LiveNation+Ticketmaster: a match made in Hell

Hopefully 'till death do us part' comes sooner than later

Personally, I never get tired of paying ridiculous service fees.

Blues People Blog

If society as we knew it were to suddenly fall apart around us, what use would this blog be? Would the reading be that just took up my time, the tuition for this school and the opportunities it presents? Nothing. Western cultures and ideas are made to believe they are superior, but if suddenly our economy and culture collapses we become a primitive and tribal society, my book knowledge won’t be of much use when I can’t go to the grocery store and buy my own food. Our knowledge is only valuable within the system, so when Africans were taken here their knowledge no longer held value. These same biases shine through when “westerners” refused to attempt to appreciate African music; the unconventional (to Western nations) rhythmic patterns and instruments disgusted the ears of the Western listeners who refused to give the music a try. They thought there way was the only way to ‘do music.’ Little did they know that the music they were refuting would eventually give way to Blues music and start a musical revolution. If these music analysts were to have approached their listening of African music more holistically how would the landscape of music shifted? Pop music already has many of these influences, but had it been accepted into popular music more readily would the Beatles have happened? Would we be further into the musical cycle? Twilight Zone: suddenly, another bug named band are out playing different rhythms and time signatures and the world never hears from Lennon and the gang.

However, knowledge is only as important as the culture makes it, and the same goes for musical knowledge, while Western music critics degraded their odd styles in Africa the same music seen as terrible to Westerners, is extraordinary music to an African. This acceptance never came about and then the Blues was born—no longer an African music, because only a rejected American could be so blue.

Contra brings hope, and good tunes.

"It struck me that the two of us could run" and run they will.

Even if you aren't a fan of Vampire Weekend or their stellar new album, Contra, they have done something truly remarkable. As of today they are only the 12th independently distributed band to reach the #1 spot on Billboard's music chart, selling 124,000 copies in its first week, and in doing so, giving hope to every other indie band out there trying to make a name for itself. VW shifting the landscape, bringing down the 4 majors and shining a light for other independent labels out there taking chances, feeding new and inventive music to the public, rather than just waiting for it to blow up and then stealing their souls with 360 deals. As a person who one day wants to work in the music industry I believe this to be good news for evening the playing field, showing that taking chances on bands pay off and that possibly one day the indies will be able to compete more with the majors. January is the month for all things new. Last January the charts had Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion quite highly (#13) on Billboard's charts.
VW, thank you, here's to the future.


Other good January news:
Beach House-Teen Dream
Yeasayer- Odd Blood
Owen Pallett- Heartland
!Los Campesinos!- Romance is Boring

Coachella thought: Put together a great lineup, headliners are pretty good, but seem to be lacking what Paul McCartney was last year. And seriously, Muse? Wish Julian Casablacas and Thom Yorke had brought their more famous bands. And I thought Arcade Fire was supposed to be there...overall the supporting bands overshadow many of the headliners, but I've been told the Gorillaz are excellent live and their new single sounds great/interesting--take a listen here:
http://stereogum.com/archives/new_gorillaz__stylo_110191.html

Analyzation of Race by Russell Potter

COMM 307 Blog Entry for the week of 1/18-1/22

Analyzing Race

White people ruined music--

Everything that was at one time good about music, or a particular genre has been taken by affluent white folks, like myself, and commercialized. In Race by Russell Potter, Potter implies what I have just wrote; Elvis Presley took jazz and blues and “whitened” it with influences from Bing Crosby and Elvis Costello. White record label executives jumped at the increasing sales figures of R&B and commercialized the once mainly improvisational genre. Herein rock n’ roll was formed (for the kids) and through the influence of a black-talking, but actually white, radio DJ the first rock n’ roll concert was held, even though it just made it through the first song of the first act.

The record labels created a fantasy that is was white listeners buying all these albums, and showing up to the concerts because they were the ones with the money to do so. Therefore, the record labels slowly ruined each genre, through the “appropriation, [and] commodification” hip-hop and R&B were driven to an “end [of] innovation” (Potter, Race). Once the records hit the radio it became easier for whites to procure, and more popular, as well. Record labels and artists would accommodate this, while the genres slowly lost their edge and were “relentlessly reproduced until they died” (Race).

However, I tend to look at it slightly differently, while the difference between lyrics can sometimes be quite obvious from the referenced “The Message,” “It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder/How I keep from going under.” Speaking of tough life on the street, a complete opposite of current hip-hop song themes; songs referencing parties, dancing, money, and sex. It’s ironic that upon listening to “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash I hear tones of modern european dance style music in the chorus, dissimilar from the bass lines and blues influence it supposedly was born from. And the very beats that Sasha Frere-Jones argued are currently ruining hip-hop because Jay-Z had strayed too far from the aforementioned roots of hip-hop. I believe the wealth of hip-hop lies in the potential, the whole soundboard that is available to rap artists that possesses any sound one so pleases, whether it be a jazzy bass line and percussion, or european dance beats and a guitar solo etc.. And while Race mostly contends that white music has dissolved all that was once great about hip-hop, jazz, and R&B the other song Potter mentions is “Walk This Way” which is made up of Aerosmith’s collaboration and riff, Aerosmith a white rock group, hailing from black influences, but that’s beside the point, the point being, that two of the most prominent early rap songs feature clearly white influences.

However, while the potential of rap is not being fully reached, white kids seem to like the idea of “gangsta” lifestyle as they are supplying most of their sales and record labels continue to pay the bills for the “gangsta” rappers to supply more uninspired songs about last night’s party and the extracurricular activity that followed in their drunken adventures.