Down with the hacks

It's no secret that I don't like Radiohead. There was even a regular joke with an ex of mine that we couldn't date Radiohead fans: I still can't. I found the band's music pretentious, boring and uninspired. I'm quite willing to admit that I'm prejudiced, but you know, whatever. Normally, I would not bother post about that, but a couple of recent events infuriate me.

As a follow-up to their last winter PR stunt, where their album "In Rainbows" was available online for what you deemed it worth, the band recently opened a contest to remix the second single from the album, "Nude". The intention could be laudable. After all, it is an original way to involve their fan-base and bringing a happy few some recognition.
However, apprentice remixers have to download one to five different stems at $1 each from iTunes in order to enter the contest. That, in itself, is already a despicable maneuver. On top of it, as Ms Watercutter reported on Wired:

What's sort of unclear is what actually happens to remixers who get the most votes. According to iTunes' New Music Tuesday e-mail, "Select mixes will be made available on iTunes later this year." Uh, OK. Then what? Do the creators get a portion of the sales revenue? A "thank you" e-mail from Thom Yorke and Co.? The glory of saying, "You love me! You really love me!"? Or perhaps some American Apparel back-warmer emblazoned with "I Won a Radiohead Remix Contest and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" (front) "The Free Economy Sucks" (back)?

So, Radiohead will make money on the back of their fans ? Well, after all, that's what fans are for, right. And Radiohead, or at least, their representatives and publisher, already sent a cease-and-desist letter to Amplive, an Oakland DJ who had remixed the whole album and was offering it for... free. Gasp. Free... Anyway, that's old news, an agreement has been reached between both parties and the whole album is now available online. Get it here.

Now, the cherry on the cake is that this contest stunt seems to work very well: the song made the Billboard Hot 100. Turns out that each stem is counted as a regular download of the whole song (because Billboard considers each stem a different remix). As Wired points out:

Radiohead made the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since 1996 because the remix stems for "Nude" counted towards sales totals for the song.

And of course, higher positions in the chart usually translate in higher sales, more frequent airplay, and therefore yet higher rankings...

OK, maybe the band members are for nothing in that matter. Maybe the blame is only on the representatives, on iTunes, on Billboard or any combination of. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Still, that stinks of scam, and I'm surprised that nobody tried yet to expose the band for the commercial hacks they are. Ah, where's the indie police when you need it ?


BTW, the picture is from the hilarious rainbowpuke site, about puking rainbows...

My couch is a pop-star

Our good friend Keith John Adams just completed a 3-weeks tour with Andy From Denver, and the last show was Tuesday at Flicker, with Andy opening and Casper & the Cookies headlining.

It's always a rare pleasure to catch Keith our side of the pond. My first introduction was in 2005, for the second Popfest. Keith played part of his set in the street, outside the 40W, with an acoustic guitar. We were lucky to have the same experience Tuesday, when the first half of the set was performed outside the Flicker bar, this time with an electric guitar (Keith had a tiny amp on his belt) and the famous toy-piano. As a bonus, Keith showed us some sweet moves while backing up Andy on tambourine...

Keith's new album "Unclever" has been out since mid-February. You may remember that as a special promotion, you could pre-order the album and for a few extra bucks have KJA himself write a song just for you (provided you gave him a funny story to write about). Way cheaper than Momus' "Stars for a day". The offer was limited to the first 40 subscribers, and the songs have been shipped on 2 CDRs along with the actual CD. Mike Turner already posted 7 tracks on his blog, and asked friends of his to post the other tracks. If you don't want to spend afternoons surfing, you'll find shortcuts to some stories and the corresponding songs below...

Of course, I couldn't resist and asked Keith for a song, who was graceful to dedicate it to... my couch. A word of explanation is needed:

When I moved to Athens, I shared an apartment with some friends. In the living room were two couches that came with the flat, old 70es-style pieces of furniture of unknown origin that must have seen a lot of action over the last decades. One late afternoon in Summer 2006, the Cookies, the HHBTM family and Keith came to pick my then-girlfriend and myself for some sushi delights. As we were waiting for the little Miss to get ready, I started fixing up some drinks while everybody picked up seats. Here's an excerpt of the conversation :

- Me, to Keith approaching the divan : "Mate, be careful with the..."
- Keith, springing back to his feet and holding his arse : "Ouch, ouch, ouch !"
- Me : "...couch, it'll rape you if you try to sit on it too fast."

Since then, I had to leave that apartment, but the couches came along, and they still torture careless guests. You've been warned.


Links & MP3s

Ouch Couch : a true story...

HHBTM

• Do The MMT (for Mike Turner)
• Wonderful Friends (for Eric Hernandez)
• Sloppy Loppy (for Leslie DS)
• Double Jay Day (for Jason Jones)
• Perspective
• Sane Boyfriend
• Whadayawant

Three Imaginary Girls

• 15 Pound Zucchini (for Mike Yetter)
• Amazon Twilight (for Raynald Cany)
• Blue Meanies (for Jeff Kuykendall)
• Arty Party (for Dave?)

Indie MP3

• Evil Bus Depot (for Trev LostMusic)
• Daddy Tom (for Tom LostMusic)
• Lost In Korea (for Nathan and Faith Jennings)
• Marry Me In London (for Scot)
• Minus The Cat ( for Tim Schnepp)

24HPP

• Cruise with the Hippies (for Joe Attalah)
• Colors (for Harper Lee and Claire Glazer)
• Caterpillar (for Jason NeSmith)
• Cocaine Off A Hooker's Chest (for Fishboy)

You Ain't No Picasso

• Kidnapped by Filipinos (for Mike Jordan)

A visit from the real world

Some old and dear friend of mine and a friend of hers came to visit Athens this week-end straight from up North, somewhere "in the real world" as they nicknamed their Massachusetts haven. Luckily for my guests, there was plenty to do...

Fri. 04/04 (incidentally, the 7th anniversary of my American Adventures) saw Spring Tigers rocking the Flicker Bar out. That was the second Tigers show since their return from SXSW, and they were really tight. Unfortunately, the PA had some difficulties catching up with their set-up and the sound was sub-par for most of the tunes. Nevertheless, a very efficient show.

Till we are talking about Spring Tigers, let me open a parenthesis and urge you to check "New Improved Formula", their first video-clip, shot and edited by their keyboardist, Brian Smith. 90s of pure energetic catchiness, a fast and in-your-face editing and... kittens. All the ingredients for a youtube hit, as you can see for yourself below. FYI, most of the footages were filmed in Austin, TX during SXSW: the astute viewer will recognize bits of the Kindercore showcase performance at the Light Bar, as well as pictures of the Congress district. And a bunny.



We moved next door (40W) afterwards, where Dark Meat were playing an "acoustic" show. The quotes indicate that even if the guitars/bass were not electrified, the full band was on stage, keeping intact the power and chaos of their more "classical" performances. The show was a benefit for Gus Ramos, a local musician still hospitalized in critical but stable condition after a moped accident. Also on the bill were Music Hates You, but I phased out. On our way home, we got called inside a party where I narrowly escaped being savagely mauled by a tiny dog, who hated me. I wonder whether its name was music.

After recovering in front of Godard's "Bande à part" and strolling along the Oconee River Trail, we eventually found ourself Sat. 04/05 evening at the Go Bar, for a show of one of my favorite local bands, The Buddy System. No need for introductions as I post regularly about them. Portable TV sets and monitors appropriately placed in the bar let the whole audience enjoy the animations, their classical ones along a new song, based on a new concept (think a kind of photonovella, with Lauren Gregg's characteristic touch superimposed). It was refreshing and bodes well for the near future, as TBS keep pushing their limits. Great job, guys... And then we danced our ass off as Dan Geller spinned a tiny part of his 80es/90es indie -dance standards collection, before moving to Little Kings for DJ Mahogany's BDay Bash, and finally to the famous DIY venue where we did not catch any show but still had a lot of fun.

Sunday was spent in a mini REM pilgrimage (Weaver D's, the steeple...), watching Kitano's "Kikujirô no natsu" and yours truly realizing that preparing food for your friends is not a cook-out if you don't cook outside. We could have tried to catch We vs the Shark at the Farm 255, but a certain bottle of whiskey had to be finished before going to bed: guess who'll be married or hanged in the year, as we say back home ?

Anyhow. Guys, come back soon, we miss you already. What's so good about the real world anyway ? Oh yes, I forgot...

MP3s
Dark Meat - Three Eyes Open
Dark Meat - Freedom Ritual
Spring Tigers - Wichitalinemanager
Spring Tigers - Beep Beep

Fun with the Federal Reserve

Dear reader, can you spot the inconsistencies in the following speech, given today by Fed. Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke ? Here's an extract (the full speech is available here):

Well-functioning financial markets are essential for the efficacy of monetary policy and, indeed, for economic growth and stability. To improve market liquidity and market functioning, and consistent with its role as the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve has supplemented its longstanding discount window by establishing three new facilities for lending to depository institutions and primary dealers.
...
The Primary Dealer Credit Facility was put in place in the wake of the near-failure of Bear Stearns, a large investment bank. On March 13, Bear Stearns advised the Federal Reserve and other government agencies that its liquidity position had significantly deteriorated and that it would have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the next day unless alternative sources of funds became available. This news raised difficult questions of public policy. Normally, the market sorts out which companies survive and which fail, and that is as it should be. However, the issues raised here extended well beyond the fate of one company. Our financial system is extremely complex and interconnected, and Bear Stearns participated extensively in a range of critical markets. With financial conditions fragile, the sudden failure of Bear Stearns likely would have led to a chaotic unwinding of positions in those markets and could have severely shaken confidence. The company’s failure could also have cast doubt on the financial positions of some of Bear Stearns’ thousands of counterparties and perhaps of companies with similar businesses. Given the current exceptional pressures on the global economy and financial system, the damage caused by a default by Bear Stearns could have been severe and extremely difficult to contain. Moreover, the adverse effects would not have been confined to the financial system but would have been felt broadly in the real economy through its effects on asset values and credit availability. To prevent a disorderly failure of Bear Stearns and the unpredictable but likely severe consequences of such a failure for market functioning and the broader economy, the Federal Reserve, in close consultation with the Treasury Department, agreed to provide funding to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase. Over the following weekend, JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase Bear Stearns and assumed Bear’s financial obligations.
...
Clearly, the U.S. economy is going through a very difficult period. But among the great strengths of our economy is its ability to adapt and to respond to diverse challenges. Much necessary economic and financial adjustment has already taken place, and monetary and fiscal policies are in train that should support a return to growth in the second half of this year and next year. I remain confident in our economy’s long-term prospects.

Emphasis are mine.

OK, hold on a minute, I'm getting confused. So, we live in an allegedly self-regulated market economy, where profits made by companies are redistributed only among their share-holders, and where companies in weakened positions are ruthlessly bought by healthier competitors, right ? Basic application of Darwinism to global economy, I can understand. But when the market gets screwed up, when the very same companies took too many risks and can't assume them, the federal administration intervenes with a big pile of public cash and erases the tab before things get worse ? That's pure genius ! As a speculator, I could have my cake, eat it, and have an affair with the pastry girl ! I still feel a piercing pain in my back pocket...

I'm also quite fond of the opposition "financial system / real economy". Should I understand that our current financial systems are fake economy ? Argh. Hard science and computing are so much simpler.

[Insert Billy Bragg/Stereolab song here]

Anyway. Caribou show tonight at the 40W. Looks like they found a new drummer...

Emo kids of the world...

Yesterday, I ran into an article of Wired about demonstrations of Emo Kids in Mexico, protesting the recent raise of violent anti-emo acts over the country. As stated by Wired,

A series of attacks on dyed-hair, eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north of Mexico City.

The next week, shaggy-haired emo teenagers were harassed again by punks and rockabillys in the capital, prompting police protection and a segment on the TV news. Most recently, a Mexican newspaper reported that metal heads and gangsters have warned Tijuana's emo kids to stay away from the town's fair next month.

But the so-called emos are organizing, too. Last week, they demonstrated against the violence, pictured above, and Wednesday some met with police in Mexico City.

My first reaction was a smirk: emo kids being beaten by punks and goths ? It's so sad I want to cut myself and cry about it. Typical.

But then, I realized that it's actually quite sickening and frightening: it is not because I personally find the emo culture ridiculous that I can condone the violence against followers, on the contrary. The situation is escalating: as reported by The Daily Swarm, the riots are now spreading to Northern Mexico, with attacks reported in Juárez and Tijuana. It is not especially new nor confined to Mexico only either. A month before, in Chili, an attack of emo kids by skinheads was also signaled. A few months ago, a gang of teenagers assaulted a couple of goths in Lancashire, eventually killing a young woman, as covered by the BBC:

A 15-year-old boy kicked and stamped to death a woman because she was dressed as a Goth, a court heard.
The drunk teenager was among a gang of five who “savagely and mercilessly” attacked Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend, Preston Crown Court heard.
Miss Lancaster was begging the gang to stop beating Robert Maltby, 21, when they turned on her in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, the jury was told.

Now, substitute "emo" or "goth" by any other minority (racial, sexual) and be afraid, be very afraid of the world in which we are living.

Lost Post #1 - week 13

"Where did time go" was the motto of that week: following the lateness pattern initiated the previous week, I ended up missing most shows.

Tue. 03/04
I was pretty thrilled to hear that the HEAP (ex HEAP project) was playing at Caledonia, along Diet Rock Stars and Kenosha Kid. For once however, the show was early and on time, with HEAP opening, so they were already done by the time I showed up. Pity, for I'm a big fan. HEAP is fronted by Bryan J. Howard on bass and vocals, accompanied Jeff Rieter (bass), Ian Werden (drums), Jim Wilson aka Diego Catalan (percussions), Paul Kim (keyboards) and a horn trio (Jeff Crouch on trumpet, Marcus Gilley and Chris Costigan on sax). It's groovy in an indie-meets-funk way, it's roughly Athens response to Morphine, it's unique in our area, it's definitely worth many listens. An album is in preparation and should hopefully be available in June. A couple of shows will be announced before that. Stay tuned.

So I moved next door to the 40 Watt and caught Bomb The Music Industry!. BTMI! is a collective from Baldwin, NY, formed in 2004 around Jeff Rosenstock, with members as famous as Matt Kurz (the Matt Kurz one) or Jeff Tobias (We versus the Shark, Pegasuses XL). It's punk, with some horns: that's not sufficient to qualify it as ska, but that gives a nice Mano Negra feel to it... They ranted against our local institution, Flagpole, maybe because the journal nominated them for the Worst Band Name of 2007, category "OMG Get Excited!!!!". Anyway, that was the last night of their tour, they had to go back to their day jobs in Brooklyn, NY just after.

Pegasuses XL were headlining and celebrating the release of their first album, The Antiphon, on Ernest Jennings Record Co. Very efficient show, Becky "Cars Can Be Blue" Brooks on backing vocals on The Big Haunt. No running-around-the-block pre-show antics this time, just a big group hug, but the feeling was there.

I highly recommend you to lend an ear or two to Antiphon, for it is a very homogeneous album that you should find filed under electro-punk-rap. It doesn't sound as Add N to X-meets-Ladytron than their first EPs, it doesn't have the brutal impact The Midnight Aquarium had (I guess the surprise effect gets diluted with time), it is surprisingly subdued: at a time when twee kids listen to Bearsuit, one would expect Pegasuses to be more in your face. Take a song like Marathon Mansion from the Antiphon and compare it to Run the Gauntlet from their first EP: both are great, mind you, but my preference goes to the second. Still, go and get Antiphon, you won't be disappointed.

MP3s
Pegasuses XL - Run the Gauntlet
Pegasuses XL - Marathon Mansion
Pegasuses XL - The Big Haunt (that's the hit!)

Pictures of the 40W show are available on Mike White's site.
____

Wed. 03/05
A gazillion bands were playing at Little Kings that evening: Madeline, Heather Hines and Liza Sullivan (ex Flash to Bang Time), Ham 1, Nana Grizol, and we ended with the unfortunately too scarce Circulatory System. As usual for this kind of occasion, it's more of a family reunion than an actual evening of shows. Well, it is both, let's say.

____

Fri. 03/07
Second round for Liza backing up Heather Heyn (Vicariously Through Cats) at Flicker this time, with Andy From Denver headlining. I already gave reviews of Andy's shows, so I won't keep you longer. Andy put a very nice stunt by recording some of his between-songs banters, which gave a rather hilarious and surrealistic view of his mind's inner workings ("Oh, to fight the stress, I could just picture everybody naked. Not the guys, though, not the guys."). Andy is currently touring for 2-3 weeks with Keith John Adams in the East Coast/Midwest starting 03/20, so catch the mates while you can.

___

Sat. 03/08
If you have any idea of my whereabouts on that day, drop a line...


Photo by Mike "Deadly Designs" White

Back online, with Stars in my eyes...

Back online eventually, after some exhausting but fun weeks without regular internet connection. I missed several posts, prepared off-line but not quite finalized yet, so bear with me for a little while.

The big event of this past Easter week-end was a concert of Stars at the Georgia Theatre. Stars have a very special place in my indie-pop life. Just before I moved to the States, early 2001, my little brother gave me a couple of CDs of MP3s. On one of them was Nightsongs, Stars first LP, that I listened to regularly throughout that year (and still do, using it as an introduction).

Early 2002, I attended one of their gigs in a goth club NYC, and chatted with them afterwards. Overall, I must have seen them 6-7 times in the course of two years, sometimes in unfortunate but memorable circumstances - a CMJ where all their gear got stolen, another show in Rochester, NY where a botched promotion brought a total of 4 paying tickets, included my ride and myself and the drummer's aunt and uncle, a butt-freezing Valentine's day in Montreal, QC - sometimes in just plain awesome circumstances (with Broken Social Scene later that same CMJ).
Of course, we ended up sympathizing. It's through Stars that I discovered Metric (for a late-night show at the now defunct Coral Room, NYC and its mermaids behind the bar), BSS and consorts, it's through Stars that I met James Husband for the very first time (he was playing tambourine with them at the famous Stars/BSS CMJ show). I hadn't seen them since I moved to Athens: the last times they played in the area were in Atlanta, at times where I couldn't get a ride. So I was quite excited to learn they would play in town.

Early show, Pash (Washington DC) and Martin Royle (from Washington Social Club) were opening. I didn't think much of Pash, seeing Marty again was fun (he played regularly with Stars as soon as 2003), but all in all, I wasn't there for them. Stars then came on a stage covered with red roses that would later be thrown to the audience. They opened with two songs from their latest LP In Our Bedroom After The War: The Beginning After The End and The Night Starts Here (this one marred by some serious issues with the microKorg, Torquil would joke about not being in a folk band afterwise). They followed by Set Yourself On Fire from their previous opus, The Ghost Of Genova Heights, from IOBATW, and many more. Not much from their first works, but a completely new rendition of Going, Going, Gone. I was a tiny bit disappointed they didn't play Peak Hill, but it was a great show nevertheless.

Then, I should have run to the 40W where The Buddy System and Folklore were headlining a nth JammyJam Party. By the time Stars finished playing, I would have missed most of the TBS show anyway, so I hanged around backstage, greeted Dottie a happy birthday (Stars did so on stage earlier), and had long chats with Torquil, Chris, Amy and especially with Evan, about their growth from a four-piece bedroom-electro pop band from Ottawa/Brooklyn/Toronto to the internationally successful 6-piece they are today (Pat the drummer joined in 2003, and a 6th member was backing Amy on guitar), and their uncompromising attitude towards their career. Don't expect any Stars song in a commercial any time soon, they don't want that to happen, they want to keep their credibility intact. Stars are indie and proud of it, and I'm very proud of them. Good job guys, now I'll make sure not to wait 4 years before seeing you again.

MP3s
Going, Going, Gone (Nightsongs)
The Face (Dead Child Stars EP)(good luck finding this one...)
My Favorite Book (In Our Bedroom After The War) (dedicated to whom should have been here)
The Ghost Of Genova Heights (In Our Bedroom After The War)