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22 Jan 2010 18:20

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Tech: A court knocks a few bucks off Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s piracy bill

  • $2 million the amount Jammie owed the RIAA based on the last court decision; that’s $80,000 for 24 songs each
  • $54,000 the amount Jammie now owes based on the new court decision; that’s $2,250 per song source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jan 2010 11:03

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Music: Canadian folk music icon Kate McGarrigle dies of cancer at 63

McGarrigle, a noted folksinger in her own right, was the mother of Martha and Rufus Wainwright (shown right) and was married to Loudon Wainwright III. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 12:40

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Music: ShortFormBlog Saturday Mixtape: Remembering Jay Reatard

  • Jay Reatard was a musical genius of brevity. His great gift was an uncanny ability to write a pop song tighter, more stylistically diverse and with with more hooks than anyone else. Which is why his death earlier this week came as a total shock. His best days weren’t behind him. He was just getting started. So with that said, here are five songs from his fruitful recent period which nail down why he’s essential.

  • 1. “My Shadow” was something of a calling card to the rest of the world about what his hometown of Memphis already knew from his many early bands – Reatard’s ability to reimagine punk as fun, poppy, and dark was unparalleled.
  • 2. “All Over Again” was one of Reatard’s best singles, and he recorded a lot of them. In fact, he released TWO singles compilations in 2008, and both of them were stylistically different enough to warrant purchase of both. Despite its two-minute length, the song doesn’t feel anything remotely close to short. It’s loaded with ideas.
  • 3. In Jay Reatard’s heaven, “Haunting You” should be playing on repeat. It’s quite literally his modus operandi, and it feels like, considering the circumstances of this week, that it was written ahead of time, to his many fans – past, present and future.
  • 4. What Reatard did better than most was the driving chorus, insistent and forceful. “Always Wanting More,” was a great example of what he does best. In a live setting, he played his short songs as quickly as he could, often not stopping for stage banter and plowing through songs as if he was a Ramone.
  • 5. Perhaps the most interesting part of Reatard’s most recent release, “Watch Me Fall” (what an ominous album title), was an evolution of his sound. He started adding elements from 1980s Kiwi-rock on the album, and largely drove the songs with acoustic guitars rather than thrashing electric sound of most of his earlier material. Single “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” (also ominous) showed a sound that was getting more diverse without losing its best elements. What a terrible, awful loss of someone so amazing.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jan 2010 09:23

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Culture, Music: Teddy Pendergrass dies: ’70s R&B icon dead at 59

  • That night I saw the coming of a superstar. When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn’t even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic and when he started singing, he just blew them away.
  • Producer Leon Huff • Recalling the first stage performance of Teddy Pendergrass, a huge pop star in the ’70s. Beyond his hits – including solo hits “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Close the Door,” “Turn off the Lights” and “Love TKO,” along with “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” and “I Miss You” as lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – he was known for having an unfortunate car crash in 1982 which left him paralyzed. Despite this, he continued his music career until 2007. He was one of the greats. Losing him at the same time as Jay Reatard is really sad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2010 22:55

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Music: One-word album reviews: No Vampire Weekend sophomore slump

Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2010 22:35

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Music: One-word album reviews: Catching up with 2009’s overlooked

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04 Jan 2010 01:17

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Music: Michael Jackson gives us “Another Day” to wonder what if

  • This isn’t the full song, but it’s enough to let you know that Michael Jackson still had it late in his life. “Another Day,” a collaboration with Lenny Kravitz reportedly recorded last year (unlike earlier “Dangerous”-era tune “This is It”), sounds like the work of the someone who had something to say. It’s sad that we won’t get the full answer as to what that is.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Jan 2010 19:33

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Music: Chris Cornell, sensing a musical dead-end, reunites Soundgarden

  • Remember these guys? Of course you do. The first shot in the Grunge revolution, Soundgarden, plans to reunite in 2010, according to Billboard. And just in time, too. Lead singer Chris Cornell has had a post-Soundgarden career that’s among the worst in rock music, including these missteps:
  • moody Cornell’s first solo album, “Euphoria Morning,” was way closer to Jeff Buckley’s sound than Soundgarden.
  • super Cornell then turned most of the members of Rage Against the Machine into mush with Audioslave.
  • sleepy Cornell’s second solo disc, “Carry On,”  was worse than Audioslave and had a boring “Billie Jean” cover.
  • wtf?? Cornell then made “Scream,” one of 2009’s worst records, with Timbaland. Atone for your sins! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jan 2010 19:12

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Music: Saturday Mixtape: Five trailblazers to start out the next decade

  • 1. Folk: The Avett Brothers had a pretty good 2009, with a large major-label mainstream breakthrough in the form of “I and Love and You.” As folk goes, their sound – influenced by ramshackle punk and Beatlesque melodies as much as traditional Guthrieisms – seems ready to define folk-rock for the next decade. And unlike Ryan Adams, they have a fairly consistent musical plot, which means they won’t screw this up so easily.
  • 2. Punk: Fucked Up may perhaps be the most interesting thing to happen to hardcore punk in a couple of decades. There’s a distinct level of risk in their performance style (they’re known for being violent and confrontational) and their sound (their most well-known album, “The Chemistry of Common Life,” opens with a flute solo – not exactly hardcore), and it’s a definite blueprint for punk’s future that could win them fans over time.
  • 3. Electronic/Noise: HEALTH has two pretty good albums to their name, and with a brutal live set (punctuated by pin-drop changes in dynamic), a tie to one of L.A.’s best scenes at The Smell, and an ear to the potential of electronic music (2007’s HEALTH//DISCO remix album proved to be a great evolution of their sound), they’re bound to come up with a great album eventually.
  • 4. Pop: Chromeo is perhaps the most influential pop band that currently isn’t getting heavy play on the radio. Mainstream acts are riffing on their retro sound (which itself riffs on Hall & Oates, with a little French electronica mixed in there) left and right, and they come up way more often in articles about pop music than they do on iPod playlists. With a third album in 2010, expect them to get an even bigger profile.
  • 5. Rock: Titus Andronicus perhaps has one of the most interesting conceits for an album in 2010 – “The Monitor,” a concept piece on the Civil War, anchored by a song called “The Battle of Hampton Roads.” The scrappy indie rockers, if they pull it off, could win the kind of respect handed to guys like Craig Finn of The Hold Steady. The band already has a history the with concept album, so it should be intriguing.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Dec 2009 12:08

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Culture: John Mayer thinks we all need a “digital cleanse” to start out 2010

  • Someone is all teched out. And who else isn’t? In a year where Facebook Connect became a constant companion because you just couldn’t remember another password to another site, John Mayer’s convinced that society at large needs a digital cleansing. And who’s to say he’s wrong? He has a pretty good point, guys.
  • The Cleanse John Mayer wants everyone to take a week off of the social Web. “I’ll be defragmenting my mental and psychological hard drive during the first seven days of the new year, and I invite you all to participate.”
  • the details He wants everyone interested to stop using social networking for one week, to only use their cell phones for calls, to only use their laptops for e-mail and to stop visiting celebrity gossip sites, because they rot the mind.
  • will it work? Mayer passed the idea by people – to begin tomorrow and end January 8 – and saw some resistance. “If it is impossible, than my theory is already proven and we’re in big trouble as a society.” Good point. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
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