Maximum Cowbell - Your Life is a Lie - MGMT

MGMT uses an oversize cowbell on their Letterman appearance. Pretty cool.

Get Off This - David Lowery Challenges Status Quo

Cracker's lead singer, David Lowery, put together the  300 Songs blog provides an extremely thorough overview of his career with Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. More importantly, Lowery's grasp of the music business has put him at the forefront of the battle between artists and corporations. His influential work on that subject is available on The Trichordist (Artists For An Ethical and Sustainable Internet). Its pretty common for his posts to make ripples in the music press and beyond.

• I Made More From Selling A T-Shirt Than From 1 Million Plays On Pandora
• How Much Does A Songwriter Earn When Pandora Plays His Song 1.16 Million Times? Hint: It’s Not Much
• The Digital Skeptic: David Lowery Wants the Maoism Out of the Music

If you're curious to find out how Lowery (described as a temperamental and tenacious talent) manages to run two bands and make a living in the music business, check out "Get Off This" | A Film About Music + Perseverance'' and the associated Facebook Page.

Get off this

Get on with it

If you wanna change the world
Shut your mouth and start this minute

Note: I am a Cracker fan. 10CDs worth to date (in my personal collection that ranks them with Hiatt, Costello, and Springsteen) I've even attended a Cracker Campout at Pappy and Harriet's Palace in Pioneertown.  It is one of the best venues in North America to hunker down with your favourite band. There aren't many barriers between the band and the audience out there. I personally love streaming music services for the convenience. However, if bands can't afford to make music, something needs to give. 

Nickelback Didn't Fumble at McMahon Stadium

I've never really hated Nickelback but there is a large group of detractors out there. The band went to tremendous expense to perform at the Alberta Flood Aid concert according to reports (none of the other performers seemed to need to make this fact known - but none of them are filling arenas either, bigger shows, bigger budgets).

Unfortunately for Chad Kroeger and his bandmates, much of that goodwill was lost because the band didn't allow live streaming of their performance. Artists are free to exercise control of their creative work but it does interrupt the flow of a show when the ending gets cut off.

Read - Update: Fans vent anger at Nickelback for refusing to allow flood aid concert to be broadcast

The only time I've experienced this was at the Calgary Folk Music Festival where in rare instances, performers demanded that the video feed for the big screens be turned off.  I don't know how to put this nicely but both times were with performers who struggle with mental illness (I believe Michelle Shocked in 2004 and Jeff Mangum in 2012 but I'm a bit hazy on the details).

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness. - Aristotle

Unlike travelling folk singers, Nickelback is lucky enough to have "people" look after the details. Clearly "Nickelback Inc." didn't want their live show broadcast to the masses. A statement to that effect would clear things up but the circus has left town. An international tour starts shortly. One that will allow the band to make some Do-Re-Me. Weddings to pay for etc.

You can have your personal reasons to hate Nickelback but expecting them to provide a free performance beyond the confines of the Flood Aid concert isn't one of them. If you're a fan, you'll pay to see them. If you're not, nothing much has changed. 

Lorde in the USA

Lorde has been doing some travelling! All the way to KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic studios. I don't think Taylor Swift would sound this good in a minimalist setting.

M&Ms... No wait! Eminem!!!

I'm not a rapper, I'm an adapter.

The Headstones are not dead

Jian Ghomeshi interviews with Hugh Dillon of the Headstones. Unlike that Boxcutters guy, Hugh doesn't mind talking about acting and music in the same interview. It's been 11 years since the last Headstones album. They used PledgeMusic to fund the project. I'm glad I don't work in the music industry. There's not much friction between the artist and fan anymore.

Some Kids - LORDE-Royals

Some kids like New Zealand's Ella Yelich-O'Connor aka Lorde may not have seen much of the world (a recent article said she'd never been on a plane) but her catchy "Royals" song is capturing the ears of people all over the globe. A simple and real song from a 16 year old with amazing talent.

Dawes at Lee's Palace

The Toronto Urban Roots Festival featured some club gigs which is a great idea. I love seeing bands in small clubs as opposed to a festival setting. Dawes has 3 albums out and there's been a steady progression with each offering. If you like the Asylum Records sound (Jackson Brown, Warren Zevon) you'll probably like Dawes. Taylor Goldsmith is a great songwriter and the combination of warm Laurel Canyon sounds with clever lyrics makes for a solid body of work. Not much filler. They put on a great show. The opening act was the Felice Brothers and a very nice surprise was seeing Craig Finn of the Hold Steady join them during their encore. Craig watched the Dawes show with James Felice at the back of the club.

I pestered Craig for a photo and he was very gracious.

Last.fm Logos Generator

Last.fm does a good job of tracking my listening habits. Here's a graphic generated by the Last.fm Logos Generator Interesting to see the White Stripes and Jack Black so close the the Black Keys. Mr. Black has a hate on for Dan Auerbach at the moment.

Super Furry Animals - White Socks/Flip Flops

Happy surprise of the day...