In case our single remaining reader is wondering...

I am most def going to see Bon Iver and Bowerbirds at Space Gallery, July 25. Returning to Portland, ME to find a show as enticing a this gives me great hope that my sheltered little city might be tipping national. If you haven't heard either of these bands, I highly recommend a listen, however casual.

Reason # 72,325 that Van Halen Sucks

I hate Van Halen.  Not in the "Oh, Sammy Hagar ruined them" or "Oh, they suck" sort of way.  I hate them in the "Van Halen would be played in my personal hell" sort of way.  So, when I heard the mp3 on the below link, l found empirical evidence that they suck.  Please be patient.  The best part is the last 45 seconds. 

David Lee Roth's Isolated Vocal Track from "Running with the Devil"

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

I ordered the new Helio Sequence on vinyl when the pre-sale started the other day. While I waited I remembered thinking about how annoying it is to get a vinyl and not be able to easily transfer it to other media. And how, really, can't I just get a free mp3 download when I buy the record? Then, sure enough, Keep Your Eyes Ahead shows up on my doorstep with a sticker on front announcing the inclusion of a coupon for a free mp3 download. How about that? Plus I got all that other cool stuff... SubPop sticker (as always), KYEA sticker, KYEA ahead button, and a CD with some outtakes. I dunno, but that's a package for which I'm more than happy to shell out a few dollars.

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You Were Always: Since You've Been Gone EP Review

You Were Always
Since You've Been Gone EP

The first release from Austin, TX's You Were Always (myspace), Since You've Been Gone has the band poised to become the next obsession in indie-rock's respected—if ridiculously named—"Slowcore" sub-genre. Likenesses can be heard of Low and Red House Painters, but to be sure, You Were Always is more poppy and definitely distinct.

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Paul Potts, An Unlikely Idol

  It’s a gorgeous Sunday morning, and I’m reading the New York Times Magazine online, on my back porch.  Today’s main article is about Rick Rubin, the man whom Columbia Records, and the recording industry as a whole, are hoping will be their saving grace.  Apparently, Rick Rubin’s first disciple will come in the form of 36 year old Welshman Paul Potts, a slightly dumpy-looking cell phone salesman with bad teeth who sings opera.  Potts is huge in the UK thanks to “Britiain’s Got Talent”, the show which gave birth to American Idol.  Rubin’s A&R guy showed him the video of Paul’s audition, and Rubin started to cry (no, it wasn’t because BGT’s music supervisor thought it would be ok to play Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” as Paul’s exit music).

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Current TV: "All Eyes On My Morning Jacket"

CrazyTalk's moles at Current TV, Douglas Caballero and Alex Simmons of The Current Fix, are back with another round of wily interactive shenanigans. 

Following on the heels of their Shins user-gen coverage, The Current Fix is getting the crowd to "turn on" My Morning Jacket in the band's Lollapalooza show with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (Sunday, Aug. 5th).

The concept:  Fans at the show whip out their cell phone or digicam & shoot a video of the experience.  After the show, they upload the video to the Current "All Eyes on MMJ" microsite.  Douglas & Alex then piece together the jigsaw puzzle to create a user-gen concert video, which is then available on the "All Eyes" site.

If you're a student of music & "the new media" (bandwagon, jaded or plain old fascinated), "All Eyes" is a core requirement for your education. 

With hyperbolic sincerity, I've said it before & I'll say it again:  THE FUTURE IS NOW!

(BTW - The Fix has some great little pods on Girl Talk, Feist, The Black Keys, MSTRKRFT, Earl Greyhound, Eef Barzelay, Of Montreal, Shiny Toy Guns, Little Man Tate, and Maps.  And if you haven't seen the one of Doug as a Flaming Lips dancing santa - its pretty much mandatory at this point.)

Interview: Midlake on Bandega

Eric Pulido of Midlake sat down for an 5-question quickie with Bandega.

Read it. 

Rock Quilts: Quiltsryche

Unbelievable. 

For catching a few crook-necked z's in your 15 passenger van between Des Moines and Sioux Falls.

Or for curling up on your futon with a Led Zep DVD and a bucket of donut holes.

These are the quilts for you.

The touch, the feel of cotton.  The fabric of our lives.

www.quiltsryche.com

www.myspace.com/quiltsryche

Incoming! July Shows

(courtesy of my profile on Bandega.com)

There's tons of great shows coming up in July.  Some of these bands I'm genuinely a fan of.  Others, well - I just like their name.  For instance, Raccoo-oo-oon. 

Bands with stars next to them are the ones in my Bandega profile.

What shows are YOU going to? 

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Music Video: Datarock "Computer Camp Love"

This video warmed the digital cockles of my digital heart.

Show Pics: Birds & Batteries @ Cafe Du Nord

Local slow-fast alt.dance-folk phenoms, Birds & Batteries, played their CD release party at Cafe Du Nord on the 29th.  90% of the people I talked to after the show were 100% blown away.  Having spun the album several times before the show, I can confidently state that the album is great and the live show is greater. 

Though some of the transitions between live drums and electronic beats could've been a tinge more fluid, this is a very tight band and everyone seemed on their game for this important show.

Here's my shots from the show.

Check out a review of the new album, "I'll Never Sleep Again" here.

Music Video: Ryan Adams' "Two" on Letterman

A snapshot of Ryan Adams' day:

1. Wake up.
2. Don't brush hair.
3. Drink coffee w. nipper.  Accompany w. inhaled drug of choice.
4. Write and record 13 songs.
5. Eat breakfast.

A couple of nights ago, he played a track ("Two") off the new album "Easy Tiger" with the Cardinals on Letterman.

Not his most provocative songwriting, but still a pretty song. 

Who's listened to the album - any thoughts?

(thanks to Miley for the link....)

Music Law: M.E.L.O.N. Blog

YO.  Lawyer life has kept me pretty tied down lately - but my fingers have not been idle on my keyboard.

I'm running a blog called MELON - Media and Entertainment Law Online News, with trillions of awesome articles for lay peeps on the ins and outs of the entertainment & technology industry. 

www.melonews.com

Some of the topics are copyright, music law, music business, trademark, internet law, digital rights management, film law and the TV business. 

Here's some links to my most recent articles:

1. Podcasting Music for Money, Part 1
2. Podcasting Music for Money, Part 2
3. DRM Primer, Part 1
4. DRM Primer, Part 2
5. DRM & Incentive Theory
6. DRM & Labor Theory

My brain has swelled to dangerous proportions.  I believe the medical term is Rock Law Edema.

Show Pics: Menomena & All Smiles @ The Independent, 6.8.07

This was a very, very good show. 

Not counting All Smiles.  They were sick - literally. 

Menomena was phenomena(l).  Someday I might even have the time to post the audio review up here.

Meanomawhile, satisfy with these delicious shots of an exciting band.

I was rocking the telezoom from the back of the room, so most are head shots.

Album Review: Birds & Batteries' "I'll Never Sleep Again"

I don't know what happened when I first heard Mike Sempert's Birds & Batteries.  My wife Kate had struck up a conversation with him in early 2006 at Albany's now defunct Ivy Room after a show, and he gave her a copy of the 18-song demo "Nature vs. Nature."  Kate gave it to me, and after giving it a once through - I found myself slipping it into my car's CD player whenever I drove across the bay bridge into the city.

What drew me into "Nature" was how it combined elements of music I loved in a way that seemed wholly original.  And because it is so rare for a band's music to strike me this way, I have become an unapologetic fan of Birds & Batteries (see the end of this post for old reviews & audio interviews).

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