Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Nick Waterhouse - Some Place
Nick Waterhouse is gaining a large following. I recently saw him open for Lee Fields and The Expressions in New York. I did it based on this video and his appearance on LFDH.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Maximum Cowbell - Your Life is a Lie - MGMT
MGMT uses an oversize cowbell on their Letterman appearance. Pretty cool.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
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.
Shut your mouth and start this minute
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 worldShut 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
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.
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.
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