range of subjects. George Bush, American Idol rejects, The Catholic church, amazing dongs. What really gets you fired up to write? Or, perhaps a better question: is there anything you won't write about?

MS: I can never really predict what is going to grab me. About five years back, it’s clear that church scandals, the Iraq war and the statewide bans on gay marriage were on my mind, but looking back on that time, I realize that those songs were just as much (if not more) about personal stuff… romance, loyalty, my own craziness… The same stuff still seems to be happening in my writing… I just finished a few songs that touch on the lives of refugees and the challenges faced by immigrants, but they’re still totally personal somehow, even though I’m a relatively spoiled suburban kid.

Nowadays, it seems that for every new book I read, a song comes out of it. I’ve been reading a lot of different stuff… Dave Eggers, Alison Bechdel, Cormack McCarthy… so my songs are pretty varied. Then again, with me, they always have been.

As for dongs and sex on restroom sinks, that’s all just an over-active imagination. And wishful thinking.

And no, there is nothing I won’t write about. Except pate. Don’t care for it.

MM: You've been at this a while now. What would 2008, fresh-off-a-Living-Room-residency Matt Singer say to 2003 Matt Singer if he could?

MS: Avoid cruelty, floss daily, and take occasional deep breaths. But not too deep. Oh, and do some recording on your own, Matt… It’s great that you’ve got ridiculously talented friends who do you favors, but buy a freaking pre-amp and a decent microphone, and make it happen, for God’s sake.

MM: How much does it burn you that myspace.com/mattsinger is some other dude that plays music, who claims to sound like "ten thousand farts through paper towel tubes, all in unison"?

MS: Yeah, there are actually quite a few Matt Singers involved in the arts, including a guy from North Carolina who harassed me once for not promptly responding to an email about how cool it is that we have the same name. I like to think that I shoulder this heavy burden with grace, although I’ve been typing the hyphen in my own website for years now (matt-singer.com), and it still makes me a little queasy. Hyphens suck.

MM: Aside from the other Matt Singer, who do you listen to?

MS: Mostly, the folks from the same music scene as me… Lowry, The Blood Sugars, Pearl and the Beard are a few.

MM: During your residency at the Living Room, you were collecting different charitable donations (canned food, toys, warm clothes) each night. What are your favorite charities?

MS: The New York Immigration Coalition and Generation Q do great work. Not sure if they qualify as charities, but they are fabulous organizations.

MM: Where and when can we catch you next?

MS: Union Hall (Brooklyn), Fri. January 2nd

The Dahlak (Washington, DC), Sat. January 10th

Rockwood Music Hall (NY), Mon. January 26th

There's (still) something special happening in Johnstown, PA.

2008-12-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

put a quarter in the telescope and you can almost make it out
the artspace that they're opening right outside downtown
it's going to be our hearts, it's going to be our souls,
it's going to take the place of work and church and school
if it doesn't get shut down by city council

Endless Mike and The Beagle Club - The Incline of Western Civilization

Got a tip the other day to check out one of the newest releases from My Idea of Fun records: S/T by Emmet and Mary. It's...well...it's sort of a post-apocalyptic rock opera. Or at least part of one. It looks like there'll be more to come, if one inspects MIoF's releases page. There's a lyrics transcription that clarifies which character (or group of characters) is singing any given line, which is an absolute must-have if you're to have any chance of following the plot. Even with it, you've got an uphill climb. But, no complaints. It's a fun little record, and if you're looking for something off the beaten path to check out, it might be perfect for you. There are sample mp3's at the link above, if you'd like a taste.

What's really striking to me about the project (and many like it coming out of Johnstown) is its ambition. The sheer magnitude of people who were involved in bringing it from concept to reality. My Idea of Fun is, as advertised, an artist collective. If you take a look at the cast, band, cult members (really), etc that put time into making this thing happen, and you happen to also know the names of the people in bands like Endless Mike and The Beagle Club and Elementary Thought Process, you'll see familiar names, among a host of others. All of whom, as the name of the label suggests, participate in huge, ambitious projects like this because it is their idea of fun.

All these people hang out at 709 Railroad Street, an art space in Johnstown. From the looks of things from afar, it's really becoming quite a happening. Keep an eye on it.

Drew & The Medicinal Pen looking for a new drummer

2008-11-24T16:28:00.005-05:00

If you're a drummer, you may be interested in the opportunity to join an extremely cool band. If you're not (like I am not), let this video be the time you finally take my advice and listen to Drew & The Medicinal Pen for a little while. When you're done with the video, head to myspace.com/drewandthemedicinalpen and listen to "Hole in my Sail" and "Spotlight" and everything else and then tell everyone you know.

Idlewild will let you buy a record that hasn't even been made yet.

2008-11-21T11:33:00.004-05:00

Idlewild will be spending early 2009 in the studio to record an album slated for conventional release over the summer, but fans are being given the opportunity to buy the record (and some nice bonus material) now, months before the first note has been committed to hard drive. Bonuses include 15 downloads from also-yet-to-be-recorded live shows in December, access to the music (download and CD) within weeks of completion, and one's name in the CD booklet, perhaps. I don't really understand how that last part's going to work. Anyway, in their own words:

By going to idlewildmusic.com you will get details on how to pre-order and what you will receive.

These include a limited edition CD album (with free download version) in exclusive packaging & including at least one bonus track. This will be shipped within weeks of completion & before any standard release.

You can get your name to appear in the CD booklet with the album and on a roll-call on the web site.

Access to download 15 free tracks from live recordings at the King Tuts "album by album" shows In December '08 & access to a members only section of the web site with album progress updates, exclusive photo and video content from the recording and preproduction process with diaries/blogs by individual band members and lots more.

Signing up will also automatically enter you into draws for special prizes.

The pre-order will set you back £16.50, or approximately $500 (I kid). So yeah. I bought this because I'm a superfan, and because it's nice to see that bands continue to buck standard record release trends, and bands that do so deserve support. And also because I want my name on their website.

Interested parties should pull out their credit cards and head directly to idlewildmusic.com.

One additional note: The album by album shows mentioned above will be happening in Glasgow, which is a bit of a commute for me so I won't be going, though I have long dreamed of witnessing a full performance of The Remote Part.

Iron & Wine - Terminal 5, 11/17/08

2008-11-18T11:16:00.006-05:00

Pic from Morrissey

It was my first time in Terminal 5 (a testament to the precipitous dropping-off of my show attendance of late), so let's get the venue griping out of the way first. There aren't enough places to stand and actually see the stage. The entire 3rd floor is basically a waste, the 2nd floor has very little decent viewing that isn't VIP seating, which basically reduces Terminal 5 to a venue no better than any other stand-on-the-floor-and-try-to-peer-between-heads venue in the city, only the fire marshall lets them sell a lot more tickets. I don't have any complaints about the sound system though. Iron & Wine sounded amazing.

But I was sold before the first note was even picked. Sam Beam had me at "Woo, beards!" which he exclaimed in response to the enthusiastic welcome he received from the sold-out, heavily bearded crowd, a light jab, it seemed to me, at the too-ready-to-shout-ILOVEYOU-or-NAMEOFSONG-or-HOMETOWN-or-ANYTHING-in-even-a-moment-of-silence throngs out to see him sing that night. Try to follow that last sentence. Just try. But really, it was like that. That shit drives me nuts.

And then he started playing, first joined on stage by only a female accompanying voice. "He Lays In The Reins." I had steeled myself against the possibility that he wouldn't play a single song from my favorite of his records (okay, not exclusively his), and he opened with it. The highlight of these affairs for the majority of the audience, it seems, are these stripped down numbers. Sam can play the hell out of a guitar, and he's surrounded himself with a group of similarly able musicians, but he can't escape the shadow of his own whispery voice, which is all anyone wants to hear. The crowd grew noticeably restless during the longer full-band breakdowns.

I, for one, like seeing artists retool songs live on stage, but experience dictates that most fans disagree. I would think that most fans of the act would pretty much know what they're getting into at this point, but those who would rather an artist sound just like the record in concert were, fortunately for me and unfortunately for them, out of luck for most of Iron & Wine's set last night.

Edit: I forgot to mention this before posting, but I genuinely enjoyed Blitzen Trapper too. I was a hater when I saw them at The Mercury Lounge months ago, so that was a very pleasant surprise.

New Third Eye Blind is on the way

2008-11-13T11:08:00.003-05:00

Funny how all this time I thought his name was Stephan Jenkins. But "Stephen Perkins" is close enough I guess. I don't know how you screw up the name of a guy that says things like "I don't know you, but I love you all for you are all made of lions!" in his MySpace blog.

Anyway, after having been gone for what's felt like forever, 3eb is inching back towards the spotlight. The three songs they have posted on MySpace all sound to me exactly like what I thought new Third Eye Blind should sound like, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I really like them.

My favorite, I think, is the live version of "Why Can't You Be," in which Stephan Jenkins manages to weave straight-up filthy lines like "Sometimes a blowjob's not enough" into a tapestry of failing relationship heartache, and have it work. Nobody does that like he does.

Third Eye Blind will release the Red Star EP on 11/18, and the full length Ursa Major is tentatively slated for February 2009.

Springsteen to premier new song on Sunday Night Football

2008-11-11T15:07:00.004-05:00

I'm still not sure how I feel about The Boss playing the Superbowl, but it's becoming clear that the NFL had to sweeten the deal a bit before he signed on. Way to make 'em work for it, Bruce.

Are you ready for some football? Well, even if you're not, you'll probably want to tune in to the Cowboys/Redskins Sunday Night Football game on November 16. As NBC's Al Michaels announced last night: "Next week we'll have the world premiere of Springsteen's new song 'Workin' on a Dream' set to NFL highlights at halftime at next week's game." Springsteen performed an acoustic version of the new song last week in Cleveland; this will be the world's first chance to hear the studio recording.

The video above is that performance in Cleveland, which the MySpace Bulletin fails to mention was at a rally for Barack Obama.

Billy and Jimmy are bad role models

2008-11-06T10:19:00.002-05:00

Matt Pinfield had Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin for what was apparently Billy's first radio interview in 3 years, on the morning before the first Smashing Pumpkins show in New York City in about 8 years. It was, for the most part, a candid, informative interview, and I enjoyed listening to it. Especially the part where Billy spoke at length about ways to connect more deeply with fans, like experimenting with new ways to release music and perform live, and where he interrupted Pinfield (who was about to play a song) to talk about the importance of unity amongst bands, and the common purpose of creating a body of music representative of this generation. It was a very weird, awesomely rock-star moment that I plan to listen to again when the interview goes online here later today.

But then came the question about the election, and it was revealed that Billy is "not a voter," which is his "controversial position," and that while Jimmy is a voter, he didn't vote this election because he was busy moving and just didn't have the time. The two then went on to talk about how wonderful it is that now anyone really can do anything and blah blah blah HOW CAN YOU BE "NOT A VOTER"? Seriously Billy, that's horse hockey.

Again, the interview will be here later today, if you're interested in hearing it yourself.

I want your flu baby, not just your cough.

2008-11-03T10:57:00.004-05:00

Photo by Michael Halsband

More than a year ago I went to something that I could have sworn I wrote about on here before, but apparently failed to. My girlfriend was living up by Columbia, and they have this little room in the basement of St. Paul's Chapel on campus there (they call it PostCrypt) that they use for performances on Friday and Saturday nights. She had seen an ad for a special night with some special guests, so we went.

So three singer/songwriter types sat up on little stools and took turns telling stories and playing songs to a standing room only crowd of less than 100. The reason the guests went unnamed, I guess, was that one of them was Suzanne Vega, but the one that left the most lasting effect on me was someone I hadn't heard of before that night: one Richard Julian. He'd played a song about the fictional screw-up son of Jesus that would pop into my head randomly for months after that night, and I've been making efforts to see him when he plays in New York ever since.

I was about to write about what I like so much about him, when I found this quote, which I think sums it all up more nicely and concisely than I could. WFUV's Claudia Marshall:

Julian's guitar playing is athletic but subtle, and his secret weapon is his voice — not a croon so much as a plaintive wail that serves his songs well. He's my favorite New York singer-songwriter, period.

There's a 45 minute interview and 4 songs performed in-studio from WFUV where that quote came from. Highly recommended.

Anyway, Richard Julian is going to be playing at The Living Room in NYC every Monday in the month of November, hitting the stage around 10 pm. I'll be there at least once. You should too.

Springsteen does Halloween

2008-10-31T10:40:00.004-05:00

Head on over to brucespringsteen.net and watch the video and download the free mp3 for "A Night With The Jersey Devil." Not sure how long it'll stay up past Halloween, so grab it while the grabbing's good.

It's a nice touch that the download page encourages, but does not mandate, email submission.

Happy Halloween.

Simon said "you suck," and Randy said "you suck."

2008-10-24T21:41:00.002-05:00

More than a year ago, I downloaded a mixtape from Liberated Matter's Cross-Pollination series (which you can still download here) because it had a Kevin Devine song on it. I listened through the whole thing in hopes of finding something to sound cool telling my friends about, and the song with the most such potential was a ditty (yeah, I said that) about a hapless American Idol reject named "Stacy J," by Matt Singer. It's been a steady go-to flavor piece in playlists ever since around here, but it was only this month that the album containing "Stacy J" finally came out. And I like it a lot.

The Drought is unapologetically dorky, generous with well-placed fuckwords, and genuinely fun. You can sample the aforementioned "Stacy J" if you download that Cross-Pollination mixtape. You can also get the another version of that and one of album opener "The Poet" from Amie Street for free as part of a Family Records promotion if you go here. Why they don't have his actual album yet I do not know, but I imagine it's coming.

If you like these, you're going to like the whole record (hell, there are only 4 more songs on it, one of which contains the line "they'd tell their friends 'hey check it out, i think he's gonna whip it out, the most amazing dong you've ridden in the motherfuckin' world'"). So go get it.

Jaymay - Highline Ballroom, 10/20/08

2008-10-21T01:10:00.003-05:00

This was a cool show. Stories in High Fidelity, they called it. A bunch of guys who have written about rock got up and read things they had written, including a reading about a GNR cover band by Mr. Chuck Klosterman, and one from Dan Kennedy, from his book Rock On: An Office Power Ballad (which I loved when I read it a few months ago).

And then Jaymay hit the stage solo, for what started as a fun (if not completely sober) take on some of my favorites ("Blue Skies" FTW), and ended in the kind of special-guest-on-stage-scene that the word "shitshow" was invented for. I personally thought it was a lot of fun, but judging from the way half the audience headed for the exits like they were fleeing a bad fart, not everybody agreed with me.

Honestly Bruno, where did all that come from?

More pics (from an iPhone) of one of the awesommest/weirdest things I've ever seen below.

Now Shipping: EPIC FAIL

2008-10-15T07:57:00.006-05:00

Maybe it's just because I haven't been paying attention as closely as I used to, but I was just thinking the other day about how the Never-Ending Folly of the Major Label seems to have quieted down these past few months. Kinda like how when you're a kid and your dad takes you fishing for the first time and after a bunch of thrashing around, your catch lays still. And then you think it's dead so you reach out to touch it and then it's not dead and it scares the shit out of you. Anyway, today I got this breathless joint press release from SanDisk and all the majors, heralding the arrival of the slotMusic card. Flop flop floppity flop.

*This is a big deal.* Its the first time the major labels and retailers have unanimously embraced a new physical format in over 25 years. These cards play in 70 million phones in the US and a billion devices worldwide. Imagine if there were that many CD players in 1982.

...

The world’s four largest music companies and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a leading seller of MP3 players and flash memory cards in the United States, today unveiled the full list of artists joining the inaugural slotMusic line-up. Starting this week, music fans can purchase slotMusic cards—microSD™ cards with pre-loaded, high quality, DRM-free MP3 music—featuring new release albums from favorite artists like Coldplay, Katy Perry, Leona Lewis, Rihanna and Robin Thicke and catalog titles from Elvis, Abba and more.

Within days of shipping, slotMusic cards will arrive on the shelves of Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the United States, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $14.99. slotMusic makes today’s hottest music available on interoperable microSD cards that let fans instantly plug and play albums into their microSD slot-enabled mobile phones, portable media players, computers, and an increasing number of car stereos.

It's too easy not to note that the boast of an "increasing number" means very little when you're starting at near zero, that's not what really rankles my shankles.

Look, I (clearly) have no insight into how this doodiebaby was sculpted, but the following images keep running through my head, and they're what I find especially bothersome:

The amount of time wasted in meetings, executives working themselves into a lather about the rebirth of physical sales, and the fall of the mp3.
The amount of money wasted on developing a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
The vast number of real problems that could have been solved with a redirection of all that time and money.
The laugably mistaken fantasy of Morris and Bronfman that this might end the hegemony of the hated iPod.
The bewildered, reluctant yes-man, shaking his head as he walks out of the board room after one of these meetings about slotMusic, heading back to his desk to update his resume.

It's time now to burn.

2008-09-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

It's really shameful how little I've written on here about Kevin Devine, even when I was writing more than 3 times a month. Not a week goes by that I don't put on a Kevin Devine record. This gushing is long overdue.

I driving with my girlfriend back to my apartment from a good-but-not-good-enough-to-drive-to-again sushi place in Coney Island, and I happened upon K-Rock's local music show, which is unsurprisingly more refined than the Providence local music show I used to do, and more listenable by leaps and bounds than K-Rock's usual fare of pap and dreck. They played a Jaymay song, actually, which is why I listened for a while. And then they played Kevin Devine's "Another Bag of Bones."

And it's just...something. We sat there in the car mesmerized, as Mr. Devine sang in his unmistakable tones of the human race's quickening drumbeat march towards annihilation. It's some dark shit.

Anyway, maybe it's just the "big election about small things" frustration I've been feeling of late talking, but this song really cut right to the nightmare heart of why I could give a shit about whether a candidate wears a flag pin.

Get it at Amazon here. Please.

Sarah Pedinotti update, band name change

2008-08-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

The soon-to-be-formerly-known-as Sarah Pedinotti Band (once briefly known as The Raptors) have been holed up in the Catskills working on the record that will welcome them into the world under their new moniker: Railbird. CD release parties are slated for September in NYC and upstate NY, but you don't have to wait until then to hear some new tracks. Oh no no no. You can hear four new rough mixes right f-ing now at myspace.com/sarahpedinotti. So, do that.

The Lighthouse Song

2008-08-12T22:17:00.005-05:00

Speaking of new things worth checking out on MySpace (and really, when are we not), Josh Pyke has posted the first new song from his forthcoming Chimney's Afire record: "The Lighthouse Song." The list of artists whose work I'll grant a preemptive endorsement is dwindling to say the least, but Mr. Pyke remains firmly entrenched there. Buy this record when it comes out. It will be good.

In the interest of not just posting a link to MySpace and calling it a day (not that there's anything wrong with that), here's a mostly forgotten interview I did with Josh Pyke back in 2005 on the now-defunct PulverRadio.com. The interview includes four fantastic live performances interspersed in between poorly worded, mundane questions and patiently delivered answers. I cringe to listen to the interview these days, but the songs are really marvelous.

Fun.

2008-08-11T19:25:00.004-05:00

In a move surely designed to make me say "damn" and drink a beer, The Format announced months ago via MySpace that they will not be making any more records. I didn't write about it at the time because if you look back at February, I wasn't writing about much of anything. But it seriously sucked, sucks, and will suck.

That said, an announcement went up today about Nate's new band, fun. Stupid name perhaps, but it's exactly the word I'd use to describe the demo (download available with login) of "Benson Hedges," currently the only song available on the site. Which is a neat concept, really. Imagine if other bands followed suit. What a great day it would be when Animal Collective changed their name to WTF.

If you've got some time to kill and are interested, Nate also posted a long letter to his fans about what he's been up to so far in 2008 here. Make sure you go to the bathroom before you click if you want to get through it uninterrupted.

The National - Central Park SummerStage, 8/4/08

2008-08-05T16:53:00.003-05:00

One of the people on the Internet writing about music that I enjoy reading the most is Yancey Strickler over at eMusic's 17dots.com. It's a funny thing because I rarely like what he writes about nearly as much as I like what he writes. His is a way with words worth knowing. So, when he writes nice things about a band that I like, I feel this strange one-sided camaraderie. It's similar in a way to the secret smile you afford yourself when you catch an otherwise typically stoic New-Yorker-in-subway-mode smiling about something some other passenger just did that you also were tempted to smile about. See what I'm getting at here? Me neither. Basically, I just wanted to quote the guy about The National, and here I've gone and written a whole paragraph of anti-content. One time Yancey said this:

The Boxer is just so subtle. I’ve talked about the record with both Joe and Todd in the past couple of days, and that’s the word we all keep returning to: subtle. This is a freshwater album, the slight tugs to Matt Berninger’s voice more in line with the slow currents of a mountain-top lake or a dragonfly-patrolled stream than any ocean that I know. It’s also a very American album, a fact that I am certain of, but have had trouble pinpointing exactly why that’s true.

Being able to watch a band like The National, a band with such rich sounds, helps you to hear parts of songs that you otherwise might not have noticed. Know what I mean? Well, I know exactly what I mean, and I'm not going to say anything further on the matter except that being close enough to the band to see what was going on, I came away from the show with that line about subtlety running through my head. The line about the record being distinctly American, too, but that I think had more to do with drinking a beer and being outside. You shoulda been there.