Archived Editions of Chromatic Musings

Creative types cluster together

A study from Americans For The Arts details geographical information on congrgations of artistic endeavors.

The top ten cities having arts related businesses:

1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA
2. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA
3. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
4. Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV [yeah!]
5. Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI
6. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
7. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT
8. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA
9. Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD
10. Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX

The study (or, at least, the publicly available part of it) doesn't go much beyond this.

Thanks to Andrew for the tip.

Well, he's got a sense of humor

Rick James accepts a lifetime achievement award and closes his speech in style.

Ever mindful of his bad-boy image, as parodied in cable channel Comedy Central's "Chapelle's Show," James wrapped his heartfelt speech with an emphatic "I'm Rick James, bitch."

Why Amazing Grace

Coupled with this from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, there's a good reason as to why Amazing Grace is played in movies a lot.

Amazing Grace - spiritual song beloved by small-town residents in movies on account of its being royalty-free [Episode 908]

Thanks to Earnest for the tip.

J. Michael Strazinski's Demon Night

A week ago (give or take), I finished up JMS's Demon Night book. I picked this one up because I'm a fan of some of his writing on TV.

This is a fairly rudimentary horror novel in the vein of Stephen King 1988 or so. It was his first novel, and it shows. There are too many people introduced who flit by without much impact and then are referenced seemingly at random subsequently in the novel. I found myself flipping back and forth, trying to figure out who was who and from whence they came. The story itself was pretty straightforward -- a little Indian mythology, a little pre-Christian demonology, a healthy dose of paranoia and strange happenings.

JMS himself probably provides the best critique (as to why the book was written and how) in the afterword to the text:

What made Demon Night work -- even with all the inevitable flaws and excesses of any first novel, for which accept a year's supply of mea culpas -- and the reason that it has now been picked up for republication by ibooks, is that I wrote it for myself, out of a love of the form, the genre, and a desire to be entertained by a story told about characters who mattered to me.

The lesson was not lost on me, and informed not just the novels that followed, which are also due to be reprinted, it had a profound impact on all of my writing, prose, television and otherwiseIt's the only lesson I've learned that really means a damn, the only one that I can convey to aspiring writers at conventions and workshops and bookstore signings without hesitation, conflict or reservation.

Write the story you want to read.

Live the live you want to live.

Do what gives you joy.

The rest will attend to itself.

Whether you like the book or not, that's some pretty damn good advice for anyone, writer or not.

Virus transmitted via IM

If you use IMs, be alert for mischief.

Thanks to Robert for the tip.

Katie Melua's Call Off The Search

I've finally gotten ready to do up my review of Call Off The Search. I got this CD about a week ago, and I've listened to it a few times, always meaning to write this review but never quite getting around to it. My recent trip up to Fodera gave me an nice stretch of time to listen and focus on the material, though.

First, some full disclosure: While this CD is within the general genre of CDs that I would consider purchasing, I did not buy this CD; it was given to me by the record label in return for this review. Feel free to take what I say with whatever grain of salt you see fit.

Melua's biography is interesting enough; she hails from Russia and comes to the US by way of London. She's a young girl (like seventeen or so, if I am remembering her bio sheet correctly), and this is her debut album.

Her voice immediately reminds me of Rickie Lee Jones. Melua's singing seems very empheral; the words that lept to mind on my initial listen were "waifish," "thin," "light," "mousey" and "breezy." While I can appreciate that kind of singing, it doesn't really float my boat. I tend more towards the throaty, full bodied style of vocalizing.

Most of the songs feel very similar: moody, slow, almost morose. Actually, as a note to the executive producer of this CD -- placing half a dozen dark, downbeat, slow songs in a row might just lead to your target audience to start thinking of placing their head in the gas oven. And there are only so many varieties of slow songs you can string together on an album before it gets to be sleep inducing.

Highlights from this disc:

• Call Off The Search -- A very Norah Jones-ish kind of torch song with a chantuese motif going.
• Crawling Up A Hill -- A movin' tune with a strrong 60's hipster kind of feel to it. Melua's range and dynamics are showcased on this one.
• Learnin' The Blues -- Yet another torch song. This is probably the best vocal song for her, as she really extends her range.

Some not so highlights:

• Blame It On The Moon -- As I was listening to this CD and taking notes, I had to restart this song four times. There's so little there there (my apologies to Gertrude Stein) that I lost focus on the music.
• Belfast (Penquins And Cats) -- The only thing that kept my attention were the lyrics (not often that you hear a song that talks about both penguins and cats unless it's focusing on Berke Breathed's Bloom Country).
• Mockingbird Song -- I can't really be objective on this one; my mother used to sing this to me when I was a child, so I have a huge built-in bias to like this tune. Having said that, I would have picked a different arrangement. The bluesy feel didn't do much for me.

I don't think I could recommend this CD. It just doesn't have much to say. I will say that it's for people who think that Norah Jones is just a bit too edgy.

It's official -- not file sharing

I just about want to print this out and mail it to the RIAA.

After three years of sluggish momentum because of economic and terrorism woes, the global media and entertainment industry is picking up speed and is set to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.3% over the 2004-08 time frame to hit $1.67 trillion in 2008, according to the fifth annual edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook." [my emphasis added]

Being sued isn't popular

In a surprising development, 56% of American's do not support the RIAA's lawsuits. I do wonder how many of the surveyees were part of the 3500 already being sued.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Simon on Christina

It's interesting that Christina Aguilera's ropey voice can't be trusted to sing on any of the dates of her own tour, but it'll be fine for singing at a six-day Pittsburgh event where her payday isn't reliant on how many tickets she can sell for herself; or for recording songs for movie soundtracks.

Would you trust employment advice from this man?

Rev. Al Sharpton, employment expert.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to have children

Especially when they name them after a cable TV network.

A 17 year old looks at rock legends

This is great! The Guardian, a British newspaper, sends a seventeen year old kid out to review some of the biggest acts in rock from the 60's and 70's.

I think my music taste has always been eclectic, but, until three months ago, the closest I had ever come listening to a Beach Boys album was when I wrestled Pet Sounds from the arms of a tipsy middle-aged woman at a New Year's Eve party in 2001. I thought that Kraftwerk was a low budget German airline and that Abbey Road was John Leslie's ex-girlfriend.

He goes on to review Brian Wilson, The Who, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross and Kraftwerk.

Jewel live, in your house

Jewel will be the first artist to use Clear Channel's instant concert recording system.

What makes a success

This article talks about Broadway productions, but the lesson is applicable to the music world.

The reason one continues while the other closes? Three annoyingly dull answers fit the bill: wildly different operating costs, expectations of the financial model, and underlying purposes for the two productions (nonprofit vs. for-profit).

'Success' is a construct, like so many other catchwords we use in business and art. It's good to keep in mind that arts managers have an essential role to play in that construction.

As always, it's managing expectations.

Gloria Estefan retiring

Well, at least no more live shows.

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

The dangers of blogging

4. You will become more news savvy: You'll start reading several news sources to inspire more posts. Unfortunately, you will focus on items that are weird, quirky, or bizarre, thereby eliminating your ability to discuss these items with non-bloggers in real-life (ie around the water cooler) without coming off like the freak you really are.

5. You will feel the need to post: Even when you have nothing to say. Just in case other people are reading.

Not that these danger signs are happening to me.

Thanks to Patrick for the tip.

Epifani

After Rob and I finished up at Fodera, we dropped in on Epifani, a really high end cabinet manufacturer who just happen to be in the same building, one floor down. I've been lusting after their cabinets for sometime now, particularly their Ultralight series.

There are a similarity between the gear that drummers have to lug around and the gear that bass players get to carry -- it's big. However, drums tend to be bulky and light -- bass rigs are big and heavy. Trust me, I've had to carry my gear up and down stairs for years. Well, the nice folk up at Epifani have created a top notch cabinet that weighs about a quarter as much as a regular cabinet does. And that sound wonderful to me.

The two of us dropped by, met Frank and Nick (the main sales guy and the president of the company, respectively), played through a few cabinets, talked about the state of the art and the industry and then left with a few new entries on our wish lists.

Going back to Fodera

Today was a return visit to Fodera. Four basses were on their way back home to get a little TLC -- two of Anthony's (the Fodera Imperial and the blonde Fodera Emperor), my Fodera and Rob's 5 string. Rob joined me, as well as a friend from work. This was my second trip to see Joey and Vinnie. The previous time was a pretty darn incredible experience, and, while I was hoping this trip would be good, I didn't think it would be quite as good as the last time.

We got there a bit late (traffic around Statten Island), and Joey was already working on some other items in the shop. First off, he worked on Rob's bass. The pickup covers exposed the magnet poles, but that can lead to a buzzing when you dig into the strings and the strings come near the poles, it can lead to a harsh song. Joey replaced the pickup covers with a solid face one, which should take care of this problem. While he was doing this, he told us about the history of the bass. It seems it was built for a session musician who wanted the ability to swap the neck from fretted to fretless at will. He then sold it on E*Bay to a gentleman out in Hawaii (who, in turn, sold it to Rob). And, as a side note, it turns out that the Fodera that Joey plays is the same model and type that Rob plays.

Once the pickup covers had been changed, Joey dressed and treated the fretboard. Next on the list was setting up Rob's bass. Since he had bought it second-hand, it had never really been set up to his style of playing. Joey and Rob worked on it for a bit, and I have to say it has never sounded better.

Having finished Rob's basses, it was Anthony's turn. The Imperial was taken up to change the chips in the pre-amp to a more battery conserving form. The Emperor, on the other hand, had been eating batteries at a remarkable clip -- like one set per month (a more typical rate might be about a minimum of eight to ten weeks when playing heavily. Joey swapped out the pre-amp for a new one.

My baby went on the block next. The main reason why I took the bass up to the shop this time was to get the back of the headstock treated. Over the years, I have had two artists sign the back of the peghead on my main bass. It's been a while, and I can see that the signatures have started to fade. How much of that is due to time passing and how much of that is due to the ink being rubbed off is unknown, but I thought getting it protected can only be a good thing. The last time I went up to the shop, Joey told me they could do it, but I'd have to leave my bass with them for a few days. At the time, I didn't have the opening in my schedule such to allow that kind of down time. That's not an issue now, so I can leave it with them for a few weeks. I also asked them to take a look at the top few frets on the neck, as I think they might be a little seperated from the fretboard. I'll head back up to Brooklyn in a few days to pick it back up.

Joey also looked up the build info on my bass. It was completed on October 1, 1996 for Venneman's in Rockville MD. The top is quilted maple with a mahogany body (and spot of walnut here and there); the fretboard is ebony.

Digital music sans computer

An interesting article on a possible sales strategy for brick and mortar record shops.

Bob can't be the only one who wants in on the digital music action but doesn't want to bet a whole new computer on the proposition. How can we let computer-phobic types into the starting gate? I suppose we could encourage them to send crates of CDs to a ripping service such as RipDigital, then borrow someone else's computer for a one-time transfer onto their MP3 player. Not a bad plan, but it assumes that Bob's done buying music, which I doubt very highly.

The solution is staring us in the face...how about (shock, horror) a music store? Bob and his noncomputing ilk could bring a promotional, uniquely identified flash memory keychain to any cooperating store--Virgin Megastore would be a good place to start--and browse the music while scanning the bar codes on interesting CDs with the keychain. When he's ready to go, Bob would go up to the counter, plug in his keychain and MP3 player into ports beneath the register, and buy the songs (at a discount, since ones and zeros are cheaper to duplicate than CDs).

Thanks to Coolfer Glenn for the tip.

Road trip

I'm heading up to NYC and Fodera to get some work done on my baby. Accordingly, I'll be away from a computer for most of the day.

Here's to hoping that this trip is as good as the last one.

And then there were three

Brett was able to join us tonight, now all healthy and feeling better. We started off going over some of the older tunes (Sol Azteca and Brazilian Café), and we came to the somewhat shocking conclusion that we're a little rusty on the tunes that we don't play all that much. It took us some time to remember who was soloing when and what the blocking order for each song was. But we figured it out and then worked on the older songs for a bit (which is a good thing, considering the up and coming show we have).

We also revisited some of the newer tunes as well. We went over Red Leaves a few times (it's coming right along) and then Indigo. We're having a spot of trouble with that last one, though. We have a nice run for a B section that ends in a chord-based stop break. The problem is that the run ends on 6, whereas the chord stop break needs to start on 2 or 5. For now, we're letting the drums fill in for 1 and then starting the break on 2, but it doesn't feel quite right. I think we'll get it, though.

After a short break, we introduced Brett to Five. He seemed to like it, focusing on the way we are doing 15/8. I think the direction he was starting to go would be to play the beat as a pretty straight forward 6/8, letting the snare go to 1 on the back side of a 15/8 pair. I kind of like how it works, but I'm not so sure if it would be approachable to non-musicians. I guess we'll see.

The influence of The Cure

...[D]espite Mr. Smith's punchy guitar patterns, pleading melodies and melancholy grandeur, he was considered a dreamy lightweight compared to serious-minded contemporaries like Michael Stipe of R.E.M and Bono of U2. And though Mr. Smith remained a black-clad pied piper of adolescent depressives around the world, no one had him figured as a major rock influence. But now, Mr. Smith's yelp is everywhere.

I wouldn't have made this connection, but that's just me.

Not satellite, digital

The era of digital radio isn't quite here, but we do have some examples floating about.

Mass CD reviews, take #1

I've been sitting on a bunch of CDs lately, having listened to them a number of times but not being motivated enough to write up a review that's to my normal standards (you know, these songs are good and this is why, these songs are suck andthis is why). So, here's just a dump of some thoughts on a bevy of CDs I've listened to recently.

Prince -- Musicology:
This disc opens up with the title track, and it's a monster groove. A heavy James Brown style vamp over a limited number of chords, with a pumpin' drum line. Unfortunately, the rest of the disc never reaches this highpoint again. The majority of the CD consists of a retro-feel R&B groove, with strong shades of D'Angelo (which makes me wonder who's influencing who these days).

Jos Stone -- Soul Sessions:
The girl's got pipes, no argument there. I heard her take on the White Stripes tune Fell In Love With A Boy and recognized her ability immediately. What I didn't care for is the profusion of cover tunes. I'd like to think that kind of vocal talent would include a little writing ability as well. In any case, her ability makes her worth another look when her next disc comes out.

Norah Jones -- Feels Like Home:
I wanted to like this album. I really did. Her debut disc I rather enjoyed, and I had heard a taste of some of the material when I saw her perform out at Wolf Trap a year ago or so. I don't know what happened between then and now, but whatever life was in those songs got sucked out and thrown away somewhere along the road. The tunes have a very country-ish feel to them (which isn't a bad thing) and not so much of the sorta jazz feel that I was liking on the last album. I'd say that the best two songs on the album are either the opening release (Sunrise) or the duet with Dolly Parton (Creepin' In).

Playing with Clint

Today was the first time that I played with Clint Crisher. Clint's a guy who's trying to string together a funk band for a label showcase out in LA, with the possibility of a European tour a bit later on. Clint and his manager (J. Michael) had sent me a copy of his demo a few days ago. I had been working on the songs for a few days; they are a very retro-funk style (think early 80's semi-disco with a little more of a funky beat to it).

When I got there, I was the only musician playing. Clint and J and I talked for a while, and then I started to play. This is the first audition I have ever had where I played along to a demo CD. There were no other musicians around, and this style of music doesn't really lend itself well to a stand alone player. I suppose this was the best way to handle the situation, but it was still a bit odd.

We went over the four songs, working through the parts one at a time. Clint and I talked about what he wanted for each tune, and I then I did my best to deliver. It was fun, though. I do enjoy playing funk; that's always fun.

Composing for electric guitar

A great article for non-guitarists on how to write music for the specific needs and abilities of an electric guitar.

Let's start with the obvious: the electric guitar is not just a loud acoustic guitar. The electric guitar is a three-part instrument comprised of the guitar itself, effects pedals, and the amplifier. Each of these contributes to the sound produced, and the possibilities encompass an enormous sonic range. Like any acoustic instrument, each electric guitar has its own soul that depends on the wood of its body, neck, and fretboard. Unlike an acoustic instrument, its tone is transformed into an electronic signal that can be altered downstream by the assortment of devices it encounters on its way to the speakers and shake up the air.

A great article, one that got me thinking of some new directions (using small wooden dowels under loosened strings for a koto sound? that's an interesting concept....). Read it all.

Two filesharing op-ed's

Two different writers weigh in on the online music situation in today's NY Times.

First off, we have William Fisher, a professor at Harvard Law. He stakes out a liberatian POV, making a case that

It is noteworthy that the story with the happiest ending — both for the public and for the copyright owners — was the one in which the owners were denied any share in the revenues earned by the developers of the new technology but instead had to develop a new business model to take advantage of it (VCR's). The next best outcome occurred when the copyright owners first allowed the new technology to take root and then worked out an arrangement in which they obtained modest license fees (radio). The least satisfactory outcome occurred when copyright owners demanded fees that were so high they hurt the growth of the new technology (Webcasting).

If the pattern holds, then the record industry's response to file sharing — trying to block the technology altogether — would generate the worst of all possible results.

Now, I'm very sympathetic to this. I think that the marketplace will work out a solution that makes the most people as happy as possible (or, alternatively, makes the least amount of people as little unhappy as possible), but this will take time.

The other piece comes from Kembrew McLeod, a professor at the University of Iowa. His solution is significantly more statist, requiring a governing body of sorts to manage blanket license grants to end users for a monthly fee.

...[G]iven that the movie, video game and software industries continue to grow — and file sharing's harm to the music industry is debatable — additional fees needn't be exorbitant. [The proposed] plan calls for generating a $3 billion pot of money — the amount the industry says it is losing annually — by charging consumers a $5 monthly licensing fee. The fee could come bundled with, for instance, a consumer's broadband Internet access bill and would be similar to paying a cable bill. Rather than replace the music industry's business model, this would supplement it with a steady revenue stream.

I'm not a fan for several reasons.

1. For one thing, everyone pays the same amount, regardless their use. If you download one tune, $5. If you download the Library of Congress, still $5. Methinks that the bandwidith people (namely ISPs) aren't going to be too happy with that concept.
2. Similarly, how to the artists get paid? Will Richard Bona get the same amount of money as, say, Britney Spears? That would hardly seem fair. Of course, at the same time, this proposal seems geared towards the labels, not the artists.
3. Who is going to manage this fund? If it's the government, under what umbrella should this new bureaucracy go?

And that's just off the top of my head.

Gospel vocal stylings

An analysis of the archetypical gospel singing style.

[Aretha Franklin's] singing of the anthem was great not because it was unprecedented but because it epitomized and revitalized a vocal style that has grown so ubiquitous that it's become a cliché. That is the inflection of basically straightforward tunes with all manner of extra notes per syllable (melisma), ornaments and shouted exclamations. ...

[Mahalia] Jackson's renditions of gospel favorites and, especially, Christmas carols shocked me as a boy; they reoriented my whole way of hearing music. The carols were familiar to me in the four-square versions still sung in churches today, white churches anyway. Jackson twisted and bent them, just as Ms. Franklin bent "The Star-Spangled Banner," but never in a way that did them any disrespect. She took those tunes and jolted them to new life.

A 30 year Rush

A retrospective on Rush.

The band, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with a summer tour stopping in Utah Wednesday, had some early success with its first albums and a commercial failure with its third, yet was given another chance by its label -- a chance that turned into "2112," one of the group's benchmark albums -- and a platinum success.

That was the late '70s. In 2004, the band probably would have had its contract canceled by the record label after one decent-selling album. In reality, a new experimental, free-form band like Rush would probably have a hard time getting a record deal at all these days.

"We were never the kind of band that was easy to sign or easy to figure out," concurs bassist, keyboardist and singer Geddy Lee. "We were always so weird, compared to the mainstream and what [music industry] people are looking for. Most people in the music industry don't know what they're looking for anyway. There's maybe two percent of the people who sign bands who really have an idea. The rest are just following the trends."

The article goes on to talk about the live show on this year's tour. Lots of visual components and a three hour and twenty minute run time.

Thanks to Coolfer Glenn for the tip.

80's hair metal quiz

I got 7 out of 10 right. I don't know if I'm proud or embarassed.

Clapton sells out for millions

Eric Clapton sells one of his guitars (at a charity auction) for $959,500. The entire auction (several of his guitars) brought in $7.5M.

Rapper arrested

In what can only be described as a complete surprise, rapper DMX has been arrested for attempted robbery.

Justin and Britney, together again

Well, at least in some form. Justin has offered to write songs for Britney. I think I can hear some of the lyrics already...

I sit at home, all lost and alone
Looking for a angel to kiss
Picked up the phone, my tears shone
It's him that I miss

Once he was with me, as true as true could be
But I lost my chance and couldn't stay strong
I shouldn't have set him free, now I see
I only hope that he's happy with Cameron

(okay, so I suck as a parody lyric writer. There's a reason why I write jazz instrumentals. You think you can do better?)

The horror, the horror

William Shatner is recording more music. For the love of God, man! Please, have mercy on all of us and please cease and desist.

The theory of scales

Some thoughts on the structure of scales.

...[I]n a white note collection (C D E F G A B) that uses triads as the main harmonic referents, C or A will have a head start over other notes in being heard as tonic. One suggested reason for this priority is that the C major triad and the A minor triad are the only triads of this diatonic collection that do not contain a note a tritone away from another note of the collection. In this collection, B and F form the tritones, so any triad with B or F would not be prioritized to be tonic.

Worth reading, if you're into that sort of thing.

Mariah Carey, author

Mariah Carey, not to be outdone by what seems to be her heroine Madonna, will be releasing a children's book soon. I suppose she'll be changing her name to "Nehemiah" any day now.

With Shahin

Tonight, Brett couldn't make (he's sick -- get better, man!). So the two of us worked on some new material.

Shahin had written a snippet that felt like a late 70's rock tune in 6/8. The words that came to mind when listening to it would be "ponderous," "bombastic," or "heavy." Not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe not in the direction that we would want to go. Before we started with that, Shahin and I talked about odd time signatures (something that's been on my mind a lot lately), so when he asked me what we could do change up the tune, that's what came to my mind.

We changed the tune from 6/8 to 15/8 (think of it that way, or as 5/4 with lots and lots of triplets). Now it no longer feels even vaguely rock-ish, but 15/8 is just too out there to maintain for any length of time. So we left the A sections in 15/8 (which would roughly correspond to being a verse), made B section (chorus) into a 4/4 that stayed within the tempo feel of the 15/8 and went from there.

A quick digression. If you want to think of 6/8 as 1-2-3-2-2-3, then it's easy to flip the beat to 4/4 without changing the feel of the tempo. Keep 1 the same, and then make the 2 of the earlier count into 3. Once that works out, add the 2 and 4 evenly between 1 and 3, and the result is a 4/4 meter that is at the same subjective tempo to the 6/8.

And we're back. The two of us decided to return to the 4/4 regularly to bring listeners "back home", so to speak. 4/4 is safe and familar; 15/8 is not.

The C section (bridge) goes off in a completely different direction. We change the key from F# to C natural, go to a 4/4 feel and make everything legato and flowing. This gives us a nice contrast from the very rhythmic A section. Once we're done with that, we resolve back to the A section, bring up the odd time signature. The outro (for now) is the B section, repeated several times. The first time is a normal B section. Then we flip the meter from 4/4 to 6/8. The third time, we add the extra triplet to make the phrase 15/8. With the bookended rhythm from the top of the tune, that's how we're ending it.

This particular tune is called Five.

Oh, and we have a show coming up. We're playing for another private party -- although we'd love to have you there, the money's just too good to pass up. I don't think that Five will be ready by then, but there's a good change that both Red Leaves and Indigo will.

Today seems to be quote day

I was just reading over some of what I have posted today, and I've noticed that I've got long tracks of quotes included in almost every posting today. So here's a question to you, dear reader: Does this help you or hurt you? I try to include a quote from articles that I think are worth reading when I can find a salient passage that best captures what I took away from my reading (that, or something that I found to be funny). Othertimes, I try to sum up what I have read and provide the link.

So what works better for you?

Musicians being mysterious

One of the lines that I can remember from Almost Famous is the argument between the lead singer and the lead guitarist. "We had this worked out; I was going to be the front man, and you were going to be the mysterious guitar player." Sometimes that mysterious thing works; I know that piqueing my curiousity can heighten my interest in something that I might have otherwise skipped over. Other times, it just annoys me and I tend to ignore it (Slipknot for example).

I'm not the only one, it would seem; Eppy really doesn't like this kind of carrying on.

Goddamn but I hate mysteriousness.

Well, I guess I mean that I hate mysteriousness as a behavior creative types engage in. (I kind of like the mysteriousness of the universe, but that's probably not a positive trait.) For one thing, it allows said types--especially musicians, who are not that bright--to get away with shit they couldn't in a million years if you actually called them on it. The whole technique of representation-v.-statement is riddled with opportunities for deception, but as long as there's not a point of view (just, rather, some free-floating imagery that seems meaningful or straight realism that merely depicts instead of setting in context), what can you get mad at? Well, a lot. And this isn't even getting into the musical issues involved. But as long as they're allowed to get away with being "eccentric" (see below post on romantic images of mental illness) then, hey, they're just kooky artists! Judge the output, man!

The effect of online music on distribution

A good article about the effects of online music distribution on labels and other businesses.

analysts believe that the ability to make money from distributing music is moving away from content owners like EMI to companies that provide the software and hardware to download and play digital music. Analysts describe this as a "seismic shift". It is already decimating the profits of traditional record labels.

In the United States, Apple is the market leader in online digital music sales, but its European launch last week coincided with the prospect of serious competition from companies like Microsoft and Dell, which are offering their own versions of Apple's technology. European mobile phone operators such as T-Mobile and MmO2 are also offering, or promising, digital music download services.

Microsoft's strategy of providing software for a growing number of digital devices is similar to the one it used to dominate computing by licensing its software to any PC maker prepared to pay for it. Some industry sources conclude that Apple is in danger of a repeat performance of what happened in computing -- it established an early lead and then allowed Microsoft to capture the market by signing software deals with all the big manufacturers.

Thanks to Coolfer for the tip.

The IICA act annotated

Earnest Miller has fisked the exceeding asinine legislation known as IICA (Inducing Infringments of Copyright Act), formerly known as INDUCE (Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act). As hard as this is to believe, the IICA would have the net effect of making the DMCA look like the modicum of balance and well written law. Check out the annotation for, among other things, how much money the entertainment industry has donated to the sponsoring legislators as well as several legal comments as the introduction goes along.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

The industry's next steps

Felix Oberholzer-Gee, one of the professors who wrote the study showing that file sharing doesn't hurt sales, has some more thoughts on what the music business should do next:

Suing potential customers is not exactly a standard entry in the book of good CRM. More importantly, the RIAA's legal strategy is hopeless and smacks of short-sighted panic.

Our research shows that only 45 percent of music files downloaded in the United States come from computers in the U.S. More than 100 countries supply files to the U.S. file-sharing community, and many of these countries do not have strong records of protecting copyrighted materials. The RIAA does not stand a chance to implement an effective legal strategy in all these countries.

Those who dream of legal solutions do not recognize the truly global nature of the peer-to-peer (P2P) phenomenon. Even worse, the RIAA's legal strategy does not even seem to work here in the United States. Despite the lawsuits - the RIAA has sued about 2,000 individuals to date - file sharing is more popular than ever. ...

Our research shows that people do not download entire CDs. They download a few songs, typically the hits that one would also hear on a Top 40 station. This suggests that P2P is much like the radio, a great tool to promote new music. The music industry has of course long recognized that giving away samples of music for free over the airwaves can stimulate sales. The same seems to hold for P2P.

The problem with radio as a promotional tool is that it can be quite expensive for labels to get radio stations to play their music. P2P networks are promising because they make the market for music promotion more competitive. From the perspective of the music industry, the more competition among P2P services, the less costly it will be to promote music.

I think the latter part of this is just spot on. I know that I use some of the sound clips on which I have played as a means by which to get additional work, and I'm just a bass player.

Thanks to Eric for the tip.

DRM affects books

It's not just music anymore.

Less than charming, however, is the digital rights management (DRM) used for the project. Fifteen of the biggest Japanese publishers (and Sony) put their heads together to figure out how to offer a compelling collection of novels and other material while protecting their own financial investments in the work and the interests of the authors.

What they came up with is a sad business model that ties downloaded ebooks to a maximum of four devices, which is reasonable enough, but also ensures that the titles purchased (with your money, remember) lock up after 60 days, which is far from reasonable. Sure, the books are cheaper than their real-world equivalents, but who in their right mind is going to buy books that simply evaporate after two months? Periodicals might be suitable for this protective scheme, but none are yet taking advantage of it on the Libri?Ž.

As some of my readers have probably noticed, I read a lot of books. I can guarantee you that my consumption of books would dwindle to about zero if I were to lose the ability to reread or reference that book after 60 days.

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Funny moments for our generation

Brought to you by the good folk at Black Table. From Bill Cosby to Beavis and Butthead to Reservoir Dogs, it's a good laugh. Or, at least, a chuckle.

The shame of the Kiss army

The KISS army -- one of entertainment's true marketing success stories -- has had it's low points, too.

Today, Kiss has become the worst possible parody of itself, a traveling Vegas act located at the intersection of nostalgia and bloated bombast. The band's contempt for its audience is palpable. Simmons smirks about ripping off Kiss fans in his books, which, of course, are purchased solely by Kiss fans.

This isn't merchandising -- it's meta-merchandising. The Kiss online store features a stunning array of products; it makes Insane Clown Posse's setup look like a Kool-Aid stand. There are $750 "premium gold edition" boxed sets, $800 casino chips, and Gene Simmons Underoos. And yes, you can still buy a Kiss lunch box, except now there are four to choose from.

When a band gets this absurd, it's hard to list every wince-inducing moment, but some lowlights stand out from the rest. As part of my ongoing therapy, then, here are the ten worst moments in Kisstory.

10. The much-hyped unmasking One look at Simmons and it was obvious why they'd gone with full face paint in the first place.

8. The long good-bye Kiss played its first farewell tour eight years ago. Since then, the band has been busy -- busy touring, that is. Last year, it played arenas with Aerosmith. This summer, it's hitting the sheds with Poison. Can an outing with White Lion be far off?

2. Kiss Kondoms You'll need one of these for your "band experience." Varieties include "tongue lubricated Gene" and "studded Paul." Yeech. Really the lowest point in the history of rock merchandising. Makes the coffin seem tasteful by comparison.

Thanks to David for the tip.

Jane says bye

Jane's Addiction is no more.

Hometown congressman

An interview with Rick Boucher, the congressman who represents my home district. These days, he's supporting a reform to the DMCA. Go Rick, go!.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

IE == bad

MS Internet Explorer (which just happens to be both the most popular browser in the world as well as about half of the browser that wander by The Musings) is a bad piece of software. For the record, I use either Netscape or Opera.

Thanks to Rev. Bob for the tip.

Proof that the web is a haven for any fetish

The Museum of Boomboxes. I'm old enough to remember when it was cool to have the biggest one possible (like large enough to cause significant spinal damage if you were to walk around in ultra-rad mode with boombox on your shoulder, the speaker blasting directly into your ear). But I'm rather glad those days are over.

Thanks to Max for the tip.

The Pepto-Macarena

I don't know what this means. It certainly doesn't say "Buy our poo-goo" to me, but nothing in this commercial does. Does he have a bomb in his ass? Is it a coded message from the Pepto Rebellion?

From someone who really doesn't like the latest commercial from Pepto-Bismol.

Thanks to Emma for the tip.

More RIAA lawsuits.

Yippee. Total number of really ticked off consumers; 3,429 and counting.

The Zenith Angle

Today at lunch, I finished reading Bruce Sterling's The Zenith Angle. This was a rather unusual book. Starting out on the morning on September 11, 2001, a computer scientist finds his world changed. After the day's events, he begins to work for the government.

Basically, this book starts out as a cypher-punkish exploration into computer technology, bridges over to a government paper chase (á la some kind of John Grisham novel) and ends up on the Tom Clancy side of the house with a black ops special forces kind of activity. All featuring the same computer scientist. While it's an affable read, I can't particularly recommend it to anyone.

From the days when albums were actually albums

A resurgence of vinyl.

Thanks to Frank for the tip.

Top 100 songs from movies

Here's the latest one from AFI. AFI! Aren't they the film people? So when is the RIAA going to produce their best books of the decade list?

Some highlights:
6. Mrs. Robinson, The Graduate (1967).
10. The Sound of Music, The Sound of Music (1965).
22. Everybody's Talkin', Midnight Cowboy (1969).
38. Theme From 'Shaft', Shaft (1971).
40. Fight the Power, Do the Right Thing (1989).
41. New York, New York, On the Town (1949).

As a side note, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the profusion of lists.

Fark-in' review

A review of the website FARK. Personally, I rather like this site. If you have never seen it, drop by and give it a shot.

-- Update --
Now, with the right link to the right review! (thanks, Lynn)

A member of LBM passes

Ben Shabalala, member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and brother to founder Joseph Shabalala, died on June 16. My sympathies to both the band and the members of his family.

Sorry it took so long

I've uploaded the photos from the Marcus Miller show.

All your guitar are belong to Fender?

Fender is claiming that all guitars based on the classic stratocaster design (which is just about every guitar made, more or less) is trademarked to them.

...[P]rivately held Fender Musical Instruments, which owns the name to history's most famous electric guitar--the Stratocaster--wants that to stop. Fifty years after the first Strat was sold, the company is claiming that the guitar's shape, as well as that of several other models, belongs to Fender. That's not going over well with its competitors. ...

The problem is, dozens of other companies have sold guitars with those shapes too--a knockoff market developed in the mid-'70s. Fellow industry titan Gibson Guitar has indicated it may oppose Fender's application. Some smaller guitar makers, which have built reputations and businesses on those shapes, worry they could be put out of business if Fender gets its way.

"It's like [trying to trademark] cars with four wheels, or all tennis rackets that are round," says Ronald Bienstock, a lawyer representing 18 guitar companies, big and small, that are opposing Fender's application.

I don't know if Fender even can suceed at this. The body style has hardly been unique to Fender for several decades now. Much like Xerox found out, if the reserved name falls into common use, rights to that name cannot be recovered. I definitely know that if Fender were to win, it would be rather bad thing for both the industry and for most musicians.

Tech companies support reform

Several major tech companies (Intel, Sun, Verizon, Bell South and others) support changing the copyright laws to better address some of the ridiculousness of the DMCA.

This is good news. Now that major companies (you know, the kind that make donations....), it's possible that Congress might just get off their duff and do something about it.

Thanks to Ed for the tip.

Ani DiFranco dates

These may have been announced somewhere/time before, but I didn't catch them if they were. I've seen her play quite a few times. She's a ball of energy and effort, and there's something very raw about seeing her perform.

Local dates:
Sept. 11: Baltimore (Lyric Opera)
Sept. 12: Richmond, Va. (Carpenter Center)

Celeb sighting

In what can only be described as a rather unexpected occurance, I just ran into J. August Richards on the street outside of my house. He was walking down the street, I recognized him from Angel (a TV show that I rather liked and was disappointed to see go off the air) and we struck up a very short, very small conversation.

That has to be a strange experience for someone; to have a complete stranger recognize you and start talking to you. And, as a side note, he's a lot taller than I had expected. Like around my height or so.

Web not a panacea for musicians

The web is a good and wonderful thing. It has helped with the marketspace in opening vista of near frictionless economics. It has also launched a thousand dreams to die on rocky shoals. And, lest we not forget, the web has helped lots of musicians, but hasn't quite made any millionaires as of yet.

For all its promise, the Net has not yet created any overnight sensations. That power, for now, appears firmly locked to television, where popular contest shows such as "American Idol" have put unknowns at the top of the pops with ease. By contrast, the Internet is proving its worth to independent musicians primarily as a complement to traditional marketing efforts known to generations of road-weary rockers. Touring, word of mouth, fan clubs and posters are now being augmented with Web sites, e-mail lists and blogs.

Thanks to Coolfer for the tip.

Universal changing CD formats

On the one hand, some asinine news that Universal is going to reintroduce 3" CDs (if you can even remember what they were like -- small, got lost easily, couldn't play on many CD players). On the other hand, they are going to stop producing copy protected CDs in Germany (which, also, can't play on many CD players).

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Lollapalooza cancelled

The plug is being pulled due to poor ticket sales.

Robert Smith, please go away

More humor from Something Awful:

Well you know what, Robert Smith? You’re not getting my cash, you money-grubbing, wooly gothic bastard. You can’t release three crap albums in a row and then expect everyone to come running back whenever your accountant/muse dangles a solid-gold carrot in front of your fat, pallid face. Not only am I wary of your motives, but I’m entirely fed up with comebacks in general. They’re never any good, despite what initial reviews will always tell us. You Are the Quarry is Morrissey’s best work since The Smiths? Hog fucking wash. After that fiasco, I’ve absolutely had it with washed-up 80s tearjerkers clamoring for my dime.

Another American Idol album

Fantasia Barrino (she's dropped her last name) is working on her upcoming album. Oh, joy.

"I can do a pop song, but I'm not a pop singer," says the American Idol winner (who has dropped her last name, Barrino). "I like jazz. I can do a rock song. I want to do country, old school, gospel. When you're a music lover, you love all music. I want to mix it up."

So, basically, your album is going to be a complete muddle of conflicting styles?

GIF vs JPG vs PNG

A great comparison/contrast of the three primary graphic styles on the web.

Thanks to Rev. Bob for the tip.

Dennis Chamber's clinic

Dennis Chambers, one of the best drummers in the business today, will be presenting at a drum clinic at the University Of Maryland (College Park) on the 29th of July. Cost is $30/per. He'll be holding forth at 2pm on a Thursday. If I didn't already have too many obligations, I'd take off from work to go.

Bob Dylan on the road

Bob Dylan will be taking to the road this summer. No word on if it's electric or acoustic.

Local dates:
Aug. 12: Aberdeen, MD (Ripken Stadium)
Aug. 14: Salisbury, MD (Arthur W. Perdue Stadium)
Aug. 15: Richmond, VA (The Diamond)

Dodgeball

Tonight, I caught Dodgeball. I wasn't expecting much (as I know that some people downright hate the flick sight unseen), but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. This was one of the funnier films I have seen in quite some time. Lowbrow, sophmoric funny, but I literally laughed hard enough to have a headache.

The nearest comparison that I can draw would be to Airplane. If you didn't like the one joke, don't worry, there will be another any second that you probably will.

Watch time 1:17

Gonna try out Sony Connect

I had a Big Mac today for lunch, and I get a free download from Sony Connect as a result. Having heard quite a few bad things about the service, I guess I can now find out firsthand.

More on this later.

Norm's new stuff

While talking with Darryl last night at the Marcus show, he giving me an update on Norm Stockton. Norm's just finished up two more DVDs of instructional videos and is getting ready to hit the road doing promotional work for MTD. If you get a chance to catch him play, you should really make the time.

The social fabric tears

People are shocked -- shocked!, I say -- about close dancing at high school proms.

Most of the dancing is not of the cheek-to-cheek variety, a fact that has caused controversy in some quarters. Though the dancing varies in intensity, the partnering position of choice, back to front, is at once less intimate and more sexual, and the couplings, even at a formal event like the prom, constantly shift.

Called grinding, freaking or "backing it up" in its most brazen form, this kind of dancing is not flirtation. It is war.

"It's like a battle between you and the guy," said Candy Javier, 18, a senior at Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design, one of five South Bronx high schools that had a joint prom earlier this month at the V.I.P. Country Club in New Rochelle, N.Y. "They're pushing forward, and you're pushing back." She shrugged. "You're not doing it," she added. "You're just dancing."

Nepotism at work

I'm doubting that this person would be getting either the publicity or even the opportunity on her latest solo release were it not for her husband.

Yet another list

This time, the Rock Power list. Why do I have this mental image of He-Man screaming "I am the power!"

And, how could we forget good ol' Avril:

Rounding off the chart at number 10 was teenage singer Avril Lavigne "for turning a new generation of pop fans into fans of all things loud and objectionable".

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Destiny's child reforming

They are getting back together after "working on their solo careers." Um, who other than Beyonce had a solo career? Just asking....

Marcus Miller @ Birchmere

Tonight was the Marcus Miller show at the Birchmere. I've been to the Birchmere a number of times; it's a great venue with good sound and a good environment.

Marcus, on the other hand, I've only seen once before. Marcus is an absolute monster player, massively influential (to me and legions of others). Seeing him play live is a near religious experience for a bass player like myself.

Miller's road band consists of Marcus Miller (natch) on bass guitar/alto sax/bass clarinet, Dean Brown on guitar, Poogie Bell on drums, Bruce Flowers on keyboards, Roger Byam on sax/flute and Michael "Patches" Stewart on trumpet/fluglehorn. These guys have been with Marcus for a long time and it shows. They have real chemistry on stage, play off each other's cues and seem to have a real good time in the process. They are also first class musicians in their own right. Poogie Bell is one of the better drummers I've seen play like (just a huge, deep pocket, no matter how complex the drum line), and Patches Stewart is probably the best trumpet player I've ever seen live -- bar none. Marcus is no fool when it comes to staffing his ship.

Mr. Miller is not as kinetic a player as other bass players I respect, but he's an amazing player in his own right. Not a lot of flash and tricks, but solid, undeniable groove. From some new material from a forthcoming album (a pretty straight ahead funky R&B tune with some rap/singing thrown in called Gonna Get Hurt and a very tribal feeling tune called Ethiopia) to some Miller standbys (Cousin John, Panther, Amazing Grace, and a medley of Power, Marcus' take on Jaco's Teen Town and Tutu) and quite a few covers (Red Baron, Frankenstein, Come Together). Not to mention some songs that Marcus has written for other people: Maputo for David Sanborn and Bob James (although I really prefer Marcus' take on it to theirs) and Da Butt for E.U.

Let me promise you, there has never been any rendition of any Beatle's song that ever grooved as hard as the Marcus Miller version of Come Together. No matter what was going on, you could not resist the power of that bass line. Just like Frankenstein -- I can remember that song from the 70's, but the Miller take would have had dead people up and dancing.

One of the things that I have noticed about Marcus' show is that it is very clearly his show. He usually starts the tune, he gives very clear direction to his bandmates (like mimeing how he wanted Poogie to play his drumline at a few points during the show) and calls solos as the song progresses (pointing to which member of the band is to solo and when their solo is to end).

During the encore of the show, Marcus took requests from the audience, played through a medley of his tunes (if it was rehearsed, they sold me on the performance -- it felt like there were just making it up on the spot) and then closed with Da Butt. That pick makes since, given that D.C. is the birthplace of go-go music. He even got Sugar Bear (the lead singer of E.U.) up to perform the singing.

I managed to get good seats to the show, and I took quite a few photos. I'll post them up tomorrow when I get the chance.

-- Update --
The photos are up.

The dream does come true

I know the guitar tech over at Hot Licks; he's a good guy named George. He and I have talked a number of times, mostly when he was looking for a bass player.

So on Tuesday, the store gets a call looking for their guitar tech. This lady on the other end of the phone starts asking George a bunch of questions, like "I've got this problem with my amplifier, how can I fix it?", "If my guitar was doing ____, what steps should I take". After a few of these questions, she then introduces herself as Marcus Miller's manager, tells him that Marcus' normal guitar tech can't continue on the tour and would he be available for a show that weekend?

Of course, George lept at the chance. He went down, proved his mettle by wiring up the rig (which can be no small feat, as I can attest from my own experience with my own rig -- a rig that is rather simple by comparison) and diagnosing problems on the fly. George has since been invited to go on the rest of the US tour and over for the European tour. He's the guy in the middle of the photo to the right, kneeling and repairing a faulty cable.

George is about 23 or so, working at a day job in a music store and then gets a call up to the major leagues (so to speak). The dream really does come true. Good luck to you, George.

Metallica documentary

A film review of the upcoming documentary on Metallica, Some Kind Of Monster.

When production on this unnamed ''Metallica infomercial project'' began in 2001, the group was already mired in turmoil: Newsted had officially quit the band after only one session with Towle. Newsted still considers the idea of rock-band therapy to be a little ridiculous. ''Something that's really important to note -- and this isn't pointed at anyone -- is something I knew long before I met James Hetfield or anyone else,'' Newsted said in an interview from his ranch in western Montana. ''Certain people are made to be opened up and exposed. Certain people are not. I'll leave it at that.''

For the first 30 minutes of ''Some Kind of Monster'' (roughly three months in real time), you see a band whose members don't necessarily like one another, struggling with a record no one seems completely enthusiastic about creating. But then -- suddenly, and without much explanation -- Hetfield disappears into rehab. Ulrich and Hammett have nothing to do in the interim except talk to their therapist. This is the point where ''Some Kind of Monster'' starts to change; what it becomes is not a glorification of rock 'n' roll but an illustration of how rock 'n' roll manufactures a reality that's almost guaranteed to make people incomplete. Metallica's massive success -- and the means through which they achieved it -- meant they never had to mature intellectually past the age of 19.

''I think most people in rock bands have arrested development,'' Hammett says now. ''Society doesn't demand people in rock bands do certain things. You're able to start drinking whenever you want, and you can play shows drunk, and you can get offstage and continue to be drunk, and people love it. They toast their glasses to an artist who's drunk and breaking things and screaming and wrestling in the middle of a restaurant. Things like that happened to us, and people cheered.''

To some, that might sound like a cliche sentiment for a millionaire musician to express. It almost blames society for making guitar heroes wasted and lawless. But this kind of self-discovery is part of what makes ''Some Kind of Monster'' a strikingly modern film: by fusing the accelerated culture of therapy with the accelerated culture of celebrity, it illustrates why the people inside those two realms can't keep up.

''Metallica's evolution as people was aborted by their surreal existence,'' Towle says. ''Kirk Hammett once told me that coming off tour was like experiencing post-traumatic stress syndrome; he said it was like leaving a war and re-entering real life. When I asked him why he felt that way, he said, 'Because now I have to empty the trash.' The profundity in that statement is in its simplicity: rock stars are infantilized by people who do everything for them. We insulate them from a reality that would actually be good for them.''

David Bowie, eye injury victim

David Bowie somehow gets a lollipop in his eye. I say somehow because the article is in Norwegian -- yet another language that I neither speak nor read.

Thanks to FARK for the tip.

Another top 100 albums list

This time, from The Guardian.

Ricky Jay, card shark

Ricky Jay is one of the best sleight-of-hand artists around. I know; I've seen him do his work before, and it's nothing short of completely astounding. Others seem to think so, too.

Jay is perhaps the world's greatest sleight-of-hand artist as well as a leading scholar of prestidigitation and illusion. That "Deadwood," set in an 1870s gold-mining camp in what is now South Dakota, would make keen use of Jay's arcane knowledge is no accident; he's also one of the scriptwriters. Jay has a devoted following, and if his fans thrill to him in "Deadwood," many also worry that the series and his movie career might cut into his stage performances, which are already as rare as a royal flush and usually the toughest ticket in town. His breakthrough show in New York City, 1994's Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, sold out all performances and won an Obie before he took it to cities on five continents.

Thanks to David for the tip.

Long drive home

Driving home from Harrisonburg (about a two, two and a half hour trip), I started to think about a conversation I witnessed a few days ago. Okay, a conversation I sort of eavesdropped on (they were in the same bar I was, a few stools down).

These two people were arguing over... something. Something that seemed to be pretty inconsequential (like who didn't fold the morning paper back on to the table that morning), but neither one was willing to give even an inch. Furthermore, as they got agitated, they would lapse from English into their own native language (I wasn't really paying enough attention to determine if they were each speaking their own language or both speaking the same).

As I was driving back, I thought this might be a good idea for a tune. Something in a minor key, dark and moody. The song would be about an argument with the subtext of "you don't respect me, you ignore me, you think I'm a fool" -- and we've all had that sort of argument with our lovers where the actual topic of discussion is just the vehicle for the underlying issue.

The twist that has highly caught my attention is to have two singers, each singing in their own language. For example, one in French, the other in Italian (since both are romance languages and derived from Latin, so they are somewhat similar in sound quality to each other but with different aspects). With this setup, you have the immediate contradiction and confict between two sides of the duet. They can sing together, in turn, to each other, even in harmony with each other, but neither can understand what the other is saying. Even if the notes and phonetics match up, each partner is in a different world. I'm really liking the imagery that brings in.

Unfortunately, neither my French nor my Italian is anywhere near good enough to pull this off. I'm going to poke around for awhile to see if I can find anyone to help out with the language side of the coin(and I'm open to suggestions if you know of anyone who can speak/write both French and Italian) while I go ahead and write up the music to frame the words.

A picnic

Today, a large group of us gathered over at Anthony's. I think that most of us were bass players, but I can't be completely sure. Maria was there, as was Francis. Rob also came out and I met a few other bass players in the area (always a good thing). We hung out, had some food, did some socializing (which, inevitiably led to bass players comparing gear and talking shop) and then check out some basses.

John Maghini (from M Basses) came down. He made a 7 string bass for Anthony awhile back, and he came down to meet the students, talk to people, answer some question on making basses and show some of his wares.

He also brought down a new 9(!!!!) string bass for one of Anthony's friends. 9 strings, sheesh! I tried playing it and pretty much wanted a "You are Here" map to find out where I was doing anything. I thought Anthony's 7 string was hard to play; this was a whole new world. For the technical minded out there, it was strung F#-B-E-A-D-G-C-B flat. The top two strings where actually lead guitar strings adapted for a bass extension.

All in all, a good time. I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked (I had to drive to Harrisonburg, VA to meet my folks), and hopefully next time will be longer.

DRM on new CDs not working

As reported by Ed, the new technology to prevent CD copying is not working very well.

SunnComm execs say that this demonstrates consumer acceptance of their technology. A quick look at the consumer reviews at Amazon tells the real story: the technology causes significant problems for some law-abiding customers, and many customers dislike it. Many customers find the technology bearable only because it is so easily defeated, thereby allowing customers who, say, want to download songs from the album onto their iPods a way to do so.

JoS @ Classic Café

Last night was my swan song performance with JoS; after a year and then some, it's time to move on. Rob (who came out to the show and was also nice enough to take some photos) will taking over bass duties for JoS in the future.

We've played at Classic Café several times before, so both the venue and the crowd are known quantities. It's a good crowd, mostly into the music, but a bit on the small side.

We got started in our normal manner (a little on the chaotic side), and people sang along and did their dancing. Including some people doing a little faux-lesbian thing for a while, which I think almost started a fight between the Malboro Man and Marine One (the nicknames we gave the guy in the cowboy hat and the military-looking one). But some good friends came out and that always makes things okay.

There was nothing that was going to make this night bad for me, though. As I've said before, quite a few of the tunes on the set list I was rather bored with playing, and I was viewing this night as the last time I will probably have to play any of them. Even Sweet Home Alabama -- a song I completely detest -- was fun to play tonight.

Towards the end of the second set, I played the same unaccompanied solo that I did at the FoI show. Very few people paid any attention to me, which I had expected at this kind of a show. But it was my last show; might as well go out with a bang.

I would like to thank Rich, Ryan, Matt, Rob, Keith, Basem (B-Nice boyee!), SLim (always with the L) and Mark (gotta love that day job) for all the good times and good music and I wish each and every one of them luck and good crowds.

I've had this happen to me...

Ever watched something where people were engaging in, um, adult activities and then saw someone you know? At least in my case, the one that I knew was well in my past and will probably never been seen again.

Thanks to TMFTML for the tip.

The Cato Institute on P2P

Yesterday was the Cato Institute's conference on "The Law and Economics of File Sharing and P2P Networks". From all accounts, it looks like it was interesting. Bobby over at BlogCritics attended, and he has filed a report on the proceedings.

The strongest feeling I had as I left the conference is that the recording industry, even after five years, still has problems understanding the nature of the problems they're facing. For instance, in reply to one question regarding the effectiveness of suing file uploaders, Liebowitz replied that he doesn't think the public or the media really differentiate between uploading and downloading, so that such litigation is effective as a threat against both. It may be that the "public" and the "media" have such a perception, but you know who doesn't? College students, who are perhaps the critical demographic when it comes to downloading. College students tend to know that they need to turn off access to their shared folders so that they can't be sued for uploading the files. They focus on downloading instead, and since 55% of files are downloaded from users outside the United States (a figure provided during the conference), one has to wonder how effective this litigation strategy can really be. Instead of catching those downloading (or even uploading) the bulk of the files, the RIAA has wound up with PR nightmares such as suing grandmothers. One really has to wonder when the recording industry is going to get a clue and begin to operate proactively rather than reactively. In this sense, at least, it seems that the MPAA may be a step ahead.

Why DRM is important to everyone

Cory (from over at Boing Boing) recently gave a talk to the coders at Microsoft about DRM (Digital Rights Management) and why DRM should be abandoned pretty much at the first available opportunity. The full text of his speech (with the occasional 3lite-speak here and there) can be found here.

It's a bit on the long side, but, trust me, it is absolutely worth your time to read. Just a quick sample --

Region-coded DVDs are an example of this: there's no copyright here or in anywhere I know of that says that an author should be able to control where you enjoy her creative works, once you've paid for them. I can buy a book and throw it in my bag and take it anywhere from Toronto to Timbuktu, and read it wherever I am: I can even buy books in America and bring them to the UK, where the author may have an exclusive distribution deal with a local publisher who sells them for double the US shelf-price. When I'm done with it, I can sell it on or give it away in the UK. Copyright lawyers call this "First Sale," but it may be simpler to think of it as "Capitalism."

The keys to decrypt a DVD are controlled by an org called DVD-CCA, and they have a bunch of licensing requirements for anyone who gets a key from them. Among these is something called region-coding: if you buy a DVD in France, it'll have a flag set that says, "I am a French DVD." Bring that DVD to America and your DVD player will compare the flag to its list of permitted regions, and if they don't match, it will tell you that it's not allowed to play your disc.

Remember: there is no copyright that says that an author gets to do this. When we wrote the copyright statutes and granted authors the right to control display, performance, duplication, derivative works, and so forth, we didn't leave out "geography" by accident. That was on-purpose.

So when your French DVD won't play in America, that's not because it'd be illegal to do so: it's because the studios have invented a business-model and then invented a copyright law to prop it up. The DVD is your property and so is the DVD player, but if you break the region-coding on your disc, you're going to run afoul of anticircumvention.

That's what happened to Jon Johansen, a Norweigan teenager who wanted to watch French DVDs on his Norweigan DVD player. He and some pals wrote some code to break the CSS so that he could do so. He's a wanted man here in America; in Norway the studios put the local fuzz up to bringing him up on charges of *unlawfully trespassing upon a computer system.* When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."

His no-fooling, real and physical property has been expropriated by the weird, notional, metaphorical intellectual property on his DVD: DRM only works if your record player becomes the property of whomever's records you're playing.

I truly think that if most people really understood the shenanigins that both the record industry and the movie business are trying to pull, there would be a great uprising against it.

This is why I spend as much time as I do writing on this subject. Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Copy protected CD tops the US charts

The latest Velvet Revolver CD has topped the US charts. While this is great news for them, it might not be so good for the rest of us. This CD (like the Beastie Boy's latest) is more or less copy protected. The sucess of Contraband will only encourage more labels to try to include copy protection as part and parcel of the CD.

Oh, if you bought this CD, you can get around the protection.

As in earlier tests by BMG and SunnComm, the copy protection on the Velvet Revolver disc can be simply disabled by pushing the "Shift" key on a computer while the CD is loading, which blocks the SunnComm software from being installed. The companies say they have long been aware of the work-around but that they were not trying to create an unhackable protection.

Not saying that you should, but you can if you want.

A tragedy of the commons

Naxos.com, a website dedicated to classical music, has stopped track by track listening and changed to samples only. Apparently, too many people were free-loading off the samples and never paying for anything.

RIAA to Attorney Generals: "Do your job"

In what can only be considered to be a step forwards, both the RIAA and the MPAA are requesting the attorney generals of the several states to examine whether or not file sharing is against the law.

I say that this is a step forwards because at least then it will be a part of the government process, thereby subject to due process, burden of proof -- you know, all that actual legal kind of stuff, as opposed the bullying/shakedown lawsuits that the RIAA is filing these days.

Ode to the Mini-Disc

Saying something is both obsolete and the best perfectly describes the deep attachment and spiky frustration that many amateur sound recorders have felt toward Sony's MiniDisc since it was introduced in 1992.

Personally, I never saw the need to even explore a format that was so clearly doomed to a Betamax ending, but many people rather like it.

Christian Idol

Coming soon to a cable channel near you, Gifted, "a Christian version of the popular American Idol TV show".

Just think about Cartman doing this, and everything will work out okay.

Cruises. Not just for retirees anymore

More often than not, playing music on cruise ships is typically the sign of a music career in demise. That may be changing.

The experience proved so enjoyable for Mr. Claypool [Les Claypool, of Primus fame] that he has signed up for Jam Cruise 3 next January. So did nearly 500 fans who registered to pay between $550 and $1,125 for next year's trip even before the musical lineup was announced. The cruise, which was organized by Cloud 9 Adventures in Boca Raton, Fla., is scheduled with multiple sets from jam band favorites like Galactic, Jon Fishman of Phish, North Mississippi Allstars, Ozomatli and DJ Logic.

Great article about the history of the P bass

Ed has written a really great article about the history of Leo Fender and the P bass.

Leo Fender didn't actually invent the electric bass, but he was the first to build the instrument in quantity, beginning with the P-Bass in late 1951. This was only about a year and a half after the first Telecaster solidbody electric guitars started rolling off his Fullerton California assembly line. And while Fender's guitars certainly led to the birth of rock and roll, as Jim Roberts explains in his terrific book, How The Fender Bass Changed The World, the P-Bass (as it eventually became popularly known as) influenced all sorts of music besides rock: Motown, R&B, and especially funk would all be virtually unthinkable without the instrument.

While Fender's instruments were born in the early 1950s, it took the following decade for their true virtuosos to appear. The first electric bassists played the instrument like the acoustic bass, whose four-to-the-bar style derives from the instrument that it replaced in the rhythm section, the tuba.

The article goes on to talk about bass techniques and recording approaches. Truly a must read for bass players.

A new mp3 vendor

Allofmp3.com is an online music service that sells music by the megabyte without worrying about DRM or any of that crap. The legality of the service is, well, questionable, but they're at least pretending to follow the law. The law in Russia, that is.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Break up cliches

From Maccers:

Number 1
It’s not you it’s me.

Responses.

1. You’re sogoddamned right it’s you and that’s the first thing you’ve ever said that made sense. You do realize that you will die sad, lonely and unloved, don’t you?
2. You’re a fucking genius, you. Oh and you know what? You’re dumped.
3. I know and I can’t decide what’s worse – your sweaty back or your spotty arse.
4. Yeah well, you were crap in bed. Nerr.

There are several more on her site....

Thanks to Lindsay for the tip.

Working through two new ones

Tonight, Brett, Shahin and myself got together to go over the two newer tunes (Red Leaves and Indigo). Brett hadn't really heard Indigo since the last time the three of us practiced, and Shahin and I had pretty throughly reworked the tune from the original arrangement.

We went through the tune several times, repeating each of the sections over and over to let Brett get a feel for where we were going and to get a grip on what he wanted to do (at least, for now). The time for the tune is 6/8, and Brett was bouncing around playing his line as either 6/8 or 4/4. Each way has it's pluses and minuses -- personally, I like the idea of switching the feel at some point in the tune to take it to another place. Perhaps at the end of the song when we go to the A section for the third time.

We also decided to add another C section to the tune. The C section consists of a flamenco style glissando through each chord of the progression. Originally, Shahin and I were both playing the same glissando of the same chords at the same time. It sounded okay, but the more I thought about it, the more I started to conclude that it was going to be nigh impossible for the two of us to have our playing match up rhythmicly. So, what we're going to do instead is have me play the glissandos the first time through the C section (which allows for a good transition into me doing the hammer/taps for the D section) and then Shahin will take the chords for the 2nd C section that we added just before the end.

Also, we may be changing the name of the band. Fire On Ice was more or less a working name. As many people can attest, naming a band is frequently the hardest part of any any band. We've never been all that happy with the name, and we've been tossing around other concepts for a while. The best one of the bunch (so far) is "Mind Zi".

I don't have this much free time

The world's biggest ball of paint. I'll just take his word for it.

Indie coming and going?

The indie rock scene may be coming to the fore and sowing it's own seeds of failure at the same time.

Lovers of indie rock worry that the emerging music could suffer the same fate of grunge rock from a decade ago. In that case, Nirvana, Soundgarden and other Seattle bands leaped from independent labels to the major leagues only to find their ideas and innovations co-opted by dozens of less ambitious acts. Bands like Creed and Nickelback became successful by diluting the formula created by first-generation grunge masters, indie rockers argue.

Thanks to Frank for the tip.

The physics of running away

If you remember The Mummy Returns, there is a scene where Brendon Fraser outruns the sun (you know, that big bright ball of yellow in the sky) to save his son's life. If you might have questioned the likelihood of that succeeding, you'll probably like this page.

Thanks to Cory for the tip.

Simon on Geri Haliwell

Madonna changes her name

Please refer to her as Esther.

Car troubles

On top of the speeding ticket that I got recently, I picked up a written warning for having my inspection expired. Then, as I was parking for work, I clipped an outcropping on the curb that tore a gash in one of my tires.

I wonder if biking would be a better solution.

The reason behind ice cream headaches

Just in case you were wondering.

Thanks to TMFTML for the tip.

Finally....

I fixed my PC at home!! Good thing that I'm a big enough geek to know how to hack my registry.

Photos from the Japanese MTV Video Awards

More oddness from the land of the rising sun:

• Japan's own Jack Black
• Some white guy doing a Michael Jackson imitation
• Ah, so this is why he changed his name to P. Diddy

We'll close with the Kick The Can Crew.

Dido compared with silence

I know that quite a few people don't much care for Dido (I found one or two of her songs on her first album to be a guilty pleasure), but the NY Times damns her with faint praise:

If it occurs to you that total silence might have produced the same blissful feeling, then you're on to something. Dido Armstrong (she uses only her first name), from Britain, has figured out a way to make music that is no better, but also no worse, than silence.

A cell phone worm

Worms and viruses (should that be virii?) are not just for MS Outlook anymore.

I'm going to get this book

Jacob Slichter was the drummer for Semisonic. They had a charting hit with Closing Time back in 1998, and their album went platinum. They also got dropped by their label after the follow-up album went nowhere.

Slichter has taken his experiences and written a book about it all.

''At 32, I imagined I was the oldest tenderfoot in the history of rock 'n' roll.'' Slichter is the rookie in the band, the other two members having been in another popular Minneapolis band, Trip Shakespeare. Initially, he is scared and alienated by the road. At the group's first McDonald's stop on its first tour, Slichter is surprised to find his bandmates and their sound man sitting at three separate tables eating in silence. He later asks Dan [Dan Wilson, the lead singer/guitarist/song writer of the group]:

'''Dan, do you find the road to be an emotionally cold place?'
'' 'Yes.'
'' 'What do you do about that?'
''Without lifting his eyes from the page, he spoke. 'Eventually, you'll grow to enjoy that coldness and learn to crave it.'''

From this write-up in the NY Times, it looks like it will be an interesting read.

Thanks to Mwanji for the tip.

Keeping score

Tonight, PBS will broadcast a show called Keeping Score about the San Francisco orchestra gearing up to do a performance of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. If the website is any indication, the show should be excellent.

This is really one of the best music websites I've ever seen.

Thanks to Alex for the tip.

Madonna, instilling traditional values

Madonna is insistent that she will impart traditional values to her children. You know, things like not cursing, dressing respectfully, stuff like that.

God gets married

Alanis Morissette is getting married to some actor guy. I'd tell you more about him, but I'm too bored with what little of his resume that I have read to continue.

Really, I'm not that scummy

Fred Durst denies ever trying to entice Avril with In-N-Out burgers.

Durst told Illinois station WWCT Rock 96.5 FM: "Maybe she's in denial. I don't really know her, but I guess she's cooler than I thought since she can just get on and make up some shit and talk shit.

"So maybe she's as cool as everyone else out there. It's kind of weird. I'm sure I'll bump into her somewhere sometime. Some skate-punk party."

I'm sure she's all a-giddy in anticipation.

Annie and Dave, sittin' in a tree

Annie Lennox wants to work with Dave Stewart again. The Eurythmics have been split apart since 1990 (with the exception of an album and tour in 1999).

Britney cancels

As a results of her knee injury, Britney Spears will be canceling the American leg of the Onyx Hotel tour.

New Duran Duran album

Duran Duran (you remember them, right?) will be releasing a new album in October. This one, unlike most of their last few, will consist of all five of the original members.

Computer problems

My PC at home is all sorts of unhappy with me and the world, so I probably won't be able to post as much as I usually do until that's resolved.

Courtney cancels concert commitments

Courtney has pulled out almost half of her concerts for this year (10 out of 21). Just maybe as a result of her issues involving lawyers?

Yeah, this is a press release

But this still sounds like it might be interesting.

"After they mail their CD to local and regional radio stations, independent artists have never had an accurate way to determine if those stations are playing it, how often they're playing it and which songs they're playing," notes Erik Maier, Co-Founder of Frequency Media and Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the company.

"With ArtistMonitor, they can know precisely where to target their efforts and limited resources," says Paul Wright, Frequency Media's other Co-Founder and Vice President of Operations & Development. According to Wright, "Every dollar counts when you're an independent artist without the backing of a major label. The information that ArtistMonitor provides can be the difference between putting your CD in more hands and having more people come to your shows."

Proof that pop music recycles

We've all suspected it from time to time. That artist that you think you like (say, for example, Nickelback) has just came out with a new song, and it sounds surprisingly like one of their previous outings. "They're just keeping true to what their fans expect," you say to yourself, "They can't be that cheesy/arrogant/lazy to rip off their fans like that."

Oh, really?

I don't see black helicopters myself, but...

Really. I don't see conspiracies everywhere, I don't really even know what the Trilateral Committee is (let alone what it does) and I don't think the UN is the font of all evil.

Having said that, there is a treaty under discussion that might get me to change my mind.

This treaty would undermine many of the public's rights under the copyright laws of most countries. It would, for example, eliminate my right to record off-air without the permission of a broad caster, or to copy a recording from one medium to another (eg from tape to DVD).

When I first saw the draft (it was published in April), I assumed it must have been written by executives at Fox, NBC and other US TV networks while high on cocaine, because it read like a wish-list of everything a failing industry could want to protect it from the future.

It is a control-freak's charter. This is predictable, because an obsession with control has worked its way into the industry's DNA.

Well, if nothing else, it seems that the madness that has infected the RIAA is not only limited to US music mavens. Other countries are equally asinine.

Online piracy numbers fudged

Remember that story a few days ago where the IFPI said that piracy is falling and it's because of the lawsuits? In a complete and totally unexpected surprise, there's more going on here than they let on.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

The real music industry in film?

p2pnet and Downhill Battle have joined up in an effort to try and get people to create some video clips to show how the industry works.

The future of the music business is up for grabs right now (like you haven't heard). The Big Five record labels have had an unfair monopoly for decades but it's finally starting to crumble. Excellent examples in the movie gallery.

The problem is that the labels are two years into a relentless public relations propaganda campaign. Through their US enforcement unit, the RIAA, they want to convince the public that filesharing is criminal and that pop music would end if their monopoly falls.

In both cases, the opposite is true. But if the majors - Warner (US), EMI (UK), UMG (France), Sony (Japan) and BMG (Germany) - win the PR war and continue to use their political friends to advance legislation to make file-sharing a federal offense, their monopoly just might survive.

And that's where you come in.

Virginia is not for all lovers

I'm ever so proud of my home state.

Madonna no longer a Maverick

Madonna and Warner have reached a settlement. She keeps on recording for Warner and Warner gets full control of the Maverick label.

"This new joint venture agreement is clearly a win-win for both WMG and Maverick," Warner Music boss Lyor Cohen said in a statement.

And this is entirely accurate. Warner wins -- they get to keep Madonna (for what that's worth) and Maverick wins in that they don't go out of business. Madonna, on the other hand, I'm not seeing the win for her.

-- Update --
Okay, so now I see the win for Madonna. She gets lots of money, as Warner buys her out (over 10 million between her and the ex-COO of Maverick)

TV commercials that might never be seen

From SpecSpot, a place where aspiring directors make commericals for real products, hoping to get signed.

Here's an ad for Budweiser, a strange/disgusting one for Tide, one for Canon and an MTV spot featuring Ron Jeremy.

Thanks to Jeff for the tip.

Bonaroo festival marred by deaths

Two people died during the three day music festival Bonnaroo.

I've never been to Bonnaroo; I understand it's a great time and these deaths seem to be way out of character for the event. Preliminary reports indicate drugs as being a factor in both cases, so perhaps not so out of character for the jam band crowd...

Minnie Driver's greatest hits

I'm still trying to work my way through this one (third down the page):

Actress Minnie Driver will release her debut album, "Everything I've Got In My Pocket," in September via Rounder Records' Zoë Records imprint. ... She made her recording debut last year on "Greatest Hits Vol. II," a compilation released by Yorn's Trampoline Records label that featured the forthcoming album's title track.

So, the first time she ever recorded anything, and she's on a Greatest Hits album? Greatest Hits of what? Actors desperately trying to cross over? Was Patrick Swayze (She's Like The Wind) and Tisha Campbell (Push) be on the same album?

A guilty godfather

In an update to a prior report, James Brown has pleaded guilty to beating having a domestic altercation his wife.

Artists to audit labels more

A coming compromise between the RIAA, AFTRA and the California legislature will probably result in more labels being audited (and maybe more artists getting paid). This is particularly relevant to any musician (whether or not you live in sunny CA), since many music contracts specify that the laws of California, New York or Tennessee shall be applicable to the terms of the deal (these states having the most experience with music law).

File sharing survey

A survey with some interesting results. I don't know the methodology of the report, so take this with the very large grain of salt it should have.

-- Update --
Some details on the survey.

This Business Of Artist Management

At lunch today, I finished This Business Of Artist Management. A book firmly aimed at being a primer into the roles and responsibilities of a manager in the music industry, it touches on many of the basics without delving too deeply into them.

Written in 1997, a good bit of the data in this text is rather out of date (when the author talks about sending in demo cassettes to a label, that should probably be a clue). The work of a manager is discussed in very broad strokes, most of which will seem to be common sense once read, but maybe not immediately obvious without the pointers. Still, the text can be useful to a band and/or musician who is wondering what a manager should be doing and why a good manager earns 10-15% of the gross pay.

As with the other music book I've read recently, you're probably better off going with a more comprehensive work that covers the music business in more detail, then extrapolating to figure out what is needed to manage an artist.

"You'll take what I give you and like it"

Phil Collins explains himself to his fans.

I, perhaps mistakenly, hoped that this set list would be looked at as a celebration of my music, covering a lot of what's been enjoyed by MOST people over the last 25 years or so. I have changed a few things around, contrary to some opinion, arrangement wise, and brought some songs back to the way they were originally, as well as adding some new pieces altogether.

Some people have been complaining that Phil Collins' set list has been dominated by his radio hits, and this is bothering them. To those people, I'd have to say, "Have you been listening to Phil Collins for the last two decades or so? He's been about nothing but radio friendly, middle-of-the-road pap for quite some time; where have you been?". Or something like that.

Thanks to David for the tip.

No matter how bad a date you are

...you're still better than this guy.

Celebrities aren't treated any different...

Glen Campbell, convicted of "extreme drunk driving" (my emphasis) will have imposition of his sentence delayed so he can perform at the Country Music Association Music Festival.

Hopefully, someone else will be driving his there.

Movie download service

Real Networks is entering the online movie distribution environment. I wonder if and/or how they will be doing DRM?

Label Launch

This morning, I finished up reading the book Label Launch. Perhaps I should say I finished reading the pamphlet Label Launch.

This very slight book supposedly covers all the information you would need to know if you wanted to start your own record label. It does cover it, if only at the really, really high level viewpoint. Chapters (and I use that term very lightly) average about 8 pages or so, and each of those pages are broadly spaced and small of size (the book is about three quarters the size of a normal book). Indeed, the lion's share of the data is in the appendix, and that is a listing of resources (associations, radio stations, promoters, etc.) that can only be rather dated, as it is over two years old.

I suppose this book might be good if you are very new to the subject matter, or haven't read any of the more comprehensive books that are available on the music business. It also might serve as a pocket checklist for starting a label. But I can't really see much use of it other than that.

Kravitz and Jagger in the joint

Singer Lenny Kravitz says he kept a marijuana joint he'd shared with Mick Jagger, for a year as a tribute.

Kravitz said he'd kept the joint because he was such a fan of the Rolling Stones frontman.

However, the remainder of the valued souvenir went up in smoke a year later after he ran out of dope.

For one thing, this is a rather strange tribute. For another thing, does this mean that Lenny will be arrested for drug possession, now that he's publicly admitted to possessing an illegal substance for over a year?

Two careers on the wane

In more Madonna news, she and Britney are planning on recreating their "infamous" on-stage kiss (from the MTV Music Awards of a year ago). This is almost a contest to see which one of their careers is in the worse shape: Madonna for needing to stoop to faux-Lesbianism to revive interest in her work, or Britney for experimenting with pseudo-gay tendencies to try and interest dirty old men into buying her wares.

I'm shocked. Shocked, I say

Madonna is cashing in on Kabbalah:

Meanwhile, Madonna has joined kabbalah enthusiasts Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher in introducing a line of kabbalah candles. Harry Slatkin is producing the candles, which have names like Evil Eye and Sexual Energy.

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Competition to get slots

Think it's hard to get work as a pop musician? Try classical:

Larsen, Hall and Hooten were among 65 trumpeters offered the chance to audition after being chosen from a pool of 286 applicants from 38 states, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela. They would step up their practice schedules, pay their own travel expenses and subject themselves to up to four nerve-wracking days of performing, often alone behind a screen -- all for a shot at the job.

Thanks to Scott for the tip.

Shahin and me

Just the two of us tonight; Brett's mother has come down with illness, so he can't make it for the evening. However, both Shahin and I can work on arranging the 6/8 tune from the last time.

We worked on the arrangement for a bit, solidifying both the A section and the B section. Once we got them down, then we reworked the structure, moving the A section to the head (instead of the chorus), then to a B section (which was the verse). Then we added a C section for a transition. Which leaves us a structure of A -> B -> A -> B -> C.

For a while, we couldn't think of where to go. We took a short break, and I worked out both the key and mode (in this case, E-flat, Aeolian). I just started to tap around the fretboard, just noodling in key. After a while, I came up with something that is in key, in genre and a workable groove. So what we're going to do now is have Shahin solo over top the tapping for about 16 bars or so. Then we'll go back to A and B and finish with a builder outro. For now, this song is called Indigo.

We also revisited Red Leaves a bit. The song still needs something, but I'm not sure as to what it would be. Maybe some kind of vocal scat line or another idea along those lines.

Payola returns?

During a single week in May, Canadian pop rocker Avril Lavigne's new song Don't Tell Me aired no fewer than 109 times on Nashville radio station WQZQ-FM.

The heaviest rotation came between midnight and 6 a.m., an on-air no man's land visited largely by insomniacs, truckers and graveyard shift workers. On one Sunday morning, the three-minute, 24-second song aired 18 times, sometimes as little as 11 minutes apart.

Those plays, or "spins," helped Don't Tell Me vault into the elite top 10 on Billboard magazine's national pop radio chart, which radio program directors across the country use to spot hot new tunes.

But what many chart watchers may not know is that the predawn saturation in Nashville — and elsewhere — occurred largely because Arista Records paid the station to play the song as an advertisement. In all, sources said, WQZQ aired Don't Tell Me as an ad at least 40 times the week ending May 23, accounting for more than one-third of the song's airplay on the station.

So, let me get this straight. Paying the radio stations directly is bad, paying independent promoters (who "influence" the radio stations to play a particular song by whatever means necessary) is okay.

Unfortunately, this practice has been the standard for the last half century or so. Radio stations -- particularly anymore in the US -- do not allow their DJs to pick songs themselves. There's a play clock on the wall, if the DJ gets any choice at all, it's from a very short list of songs. Radio is still the best way to break a song to the general public (and thereby make lots o' money for the label), and there's only so much time available, so the labels are going to do whatever it takes to get their money back on their investment.

In short, the song that's on the radio was almost certainly bought and paid for, not chosen because the radio DJ really liked it. Sorry if this bursts anyone's bubble, but it's the way of the world.

Thanks to Xeni for the tip.

SRV DVD in the near future

Stevie Ray Vaughan will have his two performances at the Moutreux Jazz Festival (1982 and 1985) released on DVD.

Clarke, DiMeola and Ponty @ Wolf Trap

Tonight, I went to see the Rites of Strings show at Wolf Trap. Rites of Strings consists of Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, Stanley Clarke on bass and Al DiMeola on guitar. No other musicians played during their set.

Di Meola and Clarke played together in Chick Corea's Return To Forever (one of the supergroups of the 70's), and Clarke played with Ponty even before then. The three of them released a CD in the mid-90's, toured once to support it and then pretty much went their separate ways. Their current tour is the first time they have played together in about ten years.

The three of them played like the grand masters of their instruments that they are. You can tell that they each have a long history between each other, just on the chemistry that was so very evident throughout their performance. In fact, the only two criticisms I would have about their performance would be a tendency to overplay (particularly Di Meola), shoe horning in ten notes when one would do, and the lack of cleanliness of those fast notes. I suppose that when you're playing so many notes that the staff is painted black, just sheer odds are going to catch up with you, but it seemed like there were a lot of whiffs and futzes.

The absence of a drummer caused Clarke to lay back and play a near completely supporting role. Not that he didn't step up and solo during the songs, but his playing felt more like a musician's playing rather than a soloist waiting for his turn. Each musician played entirely acoustic. The instruments were miked, but they were all acoustic -- a flamenco guitar and an Ovation for Di Meola, an upright and an acoustic Ovation for Clarke and a single violin for Ponty.

The opening three songs were from the Rites of Strings album (Indigo, Song To John and Memory Canyon which was followed by a standing ovation). Each musician took an extended solo during the course of each song. Clarke's solo during Song To John was so dynamic and he was so into his playing that he actually lost control of his upright, and it slipped out of his hands as he was playing.

Then, each musician took time to play an all-alone solo (I really need to come up with a word for this) -- first Di Meola, then Ponty (standing O), followed by Clarke (standing O). Afterwards, they played a Ponty tune (Renaissance), Stanley's signature tune School Days (standing O) and then used Di Meola's Mediterranean Sundance as their encore (standing O). Since I was noticing how many standing ovations there were, I should probably mention that some people gave them a standing O just for walking out on stage. Not what you would call a hostile crowd.

Photos of the show can be found here. Sorry that there aren't any more of them, but the ushers at Wolf Trap were going all picky about taking photos. I don't think they threw anyone out, but they definitely gave the evil eye to anyone even trying to take a picture (photo or not).

Simon on Courtney's latest

Our Internet Explorer window is headlining this 'Yahoo! News - Courtney Love Surrenders on Ass...'; but she didn't actually turn up on a donkey as far as we can tell. She's added another bail posting of USD55,000 to her pile of outstanding legal items - this is the torch and bottle incident, of course. But at least she's not been locked up, which must mean she's got a hell of a lawyer: anyone who can look a judge in the eye and persuade them that Courtney Love is unlikely to re-offend while awaiting trial deserves to have statues raised to them across the nation.

New Beastie Boys CD has problems

The latest Beastie Boys CD is causing some problems with their fans.

The Beastie Boys' new CD, To the Five Boroughs, has DRM on it that prevents you from ripping it or making a copy for your car. I got the MP3s last week -- it's a great album -- and was going to buy the CD while I'm in the US this week, but now I think I'll just erase the MP3s and not bother. If the Beasties wanna treat me like a crook, I don't want to be their customer.

Note that the only thing that this DRM is doing here is pissing off the honest fans who want open CDs; the DRM on the CD didn't stop my source from making me a set of MP3s. In other words, if you plan on listening to the new disc on your iPod or laptop, you're better off downloading a copy made by a cracker and posted on Kazaa -- if you buy it in a shop, you're going to have to go through the lawbreaking rigamarole of breaking the DRM yourself.

Britney gets her own smell

In a pretty clear case of cashing in, Britney is hawking her own brand of perfume. Called Eau de tramp, perhaps?

Going hiking

It's a beautiful day, here in DC -- first in a while, so I'm heading up to Sugarloaf to do some hiking, commune with nature, that sort of stuff.

If you live in the DC area, I'd recommend Sugarloaf. It's a fairly easy hiking range, not far from DC, and it's free. Unlike the government parks (Great Falls and the like), this one is privately owned and pretty much completely open to the public.

Around The World In 80 Days

This morning, I got a last minute offer to go to a critic's screening of the new Jackie Chan flick, Around The World In 80 Days. I like Jackie Chan movies, so I thought I'd go. Even if it was 9 in the morning.

This is first and foremost a Disney movie. When I say that, think back to the 70's, as Walt pumped out sacchariny stuff like The Swiss Family Robinson, A Thousand Leagues Under The Sea or The Apple Dumpling Gang. Nice enough, you can take your kids to it without even the slightest worry that anything bad will appear on screen, and there'll be the occasional thing thrown in for the adults as well.

With that in mind, the main reason why people go to see a Jackie Chan film (martial arts moves, acrobatics, etc.) is somewhat lacking. There's some action, but it's all very carefully PG rated (leaning heavily towards the G side). No one ever actually gets hurt, nothing bad really happens and it's even more cartoonish than usual. Furthermore, there are no cookies in the credits as there normally are in a Jackie Chan movie, showing all the stunts that didn't go well.

But, it's a pleasant flick. Everything happens right on schedule for the formula to progress as it should, there's not a lot of actual suspense in the movie, but it's still entertaining enough. There are a lot of cameos, though. Enough that I spent a good bit of time trying to place them (I'm not going to say who all they are, but there are enough to entertain you, if that's what you're into.

Watch time :34

The Stepford Wives

Today, I went and caught a showing of the Stepford Wives. I can vaguely remember the original, so the basic plot wasn't going to be a shock. However, I had read that they were going to do the remake as a black comedy, so I was interested in checking it out.

There were some chuckles here and there, mostly (actually almost completely) playing to stereotypes. But I couldn't say that this was a good movie. It didn't go far enough to work as a satire (and there were far too many strawmen to really be able to buy into it), and the comedy was obvious and one dimensional.

Watch time :47

Alex Lifeson's trial delayed

The court date for the assault will now be held on September 13th.

Spoofing more successful than lawsuits

Manufactured spoof files are proving to be the best deterent to illegal file sharing.

Kelly Clarkson most talented

Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first American Idol contest, has been voted the most talented off all the American Idol contestants. Which is a little like being voted the best fry maker at the local McDonald's. Great, but is being the least sucky an actual accomplishment?

Echo closes

Echo, a venture between some of the larger music retailers to go online, is pulling the plug on their outing.

...[M]ounting development costs, a glut of rivals offering bargain-rate services, and smaller-than-hoped-for sales across the online-music spectrum, even at Apple's successful store, have led the big retailers to pull funding for the project, its founders say.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

10 things not to eat

Coming on the heels of Supersize Me, here's a list of things to never eat. As luck would have it, I actually don't like any of the food on this list.

Thanks to Max for the tip.

Whitney. Still a diva

Whitney, honey, I know that you have a good voice. And you have to keep up that whole diva image thing. But this is a bit much (3rd item). Going through 3 private planes? Who do you think you are? Britney?

The year that rock broke

The year that rock 'n roll finally broke through all the noise and clutter and captured the attention of America's youth. The year that teenagers all across this great land discovered the joy of loud guitars. The year will probably be 2004.

Why do I think rock music is about to break again? I think I see a shift in people's tastes. People don't know exactly what they want, but they want something different. Witness last year's critical and commercial success of The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. This year we have seen Dashboard Confessional do some damage on the charts. We have seen Thursday succeed with their major label debut. We have also seen bands like The Postal Service and Modest Mouse emerge from their underground status'. Modest Mouse hit the charts with their latest release and Ben Gibbard of The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie was recently featured in an article by Newsweek. I think it is safe to say that something new has started to take shape.

As with some other articles from the last few days, the interesting part for other musicians can be found here:

The major labels have looked at quality of the music secondarily in the past because they could always rely on their connections and marketing abilities to make almost any band they wanted popular. Now with the change in the industry due to the Internet and the radio and TV industries, the major labels have lost much of their advantage. As a result I think you will see more and more bands make decisions like Ben Gibbard and his Death Cab band mates who decided to stick with the independent labels that gave them their first shot. As a result of all these changes, I think we will start to see the whole industry start to look like the indie market. Major labels have already started cutting their rosters and their staffing levels.

It looks like this kind of trend might just be yet another nail in the coffin for the majors.

Fire on Ice rehearsal

The three of us gathered tonight to continue to work on Red Leaves. It feels like there something missing in the song; I can't quite put my finger on what it is, though. We have two strong sections (which would more or less be analogous to a verse and a chorus), with a small intro and outro piece. I think we might want to add a bridge, but I'm not sure as what the best approach would be,

After working on that for a while, Shahin introduced a new idea. He has written a snippet in 6/8, heavy on the Arabic scales. The B section (chorus) has a phrasing very similar to 12/8 -- almost flamenco in nature. When he was playing, I started playing a gothic line, adding harmonics and overtones to try and make the bass track both stand over top of the melody and give it lots of room to move (kind of like an archway). However, it was in the standard key/chord progressions, so the first order of business was to change that. In this case, we went from F Phrygian to B-flat Phrygian (not an enormous change by any stretch of the imagination, but at least a baby step in the right direction).

We worked on it for awhile, playing around with some alternative time signatures for the bridge piece -- the easy way out would be to go to 4/4, but a swap to 7/8 or 9/8 might be interesting as well. Then Nanette (Brett's wife) sat in with us for a bit, as we noodled around on a Bonnie Riatt tune for kicks.

Not for sale

A while ago, I heard a rumor that Guitar Center was considering buying Fender. Well, Fender states that they are not for sale.

Ray Charles, remembered

Ray Charles, legend of blues and gospel, founder of soul, has passed away. He will be missed.

-- Update --
Ray Charles Robinson died from complications resulting from liver failure.

Art imitates.... art

Dave Chappelle may be portraying Rick James in an upcoming biopic.

UK consumers know that file trading is illegal

68% of people in the UK acknowledge that file sharing is illegal. Yet they still do it. Hmmm... In America's past, when we had rampant numbers -- clear majorities, even -- of people knowingly breaking the law, ignoring the statues and seeking out an illegal good in spite of the possible criminal consequences, we repealed Prohibition.

Just a thought.

Real pirates

The music industry and Hollywood complained to Congress that their businesses are being ravaged by global piracy, with China and Russia named as the worst offenders.

Pakistan, Brazil and other countries were also cited as culprits in the spread of counterfeit and pirated movies and music, at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Do you think the RIAA/MPAA will sue these people?

Music videos need not cost millions

Sam Bisbee did his You Are Here video almost entirely in still photography. I didn't care for the song all that much, but the video is well done and entertaining. It reminds me of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer in some ways, but at what had to be a very small fraction of the price. This is definitely something to remember, should I ever get around to making a video. A great example of how the DIY spirit is not only alive and thriving, but pretty darn creative as well.

Thanks to Eric for the tip.

Napster on the phone

A real must-read about music sharing and cell phones

The music industry is scared out of its mind. The mass sharing of music files that exploded on the internet could transfer to mobile networks. The advent of high-speed 3G networks and mobile phones with complex operating systems, Bluetooth and massive storage capacity, could create another "perfect storm", hurting profits further.

Also buried in the article towards the end is a ray of sunshine for music people. Well, everyone other than the majors.

Wheeler said independent music labels, annoyed at the low fees they receive from major labels, could consider ways of using technology to cut them out of the equation. The smaller independent labels view the widespread sharing of digital music as an opportunity.

Indie labels could, in theory, use P2P mobile music sharing as a kind of radio - promotion for their artists with selected free releases. Despite P2P networks such as KaZaA, many indie labels have seen sales rise as the audience finds new music.

"We can work with kids in the bedrooms and get paid," said Wheeler. "DRM networks won't get the revenue. The kid in the bedroom will, and we will. We can't be beholden to the operators who are greedy. We want to be responsible, but if we can still do business and that's what our fans want, then we'll do it."

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Not just US labels

Some labels in the UK have been failing to pay their artists, too. Just like over on this side of the pond.

She falls down and goes boom

Britney got a boo-boo on her knee.

Actually, it seems that her injury was bad enough to warrant surgery. I do hope that she gets better. I might not respect her work all that much, but a blown knee isn't fun for anyone.

Playing with Stone Gato

Tonight, I dropped by a rehearsal with Stone Gato. Their bass player has graduated college and is moving on, so they are looking for a replacement. Anthony passed along my contact info to them, and we're in that feeling each other out stage of the dance.

I caught them playing up at The Funk Box in Baltimore on Friday, and they put on a good show. Ari, their present bass player (and also a student of Anthony's), is a pretty hot bass player. He's got some good chops, good stage presence and pedaled the show along with a strong groove. Those are going to be some pretty big shoes to fill.

Tonight, Mike was drumming, Rod was on guitar/lead vocals and Javi played violin. Through a strange coincidence, Mike knowns Mike from NGB rather well -- it's a small world, no?. Mike's a strong player, though. Solid time, good groove and a nice feel when branching out into some of the more world style. Rod played what seemed to me to be more of a rhythmic style of playing, letting his vocal carry the melody. And, to be honest, I didn't pay as much attention to Javi's playing as I should have -- I was focusing almost exclusively on Mike's drumline and Rod's chord changes.

While I had heard the tunes before (once live and a few times from SG's website), this was the first time that I really worked through the music. Rod called out the chord progression, I listened to what they were doing once through and then tried to fit myself into their existing structure, keeping up without either losing my place or losing the groove. I think I could do a better job of writing a good groove line, but I think it's going to take a few more times through the songs.

New Miles Davis box set

This will make the seventh box set of Davis' work released. The focus of this outing will be the 1963-1964 period at Columbia Records.

Harry Potter in fifteen minutes

If you want a film review that tells the entire story in about a quarter of an hour, this is for you. Great for a snicker if you've already seen the movie.

Thanks to Solonor for the tip.

Music on the Sopranos

One of the pleasures of HBO's The Sopranos has been the consistent use of quality music to enhance a scene. Some of the ones that immediately come to mind are Junior singing in Italian at the end of the season a few years ago, or Tony sitting on his boat by himself at the end of the prior season. Alex Ross has a few words on the subject.

What do Procol Harum, Anton Webern, the Eagles, Steve Reich, and Otis Redding have in common? The answer, the Pulaski Skyway informs you, is that they've all appeared on The Sopranos. I’m a fan of the show, like any upstanding American citizen, and I love its wildly imaginative use of music. I realized something quasi-epochal was going on musically back in the second season...

New Victor Wooten dates

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make these, as much as I might like to.

July 8-10, Spain and the Canary Islands.

Clear Channel pays up

Some new legal news:

The Federal Communications Commission's settlement with Clear Channel Communications is estimated at $1.75 million, according to the source, who requested anonymity in the absence of a formal announcement. That was expected as early as Wednesday.

The deal marks the largest settlement negotiated by the FCC (news - web sites) and a broadcaster, narrowly topping the $1.7 million that Infinity Broadcasting paid in 1995 for indecency violations by Stern, the shock jock whose New York City-based radio show features sexually explicit talk and off-color humor.

I've said this before, people, and I'll say it again. If you don't like what you hear, turn the f-in' knob to a different channel.

A week without a violent Courtney Love

Is almost a week without sunshine. No worries, though. She's back.

Tivo learning the Netscape lesson

Namely, that it's hard to compete with free.

Or maybe not

Nope, there will not be a new Tears for Fears album. Someone has changed their mind.

David Thorpe on Creed's demise

Another person bemoans the loss of such a great band. Well, actually, he doesn't. But it's still an amusing read.

For the past ten years, Creed has been speeding down rock and roll’s steep decline like Calvin and Hobbes in a rickety toboggan. When they stumbled upon mainstream rock in the mid-nineties, it was still in stable condition but yearning for fresh air. Creed came to rock and roll with smothering-pillow in hand, dispatched it with surprisingly little struggle, and took over its identity like a glassy-eyed pod person.

The Last Jihad

Today, I finished up Joel Rosenburg's The Last Jihad. This was a complete piece of puff; I finished it in two sittings.

Nominally set in the near future, the US is attacked by agents of Saddam Hussein. Weapons of mass destruction are used, and a Wall Street analyst bounds into action to save the world. Really. A stock market guy.

Published in September of 2003, to say this book feels dated doesn't even begin to cover the bases. It's amusing to read the hyperventilating concern applied to a war with Iraq; particularly in light of the actual combat experience. Much like many of the prognosticators before the war, Rosenburg expected hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of casualties.

I picked this book up for a few bucks out of the pulp pile. Having read it, I can see why.

This is one of the sickest things I've ever seen

So, of course, I'm sharing it. Coming on the heels of the T-Shirt origami and the completely surreal soy sauce commercial, I think I can go out on a limb and conclude that Japan has a strong undercurrent of strange people.

Two notes about this clip.

1. The page to which the link goes is Safe For Work (SFW), I think. However, the actual clip itself is not. Not Safe For Work, Not Safe For Home -- probably not safe for anywhere. Actually, I would probably suggest you go over to a friend's house that you only sort of like and watch it on his machine.
2. I think the animals in the clip are eels, but I'm not sure.

Thanks to Warren for the tip.

Another DMB live album

Guys, I like what you do. And I tend to prefer live albums over studio. But I think this one will make it official; you have more live albums than studio. Welcome to Bjork-land.

The IFPI follows the RIAA's footsteps

The IFPI (a European counterpart to the RIAA) has filed suit against a number of people in Europe. Some numbers:

• 88 in Denmark
• 68 in Germany
• "at least 30" in Italy

I suspect they'll be about as successful.

Fred Durst tries to get laid cheap

Fred Durst tried to get a hookup with Avril Lavigne. Strangely, though, she was not sufficiently bowled over by his purchase of In-N-Out burgers to want to sleep with him.

From the "too much time on their hands" department

A dissection of Quidditch, the primary game in the Harry Potter series.

The general idea of a broom-riding basketball/hockey/soccer game is not unsound. The problem is introduced with the position of seeker and the hunt for the golden snitch. The objectives of having chasers get the quaffles into the goals and the seeker catching the golden snitch are completely unrelated to one another. It's as if two separate games have been clumsily welded together.

This makes me think of the famous SNL sketch with William Shatner. "I'd just like to say... GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!"

Thanks to Eugene for the tip.

Food for thought

If you're not on Atkins, then potato chips just might help you get a bit smarter.

Procter & Gamble has come up with an innovative process to place images and text on the surface of Pringles potato chips. ... According to the release, first up will be a promotion involving one of Hasbro's popular board games, "Trivial Pursuit Junior." Questions from that brand will be featured on the [chips], along with the answers, of course.

I would assume the answers will be on one side with the questions on the other.

Thanks to Cory for the tip.

Morrissey, the masochist

Morrissey, avant-garde leader of the alternative scene of yesteryear, comments on online music:

"I find it sad. Music deserves efforts. How can you love a record that arrives so easily?

"When I was a child, accessing to the music I loved was difficult. It was not on radio nor TV. Even if music was my only love, it was a permanent fight to get it into my arms."

Ah, I see. Only pain can validate love. If it's easy, it can't be any good. Silly me.

Madonna lands another film role

As the world shudders in anticipation of the next Swept Away, one important detail shouldn't be overlooked: She's co-producing this cinematic endeavour. I guess if you're paying for the show, you can put yourself into it.

Crossing over, mixing and matching

If you're a jazz fan, does that mean you enjoy the "hot jazz" of the '20s, the swing of the '30s and '40s, the bebop of the '40s and '50s, or the free jazz of the '60s? Whatever your answer, it's significant that there's an assumption of linear development and, for lack of a better word, purity inherent in this familiar succession of styles. Not so for the fusion that followed in rock's wake, or for what's commonly termed Latin jazz, which I'd argue is really a complex array of styles, sounds, and approaches that have been elemental to jazz since Jelly Roll Morton invoked the Spanish tinge back in the '20s—and, if Morton is right, before. In any case, sometime after the middle of the 20th century, jazz's rapid formal mutations led naturally to crossbreeding that took the music further from its insular community with each passing decade. ...

The most eloquent spokesman for jazz's crossover mandate was Duke Ellington, who usually buried the issue beneath his assertion that there were only two kinds of music—"the good kind, and the other kind." Yet in a 1947 interview, he told readers of the music-education journal Etude this about jazz: "It requires, basically, two separate kinds of awareness. First, the thorough musical awareness that 25 years of steady development have brought in jazz. And, in the second place, an awareness of the contemporary scene with all its shadings of feelings."

Actually, what I most enjoy about jazz these days is how it takes a little from here, more from there and still a touch more from way over there. To me, the combination of jazz and world music is the most interesting area of music today. I can't wait to hear the next artist bringing new polyrhythms from Africa, new scalar/meters from Micronesia, all the sort of stuff that you just typically don't find in the everyday.

Thanks to Mwanji for the tip.

The seven steps of writing music

From Tom Ellard (of Severed Heads) by way of Eppy, the seven steps of writing music:

1. You just wrote the music - it sounds great!
2. Next day, you're not so sure. Maybe some changes?
3. Perhaps if I destroy some parts. Salvage Job.
4. This music sucks no matter what I do to it. And using compression just ruined it.
5. Oh that one, I can't be bothered with it anymore.
6. Well adding that seemed to have helped a lot. It'll have to do.
7. Hey, I don't mind that at all!

Just speaking for myself, I spend a lot of time in steps 1 through 4. Five seems to surface after a few months have passed and I don't know if I have anything I have written that has graduated to step 7. But hopefully one day....

Sure... it's our final tour.

Just in time for the 6th annual Final! Tour! Of! The! Who! comes this rather droll analysis of the farewell music tour.

"It's a cheap capitalist ploy is what it is!" Styx guitarist James "JY" Young says with a laugh. Although, he concedes, it's easy for a band to talk itself into retirement. "It's natural to be at the end of a run of shows and think, 'Man, I don't think I can do that again.' "

Styx, currently on tour with Peter Frampton, isn't ready to retire. But when the time comes, the classic rock band will probably bid adieu once, twice, maybe three times, the manager says, tongue firmly in cheek.

It's things like this that have thus far kept me from picking up tickets to see these shows. That, and I generally rather happy to see such luminaries as Alabama going off into that good night.

A map of filesharing

Wired Magazine has a graphic detailing the amount of traffic, the source of the traffic, the kind of traffic and how files are promlugated throughout the web.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Classical (and other music) disappearing from public radio

I'm a fan of NPR; I think their news service is top notch, if a bit skewed to the left. I listen to their morning show every day, catching up on the news along with traffic and weather. But I can remember the public radio stations of my youth, playing almost exclusively classical music. It would seem that those days may be falling to the wayside.

What listeners in Orlando have seen happen at Glerum's station is a slow-motion version of what has happened to public radio across the country. Music--not merely classical but also jazz, folk, blues, and bluegrass, once staples of public radio programming--is slowly being withdrawn from the public airwaves. According to data from the trade group M Street Group, the number of noncommercial stations identified as "classical" has been cut in half since 1993, while the number of noncommercial news-talk stations has tripled. Data from the Public Radio Tracking Study, commissioned by public radio stations, tell the same story. From 1995 to 2002, the number of locally generated classical music hours on public radio declined roughly 10 percent, even as the number of public radio stations greatly increased; meanwhile, over the same period, the number of news-talk hours rose by more than 150 percent. As the tracking study researchers wrote in their report, with unseemly enthusiasm: "Local classical music just sits there, while NPR news-talk races ahead."

It's not just labels that don't pay up

After 20 years of courtroom drama, Sony settles with the inventor of the Walkman.

Napster hurt consumers

In what might be described as a contrarian viewpoint, one writer expounds on how Napster (and it's ilk) have ended up hurting the average consumer of music.

So maybe ... you've never downloaded music illegally. You might not know it, but the [RIAA] is coming after you, too, by developing encrypted, restricted-use CDs. It doesn't want you to make digital copies, even for personal use, of the CDs you bought. It doesn't want you to so much as play a CD on your computer.

The music industry is scared of its own technology, the quality and speed of making copies in the digital age. ... Never before have people paid so much for recorded music and, if the music industry has its way, been able to do so little with it.

A dubious security step

The RIAA, in a move that can only be described as staggering, wants every listener to authenticate themselves via a fingerprint prior to listening to music. As usual, Simon has a trenchant observation:

We're certain that, as with virtually all the other security devices, it won't actually work, but that won't stop them trying. So, if you're in the bath, you can't ask your wife to stick on that Faithless album, because she can't; you can't buy music as a surprise gift for anyone, because you'd have to secretly cut their finger off and sneak it to the store and have it sneakily sewed back on to their hand before they'd be able to play it.

Whither thou guitar god?

The search for the next guitar great goes on.

Lightning more likely

In an article about how tough it is to be rich and successful, there's actually an interesting nugget of info about the music business (albeit from an Austrailian perspective):

It's no secret that it's hard to reach the level of fame that both [Britney] Spears and [Vine's singer Craig] Nicholls have achieved.

There were 12,465 debut releases in the US last year, Sydney-based music industry analyst Phil Tripp said. Out of those albums, only 21 recouped their budget.

"To put it in perspective, last year in America, 24 people were killed by lightning," Tripp said.

In other words, the musical fairytale is true. It's almost miraculous when a local artist makes it to the top globally, let alone a singer from the US.

More from Simon, who was first on this one:

Sydney based music industry analyst Phil Tripp attempts to contextualise this by saying "last year in America, 24 people were killed by lightning" - but this is a rubbish comparison; he's clearly trying to suggest that having an album that recoups is even less likely than being smote by lightning, but 24 people out of the entire population of America is a much, much lower incidence than 21 out of 12,465. In addition, of course, much of the wasted budget would have been pissed up against a wall by the clueless marketing departments of the music companies; and while being hit by lightning tends to give you an instant result, debut albums have much more than a twelve month period to make their money in. We've heard rumours that The Beatle's debut is still making money.

Police officers at the movies

Tonight, when I went to see the new Harry Potter flick, there was a uniformed officer checking tickets on the way in, as well as a sign saying no bags allowed in the theatre (for our safety/security, of course). Which does make it a bit odd, given that the particular theatre to which I went is located in a shopping mall. Coming on the heels of the body cavity search I got on Thursday, it seems that going to the movies is becoming more of a hassle.

Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban

Tonight, I went and caught Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban. Having seen both the first and second installments of the series -- as well as being a fan of the director, I was looking fowards to this movie.

Perhaps I made a mistake in having read the book. Because of that, I was very aware of all the abridging that was occurring. The movie was already a bit on the long side, but adding some minor details (who the originators of the Marauder's Map were and the relationship between Harry's father and Professor Snape, for instance) would have greatly fleshed out the film without taking up too much time.

What was in the story was told in a visually arresting style, but with a journeyman's pacing. Animatronic animals abounded all over the place -- distractingly so. And there was one scene (Harry walks through the halls of Hogwarts at night using a light at the end of his wand to show the way); it was shot in such a manner to almost appear completely computer generated (à la Final Fantasy). I have no reason to think that it did, but it appeared that way when I saw it.

The acting was, okay, with a few exceptions. Gary Oldman was convincing and commanded attention everytime he was on screen. Emma Thompson was a treat, portraying the not-quite-all-there divination professor. And I have quite a bit of sympathy for Micharl Gambon, who had to try and fill Richard Harris' quite large shoes.

All in all, this was a passable summer movie. I think I would have preferred a bit more fidelity to the books, but that's just me. Watch time 1:07.

FoI do Red Leaves

Tonight, we congregated at Brett's house to go over some tunes. After warming up on some of the old stand-bys, we started to work over the Roho song. For starters, we renamed it to Red Leaves -- Roho is a bit too similar to Soho (one of our other pieces).

Unfortunately, it has been a while since the last time we rehearsed, so we couldn't quite remember how it went. I had written down the chord progression, the blocking and some general rhythmic notes, but Shahin didn't bring it with him. We started to go through it anyway, but we floundered about for a bit until we could recall how things were supposed to go.

Another problem arose between me and Brett. From what I could remember, Brett was playing a 3/2 clave for the mainstay of the tune. Brett thought he was playing a 2/3. The two of us tried to work it out for a bit, and we finally figured out what was going on. Brett was playing a modified 2/3 clave: Instead of the 2 starting on 1 and a half (eighth rest, two eight notes) followed by the three (dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter note), he was shifting the clave forward in the measure one eighth note.

This style of clave works, grounds the one and still keeps a Latin feel to the groove. It's almost rumba-like. We changed to the song to use the modified clave throughout the song, shifting to the standard 3/2 clave in the chorus section for a "going back home" feel.

Adam Duritz almost gains an upper register

For those who might have wondered otherwise, jumping down onto a ladder such that you try to straddle the rungs might just lead to castration problems.

J-Lo marries Mark Anthony

Maybe now they'll just go away. And I can stop having to hear about this.

Going soft

In order to stay relevant in today's marketspace, some heavy metal bands are toning down their edge.

With record labels dumping bands who don't sell records by the truck load, more and more of heavy metal groups are offering music that's easier on the ear in a bid to win mainstream radio play and targeting their harder tunes to niche TV shows.

While pop musicians in other genres have for decades marketed their sound in ways aimed at capturing fickle teen tastes, it's a big shift for heavy metal, whose rockers have prided themselves on their nonconformist and sometimes antisocial stance.

Top 50 song parts

A listing of one person's best song parts. Not the whole song, just the best parts.

Some highlights:

• #40 "LA GRANGE" (ZZ TOP, 1973) -- Before they were slick techno rockers perfecting synchronized guitar twirling, the boys in ZZ Top were good old fashioned southern fried blues rock to the highest order. The opening guitar from "La Grange" is the stuff of legend. Borrowing from the John Lee Hooker song "Boogie Chillen", Billy Gibbons starts strumming with a fuzzy groove that makes you think of driving a convertible across the desert. Used in at least a hundred commercials and movies since it was first released, "La Grange" is easily one of the more recognizable guitar openings of any rock song.
• #36 "YOU CAN CALL ME AL" (PAUL SIMON, 1986) -- retroCRUSH fan John Edward Kilduff writes, "There's this one bass guitar lick near the end of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al". It's flat-out funk that hits you at the spine and makes your whole body shake." He's right, and the video with Chevy Chase ain't too shabby either. The entire Graceland album was pretty amazing, for that matter. Simon's pairing with South Africa's Lady Smith Black Mambazo was groundbreaking and it worked beautifully.
• #22 "JUST A FRIEND" (BIZ MARKIE, 1989) -- Purists may cringe at my use of the terms "Biz Markie" and "Music" in the same feature, but there's something so special and goofy about The Biz's vocals in "Just a Friend" that you can't help but love it. Sure, he sounds like a retarded cow that got hit by a car when he bleats out, "YOOUUUUUUU GOT WHAT I NEEEEEED!", but he may very well have the best retarded cow that got hit by a car vocalist of all time.

Thanks to Karen for the tip.

Ben Affleck taking a year off from making films.

Is this a promise?

The end is near

Public Enemy and Moby are joining forces to make a new single.

Sort of like American Idol, only with a symphony

The Boston Pops' hold an open audition for vocalists.

French industry staff on strike

The music majors, including BMG, EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner, could fire up to 1,000 jobs from the 5,000-strong workforce in the country. The companies say music sales have plummeted 20 per cent this year and 15 per cent last year because of illegal downloading from the Internet.

French unions, however, expressed a different view. They say the record industry has been too slow to adapt to the new trends in music consumption. According to Martine Zulber, an official in the CFDT union which organised the demonstration, most of the music industry's costs went to marketing, advertising and royalties, so "they can't just apply accounting logic to the crisis", she told AFP.

So it's not just the RIAA telling little white lies, eh?

Baltimore band goes open source

Fitehouse is making waves with their open source approach to making music.

Fitehouse's choice weapon in this particular war is the Bomb, otherwise known as open-source music, Cohen said. Open-source music does not inhibit the listener from file sharing or creatively changing the sounds. Rather, it invites listeners to build upon, collaborate and redistribute. As the innovators of this concept, Fitehouse solicits its fans -- or nonfans if that be the case -- to do the same, Cohen said.

In a press release, members of the band said "Fitehouse's Bomb campaign was undertaken to counter the stream of misinformation coming from the RIAA and to help return music to its rightful place in our cultural heritage."

The group states in the preamble to the Fitehouse General Public Music License, "By making music free for all its listeners and performers, the Fitehouse GPML can help re-orient songs from their current role as simple marketable commodities or entertainment products, and assist us to guarantee music's survival as a vibrant form of expression of the human condition."

Michael is no longer the weird one

Janet Jackson thought about sex -- even before the nipple incident. No big deal. However, she seems to have gained Multiple Personality Disorder in the process:

Now, Jackson says she expresses more grown-up urges through one of her alter egos, named Strawberry: "She's the most sexual of them all, the wildest."

The other character living inside her is Damita Jo, which is her middle name and the title of her latest album. Damita Jo, she says, is "a lot harsher, and quick to put you in your place."

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Madonna, children clothes designer

From the "you have to be kidding me" department:

Madonna is whipping up controversy again – by launching a collection of sexy clothes aimed at girls as young as two.

She flew to Los Angeles last week with husband Guy Ritchie to view the finished range which includes miniskirts and see-through tops.

... A source said: “Madonna was inspired by her daughter Lourdes.

“Although she’s only six, Madonna lets her wear short skirts and make-up.”

Just speaking for me, I have no problem with women who want to dress sexy. the keyword here is women.

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

Nice birthday present...

Gee, I'd like it my brother gave me a recording studio for my birthday, too.

Strip searched before the movie

Last night, I went and caught a sneak preview of the movie. Before we could enter the theatre, though, we were searched -- bags checked, wanded, patted down. Some of the people were turned away when their cell phones could take pictures. This is first time I've ever had that happen to me, but it's been awhile since I've been to a preview.

Anyone else had this experience? It could put a crimp in one of the more amusing urban experiences.

-- Update --
Some people decided to pirate The Day After Tomorrow.

Lexicon JamMan

I got a new toy! I'm going to play around with it for a bit, and then I'll post back how it goes. Sometime later after I've had some sleep.....

Some ideas on selling CDs

Tim Sweeney has some good thoughts on some things a band shouldn't do if they want to sell their music at a live show.

[Most artists] continue to make the same mistakes they made before, during and after their shows. For example, using the ideas they got from their fellow artists (who have not even sold as many CDs as they should be able to), they promote their shows in two very typical ways. One, they email the same mailing list they email about every show. Never taking into account that they are trying to get people who work all day to get back in the car, back into traffic and away from their television sets, which provides hours of mindless entertainment. They don't "pre-plan" their shows, so there is no idea of which songs they will be doing (except for a hand printed set list) that will have any value or meaning to their fans that show up. In essence saying to them, we didn't think of you enough to plan anything to inspire you so stand there and watch us for 45 minutes and think we are great. Since nothing was planned or thought out ahead of time, the email will merely say, come to our next show at this place on this day and time. Boy that would really inspire me!

Two, when they decide to try to get new fans to come to their shows they head to the streets with flyers. A piece of paper which states again the place and day and time of the show. Nothing of value, just a piece of paper where no one can hear their music. When some artists do give out CD samplers they forget the verbal tracks expressing who they are as artists and the value in their music. Again not putting in the time or effort to do it correctly so it will be of benefit to them and their fans.

Record labels to have open books

Thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (passed in response to Enron and other corporate shenanigans), record labels will have to keep better and more open records.

See how powerful the new law is. Now multiply Miss Love with the many other artists who feel they are being cheated and you have one heck of a class action suit. A suit that can go after the personal assets of each and every board member.

Needless to say, the executives will not let it get that far. With the corporate protections stripped away, self-preservation will become the rule. The numbers that Love so desperately tried to pull from her label should now become fully accessible as will those of other artists.

The crazy accounting that was business-as-usual for the record industry will be re-evaluated and changed. General accounting principles are more conservative to a point where even innocent deviations can expose executive management to charges of impropriety.

Thanks to Eric for the tip.

Creed no more?

We can only hope the rumor is true.

-- Update --
It's confirmed.

The Chronicles of Riddick

I got a free pass to catch a critic's screening on this movie, so I decided to go (what the heck, it's free -- well, almost). Based on both the advertisements for this flick and it's predecessor, I wasn't expecting much of anything.

And, I actually got more than what I had bargained for. The graphics and CGI were very well done, producing some arresting visuals. The action scenes were more than up to snuff, and the sardonicism of the humor fit the darkness of the film.

The basic premise of the movie is that an overwhelming evil is plaguing the universe. To fight it, they get a completely amoral criminal to combat the evil. I suppose a take on Bismark's aphorism "The enemey of my enemy is my friend." The plot, while not particularly compelling, was better written than I had expected. There is palace intrigue, dark humor all over the place, an anti-hero acting against his own best interests as well as a prision system seemingly modeled on Escape from New York.

There were some surprises in the casting department as well. Dame Judy Dench plays a supporting role (what bet did she lose to be in this flick?), thereby proving the dictum that a well trained British actor can make even the worst role seem regal. Thandie Newton plays a Lady MacBeth character to Karl Urban's conflicted warrior, while Colm Feore is cast rather against type as the military ruler.

I don't know as to whether or not I would recommend this flick, though. It was a decent Sci-Fi/action popcorn summer film. The effects/visuals will be more striking on the big screen, though.

Watch time :47

It helps if you pay attention

I got my first speeding ticket today. Lucky me.

Just for the record, not doing the happy dance over this one.

CDs getting cheaper

3.1%, as a matter of fact.

Googling music

One of the challenges that any musician (well, any musician with a website) will face is how to get Google to pay attention to you. With text based sites (like this blog you're now reading), Google does a good job of spidering the words and indexing accordingly. Google does not, however, pay attention to that minor detail known as the actual music file itself.

NPR had this very problem, and they've figured a way out to solve it.

Indexing files by looking at their audio features is still a work in progress for big search engines, including Google. So NPR eventually hit on a plan to instantly turn audio broadcasts into text files that can be recognized and picked up by search engine spiders.

"Our site is primarily full of rich audio, and we want people to find it when it's relevant," Thomas said. "The big search engines' technologies don't have the ability to get inside the audio or video. With the little bit of text we have on NPR, it's not always good enough to find our content, and reference the page."

Thanks to Kurt for the tip.

Japanese animated Ghost show

Based on the book and movie Ghost In The Shell, a TV show has sprung up in Japan called Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. From the review, it looks to be quite interesting.

The criminal stories are often simple, but that’s almost beside the point. The real question isn’t who the culprit is but why the culprit did it: The series depicts intricate infighting within the government, with the intelligence agencies jockeying with the police and the military while the Department of Health uses other departments as tools for its own schemes.

In the cyberpunk novels and films of the 1980s, the future was usually run by megacorporations that had taken over all the functions of government. Ghost in the Shell takes a slightly different road. Rather than vanishing, the government becomes symbiotic with the corporations: a corporate state.

Such corporatism, of course, is hardly alien to Japan -- or to Europe and America, for that matter. The show merely pushes the idea further. Corruption in a company spills over to the government and vice versa; trade secrecy and national security combine to eliminate transparency. Unlike many science fiction dystopias, this one seems uncomfortably realistic.

I know that I rather enjoyed the film when it came out.

Is the peroxide affecting her brain?

Due to a clause in their contract that stipulates that no band featuring a blonde singer could preceed them during a show, Blondie elected to have the offending group thrown off the bill.

Thanks to Corsair for the tip.

P.E. and sampling

A rather interesting interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee (both of Public Enemy fame) in which they talk about how sampling started, the affect of copyright litigation on hip-hop and their general attitudes towards copyright issues.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

And, speaking of Madonna and religion....

What do you mean that some rabbis might be a little unhappy with Madonna as their spokesperson? For more details, we go to Simon:

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach isn't very impressed by Madonna's "embracing" of Kabblah, railing that no good will come of it all in an article "Perverted priorities", no less, for somethingjewish.co.uk:

You know your religion is up a creek when [...] the most famous representative of your mystical tradition is simulating lesbian sex with scantily clad pregnant dancers.

Earth to Phillip Berg: Do us all a favor and dump Madonna as your principal spokesperson. Sorry to be so crass, but Madonna is a slut. Yes, she may sing, and she may dance. But she is famous for being a slut. And no religion dare have a slut as its principal representative [...] I realize that Madonna has brought the Kabbalah Center great notoriety and is, according to reports, a contributor to the tune of millions of dollars. But is the Kabbalah Center really so desperate that it is prepared to promote itself through a vulgarian whose main contribution to the culture is porn rock?

Added to which, you know, she's not done a decent album for over half a decade...

Then, her PR steps in, issuing a counter-statement:

"I find Rabbi Boteach’s comments regarding Madonna frightening. His vile attacks on her character and as an artist are staggering for someone who professes to be a religious person. . . . I suggest this man take a look at his own character and what problems he may have that would make him feel that he should make statements about a truly beautiful human being that he does not know in the slightest. . . . Madonna’s relationship with the Kabbalah and her commitment to (their) teachings has been a beautiful experience for her and the fact that Madonna wants to share her lessons . . . is yet another example of her truly generous and loving spirit."

Which, is all nice and everything, but sort of misses the point of what the Rabbi was getting at - which seemed to be "What sort of religion associates itself with a woman whose image is one of a shaggarama on legs?", which would mean that Madonna being a lovely lady he doesn't know in real life would be kind of beside the point. We're just astonished that someone working in PR is suggesting that a Rabbi might have some character flaws.

The Rabbi, of course, strikes back:

"For Madonna to put herself forward as a spiritual spokesperson while continuing to degrade women by simulating sex acts at music concerts, portray full nudity in her movies, and to ridicule lesbians by performing same-sex kisses merely for TV ratings, is a mockery of her claims to a life of spiritual renewal based on the teachings of the Kabbalah. Women like Liz Rosenberg especially, who heave [sic] greatly distinguished themselves professionally through their brains rather than their busts, should be at the forefront of criticizing Madonna’s assault on feminine dignity."

Yeah, wouldn't be holding my breath for Madonna's PR woman to launch an attack on Madonna's behaviour. Now, let's just leave them to it...

Yet another AI alum releases song

Diana DeGarmo, the teenager from Georgia who finished second in the most recent American Idol, will be releasing a single on RCA. No word on whether or not there will be a full album.

No cursing around Madonna

Madonna, perhaps as a part of her trendy new religious nature, will be charging her crew $5 for every swear word they say on the tour. Hopefully, the millions produced from the crew saying to each other "What the @(&$ is that &*!@#$! doing now?" will benefit a good charity.

They Might Be Giants going on walkabout

They Might Be Giants, one of my favorite bands from when I was in college, is heading out on tour. No DC dates as of yet, though.

Gimme my money

Jessica Simpson wants to get paid for wearing a T-shirt.

Latin rhythms

This is a bit of a dated article (originally published in '95), but it's still a great reference for anyone interesting in playing Latin style music.

The clave pattern is two measures in length "in which each measure is diametrically opposed. The two measures are not at odds, but rather, they are balanced opposites, like positive and negative, expansive and contractive, or the poles of a magnet. As the full pattern is repeated, an alteration from one polarity to the other takes place creating pulse and rhythmic drive. Were the pattern to suddenly be reversed, the momentum within the rhythm would be destroyed…" (Cornelius, 1991: 15-6). The clave found in salsa, also known as son clave is notated in example 4. How a song begins determines which measure of the clave will be played first. The phrasing of the melody is the determining factor (e.g. where the accented rhythms of melody occur). This is referred to as either 3-2 or 2-3, meaning either the measure with the three strokes is played first with the two stroke measure following, or the two stroke is played first followed by the three stroke measure. According to tradition once a song begins the clave does not change its measure order. For instance there could never be a 3-2-2-3 clave sequence. Once the song has begun it functions similarly to the continuous bell patterns found in West African musical traditions by providing a rhythmic formula which serves as the foundation. As Roberta Singer states "Clave is a rhythmic time line that… functions as a rhythmic organizing principle for the entire ensemble" (Singer, 1982: 168). The rhythm may be overtly played or implied. Competent musicians in salsa must develop a "clave sense" similar to what Richard Waterman labels a "metronome sense" where a subjective pulse is felt by the participants which may not be overtly heard and functions as an ordering principle (Waterman 1952).

Singles rising as revenue stream

Singles, ignored by the labels for the last few decades, are gaining ground in sales and label priority.

Catchy singles reach radio as much as eight weeks before the full-length CDs containing them get to the stores. But even customers willing to pay for legal downloads have been forced to wait until a day or at best a week before the CDs' release date. Music companies feared that issuing the songs any earlier could fuel piracy, upset traditional marketing plans and anger brick-and-mortar retailers.

But in the past six months, recording companies have had a change of heart. Songs are now routinely released for sale by download through iTunes, Napster, RealRhapsody and other services on the same day those tracks hit radio.

As I've said before, there does seem to be a trend moving more and more towards individual songs succeeding more than albums. Online vendors are only accelerating this process.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

An overview of fidelity and digital music formats

A pretty good read, albeit from about 30,000 feet.

Post No Bills

Sony and BMG executives in the UK are being charged with "illegal flyposting". Estimated cost to the city of Camden is approximately a quarter of a million pounds. The executives charged could get up to five years in jail if convicted.

Pro-music.org

Brad has a great commentary on Pro-Music.org.

The one-dimensional distortion zone called Pro-music.org is celebrating its first birthday, and executives are trotting out pathetic statistics in an attempt to convince us (and themselves, probably), that the site is a success.

"www.pro-music.org was launched in May 2003 supported by an international alliance of musicians, performers, artists, major and independent record companies, and music retailers. The initiative was set up to promote legitimate digital music services and confront the myths surrounding online music piracy."

Actually, its purpose seems to perpetuate myths surrounding file-sharing. In the bogus Timeline section, for example, not a whisper can be found of multiple studies over the years establishing the disconnect between file-sharing and CD sales. Instead, the timeline offers utterly undocumented statements lifted from industry press releases asserting that file-sharing is responsible for crummy music sales (and, perhaps, for crummy music as well).

To be honest, I wasn't even aware of this site before I read about it on Brad's site. It strikes me as one of those preachy, school-marm kind of scolding sites that attempt to heckle you into following the party line.

Simon on Christina's whoring

CHRISTINA AGUILERA: THE KRUSTY THE CLOWN OF THE POP WORLD: No, not because she looks ridiculous and never appears in public without make-up... oh, alright, but as well: she's clearly planning to follow Krusty in slapping her name on any product she can, having just filed 450 trademark claims with the US patent office:

"Among the products and brands she seeks to protect are Christina Aguilera contact lenses, crayons and anti-perspirants; Christina Aguilera badminton sets, ski wear and body shapers; and Christina Aguilera panties, modeling clay and - I blush to imagine it - electronic multipleactivity toys."

Badminton sets? Will you have Christina's face on your shuttlecock?

Slightly disturbingly, her trademark lawyer (hey, you think those cease-and-desist letters to the makers of Christina Meaty Chunks send themselves?) says:

"The goodwill associated with her name could be used to brand a huge variety of goods and services. She's a personality that is relevant not only to the higher teens and 20s, but also to kids."

Yeah, who wouldn't want to send their eight year olds to school with this lunchbox:

You kind of have to see Simon's photo to appreciate it.

Oprah: not just for books anymore

It's long been known in the book industry that appearing on Oprah is pretty much a guarantee for sales success. Now, musicians are reaping some of the benefits as well.

According to early sales figures the album has sold more than 50,000 copies since [George] Michael's appearance on Oprah and is set to jump from last week's disappointing debut spot of No. 25 up to a mid-Top 20 spot in this week's chart which is officially announced later.

Burning CDs to end?

In a brand spankin' new spasm of greed, the record labels are pursuing a course to prevent consumers for burning more CDs than the labels think you should be allowed to have.

If implemented widely, the new technology would mark a substantial change in the way ordinary people can use purchased music, possibly alienating some customers, analysts said. Given the costs of piracy, however, the labels are moving ahead cautiously in the hope of striking on a formula that works.

"There is a fine (DRM) balance that nobody has struck, especially with physical CDs," said Mike McGuire, an analyst with the GartnerG2 research group. "If there's somebody who's making 25 copies for the world and finds they can't do that, then few people will probably complain. But if someone finds they can't make a copy for their kid so he can play it in the car, you're going to have a lot of people returning broken CDs."

CD Street ripping off musicians

From the Pho mailing list, there are reports rolling around that the online music distributor CD Street is stiffing musicians their royalties.

More details can be found here:

Here's my story about CDstreet not paying me. Not once. But repeatedly.

In February 2003, as my band, Thinking Plyers, geared up for the release of our new record, "Fourteen Real Dreams", we decided to upgrade our online operations and add a one-stop online store to handle all of our merchandise sales.

After weighing our options, we decided against creating and maintaining the online store ourselves and opted for the ease of an online distributor.

We researched dozens of the top online merchandisers, including CD Baby, and eventually settled on CDstreet. Our two reasons for that were:

1. Favorable payout percentage (artist keeps 80%)
2. They handle CDs and other merchandise (I can't wait for CD Baby to get this going!)

Our record was released in March and we looked forward to receiving our first check from our online store in early April.

We waited. And waited. And waited some more.

We waited until the payout date was long passed. We sent multiple e-mails and called CDstreet almost daily to no avail.

Finally, in late April, a blanket e-mail was issued from CDstreet explaining that their pricing and payout structures had caused huge profit losses and the company was short the cashflow to make payments on artist accounts.

Prince causes the rules to change

Prince hit on a pretty darn smart marketing strategy when he included his new CD as part of the concert experience on his latest tour. As a result, both Soundscan and Billboard (the good folk who track record sales in the US) are altering the manner in which they tabulate sales.

Billboard's new policy requires that ticket-buyers be given a choice as to whether they want a CD served up with their concert, and that the cost of that CD be comparable to regular retail prices. If consumers choose the CD, it will count as a sale.

But Prince will still be able to earn chart benefits. The Minneapolis-based artist, who recorded Musicology with his own money and is only utilizing Sony Music as a distribution source, is protected by a grandfather clause that will keep SoundScan counting those tour CDs straight through September, when the Musicology tour wraps. Billboard's chart editor Geoff Mayfield said that it would be unfair to "change horses in the middle of the stream."

Gettysburg Cemetery Dedication

The Gettysburg Address, Powerpoint style. God I hate that software.

Copyright does matter

Note to self: flat fees are great and all, but owning the copyright is even better.

The better story is how Horner got so rich off Titanic, since usual practice is for composers to be paid a flat fee, and to relinquish their copyright to the film company. However, Cameron did things his own way, and got so heavily involved in every single aspect of the film, including editing the soundtrack, that things ran massively behind schedule, and over budget. Feeling the studio pressure, he cut a deal with Horner - no fee, but you get to keep your copyright. "No problem", says the canny composer. 12 months later the film score is number one in every country in the world, and Cameron has to explain to his bosses why they aren't seeing a penny off the CD sales ...

Thanks to Tim for the tip.

Appling Creative Commons to music

Jim's Big Ego uses the Creative Commons licensing to distribute their music online.

Creative Commons, cofounded and run by Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig, aims to find a balance between the extremes of strict regulation and unchecked exploitation. Creators can mix and match from a menu that helps express the terms under which they'd like to share their work. Infantino, for example, allows the public to copy, distribute, perform, and sample from his songs as long as it isn't for commercial purposes, the author is given credit, and any derivative works are distributed under an identical license.

This could be an interesting avenue to explore. I've thought about throwing up something I've written under the CC license, letting anyone take it and extend it, just to see what would happen and if anything that I thought was good would result. But I've been reticient as of yet. I've already been cheated out of credit on a few albums on which I have played, so I'm a touch reluctant to open myself up to that again.

Thanks to Brad for the tip.

No, really. I didn't mean that.

Either the original story was wrong or a publicist realized that ticking off your home audience might not be the best career move, but Dido is not leaving the UK for the LA area.

Sex, drugs and magic

And, in more Harry Potter news, the star of the films would like to become a rock star. Hey, um, Danny boy? So would a lot of us...

20 years later, a sequel

Bono plans on hatching Live Aid II, but without Mr. Geldof this time around.

-- Update --
Bono now disavows any activity to revive Live Aid.