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The Artists' Coalition, the RIAA and "work-for-hire"
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31 Aug 2000 |
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I just spotted this salon.com article which does a nice job of
fleshing out the story behind the RIAA's "work-for-hire" amendment in a US
Congress bill late last year. While the musicians eventually won, I'm sure
there are lessons to be learnt from the whole debacle. Could this happen in
Australia? I can't see why not.
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The impact of mp3? RIAA sales increased?
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30 Aug 2000 |
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While the RIAA have been jumping up and down about mp3, Napster and other evil
music technologies, it seems that CD/DVD sales actually increased
during the first six months of this year. It's not exactly vindication for
Napster but it's certainly food for thought. You can find the RIAA press
release here.
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RIP: Jack Nitzche 1937-2000
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30 Aug 2000 |
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My only exposure to musician Jack Nitzche is his work on Neil Young's "Harvest"
album but I'm sure everyone has heard "Up Where We Belong", a song he
co-wrote with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings. He also worked with the
Rolling Stones, Phil Spector, Neville Brothers, Leo Kottke and Graham Parker.
Jack Nitzche passed away on Friday.
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Springsteen live DVD release forthcoming?
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24 Aug 2000 |
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Although it never hit Australia, Bruce Springsteen's reunion tour with the
E Street Band was a must-see event, so much so that I caught 4 consecutive
shows in London and contrived a way of catching his final gig of 1999 in
Minneapolis. The tour rolled on into 2000 and concluded with a triumphant
10-night stand at New York's Madison Square Garden, tainted only by some
ignorant and embarrassing kneejerk reactions to a new song,
"American
Skin". While Springsteen's handling of that controversy was quietly
dignified (refusing to comment,
he played
on) the shows themselves were unashamed celebrations of rock, sweeping from
goofy fun to intense drama. If a rumoured
live DVD release from the
tour sees light of day, I'll probably find myself running to the nearest hifi
store to buy a DVD deck.
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Upcoming: Radiohead, U2 and Beatles
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23 Aug 2000 |
![[Kid A album cover]](/gstring/pix/000823.jpg)
I've now heard more info on some upcoming album releases. First, Radiohead's
"Kid A" will be out October
3. U2's new album is called "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and according to
this fan site, will be
released October 31. And the
new Beatles release
will be a single disc containing 27 tracks, a compilation of all of their
US/UK #1 hits. "Beatles One" will be released November 14. I've always thought
that with the exception of "Sgt Peppers" they've done a shoddy job of releasing
the Beatles albums on CD. Maybe this "best of" signifies a turning point?
7/9/00 update: added cover artwork for "Kid A"
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Humour: So you wanna fake being an indie rock expert?<
/b>
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22 Aug 2000 |
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Cos sent me a link to this moderately
amusing piece titled
"So you
wanna fake being an indie rock expert?". I say "moderately" because I
suspect record company A&R folk would decide it was quite useful.
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Movie: High Fidelity
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21 Aug 2000 |
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The film "High Fidelity"
opened in Australia this weekend so I wasted no time in getting myself along to
a session. It didn't disappoint. Nick Hornby's excellent book (on which the
film is based) wittily dissects the lunacy of the average record collector and
it was a treat to see this lunacy brought to life on the big screen by folks
like John Cusack, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tim Robbins. It's fresh,
funny, smart and remarkably faithful to the book. I highly recommend it to both
music nuts and ordinary folk. :-)
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Now that's just dumb...
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18 Aug 2000 |
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According to
this
BBC article, music website IUMA (Internet
Underground Music Archive) has not only offered cash prizes for parents naming
their child Iuma, they already have a
"winner". Anyone heard the one about David Bowie's son Zowie? When he get
old enough he thought his name was so stupid he changed it to Duncan. I think
there's a lesson in that.
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Upcoming: John Hiatt's "Crossing Muddy Waters"
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18 Aug 2000 |
![[Album cover]](/gstring/pix/000818.jpg)
John Hiatt is one of my favourite songwriters, despite my indifference to his
last couple of albums. On Sept 26 he'll release his new album titled
Crossing Muddy
Waters through Vanguard Records. It will also be released on the net by
emusic.com (the
first track can be purchased now). Apparently this one is a stripped-back
acoustic album which sounds promising. One of Hiatt's finest songs is the
original live-in-the-studio version of "Have A Little Faith In Me", a song
later covered by Joe Cocker and Jewel, to name but two. The most recent Hiatt
cover of note is the Eric Clapton/BB King version of "Riding With The King".
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The Millennium Strum-A-Thon
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13 Aug 2000 |
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It's good to know that even obscure fields of musical endeavour have a
mechanism for acknowledging achievements of note. The upcoming
Air
Guitar Championships will undoubtedly be a hard fought contest.
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Musicians win removal of "work for hire" clause
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10 Aug 2000 |
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It seems that one of the things Courtney Love was ranting about recently has
been rectified. The "work for hire" clause in the recent changes to US
copyright law will now be revoked so that musicians can retain some sort of
ownership of the works they deliver to their record company.
Wall of
Sound have the full story. On a vaguely related note,
Cos pointed out Steve Albini's
rant about the music industry
from last year.
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I Want My mp3 (on MD)
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10 Aug 2000 |
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Those who have embraced the Minidisc format can now embrace the mp3 format as
well, thanks to the arrival of the
Xitel MD-Port DG1 component. MD
users can now connect the USB port of their computer to the optical-in jack of
their MD recorder, allowing them to easily transfer their mp3 collection to
their preferred format.
Minidisco
have got it for $99.95US. I wonder if it works with Linux?
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Smashing Pumpkins stop smashing
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10 Aug 2000 |
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It's old news now but I only just heard that the Smashing Pumpkins are
calling it quits.
I guess this means that Billy Corgan can go and find a new bunch of musicians
to dictate to. It'd be nice if he can find someone who can sing. Yes, yes, I
know they're supposed to be pretty good, I just can't get past Corgan and his
voice.
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Olympics shlympics
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9 Aug 2000 |
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The Australian performers involved in the opening ceremony for the 2000
Olympic Games have
been announced and...oh dear. John Farnham, Olivia
Newton-John, Julie Anthony, John Williamson, Human Nature, Vanessa Amorosi
and Tina Arena will all be part of the spectacle. As an Australian who has
heard much quality Australian music, this list of performers is simply
embarrassing. They've also included jazz musician James Morrison but that
doesn't really make up for the rest. Move on folks, there's nothing to
see here, move on, move on...
Update: It seems I'm not alone in my thoughts on this lineup, there are
pieces in both the
Sydney Morning Herald
and
The Australian
expressing dismay.
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Midnight Oil: The Real Thing
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6 Aug 2000 |
![[Album cover]](/gstring/pix/000806.jpg)
Last night I went to yet another gig but, well, it wasn't really just another
gig because this was Midnight Oil. There were two special moments for me. The
first came at the start, when the lights first dimmed and some shadows moved
onto the stage. The atmosphere of the crowd was different to the usual gig -
they knew all too well that something special was about to happen. The second
moment came soon after they had left the stage for the final time: I realised
that the Oils are perhaps the only essential Australian rock band. It's no
secret they are the conscience of Aussie rock but anyone who has seen them live
also knows they play as eloquently as they speak. Their new album
"The Real Thing"
features a few new tracks and "unplugged" versions of some old classics. Get
it. Hearing the Chris Abrahams piano accompaniment on "In The Valley" is worth
the price alone.
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Chris Whitley's Perfect Day
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3 Aug 2000 |
![[Album cover]](/gstring/pix/000803.jpg)
I first encountered Chris Whitley
via his staggeringly good debut album, "Living With The Law". No longer with
Sony Records, these days he's been doing the independent thing, recording
cheaply but no less effectively. His most recent album, "At Martyrs", is one of
the more compelling live albums I've heard but if you've seen him live, that
wouldn't be a huge surprise.
"Perfect Day" is his
new disc of covers, with songs by folks like Dylan, Hendrix, Lou Reed and
Robert Johnson. I haven't tracked down a copy yet but as Whitley hasn't done
any wrong so far, I don't expect he'll be starting now.
Review: Billboard
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