Best Panda frat party ever. Not sure I’m in love with this song though.
New LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls Video
– Posted on April 21, 2010Posted in: Music
Music Archive
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More Thom Yorke Videos From The Echoplex Show
– Posted on October 6, 2009Posted in: Music, Show Reports
Thanks to my retardedly slow internet, it’s taken me a few days to get my HD videos from last Friday’s Thom Yorke show at the Echoplex up.
For your enjoyment (more videos after the break):
Harrowdown Hill
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Thom Yorke with New Band 10-02-09 @ Echoplex Los Angeles
– Posted on October 5, 2009Posted in: Music, Show Reports
Maybe years of concert going in Los Angeles have made me a jaded cynic, but I have to admit some trepidation when I intially heard that Thom Yorke would be playing the ~700 person capacity Echoplex in the heart of LA’s hipster haven. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to several Radiohead shows across the country. I’ve met and spoken with Thom himself. I know firsthand how great of a stage performer this awkward looking Englishman can be. It’s just that… well, solo albums from celebrated frontmen usually end up being a disappointing affair. I wasn’t a huge fan of The Eraser, the album came off to me a bit flat and soulless. Plus, how in the world could this new band work out? Nigel I can understand, but Flea?? Is he going to come out on stage in nothing but a tube sock, and start slappin’ da bass I Love You Man style? I was worried the show would degenerate into an 80 minute masturbatory jam session with famous musicians.
Fortunately, Thom and the boys proved I was a complete douche for even entertaining those thoughts.
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Internet Radio Royalty Bill Passes House
– Posted on September 29, 2008Posted in: Music, Music Industry, Technology
CNET reports that the Webcaster Settlement Act has passed the House of Representatives unanimously. Only the Senate now stands in the way of internet radio broadcasters and business viability.
According to the article:
Webcasters are fighting for the right to negotiate with the music industry to reduce the royalty rates they must pay to stream music over the Web. Any deal must be approved by the federal government.
It’s sad that it’s even gotten to this point. The revised royalty rates from last year that put webcasters into this situation in the first place were completely unreasonable. Now they are fighting for the right to negotiate? With the music industry?
Granted, one would assume that the record labels themselves would see the futility in forcing internet radio out of business and would negotiate reasonable deals if the bill passes. However, why did they allow SoundExchange to enact such ridiculous rates in the first place? The fact that any deal must be approved by the federal goverment adds unnecessary red tape to the process.
Unanimously passing the House is a good first step; it appears as though the bill will get enacted. At the end of the day, though, it’s still a workable solution. Just not a very elegant one.
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New Jay-Z Single (Now With More Oasis Dissing)
– Posted on August 12, 2008Posted in: Music
A few days ago, Stereogum posted this video of Jay-Z and Kanye debuting a new track from Jigga’s upcoming new album, Blueprint 3. It’s rumored that it’ll be produced (mostly) by Kanye West. Now, it appears as if the internets have leaked the full studio track for the Oasis-slamming track, “Jockin’.”
I gotta admit, the mocking way he sings the perfectly chosen Wonderwall line really gets those Gallagher brothers right between their taints.
Your move, smarmy Brits.
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New Franz Ferdinand Single – “Lucid Dreams”
– Posted on August 12, 2008Posted in: Music
Franz Ferdinand have put their new single, “Lucid Dreams” up on their website for streaming. (complete with authentic vinyl pops and crackles!) It’s a little more funky, while being a little like the first album Franz, while also being a little less fruity than second album Franz.
I’m intrigued. Tell me more, Franz Ferdinand.
(they want your email address to stream, but you can put any address on to listen)
Check out the song after the jump.
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Edgar Bronfman Needs More Money
– Posted on August 12, 2008Posted in: Music, Music Industry, Video Games
Not content with totally mishandling the music industry’s disastrous “transition” into the iPod age, Warner Music CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr., has started down the path of bungling yet another potential revenue stream. With the recent explosion in popularity (and sales) of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it was only a matter of time before someone had to open their big mouth. The churlish executive told Reuters:
The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small.
Now, to be fair, no specifics were given as to how much the record labels are actually getting paid for the use of their music recordings in the games. It’s certainly possible that the game industry is not paying enough. Let’s forget for a minute all the other components that make Guitar Hero/Rock Band successful (development costs, peripheral manufacturing, distribution, marketing, etc.) and play Ed’s game. If I had to guess, I’d posit that the current cut for music in rhythm games is close, if not the same, as a digital download on iTunes. Our pal Eddie must have seen this, and thought, “Hay! Activision is charging double the price of iTunes, but we’re only getting the same as El Jobso. Let me talk to the press, they will surely be on our side!”
Sarcasm aside, Eduardo and the rest of the music industry really need to think before they speak. Even if they are getting the shaft, it would be much more productive to solve the issue behind closed doors. Coming out and complaining to the press in a haughty tone is not going to help their situation any. To the contrary, it’ll just serve as blogger and message board fodder to further drag the music industry through the mud.
Not that the record labels really need any more help with that.
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Metallica Still Trying To Figure Out How To Sell Their Music, Debut New Song
– Posted on August 11, 2008Posted in: Music, Music Industry
The Rock Radio reports that Metallica has decided on the pricing structure and SKUs of their upcoming new album, Death Magnetic.
The first package, called Digital Death Magnetic, will cost $24.99 and includes digital delivery of the album at midnight on its release date, downloads of two entire shows from this summer, almost two hours of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, 250 exclusive photos, ringtones of riffs from the new album, access to exclusive contests and a $10 coupon toward merchandise or fan club membership at Metallica.com or MetClub.com.
The second package, Death Magnetic CD + Digital Death Magnetic, is $32.99. In addition to all the above items, it includes Death Magnetic on CD. The last package goes for $124.99 and includes all the items from the other two packages, plus a five-LP vinyl box set with five individual sleeves and a Mission: Metallica lithograph.
It looks like the band is taking a little bit out of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails’ playbooks by offering both a digital download and a very pricey premium edition of the music. Sadly, Metallica is so blinded by the visions of moneyhats that it missed out on the most obvious tactic of offering a digital download in the first place – free (or at least cheap).
Sure, the Metallica superfans are going to shell out for the highest end premium product, but what about after that? Do they really think a casual fan or a teenager discovering the band now is going to spend $24.95 on a download? The band arguably hasn’t made any truly relevant music since 1991’s self-titled “Black” album. I would argue that Death Magnetic‘s success isn’t exactly a guarantee, especially in today’s climate. If they really wanted to take advantage of the current music market landscape, they would be looking for ways to expand their audience and fanbase, while also taking care of their core audience.
On a related note, the band debuted a couple of new songs while playing live at Ozzfest a couple days ago. Check after the jump for a live recording of “Cyanide” off of Death Magnetic.
My initial impression? Better than St. Anger. But that’s not really saying much, is it?
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Guess Who’s The First Person To Have Madden 09?
– Posted on August 4, 2008Posted in: Music, Video Games
In case you couldn’t recognize this hip-hop “superstar” (I couldn’t), it’s Twista, Chicago’s very own fast-rhyming MC! It’s slightly baffling to me why EA would would want the first person to have Madden 09 be a rapper who peaked in 2004 (with “Slow Jamz feat. Kanye West and Jamie Foxx”). Maybe he suckled the teet of Peter Moore at E3 real good.
Also, I can see why an average Joe would want to make the video equivalent of the “FIRST POST!” comment, but a rapper with (former) cred like Twista? Really? Has hip-hop fallen this far?
(Extra points for the shady-looking copy of the Wii version of the game. Looks real nice on a blatantly obvious promotional video, EA.)
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Harmonix Announces Rock Band 2, Reveal Almost Nothing About It
– Posted on June 30, 2008Posted in: Music, Video Games
IGN has an interview with Harmonix’s Lead Designer, Dan Teasdale, on the newly announced Rock Band 2 that will ship in September for the Xbox 360 and later in that year for other platforms.
Mr. Teasdale does an admirable job of answering interview questions without really saying anything of substance. He says that they have been reading internet forums rabidly and have made improvements to the game based on said feedback. Basically, it seems like there will be modest improvements across the board in game interface and instrument build.
The biggest tidbit of news is that all of your existing Rock Band DLC that you’ve purchased will work with Rock Band 2 and vice versa.
As far as Harmonix is concerned, there’s no difference between “Rock
Band 1 DLC” and “Rock Band 2 DLC” – we’re just releasing awesome songs
every week onto the Rock Band platform, all of which are playable by
the Rock Band titles that support DLC.
This is awesome news in the nascent rhythm game wars as a lot of people have sunk a significant amount of coin into downloading new songs. Making their investments obsolete *cough* Guitar Hero 3 *cough*, just leaves people with a bad taste in their mouths.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d actually feel better buying a $60 game with modest improvements, than sinking $200 on all new hardware. Especially if said $60 game contained a bunch of awesome songs as well. Granted, Guitar Hero has to catch up to the whole “full band” experience, but a lot of people have bought three generations of Guitar Hero hardware already.
For Pete’s sake, give us some time to enjoy the Chinese Plastic we already have!