Friday, November 14, 2003

Okay, first things first. I have something to say to you youngstas out there who saw the new Target commercial that incorporates Lene Lovich 's "New Toy" and didn't understand the signifigance.

Back in the day (very late 1970s, very early 1980s), Lovich was an early new wave curiosity who had a few big hits in England but was just too weird for all but the most adventurous of American college radio stations (and therefore too weird for the mainstream American market period). And now, 20-some years later, one of her better known songs (among a certain crowd) is being used in a commercial for a huge, family friendly retailer. Okay, so Iggy Pop has been shilling for sea cruises for years now-- but I've gotta say my jaw just dropped on this one.

This continues Target's weird appropriation for anti-consumer songs, which started withDevo's "Beautiful World" (where they conviently left out the "It's a beautiful world/for you/not me."). Peep some of the lyrics of "New Toy":

"Did I ask you for your love?
Did I ask you for your dedication?
I don't want, I don't want your love.
I don't want, I don't want your affection!
But I've got to have the car
I need it for the weekend.
I've got to have the stereo,
And a couple of deletions
I've got to have the freezer
Put some fun back in my eating
I've got to have it all until I'm complete!

I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), to keep my head expanding (ta).
I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), nothing too demanding (ta).
Then when everything is in roses everything is static (ta)
Yeahh my New Toy (oh ay oh), you'll find us in the attic."

But more power to her-- and to Thomas Dolby, who wrote the song and gets a few shiny pennies each time it's played unless he sold his publishing rights to someone along the line.

Anyway, on to the news...

• J.Lo Sued for Video Mimicking 'Flashdance'
  The woman whose life "Flashdance" was based on is suing because she never grqanted anyone sequel or re-make rights. She's now destitue with a spinal injury and trying to get a little scrilla to help her along. A couple mil might make her feel better.
  
  
• McGraw, Hank Jr. Eyeing Summer Tour
  Tim McGraw/Hank Williams Jr./Charlie Daniels Band 2004 Summer Tour?!?!?!?!? Yeeeeee-hawwwwwwww! Also: Alan Jackson And Martina McBride Team Up For Upcoming Tour. Big year for country tours, I guess.
  
  
• Facing change in the music industry
  Speaking of country music, the above linked article is a pretty interesting look at how the consolidation of the media is affecting the folks on Music Row.
  
  
• 'Austin City Limits' Gets National Arts Medal
  Believe it or not, ACL is the first TV show to ever get a National Medal of Arts.
  
  
• CNet Buys "Certain Assets" Of MP3.Com from VevendiUniversal
  On Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 12:00 PM PST the MP3.com website will no longer be accessible in its current form. The harsh part-- they're deleteing everything, destroying all the content they had and starting from scratch, God damn! After that, who knows what C-Net has cooked up its sleeve. (nice mixed metaphore, that).
  
  (On a semi-related note: hopefully C-Net will give MP3.com a much nicer front page. It currently looks like it fell from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.)
  
  
• When Jay-Z, Metallica Get Leaked: How Record Labels Deal
  "No one is really certain where leaks occur. First, blame was placed on the advance copies given to the media. When that was curtailed by watermarked copies and advances that didn't leave the record-company offices, fingers then pointed at the recording studios. Bands began toting their works-in-progress around with them or locking computer hard drives in a studio safe, and still the problem persisted. Now, the manufacturing plants are cited as the place where the levee breaks." One of these days, the R.I.A.A. is gonna catch that waskly wabbitt!
  
  
• Wes Borland Puts Eat The Day On Hold, Hopes To Hook Up With Evanescence
  As a producer, not as someone to replace recently departed co-founder Ben Moody.
  
  
• Murder Inc. Drops The Murder
  Because they're not killing it like they used to. No, no I kid. Or do I....
  
  
• Weeks After R. Kelly Benefit, Charity Wonders Where Money Is
  You see, it turns out that broadcsting a concert via satellite around the world is really expensive. . .
  

posted by Randy on 2:47 PM | permanent link to this entry

Thursday, November 13, 2003

• Chic's Tony Thompson Dies
  Whoa. He died on Wednesday in Los Angeles of renal cell cancer at age forty-eight. Besides his work with Chic ("Le Freak," "Good Times"), he was also an in-demand session drummer for artists like Madonna ("Like A Virgin") David Bowie ("Let's Dance"), and the late Robert Palmer ("Addicted To Love") -- with whom he also played in Power Station ("Some Like It Hot"). Think of those songs and, really, one of the strongest memories about 'em is the dumming (though Stevie Ray Vaugh was no slouch with the geee-tar on "Let's Dance"). R.I.P. and much respect from all of us here at Rocktober.com
  
  
• Senate Bill Targets Internet Pirates
  Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have introduced the Artists Rights and Theft Prevention (ART) Act, which will make it easier to prosecute suspected pirates who offer "pre-release" movies and music online.
  
  
• Kid Rock Less Interested In Rapping These Days
  See Also: Kid Rock Sees What Side Of The Bread The Butter Is On.
  
  
• Phil Collins Suffering From Serious Hearing Loss
  Ya know, when I was a youngsta I was a HUGE Genesis/Phil Collins fan (especially old school Genesis, but that's a different rant). Though I still give props to Hello, I Must Be Going (one of the best divorce albums ever), I can't say I look back at listening to No Jacket Required for like a year straight with fond memories. What was I thinking? Oy.
  
  
• Wynona Judd Arrested For Drunk Driving
  Perhaps she took her "40 Greatest Drinking Songs" hosting duties a little too seriously.
  

posted by Randy on 1:16 PM | permanent link to this entry

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

This Week's New Releases Of Note:

• Kid Rock - Kid Rock (features Hank Williams Jr. on a tune called "Cadillac Pussy," Sheryl Crow on "Run Off To L.A." and a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love.")
  
• Lost Dogs- Pearl Jam
  
• Try This [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD] - Pink
  
• Closer [LIMITED EDITION] Josh Groban
  
• Soulo - Nick Lachey
  
• The Essential Bruce Springsteen [LIMITED EDITION] - Bruce Springsteen (3 disc set-- 2 discs of hits, one of rarities.)
  
• Worship & Faith- Randy Travis
  
• Thank You- Stone Temple Pilots (Greatest Hits that includes one new track and the acoustic version of "Plush.")
  
• EP[ENHANCED] [LIMITED EDITION] - Matchbox Twenty (Live, with some acoustic stuff and concert footage)
  
• Another 700 Miles[EP] - 3 Doors Down (Live, with a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "That Smell")
  
• Here I Am: Ron Isley Sings Burt Bacharach- Ron Isley/Burt Bacharach
  
• Tical 0: The Prequel - Method Man
  

Get Your Pre-Order On (Next Week's New Releases Of Note):

• The Black Album - Jay-Z (technically, this comes out on Friday, Nov. 14)
  
• Let It Be... Naked - The Beatles (Let It Be without Phil Spector's production)
  
• In The Zone - Britney Spears
  
• Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Bonus DVD) - Tori Amos
  
• Blink 182 - Blink 182
  
• At Last Cyndi Lauper (Cyndi sings the standards -- "Walk On By," "Unchained Melody," and so on and so forth. Features a duet with Tony Bennett on "Makin' Whoopee" -- and if that isn't an unpleasant image, I don't know what is.)
  
• Room to Breathe - Reba Mcentire
  
• Greatest Hits and Videos (CD & DVD) - Red Hot Chili Peppers
  
• I Can't Stop - Al Green
  
• Greatest Hits - Leann Rimes
  
• I'm One of You - Hank Williams, Jr. (winner of the Rocktober.com Blog Best Song Title of The Week Award: "Why Don't We All Get A Long Neck?")
  
• Weekend Warrior - Biz Markie (Nobody beats the Biz!)
  
• Heavy - Swollen Members
  
• Under Construction Part II - Timbaland & Magoo
  
• Ashanti's Christmas - Ashanti (all traditional Xmas songs, nary a "Xmas Wit My Murder Inc. Niggaz" to be found)
  
• Floacism - Floetry (Live disc)
  
• Live at the Hollywood Bowl [EP] - Ben Harper
  
• Live in Texas [Bonus DVD] - Linkin Park
  
• The Central Park Concert - Dave Matthews
  
• Hot and Wet- 112
  

posted by Randy on 1:18 PM | permanent link to this entry

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

• Court Backs Beasties In Copyright Suit Appeal
  A super-rare victory in court for those who make music by sampling. Kudos to the Beastie Boys for sticking to their guns instead of just folding like a cheap card table.
  
  
• Invention of the Year: iTunes Music Store
  Written by the same guy who wrote the over-blown Time cover story about the new flat-screen iMacs, so take it with a grain of salt. The most telling part:
  
  "Jobs has one more reason not to be concerned about the competition. "The dirty little secret of all this is there's no way to make money on these stores," he says. For every 99¢ Apple gets from your credit card, 65¢ goes straight to the music label. Another quarter or so gets eaten up by distribution costs. At most, Jobs is left with a dime per track, so even $500 million in annual sales would add up to a paltry $50 million profit. Why even bother? "Because we're selling iPods," Jobs says, grinning."
  
  Just a note to any future recording artists who might be out there reading this: if you run your own shit, that sixty-five cents a track could be all yours (provided you're writing your own songs). Sign up with an increasingly irrelevant major label and you're lucky to get any of it.
  
  
• Kid Rock And Sheryl Crow Planning Joint Recording Project
  As Mr. T might say, it is just in the jibber-jabber stages right now. They did record a duet version of Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" for Kid Rock's just released album, but it didn't make the cut. She does, however, join him for ""Run Off To L.A."
  
  
• Don't Try To Take Him To A Disco (Salon subscription or day pass required)
  Interesting Salon review of Bob Seger's Greatest Hits Vol. 2. I don't fully agree with everything in the article (for example, the assertion that Greatest Hits Vol. 1 covered everything the average fan needs-- "Rock n' roll Never Forgets." "Katmandu," "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You," "Beautiful Loser" and "Her Strut" are Seger Essentials [trademark Rocktober.com Blog, motherfukkas!!] that were not on the first collection while this one still omits "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight," "Even Now," "Makin' Thunderbirds" and "Ramblin Gamblin' Man"), but it still is good to see my old-school Michigan homey Bob Segar get some love in the national press.
  
  Here's a pretty interesting interview with Segar from the Detroit Free Press where he reflects on his music career and why he has (basically) retired from the biz.
  
  
• Jane's Addiction, Marilyn Manson To Ring In New Year With Joint Tour
  Sounds interesting--- if it happened, like, five years ago.
  
  
• Crystal Method Ask Wes Borland, Rahzel To Join Legion Of Boom
  Due Jan 13, 2004, Legion of Boom will also feature work from Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays.
  
  
• Auf der Maur Gets Heavy
  My future ex-wife Melissa auf der Maur will (allegedly) finally release her solo deubt in February. Unless, of course, it needs some more refining.
  
  
• Free Music Lessons Over The Internet
  From the alumni and faculty of the Berklee College of Music, none-the-less! Text, MP3s and QuickTime movies. Flat out cool. (found via donewaiting.com
  
  
• What’s Your Worst Memory of Playing with Yo La Tengo?
  Even if you don't know any of the bands quoted (up to and including Yo La Tengo), it still is a funny read. Horror stories from the road: always funny. Lots of gems, but this was my fave:
  
  Matt & Bubba Kadane, Bedhead :
  It would have to be the time in Seattle, when, much to everybody's surprise, our tour manager Josh showed up just before sound check, fresh from the barbershop, where he had traded in his "Grizzly Adams" beard & hairstyle for a rather questionable buzz flat top, complete with a handlebar mustache, a la The Village People. We wouldn't have recognized him at all, had it not been of the distinguishable garb he'd been wearing on the road, and since we had to be associated with him and his new look for the rest of the tour, we wished we hadn't recognized him. Anyway, the look kind of symbolized the tour from that date on: fucked.
  
  Found via donewaiting.com
  

General Stuff On My Musical Mind:
- I saw Flavor Flav starring in the new Taking Back Sunday video for "You're So Last Summer." The song is basic emo-screaming stuff, but seeing Flavor lip synch it and do the old-school Flavor Flav dance (not The New Flavor Flav Dance introduced in the "911 Is A Joke" video) is awesome. Click here for a page where you can to see the video

-The video for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps" (click here) is quietly effective-- much like the song. When I first heard the song I pictured the video as such: Two hipsters seperated at a two different ends of a crowded concert push through the crowd to try to find each other and are reunited at the end. The images of their journey are intercut with slow-mo concert footage and shots of fans reaching toward the stage to try and touch Karen O. I still like my version, but I also like what they came up with.

-Two Bay Area artists who I bought CDs from off the streets (Can''t knock the hustle, yo. If you're a local yokel selling stuff out your trunk/backback/milkcrate for five bucks I'll always give you a chance.):

J. Dandridge is in desperate need better production, but he has some lyrical skills. Reading his bio on his web site made me think I'd like to hear some lyrics basd on his struggle rather than the realitively stereotypical party lyrics he kicked on the CD I copped. i don't have the CD right with me to refer to, but I remember when I listened to it that I was impressed enough with his lyrical delivery that I thought he'd be a contender if he could get some good production behind him.

Jawz is a wild-MC in the tradition of Tech N9ne, early Eminem, Sticky Fingaz and, uh, Skee-Lo (who isn't wild, but does have a voice like Jawz). Raw Kutz, the four song CD I bought, had two sort of gritty numbers and two fun/party songs. For me, "Real Girl" was the highlight (which was one of the fun songs), though "Raw Dad Is In The House" came close second for not only jacking the Average White Band's "Pick Up The Pieces" but for jacking a crappy sounding MP3 to make the loop with.

All titles are aproximate, as Raw Kutz didn't come with a track listing. Write to Jawz at rawdad23 at yahoo dot com and see if he can hook up up.
posted by Randy on 4:33 PM | permanent link to this entry

Monday, November 10, 2003

• Slick Rick Released From Jail
  The Ruler's Back! Judge Kimba Wood(of Nanny-gate fame, remember?) ruled the Board of Immigration Appeals should never have reversed its earlier decision that Slick Rick could stay in the United States despite a criminal conviction.
  
  
• THE RETURN OF BANJO BOY
  That creepy kid who played "Dueling Banjos" in "Deliverence?" He's a cook and a dishwasher in Dillard, Alabama. He also has a bit part in the up-coming Tim Burton flick "Big Fish." The above linked article is well worth reading and is pretty short-- the perfect combo!
  
  
• Rhapsody in Broadband Deal, MusicNow Taps Best Buy
  Comcast has launched a branded downlaod store powered by Rhapsody, while Best Buy is going with MusicNow. This space is getting a bit crowded, me thinks.
  
  
• Betting on a Chancy Thing, an Adult's Music Magazine (N.Y. Times free registration required)
  I was kind of hoping that Tracks was going to be a music magazine that took an adult look at pop music-- which it is, but first cover-boy Sting doesn't bode well for the future (at least in my book).
  
  
• Linkin Park, P.O.D. Teaming For Tour
  Hitting arenas in early 2004.
  
  
• Distributing Music Over Telephone Lines
  Rememer learning in history class that the telephone was originally thought of as a device to hear music over and that the record was originally thought of as something to record audio letters on to send to people? The above linked article is from a 1909 issue of Telephony magazine. It decribes the only Tele-music site that was ever put into operation. Well worth reading-- especially for folks like me who are both music and history geeks.
  
  
• All That R.E.M. Can't Leave Behind (N.Y. Times free registration required)
  Pretty decent state-of-the-band interview, but nothing earth shattering. The most interesting part for me: R.E.M. was pretty content to just preach to the choir for the rest of their career but the success of U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind gave them a little kick in the ass to get creative again.
  
  
• How Safe Is Your Neighborhood Nightclub?
  News Flash: not very. This particular article is San Francisco specific, but it could easily be set in any other city with bars and clubs.
  

posted by Randy on 2:18 PM | permanent link to this entry