i've become something of a symphony slut of late - i love the overdressed brahmins - both grouchy husbands and brooch-wearing wives - as well as the corny VMA hall w/ it's terrible ticketing situ and rather dead hall. the conductor is a real charmer tho - promising the audience between pieces that the music won't take too long and will have a part to wake them up at the end. a battle so lost it's won!
went to see Barbara Kolb's new piece, "Web Spinner," which was lovely little piece of program music, utilizing that little extension piece on the upright bass for scrunchy runs across a shimmer of upper strings. the bass served the spider-sound best - i was unsure of the woodwinds attempts to skitter for some reason, maybe bc i think the woodwinds at the RI Phil are proficient but w/o subtleness.
now i'm sitting in the grad office nerding out to luomo on the Tannoys, (do all critics have TERRIBLE sound systems, or is it just me? i should get paid in turntables and speakers for a year so i can just end the pain of listening through crappy gear) and reading about how cool holland is for having a government agency devoted to promoting pop music. the links section contains listenings of dozens of such agencies around the world - sadly none for the CZ, though Tamizdat does a good job of it.
2.27.2004
now that all the pazz and jop drama is over, it's back to scrunging for the year's new thing. gabe went to see franz ferdinand the other night, was raving, but i can't help but think the music is too thin, already dated and faux enthusiastic. was underwhelmed by the new 90 day men and sufjan stevens too, only leaving TV on the Radio as the only 'dudes who live up to the hype '04' on my radar.
Really, all I want to do these days is listen to old Janet and new Missy. Janet is indirectly from nipplegate - I dressed as her for Mardi Gras - and really centered on one of the '90s anomalies of pop "If," which is on my top 100 songs of all time I'm sure. I just love that little whisper, the Sly break, the guitar swanks. Plus that video - the harem and her funky vest - never looking more sexy.
Also, on the Matos tip - I am determined to 'get' Prince and the key to this is the another top 100 song which has ruled my life for the last month, "Pussy Control." Holy shit, every second of Prince's delivery is flawless, like a tornado gaining speed and potential at every beat. Ya, it's old fucking news, but I'm a recovering jaded hipster so gimme a break.
Really, all I want to do these days is listen to old Janet and new Missy. Janet is indirectly from nipplegate - I dressed as her for Mardi Gras - and really centered on one of the '90s anomalies of pop "If," which is on my top 100 songs of all time I'm sure. I just love that little whisper, the Sly break, the guitar swanks. Plus that video - the harem and her funky vest - never looking more sexy.
Also, on the Matos tip - I am determined to 'get' Prince and the key to this is the another top 100 song which has ruled my life for the last month, "Pussy Control." Holy shit, every second of Prince's delivery is flawless, like a tornado gaining speed and potential at every beat. Ya, it's old fucking news, but I'm a recovering jaded hipster so gimme a break.
2.24.2004
am going to mardi gras today - read this and download - enjoy, i hear the album is great.
February 24, 2004 | For Immediate Release
U of Iowa Professor to Join Copyright Civil Disobedience Planned February
24th
Contact:
Kembrew McLeod – kembrew@kembrew.com
Phone – 319-621-4620
Also:
Downhill Battle (www.dowhillbattle.org)
Holmes Wilson - hw@downhillbattle.org
Phone: 508-963-7832 / Fax: 775-878-0379
Grey Tuesday (www.greytuesday.org)
DOWNLOAD THE "GREY ALBUM" AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
DOWNHILL BATTLE (February 24, 2004) – In defiance of dozens of cease-and-desist letters already served, University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod will join a large coalition of websites in an online protest that will offer free downloads of a critically acclaimed album that is being censored by a lawsuit threat from EMI Records. The action is an act of civil disobedience against a
copyright regime that routinely suppresses musical innovation. The Grey Album, which remixes Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' White Album, has been hailed
as an innovative hip-hop triumph, but EMI sent cease-and-desist letters to any Web site that offers it for free.
This Tuesday, "Grey Tuesday," a coalition of hundreds of sites, including the non-UI-affiliated Kembrew.com -- http://kembrew.com -- will offer free downloads of the Grey Album, and turn their pages grey, to take a stand against a copyright regime that serves neither musicians nor the public interest. "Grey Tuesday will be the first protest of its kind," said Downhill Battle co-founder Holmes Wilson, "The major record labels have turned copyright law into a weapon, but participants in this action will be ignoring EMI's threats and insisting on the public's right to hear innovative new music."
"EMI isn't looking for compensation, they're trying to ban a work of art," said Downhill Battle's Rebecca Laurie. "The record industry has become a huge drag on creativity and it's only getting worse -- it's time to take a stand." The Grey Album has been widely shared on filesharing networks such as Kazaa and Soulseek, and has garnered critical acclaim in Rolling Stone (which called it "the ultimate remix record" and "an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time"), the New Yorker, the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), and other major news outlets.
"It's clear that this work devalues neither of the originals. There is no legitimate artistic or economic reason to ban this record, and this is just arbitrary exertion of control," said Nicholas Reville, Downhill Battle co-founder. "The framers of the constitution created copyright to promote innovation and creativity. A handful of corporations have radically perverted that purpose for their own narrow self interest, and now the public is fighting back."
The reporters and news outlets that reviewed the Grey Album have obtained it illegally from filesharing networks. "If music reviewers have to break the law to hear new, innovative music, then something has gone wrong with the law," said Laurie. "Remixes and pastiche are a defining aesthetic of our era. How will artists continue to work if corporations can outlaw what they do?" said
Reville. "Artists, writers, and musicians have always borrowed and built upon each other's work -- now they have to answer to corporate legal teams." College and noncommercial radio stations will also be participating in Tuesday's action by playing the Grey Album in its entirety (possibly along with the Jay-Z and Beatles sources).
February 24, 2004 | For Immediate Release
U of Iowa Professor to Join Copyright Civil Disobedience Planned February
24th
Contact:
Kembrew McLeod – kembrew@kembrew.com
Phone – 319-621-4620
Also:
Downhill Battle (www.dowhillbattle.org)
Holmes Wilson - hw@downhillbattle.org
Phone: 508-963-7832 / Fax: 775-878-0379
Grey Tuesday (www.greytuesday.org)
DOWNLOAD THE "GREY ALBUM" AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
DOWNHILL BATTLE (February 24, 2004) – In defiance of dozens of cease-and-desist letters already served, University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod will join a large coalition of websites in an online protest that will offer free downloads of a critically acclaimed album that is being censored by a lawsuit threat from EMI Records. The action is an act of civil disobedience against a
copyright regime that routinely suppresses musical innovation. The Grey Album, which remixes Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' White Album, has been hailed
as an innovative hip-hop triumph, but EMI sent cease-and-desist letters to any Web site that offers it for free.
This Tuesday, "Grey Tuesday," a coalition of hundreds of sites, including the non-UI-affiliated Kembrew.com -- http://kembrew.com -- will offer free downloads of the Grey Album, and turn their pages grey, to take a stand against a copyright regime that serves neither musicians nor the public interest. "Grey Tuesday will be the first protest of its kind," said Downhill Battle co-founder Holmes Wilson, "The major record labels have turned copyright law into a weapon, but participants in this action will be ignoring EMI's threats and insisting on the public's right to hear innovative new music."
"EMI isn't looking for compensation, they're trying to ban a work of art," said Downhill Battle's Rebecca Laurie. "The record industry has become a huge drag on creativity and it's only getting worse -- it's time to take a stand." The Grey Album has been widely shared on filesharing networks such as Kazaa and Soulseek, and has garnered critical acclaim in Rolling Stone (which called it "the ultimate remix record" and "an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time"), the New Yorker, the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), and other major news outlets.
"It's clear that this work devalues neither of the originals. There is no legitimate artistic or economic reason to ban this record, and this is just arbitrary exertion of control," said Nicholas Reville, Downhill Battle co-founder. "The framers of the constitution created copyright to promote innovation and creativity. A handful of corporations have radically perverted that purpose for their own narrow self interest, and now the public is fighting back."
The reporters and news outlets that reviewed the Grey Album have obtained it illegally from filesharing networks. "If music reviewers have to break the law to hear new, innovative music, then something has gone wrong with the law," said Laurie. "Remixes and pastiche are a defining aesthetic of our era. How will artists continue to work if corporations can outlaw what they do?" said
Reville. "Artists, writers, and musicians have always borrowed and built upon each other's work -- now they have to answer to corporate legal teams." College and noncommercial radio stations will also be participating in Tuesday's action by playing the Grey Album in its entirety (possibly along with the Jay-Z and Beatles sources).
2.23.2004
am down in new orleans and saw on thursday, a most charming musical extravaganza named Bingo! which pits 9th ward hipsters against one another in an epic bingo battle whose prize is to dance with the masqued caller to a curious cool jazz/cabaret backing band led by a sideshow barker frontman with a megaphone. between rounds are films "who wants to see a mooo viiieee?" the barker asks, and incidental music with casios, upright bass, organ, violin, drums and percussion including toolboxes. a little bit of tom waits there, a lot of spectacle. how long can the novelty last?
doing location recordings of high school marching bands, mostly hoping for outkast renditions and getting lots of drums, plus the sound of the taps on the danceline girls' shoes. i've been talking with a girl who teaches at one of the public schools in the city, and she said that basketball and the band are the only reason that students even bother doing their homework - the only motivation. the school system is wildly corrupt, has drained art and music funding first of course, and is virtually bankrupt. still, the city marching bands, black by default as desegregation led the white minority to set up an extensive private school system, manage to be the best every year.
also went to the backstreets museum, dedicated to mardi gras indians, 2nd line parades and black social organizations, and had a personal tour by the director's wife. jazz funerals still occur daily and range from the stately old line to crazy, fast-paced new style parades that the older generation hates but is 'more appropriate for someone who dies at 20.' the director videotapes most of the parades, has received dozens of the indians' costumes (made at a cost of sometimes $10,000) and other accoutrements of the costume - but no state funding. i hear things like that and wish that there was a national organization that would help coach new museums, esp. those reaching non-trad audiences, through those first few years of grant righting and acquisition. the museum is great for it's informal atmosphere - the indians borrow their costumes back for presentations and folks drink within feet of the exhibits, but this could lead to its downfall too. how not to turn it into the sterile rock hall, all glass cases and untouchable celebrity, while preserving that history for the future - respecting it and giving it the honor it deserves along with the ultra-white mardi gras krewes, which for the duration of carnival are THE NEWS and the social life of 'the city' if you consider the 30% white minority 'the' anything.
doing location recordings of high school marching bands, mostly hoping for outkast renditions and getting lots of drums, plus the sound of the taps on the danceline girls' shoes. i've been talking with a girl who teaches at one of the public schools in the city, and she said that basketball and the band are the only reason that students even bother doing their homework - the only motivation. the school system is wildly corrupt, has drained art and music funding first of course, and is virtually bankrupt. still, the city marching bands, black by default as desegregation led the white minority to set up an extensive private school system, manage to be the best every year.
also went to the backstreets museum, dedicated to mardi gras indians, 2nd line parades and black social organizations, and had a personal tour by the director's wife. jazz funerals still occur daily and range from the stately old line to crazy, fast-paced new style parades that the older generation hates but is 'more appropriate for someone who dies at 20.' the director videotapes most of the parades, has received dozens of the indians' costumes (made at a cost of sometimes $10,000) and other accoutrements of the costume - but no state funding. i hear things like that and wish that there was a national organization that would help coach new museums, esp. those reaching non-trad audiences, through those first few years of grant righting and acquisition. the museum is great for it's informal atmosphere - the indians borrow their costumes back for presentations and folks drink within feet of the exhibits, but this could lead to its downfall too. how not to turn it into the sterile rock hall, all glass cases and untouchable celebrity, while preserving that history for the future - respecting it and giving it the honor it deserves along with the ultra-white mardi gras krewes, which for the duration of carnival are THE NEWS and the social life of 'the city' if you consider the 30% white minority 'the' anything.
2.17.2004
just finishied my sufjan stevens piece. didn't know how to work my ackward conver w/ him abt being an "xtian" artist in, since he was so vehemently anti- the whole concept and title, but it's important none the less cause he's on the Danielson label now. michigan continues to be one of my favorite late night listening albums - i can't believe anyone my age can be so stripped of irony, so totally cohesive and self-less in the creating of great music. love love it, even if the arrangements could sometimes be more dynamic.
am excited beyond belief at my escape from providence tomorrow to the sunny streets of new orleans. i've been cramming zydeco to get to know what formerly 'jus grew and trying still to understand the definition of 'creole' which i think means French-speaking non-Canadian coming from black or white person from Louisiana. Cajun being, Canadian. can't say that i'm into ye olde push button accordion but it is a weird part of culture down there.
planning to do the parades, the sunday mardi gras indians run down, a friday night show by turducken (awesome local events organizer and a fine piece of animal eater multitasking) and of course, umm, body shots on Bourbon street.
BARF BAG: my new idea for the worst critico quotation of the week, goes to this fellow, simply and sadly stuck in sassy style:
The new stuff sounded sunniest, mostly; but born of the band's bliss-shit helix, their DNA of circular strings and lost-in-wanderlust, they seethe in a thousand shades.
(ya, i know its unfair but i thought i'd read him and i was not surprised)
am excited beyond belief at my escape from providence tomorrow to the sunny streets of new orleans. i've been cramming zydeco to get to know what formerly 'jus grew and trying still to understand the definition of 'creole' which i think means French-speaking non-Canadian coming from black or white person from Louisiana. Cajun being, Canadian. can't say that i'm into ye olde push button accordion but it is a weird part of culture down there.
planning to do the parades, the sunday mardi gras indians run down, a friday night show by turducken (awesome local events organizer and a fine piece of animal eater multitasking) and of course, umm, body shots on Bourbon street.
BARF BAG: my new idea for the worst critico quotation of the week, goes to this fellow, simply and sadly stuck in sassy style:
The new stuff sounded sunniest, mostly; but born of the band's bliss-shit helix, their DNA of circular strings and lost-in-wanderlust, they seethe in a thousand shades.
(ya, i know its unfair but i thought i'd read him and i was not surprised)
2.15.2004
man, there's probably nothing more depressing than listening to the nirvana unplugged album in 2004, unless it's listening to the album to purge a weird dream you had about courtney love out of your head, the dream not the love. my friend luke thinks, and i agree, that the cult of nirvana is reigniting and that soon there will be a resurgence of interest, if there ever stopped being one.
2.14.2004
oh man, i've become one of them and posted on i love music on the feminism and p&j thread. i feel bad that the rain comes down on chuck, but since he posts all day long, and runs p&j, then he's in front line i suppose.
even though i almost wretched at the crossover bs of the foo fighters at the grammy's, i am really into the acoustic version of 'times like these' which i just downloaded in my newfound freedom to do so on the school computer.
IN OTHER NEWS: saw Kites again last night at the most amazingly movie set-like bar the safari lounge. they had a snake and there was a dude wearing a mesh hat that said 'metal' and it wasn't from urban, for sure. very very...providence. i love christopher and his music - the boy usually straps these weird homemade robo-effects to his body, then stands like he's about to take flight and screams into his amp with a homemade mouth mic (they must have a class somewhere in provo to make these). last night it was sine waves and screams, weirdly melodic and beautiful over the piercing feedback.
IN OTHER OTHER NEWS:
this is actualy 'other' news, in that i saw black dice, orthrelm and tyondai braxton place at school on thursday. braxton played guitar/effects plus sang reminding me so unsurprisingly of the animal collective but also adding unapologetically lush swathes of guitar sound, lovely sing-speak parts and harmonies in delay...some folks thought it a bit pretentious, but the sound coming out was pure bliss.
re: black dice. Ha ha ha ha. fractal art projections? drum synths? varese quotations? the impossible four gave a talk to the computer music kids earlier in the day abt their 'process' and guess what? hardcore never got mentioned. i haven't seen them in over a year and it is STILL amazing how insanely pretentious they could get in so short a time. it reminded me of that scene in 24hr party people where tony wilson et al are huddled in the back of the newly opened hacienda and a certain radio starts playing bongos, etc, and they're all like 'what the hell is this shite?' only i guess people think that black dice are a bunch of sonic astronauts or something.
even though i almost wretched at the crossover bs of the foo fighters at the grammy's, i am really into the acoustic version of 'times like these' which i just downloaded in my newfound freedom to do so on the school computer.
IN OTHER NEWS: saw Kites again last night at the most amazingly movie set-like bar the safari lounge. they had a snake and there was a dude wearing a mesh hat that said 'metal' and it wasn't from urban, for sure. very very...providence. i love christopher and his music - the boy usually straps these weird homemade robo-effects to his body, then stands like he's about to take flight and screams into his amp with a homemade mouth mic (they must have a class somewhere in provo to make these). last night it was sine waves and screams, weirdly melodic and beautiful over the piercing feedback.
IN OTHER OTHER NEWS:
this is actualy 'other' news, in that i saw black dice, orthrelm and tyondai braxton place at school on thursday. braxton played guitar/effects plus sang reminding me so unsurprisingly of the animal collective but also adding unapologetically lush swathes of guitar sound, lovely sing-speak parts and harmonies in delay...some folks thought it a bit pretentious, but the sound coming out was pure bliss.
re: black dice. Ha ha ha ha. fractal art projections? drum synths? varese quotations? the impossible four gave a talk to the computer music kids earlier in the day abt their 'process' and guess what? hardcore never got mentioned. i haven't seen them in over a year and it is STILL amazing how insanely pretentious they could get in so short a time. it reminded me of that scene in 24hr party people where tony wilson et al are huddled in the back of the newly opened hacienda and a certain radio starts playing bongos, etc, and they're all like 'what the hell is this shite?' only i guess people think that black dice are a bunch of sonic astronauts or something.
2.10.2004
Pazz and Jop Oh4, one damn day early for ya:
ALBUMS
1 OutKast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
2 The White Stripes Elephant (V2)
3 Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve)
4 Radiohead Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
5 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever to Tell (Interscope)
6 The Shins Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
7 New Pornographers Electric Version (Matador)
8 Basement Jaxx Kish Kash (Astralwerks)
9 Drive-By Truckers Decoration Day (New West)
10 Dizzee Rascal Boy in Da Corner (XL import)
SINGLES
1 OutKast "Hey Ya!" (Arista)
2 Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z "Crazy in Love" (Columbia)
3 The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" (Third Man/V2)
4 Kelis "Milkshake" (Star Trak/Arista)
5 50 Cent "In Da Club" (G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
6 Johnny Cash "Hurt" (Universal)
7 Fountains of Wayne "Stacy's Mom" (S-Curve/Virgin)
8 R. Kelly "Ignition-Remix" (Jive)
9 Junior Senior "Move Your Feet" (Atlantic)
10 Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)"
(Sequence)
The singles I mostly agree with, but the albums are pure consensus critic fodder - ha ha pazz and jop - cherishing that which has come before in the face of anything new, save for the new Patron Saint of Grime(y), Dizzee. It will be amusing to see how many people put it on the '04 list since it didn't even come out in the US until two weeks ago.
ALBUMS
1 OutKast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
2 The White Stripes Elephant (V2)
3 Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve)
4 Radiohead Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
5 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever to Tell (Interscope)
6 The Shins Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
7 New Pornographers Electric Version (Matador)
8 Basement Jaxx Kish Kash (Astralwerks)
9 Drive-By Truckers Decoration Day (New West)
10 Dizzee Rascal Boy in Da Corner (XL import)
SINGLES
1 OutKast "Hey Ya!" (Arista)
2 Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z "Crazy in Love" (Columbia)
3 The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" (Third Man/V2)
4 Kelis "Milkshake" (Star Trak/Arista)
5 50 Cent "In Da Club" (G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
6 Johnny Cash "Hurt" (Universal)
7 Fountains of Wayne "Stacy's Mom" (S-Curve/Virgin)
8 R. Kelly "Ignition-Remix" (Jive)
9 Junior Senior "Move Your Feet" (Atlantic)
10 Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)"
(Sequence)
The singles I mostly agree with, but the albums are pure consensus critic fodder - ha ha pazz and jop - cherishing that which has come before in the face of anything new, save for the new Patron Saint of Grime(y), Dizzee. It will be amusing to see how many people put it on the '04 list since it didn't even come out in the US until two weeks ago.
2.04.2004
Holy Poo I'm so half into the Mixel Pixel album - makes me think of Olivia Tremor Control + good times' Swirlies (me = devoted member of the Sneaky Flute Empire) mixxxed in with little Momus asides and post-electro (double post-) beats, aka, remember being into Casios, as if that ever went away? It's more, umm.., frantic and less clever than most lo-fi stuff, but the noise waves are well sewn with tricky high fi aural fodder - aka - listenable.
There's a weird little acoustic track there that hints at the progressions in the perfecto song "Sleep on Needles" by Sondre Lerche. Little teen genius, I wasn't so into his last EP but am hoping he gets over himself, doesn't pull the Corgan/Love 'sing all over the track cause I love myself too much' thing and nails my cabaret heart.
IN OTHER NEWS:
I'm trying to get into Laura Sinagra's writing, since J. Gross thinks she's so keen and I trust such sentiments...But what to think about a sentence like this, culled from her VV review of Nellie McKay:
"Onstage, her sturm und drang at times recalls Tori Amos adding her own fragrance to Teen Spirit."
Oouch!
There's a weird little acoustic track there that hints at the progressions in the perfecto song "Sleep on Needles" by Sondre Lerche. Little teen genius, I wasn't so into his last EP but am hoping he gets over himself, doesn't pull the Corgan/Love 'sing all over the track cause I love myself too much' thing and nails my cabaret heart.
IN OTHER NEWS:
I'm trying to get into Laura Sinagra's writing, since J. Gross thinks she's so keen and I trust such sentiments...But what to think about a sentence like this, culled from her VV review of Nellie McKay:
"Onstage, her sturm und drang at times recalls Tori Amos adding her own fragrance to Teen Spirit."
Oouch!
2.02.2004
ahh, the superbowl. i haven't the time to blog, but YES is was intentional and apparently due to the lyric 'gonna have you naked by the end of this song' which is just one more example of the boring literal nature of MTV...
the response
the response
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