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May 4, 2006
Shorties
The RIAA is targeting a dozen cities for their bootleg CD markets.
"I feel confident in saying there's not going to be a Jayhawks reunion in five or 10 years," he continued, "because we were together 20 years -- it's not like we were short lived. It doesn't mean that Olson and I might not make a record and people won't try to slap that name on it for promotion. But the Jayhawks have done their time."
The Toronto Eye's Totally Wired gives much-deserved love to music blogs Marathonpacks and rbally.
The Duluth News Tribune interviews several local "rocker chicks."
The Seattle Stranger interviews Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood.
Historically, if you're a group like, say, Fleetwood Mac, that creative trinity can be a multifaceted asset, but sometimes there can be too many elements at play. How do you balance that?
No one ever tells anyone what to play on his songs. The person who brought the song in does have a certain amount of veto power... but that doesn't [have to be exercised] too much. There's got to be a lot of mutual respect for it to work. That's probably what keeps us going during those times when we're not necessarily getting along as well.
Popmatters reviews the documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.
While the film can't recreate the experience of mental illness or emotional collapse, it does imagine what it might be like, in disturbing sometimes remarkable ways. A couple of times, it "reenacts" scenes, using point-of-view imagery to show Dan's frantic rush to assault an elderly woman he believes to be demonic, or his run to a soda vending machine as he decides he wants to be the spokesman for Mountain Dew (that he understands himself as an ideal commercial promoter and product is striking).
Brandon Flowers confesses that the Killers are making the "best album of the last 20 years," according to the NME (no stranger to hyperbole, itself).
OU daily interviews singer-songwriter John Vanderslice.
The Daily: If you had to tour with any arena rock band, who would it be and why?
Vanderslice: Well, I would love to study Motley Crue, man. I would love to. Um ... I'm in a bathroom and there's no light in here. How do you pee in this thing? This is the nature of the tour, I have to take you into the bathroom with me. Well, let's say Motley Crue because I want to see how they function on the road, and I do have a lot of respect for people who are that insane, who are ready to put that on the line. I'm a total pussy. I'm not like that at all. I'm very ideal. My ideal country is Holland, for me, myself, I'm pretty anti-drug. I don't necessarily want to get free coke, but I want to see the … I'm really interested in the extreme fringes of hard rock culture.
Vanderslice also talks to the San Francisco Bay Guardian about his analog recording techniques.
"My thing is, if you want it to be some way, make it that way and commit to it. Don't be half-assed. If you want it to sound f*cked-up or modulated or distorted or delayed, let's go for it. Record it that way, print it on tape, and then it's part of the tapestry. It's done."
LA Weekly visits local literary salons.
Here in L.A. the literary scene has equal parts Hollywood glamour and Eastside edge. Besides its literary magazines (Swink, Black Clock, The Los Angeles Review) and smaller indie presses and imprints, there are also a dozen regular literary salons and another half-dozen not-so-regular salons, many of which come with a heavy dose of industry participation on both sides of the stage.
Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture talks to Now Toronto.
Their aching self-consciousness has apparently eased, and they no longer have to fear being one-hit wonders. Perhaps there's even some degree of comfort in knowing that microscopic scrutiny of their every musical endeavour isn't necessarily bad for this ongoing tale.
"I think that's the ideal place for a band to be," says Fraiture, "for people to want to actually hear the next album. But it's a double-edged sword: on one hand we're very grateful for the attention; on the other we don't really know what to do with it. It's kind of hard to make sense of that much hype, especially when a band is just beginning."
In the New York Times, Roger Mudd recounts meeting American literary legend Eudora Welty.
"I like to write in the hot summer — in the heat of summer," she told me during a long-ago interview for NBC News. "It's kind of insulation," she said. "I guess that does keep out the world while you're writing. It's too hot to do anything. You can write barefoot and wear your nightgown if necessary, and the phone doesn't ring because it's too hot to dial."
Progressive U compares the film and novel versions of Being There. (buy the book) (buy the DVD)
Flagpole examines the current prevalence of cover bands in Athens.
In short, a cover band allows those in Athens dedicated to producing music to do what they love while getting paid enough to avoid a traditional day job. For the mainstream audience, a cover band’s performance is an accessible way to enjoy music they know and love with the added benefits of volume, theatrics, energy and community.
Austin City Limits Festival 2006 News and Rumors lists four bands the "ACL Fest needs this year."
