Changes

Ben Rubenstein's most recent column at PopMatters explores the recontextualization of music in everything from hip hop to car commercials:

Our initial reaction to a certain song is the one to stick the most; many critics will tell you that some of the greatest albums take a few listens to really take in, but it's that first involuntary response that is likely to keep you coming back. We all hold onto our favorite songs as though they were our own, and want to believe they hold the same importance for everyone. The likelihood of this is compromised when the songs we love exist in other forms — it is possible for others to view them in very different ways...Maybe this is the beauty of music: it can be experienced and loved in multiple formats; it can be recycled to inspire new generations and demographics.

: I tend to view sampling as a postmodern referencing point that points to an artist's influence. However, I’m occasionally reminded that not everyone is looking in that same context. A younger guy I work with is a huge Tupac fan and had “Changes” playing one day when I complained that I could never actually listen to the song, which expresses “the social stresses of the black race in America” because of all I ever hear is the cheese of Bruce Hornsby’s soft rock staple “The Way It Is “. This has never been a problem for my coworker, who first heard of Hornsby's version when he thought he heard Tupac playing at the dentist office.

Vote Or Die

You can vote for your favorite tracks, djs, producers and more in the first round of the International Dance Music Awards. The winners will be announced at the Winter Music Conference in Miami later this year.

In The Pink

This week's Pink Section in the SF Chronicle was a mirror to my recent blogging interests. They noted Channel 1049's demise about 3/4 of the way through Ben Fong-Torres Radio Waves column, gave Party Ben's "American Edit" mash-up album a rave review and had a puff piece on Live 105 music director and former Subsonic host Aaron Axelsen. The interview played up the importance of Axelson's club Popscene, which is a Bay Area institution, and the importance of Live 105's Sunday night new music show which he hosts. Axelsen has been around the station for years and is the glue that has kept the station somewhat consistent with it's heritage of playing interesting new music that doesn't always jive with the mainstream. As you might expect from a music director who has lasted over a decade in the position he is pragmatic and the station doesn't always reflect his own taste:

...he dismisses rumors to the contrary as the groundless charges of message-board-frequenting music snobs who complain that the Bay Area's oldest alternative station has become anything but alternative.

"For every person that accuses the station of being too mainstream, there's someone else who wants to know why we aren't playing more Linkin Park," he jokes. "My job isn't to cater to this group or that group. My job is to understand our listeners' taste and to give them what they want."

: I think it's telling that on Live 105's pre-Soundcheck Sunday night new music show he played Creed before anyone had heard of them, took some on air calls bashing the band that he agreed with saying that they were a warmed over Pearl Jam lite that weren't a "good fit" for the station's sophisticated audience before adding them to the station's playlist the next week. I realize he's fighting for good music within the system, and I respect that he does can which is one of the reasons I've stuck by the station for so many years. It's Axelsen's okay-to-loose-some-battles-to-win-over-the-long-term attitude is why I think he has been quiet over Subsonic's recent cancellation.

Timeless

Drum 'n' bass might have joined the ranks of dead genres, but I just discovered an interview done earlier this week with Goldie who is in the UK promoting a film he wrote and directed. Here's a bit of The Independent's article:

"I got told a great quote which I wish I heard ten years ago: 'If you walk with a half glass of water nobody can knock anything out of it'. Well, I filled that glass to the brim and tried to walk through a very busy place with it."

David Bowie, a long-time friend, helped Goldie emerge from creative exile. " Bowie said, 'If you make a pile of crap tomorrow, the one thing you have to understand is that you've made Timeless and nobody can take that away from you. So do what you do, carry on and reinvent yourself.'

: That last bit of advice sounds just like Bowie. Maybe this film career might work out for Goldie, while he starred with Bowie in B.U.S.T.E.D. one of the worst crime movies I've ever had the pleasure of turning off, I think he has a great screen presence. It's a shame he was completely under used as a Bond villain a few years ago. This film that he is promoting also signals his return to music. Apparently Goldie wrote a song for each character and is shopping the disc around to different labels.

Stella's Cry

Sad news about one of the first stars of trance. Details from Trust The DJ:

Marc Spoon died suddenly in his Berlin apartment this week, after reportedly suffering a heart attack. MTV Germany said police broke into his flat after friends tried and failed to contact him. He was 39 years old.

The legendary German DJ, whose real name was Markus Loeffel, achieved massive commercial and critical success in the early 90s, remixing acts including Quincy Jones, the Pet Shop Boys and Dr Alban before producing the definitive remix of Age Of Love that became one of the first trance superhits of the era. He also became a bona fide pop star in 1993 when he teamed up with classical musician Jam el Mar to form Jam & Spoon, scoring massive worldwide hits with Stella and Find Me, featuring the vocals of former Shamen singer Plavka.

: It would take the rest of the decade for trance to break in the US, but Jam & Spoon's "Stella" is a timeless track that helped define the genre in the early 90s. I played that track as a college radio dj some five years after it was released and still got a couple of calls asking about the track with one caller going on and on about how he really liked this "new" sound that was so much deeper and soulful than other trance out at the time. That caller was on to something.

More Subsonic Fallout

Even more bad news on the Subsonic front. Before finding the item I post previously I sent out an email to the show's host Disco Shawn asking about the show. He responded that the show was cancelled over the holiday hiatus (sneaky move) and that the station had fired him for talking to the press about the cancellation. Considering all the noise Live 105 has been making about wanting "activist" listeners it is interesting that they don't want people to know about what the station is canceling and is then willing to fire people over it. Perhaps this is what led to the station's new totalitarian slogan "The Only Alternative".

Subsonic Ends!?!

I turned on the radio tonight and something is missing! Apparently the long running Subsonic is cancelled. Not that you can find that out easily given that no one is picking up the phones at the station and the only official indication that it happened is that there is no longer a "Subsonic" link on live 105's website. Here's an explanation from The SJ Merc's radio writer Brad Kava:

Another change: LIVE 105, KITS-FM, this week killed off its Saturday night Subsonic show, the electronic showcase that has been on for 10 years.

"The same reason that the electronica section of Virgin Records has shrunk since 2000," said Sean Demery, Live 105 program director. "I thought this would be the new direction for alternative, but it's not happening."

"Our goal for 2006 is to present a more unified station."

Demery added that he's sad about the death of Channel 104.9, because it means less alternative music out there.

"No one is dancing a jig here. It's a big loss to the community," he said of his competitor.

"They weren't the big competitor. It's a competition for mindshare. We are competing with the internet, cell phones, TV. It's all a battle for mindshare."

: I now take back all those nice things I said about Sean Demery. If his defense for cutting a late night specialty show is that they "are competing with the internet, cell phones, TV" one would think that you might emulate the specific focus that those mediums (well if you count digital cable and on-demand tv) bring. Maybe with a long running specialty show.

That Much Is True

The Human League are apparently touring the UK at the moment, and while I missed their relatively recent US visit a few years ago I heard great things from those who made it out. I thought it might have been overexcited hardcore fans, but Fake DIY seem to agree with them:

The Human League's Synth City Tour could be perceived as a cynical cash in with nostalgic fans, but gratefully there is no such worry here. From the band's sudden arrival, to the close of splendid opener 'Tell Me When', it's clear that not only do the band look and sound great, they're working hard for all the applause...

Pioneering synth survivors, they produce a stirring and fun filled gig in which they show that they are as relevant and enticing today as they were in the past. Crowd favourites and sing a long classics like 'Love Action' and 'Together In Electric Dreams' thrill, and it feels like almost an event in itself to be present when perennial disco favourite 'Don’t You Want Me' is played live.

So Sorry, I Said

From PetShopBoys.co.uk:

We can confirm that Pet Shop Boys have remixed Madonna's next single, "Sorry", which will be released in February. At the moment we do not know whether "Sorry (PSB Maxi-Mix)" will be commercially released or only made available on promo copies to club DJs.

Chris and Neil remixed the track in December and Neil added some vocals to it.

: You would think that Madonna's "Jump" with it's quoting elements of "West End Girls" would be a more obvious choice for a PSB remix.

Down To The Underground

The long anticipated second album that Massive Attack was supposed to release in 2003 has a release date- February 2007. Details from nme.com:

Massive Attack's fifth album will be called 'Weather Underground'.

The Bristol band have completed 7 tracks for the album with long term collaborator Neil Davidge producing.

The band have been splitting their time between Bristol and New York where they have been collaborating with TV On The Radio. A release date is set for February 2007.

: At least they know how to plan in advance. Maybe if Portishead put this kind of pressure on themselves they would be more productive. Of course it's not that MA don't have other things on the way...:

Preceding this, the band are set to release 'Collected', a double CD best of on March 27.

The double CD will be preceded by a single 'Live With Me' featuring Terry Callier, set to be released on March 13.

The first CD will feature songs chosen by the band including singles 'Unfinished Sympathy' and 'Protection' while the second CD will feature rare and reworked tracks as well as a DVD of all their promo videos.

Channel 1049 Closes Down

Clear Channel's local alternative station just flipped formats to a Spanish language station at the start of the New Year. Originally started in the late 90's playing 80's Alternative, the station evolved over the years into a station in direct competition with the Bay Area's longstanding Modern Rocker Live 105. On the whole the station lacked the personality of Live 105, particularly since Sean Demery took over from the hack PD who attempted to ruin Live 105 a few years back, but had some nice features like the daily "What The Hell Was That?" and their Saturday night line-up. Oddly enough I just ran into a year old article on the day I discovered the format change that seems oddly prophetic:

Aaron Axelsen, the music director for Live 105, 105.3 FM, doesn't believe that battle is over, though the week I spoke to him, a major alternative station in Washington, D.C., switched its format to ranchero. "It's an interesting crossroads for radio – more competition with satellite radio and iPods and MP3s and 21st-century mediums that have empowered people to create their own musical
mix – but radio listenership has maintained even though we've been hit by all
these new-school mediums, so we have to work extra hard to come up with creative
programming."

: It's also worth noting that the 104.9 frequency hosted a Spanish language station as far back as I can remember before the late 90's flip, and if I remember correctly it went by the name Radio Romantica and ended up just moving down the dial a bit. The new station's name: La Romantica.

Top 40 Tracks Of 2005

Tis the season for counting down and year-end-lists and here I bring you my 40 tracks added to my now defunct internet radio station in 2005:

1. Goldfrapp- Ooh La La
2. LCD Soundsystem- Disco Infiltrator
3. Soulwax- NY Excuse
4. M.I.A.- Galang
5. New Order- Guilt Is A Useless Emotion
6. Timo Maas- First Day
7. Daft Punk- Technologic
8. Ladytron- Destroy Everything You Touch
9. Moby- Where You End
10. Out Hud- How Long
11. Depeche Mode- Precious
12. Vitalic- My Friend Dario
13. Missy Elliot- Lose Control
14. The Lovemakers- Dance
15. Tiga- Louder Than A Bomb
16. Annie- Heartbeat
17. Fischerspooner- Never Win
18. Bloc Party- Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)
19. Gorillaz- Feel Good Inc
20. Kelly Osbourne- One Word
21. Röyksopp- Only This Moment
22. Juliet- Ride The Pain
23. VHS Or Beta- Night On Fire
24. The Juan MacLean- Tito’s Way
25. Chemical Brothers f/Tim Burgess- The Boxer
26. !!!- Take Ecstasy With Me
27. Gwen Stefani f/Andre 3000- Long Way To Go
28. Brazilian Girls- Lazy Lover
29. Freezepop- Smoke Machine
30. LCD Soundsystem- Tribulations
31. Audio Bullys- Shot You Down
32. Riton- Candy
33. Kylie Minogue- I Believe In You
34. The Egg- Wall
35. Beck- Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)
36. Erasure- Breathe
37. New Order- Jetstream (Richard X Remix)
38. Maxx Klaxon- Internationale 2000
39. Saint Etienne- Fascination
40. Afrika Bambaataa f/Gary Numan- Metal

Video Rundown

I have been meaning to post a few links to music videos of note and since this is merely a blog I offer these with a few thoughts:

White Stripes- The Denial Twist

Michel Gondry is a mad genius! An utterly twisted circular take on the day in a life video approach done in a single long take with a variety of bizarre lenses. Band guest on Conan, leave studio, ride in car, enter house, turn on tv, have reception problems, somber Conan comes through a magic door to fix tv and they chat about being in a video. Then the camera pans back across the set to prove how they did it. An imaginative music video for the thinking man.


Korn- Twisted Transistor

Could I care less about Korn? Yes. However this documentary-style video puts the music firmly in the backseat as this the-band-is not-the-band set up is explored with Snoop Dogg, Lil Jon, Xzibit and David Banner standing in for the regular members of the band. Of course this might be further evidence that Snoop will show up anywhere there are cameras (car commercial with a former-ceo, why not?), but director Dave Meyers tones down his glossy style and shows it’s about transistance.


Alanis Morissette- Crazy

What’s this? A glorious returns to her teen disco diva past? The rare video that really accentuates the best features of the artist. In this case, it’s Alanis’ presence and her sitting in the back of the car plays that up nicely. Of course there is the whole playing-guitars-in-the-video-when-there-are-no-guitars-in-that-part-of-the-song thing, but it doesn’t matter. Even stars like Alanis have to make sure they always "rock" even when the music says it is all about the groove.


The Killers- All These Things That I’ve Done

Director/photographer Anton Corbijn does another one of his “humorous” videos shot in his signature black & white. More evidence of Brandon Flower’s modern synthpop roots and DM fandom (see the “It No Good” video for something else in this vein), but far more watchable video than the overplayed far-too-many-pointless-edits-to-be-watched-by-the-sane “Mr Brightside” video. Besides, it’s got a great homage to the opening of “Sunset Blvd” at the beginning.


We Are Scientists- Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt

Get the feeling they’ve watched the “Sabatogue” video a few times? Admitly the opening setup had me fooled since they did an intriguing live version of song on Letterman last week which left me with the impression they could pull off a straight performance video and not bore me to death (that’s saying a lot).

The Sound Of The Atom Splitting

It's release is four months away and suddenly information is leaking out about "Fundamental". PetShopBoys.co.uk just released this running order for the album:

1. God willing
2. Minimal
3. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show
4. I'm with Stupid
5. Psychological
6. I made my excuses and left
7. Integral
8. Numb
9. Luna Park
10. Casanova in Hell
11. Twentieth Century
12. Indefinite leave to remain

: and they had previously announced "Minimal" as the lead single. ArjanWrites has a link to a minute-long instrumental that claims to be from a white label of "Psychological". The sound quality leaves plenty to be desired and I'm not sure it's authentic, but we'll know for sure in a few months.

----Update---
PopJustice got their hands on a promo copy and have a detailed album breakdown on their site.

Close To The Edit

At the center of the latest mash-up contoversy is a local-to-me producer. Party Ben works in the production department at a local radio station and hosts a weekly mash-up mix in addition to producing a number of amazing mash-ups over the years including Oasis vs Green Day, Beyonce vs Alphaville, U2 vs Lyrics Born, Tegan & Sara vs Mylo and Hot Hot Heat vs David Bowie. Here is a bit of from mtv's story about the cease-and-desist order given the "American Edit" site:

His name? Party Ben. And while it's not exactly the coolest or baddest nickname out there, it's the one on the lips of mash-up fans across the globe thanks to AmericanEdit.net, a site he started with another masher — an Australian DJ named Team 9 — that features a track-by-track reworking of Green Day's quadruple-platinum American Idiot album...

"Originally, the goal was to point out just how similar some of the songs on American Idiot are to other rock songs. And at some points it's laugh-out-loud funny, because we're showing people how Green Day just stole some riffs," Ben said via telephone. "But there are also some tracks we did that created entirely new songs, and they're amazing. So we decided to put the entire mashed-up album online, and on November 18 we did. Unfortunately, we were e-mailed a cease-and-desist order on November 28, at which point we shut down."

: There was just a "Grey Tuesday" for the album with a dozens of sites hosting the tracks, but I missed it. Still it's good to see that Party Ben getting more attention.

Vegans In Space

Now that commercial space flight is almost a reality sci-fi fan Moby is taking an interest:

The star looks set to make history after booking a seat on via Richard Branson's 'Virgin Galactic' space flight.

After paying out $207,000 for the privilege, Moby has set the date of his outer space flight for sometime in 2010.

: Maybe he'll take the space suit from the "We Are All Made Of Stars" video.

Feel Good Inc.

Gorillaz got a fair amount of attention a few months ago by assembling all their guest stars for a series of live gigs in Manchester. It was obviously a bit out of the way for a few people and here is what PlayLouder had to say at the time:

Tonight Gorillaz not only proved themselves capable of staging a thrilling live show, but they did so in such a spectacular fashion that you soon forgot about any weaknesses or inconsistencies in the material and simply found yourself caught up in a breathless carnival of animation, guest appearances and leftfield-gospel-hip-hop-dub-pop-rock. Quite stunning.

: Thanks to the wonders of the internet you can stream the gig, or at least the backing video they used along with the performance, by way of aol. Hopefully they will release the rumored dvd of the gig and we'll be able to see all the performers and won't miss out on moments like:

...a riotous 'DARE' sees Shaun Ryder out of time, out of mind and looking worryingly like he's reading his lyrics from a monitor. All four of them. In terms of overall surrealness, however, nothing beats the sight of Ike Turner walking onstage in a sequined jacket, playing 60 seconds of piano in the middle of 'Every Planet We Reach Is Dead' and then walking off again

Who's Your Grammy

This year's Grammy nominations are out and here's what the mainstream media forgot to mention:

Best Dance Recording
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.)

Galvanize
The Chemical Brothers Featuring Q-Tip
The Chemical Brothers, producers; The Chemical Brothers & Steve Dub, mixers
Track from: Push The Button
[Astralwerks]


Say Hello
Deep Dish
Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia & Sharam Tayebi, producers; Deep Dish & Matt Nordstrom,
mixers
[Yoshitoshi]


Wonderful Night
Fatboy Slim & Lateef
Fatboy Slim, producer; Simon Thornton, mixer
Track from: Palookaville
[Astralwerks]


Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
LCD Soundsystem
The DFA, producers; The DFA & Andy Wallace, mixers
Track from: LCD Soundsystem
[DFA Records/Capitol Records]


I Believe In You
Kylie Minogue
Babydaddy & Jake Shears, producers; Jeremy Wheatly, mixer
Track from: Ultimate Kylie
[Capitol Records]


Guilt Is A Useless Emotion
New Order
New Order & Stuart Price, producers; New Order & Stuart Price, mixers
Track from: Waiting For The Sirens' Call
[Warner Bros. Records]





Best Electronic/Dance Album
(For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.)

Push The Button
The Chemical Brothers
[Astralwerks]


Human After All
Daft Punk
[Virgin Records]


Palookaville
Fatboy Slim
[Astralwerks]


Minimum-Maximum
Kraftwerk
[Astralwerks]


LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
[DFA Records/Capitol Records]


Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
(A Remixer's Award. (Artists names appear in parenthesis for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Fever (Adam Freeland Remix)
Adam Freeland, remixer (Sarah Vaughan)
Track from: Verve Remixed 3 (Various Artists)
[Verve]


Flashdance (Guetta & Garraud F*** Me I'm Famous Remix)
Joachim Garraud & David Guetta, remixers (Deep Dish)
Track from: George Is On
[Thrive Records/Deep Dish Recordings]


Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix)
Jacques Lu Cont, remixer (The Killers)
[Island Records]


Superfly (Louie Vega EOL Mix)
Louie Vega, remixer (Curtis Mayfield)
Track from: Mayfield: Remixed The Curtis Mayfield Collection
[Rhino Records]


What Is Hip? (T.O.P.R.M.X.)
Meat Beat Manifesto, remixers (Tower Of Power)
Track from: What Is Hip? Remix Project Volume One (Various Artists)
[Warner Bros.]

: It amuses me that Stuart Price was nominated under his own name as producer of the "best dance recording" for his work with New Order and as Jacques Lu Cont in the remix category. Maybe they don't know it's an alias...

I Keep It Real

Digital download and streaming service Rhapsody just announced a new version of their service that works on the web browsers instead of their standard program. Here's some info from cnet's article:

RealNetworks executives hope the new version, in conjunction with a previous offer allowing people to listen to 25 songs for free, will make it easier for Web surfers to understand what a subscription music service is all about.

"Prior to downloading the software, people don't know what the experience is," said Dan Sheehan, the company's senior vice president of consumer services. "It's like the TiVo problem. Until you experience it, you don't get it."

: Amazingly the web based version of Rhapsody is so much better than the previous take on things. I went through a trial subscription last year and while it was alright with only a slight sound quality issue while streaming I had a horrible experience trying to unsubscribe. Despite my hesitation, I tried out this new version tonight and it’s easy to use and surprisingly unobtrusive. Will it change my itunes habit? Time will tell.

I've Got The Poison

Morcheeba is one of those acts who truly had it all together in the late 90s. Their debut album flirted with trip hop fans suggesting the dark electronic grooves of the Bristol sound, but during the promotion of their follow-up their revealed it was something of a disguise because it was the only way they could get signed as an electronic group interested in songwriting. Their masterpiece “Big Calm” found the group operating at a level that few bands reach; their music rooted in the tradition of great British songwriting wrapped in contemporary packaging that incorporated electronic soundscapes, light funky guitars and legit hip hop beats that went down easy. Unfortunately the band lost their way, as Pitchfork point out, having now lost almost all their charm:

After a string of increasingly flawed LPs, the enticing siren Edwards bolted, leaving the schlubby Godfrey brothers in the dust with their mediocre backing music. So how do Paul and Ross replace one of the sexiest voices of the past 10 years? They throw in former Noonday Underground singer Daisy Martey; an Angela Lansbury replacing a Marilyn Monroe.

: Now it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Click here to download their latest single and judge for yourself.