Architecture in Helsinki - The Austinst Interview

Austinist posted an interview with Architecture in Helsinki today, to generate some sxsw buzz.

D is a fan of the band, so I am looking forward to seeing them.

Life in the Studio - egotrip's The White Rapper Show

The groups recording in the studios on tonight's episode was very real. There is a lot of writing and then a lot of sitting around.

But, they did miss a few key details:

1. Clouds of smoke permeating everything.

2. The entourage sitting in a lounge playing video games and/or watching porn.

3. Hours and hours of the track on repeat.

4. A loud argument in the hallway outside the studio.

5. Styrofoam cups.

thingsmyboyfriendsays.com

I am fuel, you are friends linked to a funny site this evening: thingsmyboyfriendsays.com.

I asked A tonight if he has anything to tell me, because some of the nonsense sounds like things he would/has said.

For example:

Birthday:

me: It's my birthday soon. You'd better get me something pretty.
e: I'll get ME something pretty, and you can play with it.

A: That guy has some right ideas.

Kool Keith on egotrip's The White Rapper Show

Kool Keith aka Black Elvis aka Dr. Octagon made an appearance on the White Rapper Show tonight.

In his honor, here a few of my favorite Kool Keith tracks.

Dr. Octagon, Earth People.

Try to resist singing along with the chorus:

Earth People, New York and California.
Earth People, I was born on Jupiter.

Buy the album here.

Dan the Automator featuring Kool Keith, Better Tomorrow

A classic Dan the Automator track. Buy the album here.

Kool Keith, Sex Style.

I have been begging Alon to put this into his I Need More Cowbell performances for years, to no avail. He never takes any of my suggestions.

Buy the album here.

Q-Tip, Kamaal the Abstract

When we heard in 2001 that Q-Tip was recording a new album, we waited with breathless anticipation for its 2002 release.

And waited.

And waited.

Arista, apparently, held it back as unmarketable and refused to release it.

For two years, I searched for it. Finally, in March, 2004, I found 7 of the 9 tracks.

It's hard to believe that Arista thought it would be hard to market. Other artists of Q-Tip's caliber, and arguably less fame, had been recording and releasing albums that stretched beyond their role as MCs at that time, notably Cee-Lo with his Cee-Lo and His Perfect Imperfections (released in 2002 on the date scheduled for the Kamaal the Abstract release) and Mos Def with his work as a singer on Charlie Hunter's Songs from the Analog Playground (released in 2001).

Regardless, record companies do as they wish. It's their marketing money.

Here are two of the tracks from Kamaal the Abstract. I do hope that they are soon released so that we can buy the album and support an artist we have enjoyed for almost two decades.

The market has certainly demonstrated that we will buy albums by artists we love, even if they experiment outside their genre. (Like those little songs "Hey Ya" and "Crazy." I heard they sold a few copies.)

Q-Tip, Blue Girl.

Q-Tip, Feelin.

So Much Silence posted about Q-Tip this morning. Hopefully, he wil have success with new projects and this old one will see the light of day.

Suddenly I'm Down in Harold's Square

I just downloaded a great Death Cab cover of Freedy Johnston's Bad Reputation from Another Form of Relief.

I was looking for info on the original song and came across the lyrics.

I suppose the person who submitted these has never given his regards to Broadway.

New Soul Music - Aloe Blacc

When I hear I really great new song, I have to hit replay and then I need silence. Then I email all of you to say "you have to buy this now!"

It happens rarely.

The last time I can remember doing it was John Legend's first album, which I bought because I read a review that compared him favorably to the Titans of Soul (Smokey, Stevie, and Marvin). Before that, it was D'Angelo's Voodoo and Charlie Hunter's Songs from an Analog Playground, which are in my top-10 albums of all time. (I ended up buying at least 5 albums of each from Amazon and shipping them to [some of] you.)

Ian on Notes from a Different Kitchen posted a few new soul tracks this morning.

I downloaded Aloe Blacc's Gente Ordinaria, which hits all of the things I love: it's a cover of Ordinary People in Spanish, but where the original is a spare piano track, this is a lush tropical arrangement with horns and drums. Because it couldn't get better, he also throws in the "la las" of My Cherie Amour.

Check it out here (Gente Ordinaria, Aloe Blacc) and then buy the album here.

In case my exhortation is not enough to convince you, here is part of the review from The In Crowd:

It's hard to really do this album proper justice in a review: dude basically takes sounds from the entire spectrum of the black musical disapora from jazz, blues, black folk field music to R&B, afro-latin jazz and hip hop and distills it down to a single, thoroughly modern yet unique sounding album.

So, buy it. Now.

Busdriver - Whiteboy Hipster Rap

For a couple of months, I have been reading post after post about Busdriver on great indie music blogs (Marathonpacks, fluxblog, and so much silence). I have listened to five tracks from his new album Roadkill Overcoat and read many reviews.

After reading this review in Radar this morning, I decided to give the songs another shot to see whether I was missing something:

He doesn't preach, like fellow do-good underground MC's, he seems to cut a little deeper with anger and irony, and to actually paint a picture of urban dissatisfaction. With "I got people to disappoint, I got mistakes to make, how can you believe that I'm not a waste of space?" Busdriver shows he is existential and prolific in his use of vocabulary words without losing the humor, the self-deprecation, and the absurdity (even rhyming about "taxidermy for the newly chic"). He grabs samples and sound and call-backs, weaving them together in his own audio roadkillovercoat.

This passage is actually insulting on many, many levels and betrays a shocking lack of knowledge about underground hip hop. Hell, even the subtext is insulting.

Setting that aside, I relistened to Busdriver and now I totally get it. He's the ultimate whiteboy hipster rapper. He's like one of them . . . he's clever and ironic!

The problem is that it is really awful hip hop. His flow is awful, his tracks are worse, and the lyrics are just there for the sake of being clever, there is very little rhyme or reason. Also, the mixes are so muddy as to make them nearly unlistenable.

Frankly, it's bad hip hop.

I know the blogosphere is all about finding the next big thing and being first, but here are some examples of excellent "underground" hip hop (though I am defining underground as non-mainstream, rather than how we define it here):

Deltron 3030 - a post-apocalyptic concept album by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan the Automator and Kid Koala. The tracks are excellent, Del's flow is always on point, and the lyrics are both clever and reinforce the concept.

Devin the Dude. I am always amazed that Devin is not more famous. His lyrics are clever and paint a portrait of his world so clearly, I can see, hear, and smell him rolling around Houston. Seriously, the aroma of wafting weed permeates all of his lyrics. It's not club music, it's rolling music.

Z-Ro. Okay, another Houston rapper, but Z-Ro has been getting more love lately because of the deal Rap-A-Lot has with Warner Bros. His undergrounds are amazing, and I have the ones he's done with Street Figgaz. Kelefa Sennah wrote in December that:

Z-Ro begins his new album by rapping about the streets. But ''City Streets,'' is an indictment, not a tribute. ''Damn these city streets,'' he declares, and instead of boasting that he has what it takes to survive them, he worries that he doesn't: ''I used to keep a pistol by my side/But it don't matter if I'm strapped, I'm still gonna die.''

He has a new album coming out this year and I hope that this year starts to turn things around for him. Once he's back out of prison, again.

The last artist I would recommend is probably not underground, even using the hipster argot. Still, Dead Prez is far from mainstream. Any music this angry and militant can never be mainstream. The group has gone to great lengths to maintain their separation from the cd-buying, iTunes downloading, LimeWire stealing white audiences that embrace most of hip hop. My favorite song is still "Hip Hop" and it's one of the only two ringtones I have ever had on my phone. (The other: Miles Davis, So What.)

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Tracing Roots

I love Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s documentaries, books, etc.

Late Friday nights, PBS has been running his documentary series African-American Lives. Tonight they aired the program "Tracing Oprah's Roots" where they did the dna and historical searches to determine from where in Africa her matrilineal line originated.

It's fascinating stuff and you should definitely dvr it if you get a chance.

Shuffle Discovery - Jazz - The Brian Melvin Trio

This afternoon, I heard a band I had never heard before, from an album we've owned for years.

After hearing , Out of the Night, I interrupted A to ask him who the Brian Melvin Trio was, and why had he been keeping them from me.

The Brian Melvin Trio produced a single album in 1986 entitled Standards Zone, with performances by drummer Brian Melvin, pianist Jon Davis, and the incomparable bassist Jaco Pastorius, who is considered by many the greatest bassist who ever lived.

The album, which is available for $60(!) on Amazon, is filled with standards and it is really lovely. Look for it in a used cd bin near you.

Rich or Famous?

When I meet with potential music clients, I have a threshold question:

Do you want to be rich or do you want to be famous?

How they answer tells me volumes about what they really want to achieve and which route they want to take.

There are many right answers and a few wrong ones.

A rapper who tells me all he wants is a major deal has pretty much ended the conversation. I will give him advice and tell him the horror stories (who doesn't remember the TLC "Behind the Music" where they showed on-screen how 10 million records netted them each $150k? or the regional tale of Lil Flip). Often, he'll stare at me blankly and think I don't know what the hell I am talking about when I tell him getting signed as an unknown individual artist to a major is unlikely at best and, if he is able to do it, it will be for 1/20 of the amount he thinks.

Few people understand the struggle of making it in the industry. The concept of "making it" differs depending on your goals. I have one client who just wants to buy a van and tour with his band. To him, that is success -- enough money to have his bandmates quit their crappy day-jobs and spend 4 months on the road building their audience. For another, the goal is selling platinum in the first week and expanding his career into movies.

I remember meeting with an artist a couple of years ago . . . it was a favor for a friend, a VC who was bored and looking to dabble, after meeting a rapper who talked a good game. The artist brought his producer and some other guy to the meeting. I knew about 5 minutes into the meeting that this would be an unmitigated disaster: they hired a publicist in LA (we were in Texas) before they finished their album. They had no other steps done. No booking agent. No management. No marketing. No plan. But, they were so excited that they hired and paid this publicist $15,000 who said she could help them get on the radio. The naïveté still astounds me! (I think I assigned him reading The Musician's Legal and Business Guide before he talked to anyone else.)

I only try to take on one or two new music artists a year. I have learned, over time, that I prefer entrepreneurial artists who are willing to invest in their own careers. If you think that signing with me means your future is guaranteed, then we are not right for each other.

The Good, The Bad and The Queen - Free iTunes Download

The iTunes Music Store is offering a free download of The Good, The Bad and The Queen's single Herculean.

GBQ is the new Damon Albarn "supergroup" featuring bassist Paul Simonon from the Clash, guitarist Simon Tong from the Verve, and "Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen." The album is produced by Dangermouse.

Click here for the download: Herculean
.

EMI is offering a special Dangermouse remix here, but the download is not working for me.

I have been following Albarn's career from Blur through Gorillaz and his Mali Music album, so I am excited to hear more.

I Love New York - The Importance of Being Nice

My rumination on niceness (really, it's the post-traumatic stress from people singing "at" me over the years) reminded me of the only piece of reality tv gossip I know:

New York, from Flavor of Love and I Love New York, is nice.

Like really nice, especially to people to whom she doesn't have to be nice.

# worked with her on promos for her show and described her as "sweet" to the models and the crew.

We would have watched her show anyway (I know, I know, embarassing, but true), but it's so much easier to tolerate knowing that our suspicisions were correct.

American Idol - A Reminder of Bad Work Days

I just watched a contestant sing a song he wrote, which was terrible, demonstrating his complete lack of singing ability.

I cringed watching it. Not for him, for me.

I have spent many hours listening to R&B singers trying to impress me. Some of them could sing well, but appeared to be difficult to work with (an absolute kiss of death). Some could sing really well, but had image issues. Some were hot and completely terrible. Some had nice voices, but no sense of rhythm.

For the most part, none could sing as well as they thought they could. Worse yet, most could not hear (at all!), so they had no idea they were as bad as they actually were.

Where AI is most accurate: with music, it's never just about singing. It's about performance. It's about image. It's about picking the right material. It's about being easy to work with.

Really, never underestimate being nice. If you want someone to invest in you and give you a shot, be nice.

Unless you are actually Mariah or Whitney, you are completely replaceable.

Pissing off the producers and the label and the publicists and the recording engineers means you will not work. (Plus, if you make us really, really, really mad, you will not work and you will not be released from your contract. )

It is easier if you are in a band. Good material and good perfomance can outweigh those "I am a golden god" moments, but only to a point. If you are a jerk, I will still pass because if you are a jerk to the people who you want to work for you, how will you be on tour or with press?

There are a lot of talented people in the world, so I prefer to put my energy, knowledge, and reputation on the line for people I would like to see succeed.

Link Roundup - Today's Best of the Music Blogs

I was extremely busy today and this evening with work and a social obligation, so here are some sites you might want to check for some great (and/or interesting) music:

Idolator is my favorite music site. It has the right blend of snark and sincerity and I find more new music to love there more often than any other place. Today, they posted a "Please Release Me" feature about the Sugababes greatest hits Overloaded: The Singles Collection.

I am have been a fan of Sugababes since I heard their Live Lounge cover of I Bet You Look Good on the DanceFloor by the Arctic Monkeys.

I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has a post about Malajube, an indie band from Montréal.

Cover Freak posted a collection of Ring of Fire covers.

American Idol - Authenticity

I regularly read an interesting site called Dial "M" For Musicology, of which I understand maybe a third.

Today, he posted an article about "the rhetoric of authenticity", whereby a singer creates a performance that is not based on authentic feeling but the communication of an authenticity:

In my classes I often like to point out that the artistry of singers like Bob Dylan is largely directed at fashioning a rhetoric of authenticity. . . .What's particularly impressive about Dylan's sixties albums is how he was coming up with a whole new vocal-performative code for each album. It's a remarkable acheivement: between 1963 (Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) and 1967 (John Wesley Harding) he invented half a dozen ways of being authentic.

Fascinating stuff, as always.

New Music - Field Music

Field Music released their second album on iTunes this week in the US.

I have been reading posts about them this month on Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good, Covert Curiousity, and Fluxblog.

Field Music is buoyant Britpop (and British Pop), while being more than the sum of its parts. The songs are catchy and I have a sneaking suspicion that this album will be one of my favorites for this year.

I particularly enjoy Give It Lose It Take It, which reminds me of early Beatles and early Oasis, and A House Is Not A Home, which Fluxblog says "seems effortless in the way that only the best songs can, and has a way of sneaking into the back of your mind and setting up residence like a welcome, yet uninvited guest."

Buy it on iTunes.

Mixtape Drama

Analog Giant has a great take on the the RIAA's raid on DJ Drama and Don Cannon.

As I commented on Idolator this week, I am surprised by the lack of outrage about this case.

I'll Take Manhattan

I have a favorite version of the Rodgers & Hart standard "Manhattan."

Blossom Dearie's interpretation of the song sounds like strolling around New York while falling in love. It's a soft, reflective song that feels like an intimate conversation, rather than an upbeat, blaring showtune.

You know the song:

I'll take Manhattan
the Bronx and Staten Island too.
It's lovely going through the zoo.

It's very fancy
on old Delancey Street you know.
The subway charms us so
when balmy breezes blow
to and fro.

And tell me what street
compares with Mott Street in July?
Sweet pushcarts gently gliding by.

The great big city's a wonderous toy
made for a girl and boy.
We'll turn Manhattan
into an isle of joy.

You can hear the song here and buy it here on iTunes and on Amazon.

Random Music From a Cold, Rainy Stroll

I spent yesterday afternoon strolling around Town Lake with M. It was very cold, rainy, and gray.

The trail was often muddy and we also had to negotiate our way around a huge fallen
tree near Barton Springs Pool. I climbed through the mud around the roots while M jumped up onto the trunk and hit his head on low twigs.

We saw only a dozen people along the 4+ mile loop. Almost all of them runners. Some with dogs, who wanted to be anywhere but in the cold, wet mud.

For the most part, we chatted about his (former?) relationship and his (ex?) girlfriend, as I offered advice (and hectored, where appropriate).

Two songs were stuck in my head as we walked:

Ghostwriter, RJD2.

I tried to describe the mostly instrumental track Ghostwriter: "you know, the percussion is like ba bump bump bump bump bump, and then the horn comes in." Just as annoying as you would imagine.

Mp3.
You can buy the album on Amazon
or a remix of the track on iTunes.
Note: the album Deadringer on iTunes is a partial album, so buy it on Amazon.

Postcards from Italy, Beirut.

Mp3.
You can buy the album on iTunes.