Anyhow this is what happens when they get glockenspiels and set off to recreate the work of some other famous duos. Namely Hall + Oates and Justice. It’s so wacky that it just plain works. Hit the jump afterward for two more.
Real quick because I have a few pressing concerns to deal with, but Etherea Records, a dope little record shop with a phenomenally curated selection, will not be going out of business after all. Their manager managed to scrape together a few investors in the 11th hour and will be staying open! Details are sparse at the moment but you can follow the story straight from the horse’s mouth over at everyone’s favorite vitriol filled nyc clubbing site.
Allow me to take a momentary break from all the serious entertainment biz stuff I’ve been rambling about and share with you one of the most insane things I’ve seen in a while. My good friend Dave has an annual holiday project that involves combining copious amount of candy with classic Lord of the Rings battles. This year, he and his crew opted to take on the mines of Moria. The result is nothing short of spectacular. I mean how can you go wrong when you combine classic fantasy literature, jujubes, and tentacle rape? You be the judge.
Last week I put that img blog thing up, this week it’s going by the wayside. I just signed up for Dropular and I’m loving it so far. It’s wonderfully simple. The open beta ends tonight, so if you’re interested, get on it quick and follow me! If not, I’m sure I’ll have invites at some point.
NARAS lived up to expectations by failing to remain relevant and rewarding the most commercially successful/ elder statesmen rather than those making waves. No disrespect to Robert Plant but everyone surprised by his win just needs to think back to Herbie Hancock last year. Burning Spear winning the reggae category really gets on my nerves. Did anyone actually listen to that album? Also Daft Punk winning best dance record for a song released in 2001 is another testament. Oh well, whatever.
Total music shutting down comes as no surprise to me. Listening to the European CEO of Nokia try to spin it and explain how comes with music works differently on friday was pretty humorous though. Sorry Rick Rubin, but streaming music is not the way to save the industry. The internet is not ubiquitous enough to benefit from a cloud based music library system, and there’s no value in letting someone else curate your music library. Seeking alternative revenue streams and letting big business pay while the consumers get a free ride is probably the most viable option at this point. Chris Anderson talks about it here in detail. I’m extremely excited for his new book that comes out in the spring. The Long Tail was a good jumping off point but the theory is much more evolved at this point.
Speaking of alternative revenue streams, the ticketmaster/livenation deal is kind of the defintion of “getting it” when it comes to making money off of music. Antitrust suits are probably in the works as we speak, but when you look beyond the venue/artist monopoly and actually examine how diversified the two companies involved actually are, you’ll see that they’re poised to thrive in this new economy while many others flounder.
Neil Portnow’s speech always makes me laugh but this year’s was above and beyond hilarious. Neil, please leave the co-opting of Obamamania to Pepsi. Secretary of the arts is an old argument that holds no water. However, props for mentioning the performance royalties for radio thing. Great to see that gaining momentum.
Phenomenal R&B album from Phonte of Little brother. Dude also recently did some excellent work on the new Jazzanova Album, Of All The Things
Also – how in the fuck did a bunch of geeky german dudes become so awesomely soulful? It defies logic.
Hardkandy – Second To None
Basically imagine if Curtis Mayfield was still alive and got a 21st century update. That’s what this hardkandy album sounds like. Love love love love love it.
And here’s a freebie cuz you know I love you all. Ceos & Arcee – Seachops of funk - My pals from downbeat productions have a new promo mix out. It’s tasty angry nuskool breaks business. Good for gym etc. Check them out over at http://www.downbeatproductions.com
The public performance rights bill i wrote about here was introduced into congress last week. Choice quotes include ” Our ignorance of intellectual property rights on this issue is a worldwide embarrassment and it must end now,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), a co-sponsor of the House bill.”
Calling it a “record label bailout” is tacky and embarassing to all involved, though.
I have a bit of an obsession with fffound, tumblr image blogs, etc. However, ffffound is super-hard-to-get invite only, and the equivalents just don’t really cut it for me. So, I decided to do a DIY version here on the site.
You can find it by clicking here or on that link up there ^^ that says imgbloginsanity.
I’ve disabled RSS feeds and the like for it because I don’t want to slam anyone’s reader with pictures. If it catches on, I may offer friends invites to add to it. Hit me up if you want one.
The Foreign Exchange – Leave It All Behind 
