Do I Sound Like This?

(Video from the Village Voice. Link courtesy of Ben Johnson.)

Eh... maybe not. My speaking voice is much more lovely.

Update: First of all, I'd like to apologize for the fact that this video plays without prompting as soon as the page loads. I'm aware this is the reason we all left MySpace for Facebook. If it didn't think it was important (or at least pertinent) viewing for most of you, I'd consider removing this post entirely.

Secondly, I wanted to add some of my thoughts regarding Chris Weingarten's opinions of online music journalism and criticism. I would have liked to have done so when I first posted the video a few days ago but outside (read: real world) forces prevented this from happening. I went ahead and posted it anyway sans any of my commentary because a) I found it exceptionally compelling and wanted to share it as quickly as possible and b) I'm very much aware of the culture of "firsties" and I had the mild fear that within a few days this video would be exhausted and irrelevant.

In any case, Weingarten (who I confess, I've never read) makes many points that I myself have made in this space on more than one occasion. It's heartening to hear someone else call bullshit on the "hive mind" blog culture, especially when done as in depth and and colorfully as Weingarten does it: "It doesn't matter what someone writes next to the MP3" and "It's not how you best illustrate a keyword, it's how many times a day you can mention a keyword." Right fucking on.

While I largely agree with most of what Weingarten is saying here, I do have a major point of contention. He seems to claim that pre-internet music magazines were inherently superior to blogs. I won't deny that editorial standards were certainly higher ("some" as opposed to "non-existent") but Weingarten is making what more or less amounts to an argument for elitism and cultural hegemony.

Frankly, major music publications aren't and have never been better at exposing their readers to worthy music than blogs currently are. Take Weingarten's employers at Rolling Stone, who their former writer Richard Meltzer claimed "INVENTED the rock 'n' roll puff piece:"

Rolling Stone in the '70s was, as it remains today, a TRADE PAPER, a record industry HYPE SHEET, a promulgator of mass compliance in the Consumer Sector, a principal factor in the dumbing, maiming, and calming down of the public's taste for a rock-roll beast that had once indeed been not only wild & crazy but GENUINELY ANARCHIC.

That might be a little harsh or considered sour grapes but even a cursory look at RS's history will tell you that they were much more interested in James Taylors and John Cougar Mellencamps than Stooges or Minutemen. And it's not exactly like their non-music pop culture coverage is a recent phenomenon.

My problem with most music blogs is not that they are "lowest common denominator" as opposed to "legitimate" music coverage, but that they follow the trade paper/hype sheet format. It's a sad betrayal of the potential of 21st century communication.

I suppose the utopian ideal is something like thousands of digital fanzines, each reflecting the unique taste and ideas of their respective authors, created with ease and accessible to literally anyone in the world. In other words, individual expression instead of algorithmic-derived groupthink. It's an unfortunate fact that most major music blogs are utterly informed by music biz publicists. Thus, the prospect of free, unfettered exchange of ideas has been co-opted by the mechanisms of industry. Perhaps the internet did cause the death the mainstream but really the major differences are that niche taste (including Weingarten's unkillable indie rock) is much more susceptible to the above process and no one's getting paid.

One has to wonder if Weingarten finds irony in the fact that his video deriding art as meme may well become a meme itself. I suspect he'll find it just as ironic as I do every time I use my music blog to express my disgust with music blogs.

Update #2: Hype Machine responds.

I wrote that I had never read Weingarten but it turns out this isn't true. He is the creator of Hipster Puppies. So he already knows exactly what it's like to be a meme.

Wavves and the Saturation Point

New York Magazine occasionally runs this graph called the "Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations." Its purpose is to chart pop culture phenomenon from "buzz" to "backlash" and beyond. I couldn't help but think of this after reading some of the coverage for the latest album from Wavves: Best New Music on Pitchfork, an "A" from the Onion AV Club and even a notice from the paper of record (not records). Wavvves has the good fortune of being released at the "saturation point" of the lo-fi revival that's been gestating in the rock underground for the past couple of years.

This mini-movement was initially a breath of fresh air, especially as a counterpoint to the increasingly slick and studied sounds dominating indieland at the time. It's no coincidence that the revival's early triumphs were released when acts like Sufjan Stevens and The Knife were all the rage. Debuts from the likes of Times New Viking and Jay Reatard were more or less ignored by the larger indie press. (In the case of Mr Reatard, Pitchfork offered a late and rather unconvincing explanation.) As time passed, the movement picked up steam. Bands were signed. Publicists were hired. Money changed hands and soon respected rock critics were trying to explain to their readers why they should buy (or download) records that sounded they were recorded on 1980s answering machine. If it's your job to reflect the zeitgeist, you really don't want to look like you're out of step, and Wavves, G-d bless them, get to reap the benefits.

That said, the album is pretty good. (I've included a song from it on my latest podcast.) An "A" might be an overstatement but a "B+" isn't unreasonable. Nathan Williams writes some insanely catchy songs and has a very good idea how to (self-)produce them for maximum effect. Wavvves has more experimental (read: less melodic) material interspersed throughout the album, but the peaks and valleys give it a certain charm. One could argue that Guided By Voices did the same thing better 15 years ago, but that's not exactly fair.

However, invoking GBV does point out a major difference between the current crop of lo-fi bands and those of the 1990s. Guided By Voices, Pavement, Sebadoh, et al didn't have the option of making a somewhat professional sounding recording on their home computers using GarageBand or Pro Tools. Thus, it's reasonable to conclude that today's bands are making a more self-conscious aesthetic choice to sound like shit. The sentiment of the 90s bands seemed to be that one's songs could recognized as valid no matter what the fidelity of the recording. Today's bands might be more of the philosophy that sounding bad makes their songs good.

There's nothing necessarily wrong what. I personally find the ultra-compression that most modern records employ to be much harder on the ears than any amount of tape hiss and/or distortion. Plus, if we're being honest, most of the aforementioned 90s bands probably didn't have to sound quite as poor as they often did. (Try listening to some of those Sentridoh records again.) The aesthetic of production is going to be an important aspect of any recording. However, it's just a little phony, especially for something that is ostensibly more authentic by nature.

The backlash will come soon enough, probably just when a really great band like Tyvek releases their debut full-length. Through no fault of their own, they'll wind up getting the brunt of the hate. This is unfortunate but that's the hype machine for you, folks. However, there is an upside. Due to the hype, Times New Viking had their third full-length, Rip It Off, almost universally praised by the rock press despite being their weakest effort to date. I've seen the band in concert and they were pretty amazing. Perhaps some criticism being thrown their way will encourage them to hook up with a sympathetic producer who'll capture their live sound. Being "lovingly fucked with" by Mike Rep might only take them so far. Besides, it's an inevitability in music that if there's a bandwagon, there's going to be people jumping on it. It won't take long for some hacks to realize "Hey, if we sound like this, we'll get some attention." Hopefully, they'll be stopped in their tracks if there's no longer a trend to hop. Discriminating ears will always be able to tell the difference but it's not like those are in abundance.

Incidentally, if you were expecting me to create some pun using "Wavves" in conjunction with "saturation" or the very parabolic curve of the NY Mag graph, you're shit out of luck. I'm just not that clever.

How She (Almost Accidentally) Wrote "Elastic Man"

(The face that gives Simon Cowell nightmares.)

From the old news but new to me department (from UK tabloid the Sun, link courtesy of Failed Pilot):

THEY may share the same surname but that’s it for similarities between angelic Britain’s Got Talent teen FARYL SMITH and gnarled FALL frontman MARK E SMITH.

So imagine Universal Records’ surprise when they received the first shipment of Faryl’s debut CD from the pressing plant.

A cock-up in production meant that instead of delicate balladry in the honeyed tones of their recently signed youngster, what actually ended up on discs bearing her artwork and info were the grumblings of Mark and his fellow Manc veterans’ 2008 album Imperial Wax Solvent.

Needless to say, Universal chiefs weren’t best pleased.

My spy tells me: “They had ordered hundreds of copies and they were staggered by what was on it.

“They have had severe words with the pressing plant.”

I suppose there's some kind record collecting nerd fantasy that thousands of tween girls would hear Mark E and the Fall and have their minds blown and suddenly "get it" ala Mona Simpson and Joe Namath's hair. I'll admit it's a pretty silly thought to entertain but it's also one of the pretenses under which I publish this blog.

Hence:

Touch and Gone?

It appears as though landmark independent label Touch and Go is shutting down its long running distribution wing. There's no word on how this move will effect their distributed labels, including indie powerhouses such as Merge, Kill Rock Stars and Drag City. This is indeed disconcerting news but at least it's not quite as bad as originally (and incorrectly) reported by Pitchfork, who said the label would no longer be releasing new music.

Below is the statement issued by label head Corey Rusk:

"It is with great sadness that we are reporting some major changes here at Touch and Go Records. Many of you may not be aware, but for nearly 2 decades, Touch and Go has provided manufacturing and distribution services for a select yet diverse group of other important independent record labels. Titles from these other labels populate the shelves of our warehouse alongside the titles on our own two labels, Touch and Go Records, and Quarterstick Records.

Unfortunately, as much as we love all of these labels, the current state of the economy has reached the point where we can no longer afford to continue this lesser known, yet important part of Touch and Go’s operations. Over the years, these labels have become part of our family, and it pains us to see them go. We wish them all the very best and we will be doing everything we can to help make the transition as easy as possible.

Touch and Go will be returning to its roots and focusing solely on being an independent record label. We’ll be busy for a few months working closely with the departing labels and scaling our company to an appropriate smaller size after their departure. It is the end of a grand chapter in Touch and Go’s history, but we also know that good things can come from new beginnings."

If you'd like to help keep the label in business, why don't you give them some much needed cash flow by heading over to their online store and picking up one (or more) of the many, many fine records they've released in the past 25+ years:

Slint Spiderland
For better or worse, the album that invented "math rock" but done with a lot more warmth and excitement than its imitators could ever muster.

Silkworm Lifestyle
It was only last week that I posted about my fondness for Silkworm. All their releases for Touch and Go are excellent. This one may or may not be the best of the lot but it's got an ace cover of "Ooh La La" to entice you.

Negative Approach Total Recall
Negative Approach's debut 10-song (!) seven-inch might just be greatest hardcore record ever. This CD contains their entire recorded output.

The Mekons Fear and Whiskey
The finest Mekons on record (outside of "Where Were You?") and one of the rare times a Hank Williams affectation is actually affecting.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living With the Living
TL's 2007 full-length, considered by some his best yet.

Big Boys The Skinny Elvis and The Effigies Remains Non-Viewable
Collections for two of the better American punk bands of the early 80s, who both went far beyond the parameters of the standard, 1-2-3-4 punk-by-numbers sound.

Big Black The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape
I couldn't well have a discussion about Touch and Go with mentioning Steve Albini's drum machine noise assault trio, could I? This was their first CD release, hence the title. Contains the Atomizer album in it's entirety, which is as good an indication as any to see if your ears are suited to this band's particular brand of pummeling.

There's also plenty of worthy releases from bands like Polvo, Naked Raygun, The New Year, The Monorchid, The Ex, The Dirty Three and many more. You can check Pitchfork's list of 25 essential Touch and Go albums for further suggestions.

With apologies to anyone who might be playing it...

...after experiencing more than a few, I've concluded that the CMJ Music Marathon is more or less a bunch of marginally talented people yelling "Me too!" at the top of their lungs.

(Most images of the CMJ logo are kind of boring, so here's a picture of CM Punk wrestling Samoa Joe)

Yes, there are hundreds of bands playing in New York over the next couple of days and a few of them are even good. However, is it crass to suggest that all these worthy bands will be playing NYC at some other point when one wouldn't have to elbow their way through a bunch of should-have-been-wet-spots-on-the-sheets with passes who are only at the show because a) they think they should be and b) are getting in for free? Should "passes will be honored" be a prerequisite to going to a rock show?

I know most bands feel like they have to play the game but given the current state of the recording industry is that really a wise or necessary move? As the parents of most of my ex-girlfriends have wondered loudly to their offspring, don't you think you can do better?

Now That's What I Call Justice!

Or: Music Blogger Thrown in Jail for Endorsing Awful, Bloated, Multi-Million Dollar Disaster in the Making.



From the Los Angeles Times:

A man accused of posting nine previously unreleased songs by the rock band Guns N' Roses on a website where they could be accessed by the public was arrested at his home early today on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws, authorities said.

Kevin Cogill, 27, is accused of posting the songs, which were being prepared for commercial release, on the Internet blog Antiquiet in June, according to an arrest affidavit. The site received so much traffic after the songs were posted that it crashed, the affidavit states.

Cogill admitted to posting the songs when he was questioned by an FBI agent, according to the affidavit. He was arrested at his home in Culver City this morning and is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles later today, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Craig Missakian.

This is despite Cogill's position of quite possibly being the only person in the universe to enjoy said tracks, saying "if you ask me, Guns N’ Roses are fucking back, and they’ll be just fine."

The recording industry might also want to pick up the proprietors of a little known site called YouTube which has had the tracks up for at least a few months. Even with the flood of leaks it's hard to imagine any fan of Appetite for Destruction paying for something that sounds like Trent Reznor and Sade taking a nap but at least Tommy Stinson is employed.

Can you make your best of '08 list already?

New York Magazine has a pretty interesting article on music file sharing (in particular the recently defunct OiNK) with a focus on albums being leaked before their street date. The gist is more or less than many of those responsible for leaking albums are actually folks who work in the industry. That's no big surprise, is it? Who else is getting promo copies before an album comes out? You could make a very good argument that the biz is perpetuating it's own downfall with it's ungodly number of promo copies, which this article more or less does. However, it doesn't really delve into the biz's hypocrisy of giving away 1000s of promo copies for just about every release then crying foul when the public wants the same access. Nor does it discuss their failure to adapt to new technology. I find a bit ironic that the industry's push of the compact disc format 20 years ago sustained them in the short term (higher suggested retail price, baby boomers replacing their beaten LPs) but would eventually be the impetus for its undoing. After all, CDs made the music digital and thus paved the way for easy and nearly instant one-click ripping. How many members of the music buying public do you think are taking the time to convert vinyl to MP3s? (I'm not talking about geeks like you and I. I'm talking about the people who buy Fergie and Rascal Flatts albums.) And perhaps if the industry wasn't quite so focused on pushing disposable pop then maybe the public wouldn't think of music as being disposable and would want it in a hard format.

But I digress. The article is worth checking out (even if I find the idea of "ripping crews" to be a bit hard to swallow). Here's an excerpt:

But it’s clear that even those whose careers depend on plugging leaks participate in spreading them. They just can’t help themselves. One label employee estimated that 90 percent of his friends in the industry download unauthorized music (which, it should be stated, is less controversial than uploading, but collaboration nonetheless). I spoke to a label owner who has liquidated almost half his CD collection. “I’ve downloaded music, yes,” he says. “It’s like masturbation— technology is at a point where you can’t prevent people from doing something they can easily do. That’s demanding too much of human nature.”

Read the entire article here.