“Where Is Everybody?”

Indeed.

Helen Thomas asks the defining question that is the shame of our nation – The press’ absolute cowardice in the face of an obvious collapse of our moral compass.

The Art of the Title Sequence

This is too great not to share.

My personal favorite is ‘Catch Me If You Can’.

Because That’s What Ian Would Have Wanted…

This just makes me sick.

Microsoft is making a Joy Division ‘Zune’ player.

I understand a band like U2 aligning itself with IPod, but for the surviving members of Joy Division (ie New Order) to cash in on Ian Curtis in this manner seems blasphemous. Now, one could argue that all the recent books and films made about the band are doing the same thing, but I would counter that things like Anton Corbijn’s Control and Paul Morley’s Piece by Piece (which I highly recommend, by the way) augment and explore the band and it’s music by not only paying homage but trying to put the band and it’s music in a new context and possibly bring their music to a whole new generation of fans. The branding of a Zune with the bands identity, however, does nothing but bring the bands legend and aura to a third rate Mp3 player that is desperately in need of some market share. Pathetic.

The Filter

I downloaded an early version of The Filter two years ago and was underwhelmed. But Peter Gabriel’s recommendation software has had a complete makeover and is close to being released in beta.

It’s all grand, and goodness knows I am loathe to disparage St. Peter, whose musical work I adore, but I have yet to see any recommendations on any kind of site that have ever shown me something I haven’t already heard of. Indeed, in the original Filter, I was constantly being recommended the latest Depeche Mode or Nine Inch Nails albums. Thrilling.

Here’s hoping the new Filter surprises me and sets the world on fire…

The Pope Should Be Arrested

Why is it that if you are the leader of an American cult that rapes children you are arrested and charged with a crime, (as you damn well should be…) but if you are the leader of a worldwide cult that rapes children, you get to make speeches in stadiums?

For background, read Christopher Hitchens’ latest.

New Ladytron

Ladytron – Black Cat

I can not get this track out of my head. Highly recommended. It’s as though you’ve been transported to an alien world that has been put on lock-down and controlled by a sinister police state. But in a good way.

Enjoy.

Ghosts I-IV

Thank you, Trent, for giving us a road map.

It’s not like we hadn’t already been leaning towards some kind of download/web release even before the whole Radiohead phenomenon happened, but Trent Reznor’s roll-out of his new album is a ‘how-to’ for groups in this post-record label age.

For the two of you who aren’t familiar, basically, he offered a part of the album for free, the whole album for $5, and more elaborate packaging for a whole lot more. He sold out of the expensive option in hours. I opted for the $5 download, which came with some great artwork and liner notes. (I will never, ever, get over my geek obsession with liner notes.)

So Friday, after work, I stoped by the Borders that beckons me every day as I make my way to the train (some days I fend off its siren song – some days, I am not so lucky…) and I see the new NIN in the music section. And even though I had all the music on my Creative that was in my pocket, even though I had all the pictures and liner notes in a neat, easy to reach folder on my desk at home, I picked up the CD package, brought it to the counter, and bought it. Why? Because I think the album is brilliant, easily the most mature, considered work Reznor has done. But more than that, I love the ‘world’ that he has created with the release of the album, and want to be part of it in any way I can. (Within reason, of course. As nice as those $500 packages look, daddy still needs money to buy formula…)

This is the new paradigm. Give music away to let people live with it. If they love it, they will go to all ends to be involved with everything you do going forward. We’ve started down this road with So Sto, and there will be much more to come…

Making Music

It’s hard, in the bustle of the morning, getting the kids to their various schools, shoveling a bagel in for breakfast, maybe even finding time to say more than three words to my wife before we head our separate ways to our day jobs that we both tolerate but have no passion for, to find time for a coherent thought. But I had one just now as I sat down at my computer.

Outside of my family, music is the most important thing in my life.

Now, it’s easy to say that, and many people have and do on a daily basis, but today, just now, I realize how much of my waking life is spent either thinking about music I’ve heard or music that I want to make and then hear. I mean, I can’t get through a 5 minute segment of my life without a melody or a lyric or a beat running through my head. So what does that mean to me? Funnily enough, not what it used to. If you’ve ever been in a band, at some point, most likely in your youth, you thought music, and more specifically your music, could make a difference. Could change the world. But then you grow up, your music doesn’t change anything other than you and maybe your bandmates, and you start looking at and reacting to your music in a different way. It doesn’t seem so important. It feels like more of a chore. As you mature, it becomes more and more difficult, in the bustle of your adult day, to find cracks of time to commit to making music.

But today, I’m reminded that Someone’s Story has written some pretty damn good songs. And sure, we may never be a Cut Copy or Hot Chip. But you know what? I’d put our songs up against any of theirs in a Pepsi-Challenge, and I’d be willing to bet that 40 years from now, people could still discover one of our songs and be moved by it, while if they came across a song by the aforementioned groups, they would peg it as very much a product of the time it was made.

Sour grapes? Ok, possibly. But I truly believe it. And it’s the reason, despite the complications of working with two other adults that have other, more pressing commitments that sometimes relegate our little band to no more than an afterthought, that I soldier on, writing songs, making music, trying to express just what it is that moves me through this thing we call life.

Unintentional Hilarity Ensues

“We need someone to create an easy to search streamable library of all the recorded music in the world.”

I can’t say I’m familiar with the writer’s work or the site. And the article overall makes some decent points. (Despite the dubiously snooty title – Something Important Is On the Horizon In the Music Business – really?) I just thought the quote highlighted above was hilarious.

Vladimir – What Have You Wrought?

No doubt you have been following the story closely, but in case you’ve missed a twist or turn along the way, here’s the latest on the fate of Nabokov’s last, as-yet-unpublished novel, The Original of Laura.

To sum up:

The original Laura manuscript lies in a Swiss bank vault, awaiting it’s fate. On his death bed, Nabokov asked his son, Dimitri, to burn the manuscript, feeling that it was imperfect and should never be seen by the public. Well, it turns out Dimitri is quite the procrastinator, because here he is, at the ripe old age of 73, wrestling with the decision of whether to honor his father’s dying wish, or to release the final work of one of the greatest authors ever in the history of the written word (in my estimation…) for the literary world to appreciate.

It’s a fascinating story, and one that Ron Rosenbaum, author of the excellent book The Shakespeare Wars, is intricately involved in. He has two excellent articles about the amazing story and his involvement in it, over at Slate. Do yourself a favor and read it all….