Drowned In Sound: This column is exclusive to Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound has an excellent article about the current trends in music towards exclusivity. It's good to actually see actual journalism in contrast to the mindless daily blog state of things.
As if artists and artist managers weren’t contending with enough already with 360 deals being pushed and record companies taking to dropping supposed 'albums artists' prior to their second single, the media are now adding to this fractured and fractious landscape with an increasing desire for exclusivity from artists in relation to their coverage, topped by the cherry of multi-platform coverage demands. Thus a relatively new and championed artist can find themselves in the position that a few have reported to The Insider recently of being told that they must avoid title X to gain coverage in title Y.
Exclusivity in and of itself does, of course, make perfect sense in some situations. A magazine or radio station or tv show is hardly likely to cover an act if their direct competitors are given the same content to run the day prior or the same day. This is a landscape that, to some extent, everyone in the music industry is happy to cope with but the prevalence of extreme exclusivity demands in the past year or so is both mutating that original landscape into parody and harming both the artists and the very media that make such demands. Continue reading.
ArpLine Releases “Travel Book” Today as Pay What You Wish
mp3: ArpLine - "Parts Unknown"
mp3: ArpLine - "Fold Up Like a Piece of Paper"
Undoubtedly one of my favorite albums of the year, ArpLine's "Travel Book" is now available on their website as 'pay what you wish.' So although I recommend throwing them some pretty penny for this remarkable record, you can get it all for free, so go ahead and get it now.
The Power of Web Popularity
The Effects of Social Networking on Music and Pop Culture Trends
Thanks to the speed of Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and social networking in general, trends are moving along faster and faster. Being a music writer used to mean that you would have access to new music before everyone else, but albums are leaking so early and spreading across the internet so fast that the public is often hearing the records before the media has a chance to filter through their pile of watermarked cds. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is transitioning the power structure.
I've just read about 50 tweets about the new Vampire Weekend album. This immediately stirs some interest. People are talking about it. Most of these people are just acquaintances who I barely speak to in the outside world, but they've managed to do the work of a full scale advertising campaign. Twitter and social networking have assumed the role of media in offering publicity. In the realm of advertising, it is branding and name recognition that rule everything. While none of these tweets offer any real insight into the album—140 characters isn't made for insight—they do offer up the element of repetition of the words Vampire Weekend.
Now, if I desire to keep up with the online discussion, I must listen to the Vampire Weekend record or speak about it, otherwise I'll fall behind. And since Twitter and Facebook never rest, the discussion keeps moving.
Being popular in the real universe no longer is as important in trendsetting as being popular in the internet world. A 15 year old boy who has managed to generate a massive amount of followers can now be the one setting the trends, because people are listening to him. 15 years ago that could never have been possible, because only the media had the ability to reach large masses of people. And while the media also now utilizes these new ways of spreading news and ideas, the playing field has leveled out.
During the time distinguished writer has spent time researching and giving something a fair amount of time before voicing their opinion on a new release, millions of kids everywhere have already proclaimed "meh," and have moved on. Because of this, that which is not immediate will be looked over far more than 10 years ago. There is no time for repeat listens that reveal depth. We're in a time where attention spans are so short than musicians are lucky if listeners don't skip to the next song after 30 seconds.
Ironically, though it seems that if you don't keep up with trends every second, you'll be lost in the dust, it's not really the case. Things are so quickly processed and forgotten that it's incredibly easy to jump in the herd at any time, because that which happened yesterday probably won't be relevant today anyway.
Remember The Arcade Fire, Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls. They're old news. No one talks about them anymore. In fact, the best way to stay fresh as a musician seems to be to keep starting new bands that sound exactly the same. It gives the public the novelty of new. It's all a mirage though.
If you're starting a band tomorrow, musicianship is hardly the best asset to have. I suggest having a lot of ironic band names that kids will enjoy tweeting.
While taking power away from the corrupted mainstream media has plenty of advantages, the problem lies with the direction that power has fallen. Those people with the most productive internet lives are the ones to which the power is falling.
Who has the most productive internet lives? That answer is complex but in its simplest form its people with the least amount of time devoted to the real world. There are writers and media sources full tapped into the internet, but with the economic feasibility of the web still in question, attention is still divided to other outlets. The generation of youth that grew up immediately tapped into the internet has a different capacity for internet life than their older counterparts. It's as though they can breath underwater. Whereas older generations always have to come up for air, kids have evolved with the internet and technology as their natural environment. They also know how to best utilize the expansive network. Because of this, they rule the internet.
Kids have less-developed tastes and writing skills, so simpler things will prosper, and the quality of journalism plummets.
...And this is why the next big thing was big 2 weeks ago.
[and I apologize for all typos and the lack of flow, but any editing would have taking even longer, and this would have been even more obsolete]
NY Press Reacts to New York Mag’s “Brooklyn Top 40″
New York Magazine recently published a list of 40 songs that define the Brooklyn scene. The list was incredibly generic, outside of a couple interesting picks like Oakley Hall and Class Actress. Plus it was really lame to include to Grizzly Bear songs, even if they are a great band. There's no denying that Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, and TV on the Radio are the kings of the Brooklyn scene, but a best of list that includes Das Racist, Ninjasonik, and Matt & Kim is an embarrassment to our scene And everyone knows that Vampire Weekend isn't from Brooklyn.
So NY Press made our own list of 40 songs that "gets a little closer to the spirit of Brooklyn’s current rock scene." I was one of many writers that fought to see some of my favorites make the list, and I think the end result is quite a respectable deeper look into Brooklyn's incredible rock scene.
I would have loved to have seen Rain Machine, Hopewell, Right on Dynamite, Milagres and quite a few others make this list, but isn't that the point of lists—no one's ever happy.
Here's a quick hint at what our list looks like. Go here to see the full thing.
1. “Coward Cracks the Dawn” by Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers
2. “Ecstatic Rite” by Liturgy
3. “Open Shut” by Blank Dogs
4. “Don't Pass On Me” by Woods
5. "Bang For Changes" by Zambri
6. “I Hate New York” by Thorns of Life
7. “Hair Tapes” by Noveller
8. “Bear” by The Antlers
9. “Soda Popinski” by Javelin
10. “It’s Time!” by caUSE-coMOTION!
How I Lost My Hearing: 200 Pages of Jonny Leather Photography
How I Lost My Hearing is a 200 page collection of my best photography work over the last several years. It's been a project I've been working on for nearly 2 years, and I think it is a great looking book
Preview and Buy it online at Blurb
I will have some copies available for sale at my October 3rd event at Bell House
Jonny Leather’s Top 100 Albums of 2008
Jonny Leather's Top 100 Albums of 2008
I've devoted a ridiculous amount of time listening to new music this year, seeing hundreds of records make their way in and out of my rotation. Though, I try to give every record I receive a full spin, some records are so immediately bad that I can't even make it through one song. The good ones, however, never fall out of rotation. Some are love at first listen, while others grow and grow, with a slow building love affair. While I understand the overabundance of year-end lists, I often find them to be helpful tools in what I may have missed, and I hope my own very lengthy list can provide that same helpful service.
NY Press Music Survey
We asked dozens of bands 10 questions each about the local music scene.
New York City has always been a Mecca for great music. We've had Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth. No matter how many great bands are being produced in Montreal, Atlanta, Chicago or any other second-rate burg, NYC has always produced a higher quantity of quality bands with a huge range of styles. In recent years we've seen a variety of great bands come up and shake the music world; From The Strokes to LCD Soundsystem to TV on the Radio, New York is still producing great music in the 21st century. Many of our best bands become insanely popular, and at times it’s been easy to forget that there's still a slew of untapped talent playing bars and backrooms all over town. No one knows this better than the bands, which is why we asked dozens of them 10 questions each about the local music scene. We’re surprised and thrilled by the volume and variety of the answers, and we hope you are, too.—Jonny Leather
Melodic Fuzz
Thee Oh Sees
Death By Audio, 9.28.08
Last night, I found myself sweating bullets and listening to fuzzed-out garage rock at Death By Audio. On the floor was San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees, the new project of former Coachwhips mastermind John Dwyer. The room was packed, and I was so close to the band that I was lucky to survive the performance without having my face struck with a tambourine or guitar neck. The intimacy, and DIY nature perfectly complimented the perfectly raw nature of the grimy music Thee Oh Sees generated in the unbearably hot space. Buried underneath a furious level of fuzz/reverb, John Dwyer and company played a melodic blend of psychedelic, garage-style surf rock that had the room simultaneously shaking their hips and tapping their toes.
For more about Thee Oh Sees, check out Greg Burgett's recent feature on the band.
MP3: "Ghost In The Trees"
Tribeca/ASCAP Music Lounge Day 2
Chris Thile was back at the Canal Room on Wednesday to provide more mandolin madnes. As he did on Tuesday, Thile jammed up some bluegrass Bach and this time he ended his set with cover of The Stroke’s “Heart In A Cage.” I don’t know how he managed to pull off playing that guitar frenzy on his own on a mandolin, but he did.
Thile was followed by the equally young and talented Sondre Lerche (pictured). Showing off his new haircut, the Norwegian born songwriter was delightful, playing a catchy mix of swinging jazz and power pop. By the time his short set ended, the mix of free beer and cold medicine had come into effect, and I made my way out of the charming lounge atmosphere of the Canal Room and into the often-unpleasant alternate universe that is the Canal Street, wishing it hadn't ended so soon.
The music portion of the Tribeca Film Festival continues today at Canal Room with performances by Small Mercies, Jack Savoretti, Jessie Baylin, Augustana, and Sia.
Written for NY Press
