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OGC Theatre - Contents - OGC Log - OGC Site Search
| May 2004. |
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5/30 -
"reported"
Thursday (5/27) on the sales slump that's ensnared the record industry the past few
years. As always, these days, pot-shots were taken at various pop artists ...
with specific artists (Britney Spears, most notably) singled out for blame.
David Crosby, interviewed at length during the course of the program,
quipped that "Britney is as shallow as a bird bath"
and, in essence, said she's symptomatic of the record industry's ills. Yes, because everyone knows the music of the '60s was "deep." The Mamas & the
Papas ... deep? The Supremes ... deep? The Monkees ... deep?
Give me a break. I could go on for hours here, spitting out pop artists from bygone eras whose
music was, is, will always be ... fun to listen to, but not "deep."
(Check out Rhino's
series for a lot of pop fodder from the 1970s, for
example.) As Paul Simon once sang (in "Boy in the
Bubble" from
), "every generation throws a hero up the pop charts." Every generation
also creates its own pop and
rock stars. Yeah, maybe the record execs can "create" a hit once ... but twice?
Three times? No. Consumers may get rooked once, but that's it. We see and hear through the hype ... hell, think of the many expected hits through the years that missed. To be blunt here: The record industry's slump is not a result of or any other "pop" artist currently topping the charts. Rather, the slump is the result of several factors that dates back to the late '70s and early '80s, when the music industry again faced a big drop-off in sales ... only to be saved by the CD revolution in the mid '80s. Those of us old enough to have amassed large LP collections by then essentially, slowly and methodically, re-placed many of the same albums with the CD equivalent. My trek began in earnest in 1987; and stopped, for the most part, in the late-'90s. Nowadays, I just buy new releases ... or download specific songs from . Younger music fans, however, don't have back catalogs to replace (and here's hoping they never will). At the same time, the consolidation of the many record companies into the few, and the expansion of radio station ownership, has totally changed the way music is made and sold. There are fewer outlets for new music to be heard; and new artists are given less time to succeed. Give young musicians a chance to grow - few are gonna hit homeruns their first time up at the plate. At the same time, don't blame those who manage to succeed for the ones who don't. If they're selling CDs, regardless of whether or not you like them, it's obvious - to me, at least - that they're connecting with someone. What is it John Lennon sang? "Whatever gets you through the night, it's alright"? So true, so true. Plus, think of it like this: the profits the pop acts bring in essentially enable the labels to continue to support lesser-selling artists. At least, that's how it once operated. Nowadays? I'd wager those profits go into the pockets of the record-company men (and women). (One last thing: Crosby's wrong. "Shallow" Britney's last album, , is one of the strongest albums I've heard in the past year ... it'd make my top ten, easy.) |
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5/27 - For a short time, I've re-posted my
interviews with Crosby, Jeff Pevar, Stephen Barncard & other CSN-related folk. Check out the
Contents pages for links. If you like what you read,
buy the OGC Compendium.
On another front: I logged onto earlier tonight to peruse its vast, if frustrating inventory of songs and what's one of the "recommended" tracks? Lone Justice's "I Found Love"! Yowza. A great song, but I'd say don't buy the song ... buy the album instead. Lone Justice, of course, was Maria McKee's old band ... and, as I wrote in my review of that compilation way back when, "Fuck the Beatles. Fuck the Stones. And, while I'm at it, fuck Bob Dylan and Neil Young, too. Written in jest? No. While listening to this combined best-of/rarities collection, that's exactly what I think ..." Oh, and Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me"? Damn good. Download it (legally, of course) if you can ... and pair it with this recommendation: 's "Are You Happy Now?," which I downloaded last December and am still enjoying. (Same for Michelle's "Breathe," another gem.) |
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5/26 - We just finished watching a
wonderful music DVD: Garland Jeffreys'
, which features a 1992 appearance of
Garland's on a German TV
music show - essentially, a mini-concert. It's nine songs; and features one kick-ass performance after another.
Highlights include
"Racial Repertoire," which is punctuated by a glorious snippet of Marvin Gaye's classic
"What's Going On," and Garland's own "I May Not Be Your Kind,"
"Don't Call Me Buckwheat" and the classic title tune. Great stuff. Turning from the serious side of music to some fluff-n-stuff: Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me" is a song well worth downloading. If big sister is a little bit pop (okay, a lot pop), Ashlee's a little bit punk ... oh, alright: pop-rock. She sounds a bit like . In fact, the song sounds a lot like one of Branch's. (That's not a knock against Ashlee, either. Just an observation.) If the rest of her debut album, which is due July 20th, is half this good ... egads. Talent must run in the genes. And jeans. Another fun find: 's "Slow." I've heard a lot about the Aussie superstar, but never actually heard her. The song is as sexy and saucy a song I've heard since 's delectable "Brave New Girl." In fact, her vocal mannerisms are very reminiscent of Britney's ... or maybe that should be the other way 'round? Whatever, I have a hankering to buy the parent CD, , now. |
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5/24 - Well ... I've finally managed to
hear a crappy 96-kbs MP3 of Hilary and Haylie Duff's take on the Go-Go's "Our Lips Are
Sealed." Why do people even bother encoding at that level? It's the big plus of
, which generally encodes
stuff at 160-kpbs - the higher the number, the better the sound quality. The
larger the file, too, but ... some sacrifices are worth it. Anyway, I won't say
where I found the MP3 in question other than I Googled for it and, to my
surprise, there it was ....
To the point, though: despite the lossy, lousy sound, I found myself boppin' along to the the Duffs' version ... and delving into the collection for a long-ago favorite, ex-Go-Go , which came after the group's swan song, , which featured one tasty treat after another ... and the heart-stopping Wiedlin-penned "Forget That Day." It's easy to hear why Belinda Carlisle sang lead; hers was the more honeyed, radio-friendly voice (as evidenced by her , no doubt), whereas Wiedlin's is something of an acquired taste. I love it, myself. Anyway, from the looks of it, her debut's now out of print - it goes for $25 (or thereabouts) via ... you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere. Whatever, do keep an eye - and ear - out for it. You'll be glad you did. (Belinda's is another surefire pop treat - "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" is probably my fave of her solo stuff, tho' "Mad About You" still packs a wallop.) |
| 5/23 - I've added a Google Search so folks can ... what else? Search the site and the web. I've also loaded up a few links to mostly general purpose sites that I frequent. Check it out! |
| 5/22 - We saw a funny and inventive film today: . It stars Lindsay Lohan; and was written by - and co-stars - SNL's Tina Fey. Essentially, fresh from a life-long stint of home-schooling (in Africa, no less), Cadie - pronounced "Katie," as she explains - adjusts to the jungles of ... the American high school social scene. In other words, she's landed in suburban Chicago for 11th grade. Lohan, as in the delightful , is a pint-sized comic goldmine. Likewise, the supporting cast - led by Fey and Lizzie Caplan (little Millie Cooper from !!!) - sparkles. |
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5/21 - Here's a way to feel old fast: read this
about the Hilary & Haylie Duff duet on "Our Lips Are Sealed."
The way Hilary - who's 17 - talks about the song and video shoot, one gets the
distinct impression that she never heard of
before, let alone listened to them!
"The
video is awesome," she then says, noting that "we were in a car
driving around the city and we were in a fountain." Is my memory going or ... isn't that what the Go-Go's did
in their "Our Lips Are Sealed" video?! I remember them driving around L.A. in a car, that's for
sure. A fountain, too. You can't hold it against Hilary - she's 17, after all, so her knowledge
of rock/pop history has just begun. But ... egads. Call me the
Old Grey Cat, indeed.
(Damn, the Go-Go's were good, though. A pop band, yes, but
shades of punk - and plenty of talent -tossed in for good measure. Give
a whirl if you don't believe me.)
Here's a to a that was in today's . |
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5/20 - Of late, obviously, I've been
somewhat pre-occupied w/ - my fave album of 2004, thus far - and my high
dive into pop music. (I'm actually looking forward to downloading the
rendition of the
old Go-Go's hit "Our Lips Are Sealed" from
when it's released.) Be that
as it may, when I get serious about music, no, I don't crank up
. For one, I don't own it; I "rent" a few Windows Media Files,
essentially. Rather, I crank up Neil
Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, David Crosby,
Paul McCartney, and ... more often than not, in ratio of two or three to one, I turn to one of two artists:
Maria McKee or Natalie Merchant. Yesterday, I grabbed Maria's on my way out the door and listened to it on the ride to and fro' work for the first time in a few months. It was my Album of the Year for 2003, hands down, and now all I can say is ... it's encroaching upon my Top 25 Albums of all time. If you've never heard of her, or have but never checked out her music, take my advice: do. As for Natalie, what can be said ... she's one of a kind. My advice to neophytes: buy her (or give it a second go if it's already in your collection.) It is in my Top 25! |
| 5/16 - A new, occasional feature: song recommendations for folks who frequent the (legitimate) download sites. First up: Pop Tarts Not: Ear Candy, Vol. 1. |
| 5/15 - Here's a site folks might enjoy - . |
| 5/14
- Whew. I finally finished the overhaul of the
Neil Collector CDs section of the
site - all the pages should now share the same, sparse look; and have links
back to pertinent pages within the site. As importantly,
the "Hitbox" banners that once littered them are gone. While putting together the OGC Compendium, the one thing that struck me about the many boot reviews therein is that, in total, they present a "snapshot history" of the pre-CDR, pre-Internet age. Back then, "rare" recordings were truly rare; they were things of legend, of myth--the Beatles' Get Back, say, or Prince's Black Album, titles you read about in fanzines and books, in Nicholas Schaffner's . ('s book, shown at the left, does a great job of chronicling the rise of the boot industry, for those who might be interested.) But, just as video killed the radio star, the CD burner killed the bootleg. The CD burner and the Internet, that is. And postal mail. Though, even there - with broadband added into the equation ...?! Something tells me the mail part of the equation will soon be a part of history. Word to the wise: if you're still buying boot CDs, you're an imbecile. And if you're a "rock star," follow Tom Petty's lead. "There are so many hundreds and hundreds of bootlegs," he told posted on-line May 12th. "I would kind of like to make them authorized. Not all of my fans will want bootlegs, but for those who do, I want to have that musical outlet on the Web site." Anyway - the Neil boots are back, in full. If you enjoy 'em, pick up one of our books, or click through a link and buy something from Amazon - would be my top recommendation, followed by . You won't go wrong, either way. Or ... Joss Stone's stellar debut from last year, , is more than worth the price of admission. That's a five-star effort if ever there was one ... |
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5/12 - I listened to the Grateful Dead's
on the
ride home from work
tonight. If ever there was a "spring" album, this is it: warm, sunny vocals
wafting across gorgeous melodies. I owned the vinyl
album years ago and later, when it was first issued on CD in
the '80s, I picked it up again ... but the last time I listened to it from start
to finish must of been, oh, 15 years ago.
Maybe longer. What spurred me to go back to the album,
though, was
.
As I wrote last month, F&G was a
short-lived TV series about teenage life, circa 1980, that was recently released on DVD.
The final
episode, which the folks behind the show knew might well be their last,
found the lead character--a 16-year-old girl named Lindsay (Linda
Cardellini)--finding solace in
's
grooves ... that moment encapsulates everything good about this thing
called rock music. It's just her in her bedroom, the needle touching the vinyl
and the vibes sinking into her soul. She dances, swirls and twirls to the music,
at one with it, in love with it. A wondrous moment in a wondrous TV series ... And a moment that, yes, sent me searching for the CD only to discover that I must've traded it in somewhere along the way. (Either that or it's lost in the collection--more than plausible, sad to say.) It worked out, though: the re-mastered version, which I'm enjoying now, comes complete with "bonus" tracks--live versions of a handful of tunes, basically--and features simply exquisite sound. And the songs ... "Box of Rain," "Ripple," all the others ... the harmony-laden "Attics of My Life" ... are a delight through and through. Next chance you get, put on, crank it up. And enjoy! |
| 5/11 - . You've heard the buzz, maybe a track or two or the video--which Diane assures me is brilliant--but what of the album as a whole? Is it, as seemingly every critic under the sun is claiming, The Artist Formerly Known as a Hieroglyphic's return to form? The lead-off track (the title tune) is a funky little history lesson with shout-outs to and . The other stand-out track is "Cinnamon Girl"--no, not that "Cinnamon Girl." The song echoes Prince's mid-'80s, psychedelic-funk prime with a driving beat, tasty guitars and a tight melody. That said, the album as a whole ... it's worth picking up, don't get me wrong. But, all in all, if push-comes-to-shove, I'd rather listen to .... |
| 5/9 - Yes, a few Amazon banners littering the pages ... we got bills to pay, people! (For the record, tho', Amazon has long been where I buy my CDs, DVDs, books and more ... even the I listen to music with here at Command Central. I liked 'em so much I bought a second set to give to a friend ...) |
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5/8 - Don't forget to check out the OGC Compendium. A tad pricey ($17.99 or $13.99, depending), but well worth the read! It's basically much of the stuff that was featured on the site through the years. The feedback we've gotten from the two-dozen folks who've purchased it has, thus far, been positive. (And thanks to the few who brought our attention to some glaring, and not-so-glaring, typos and formatting issues. We've fixed them for future runs.) Valerie Carter's version of "Ooh Child" is a song guaranteed to send shivers up and down the spine. It's one of the mainstays of my MP3 jukebox; and is a track from her classic 1977 debut, . If you've never heard of her or her version of that soul classic, it's a shame, but not a surprise. She's probably best known as a back-up singer who's worked with Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and other '70s-era So-Cal rock acts through the years. In three words, this set (and "Ooh Child" especially) is ... to die for. As is . Yes, eight days into May and I'm still grooving to it ... as much as I enjoyed her debut back in 2000 (which featured her timeless single, "I'm Like a Bird"), this album is a giant step forward. It's a warm, breezy collection of songs that is indeed, as she labels her music, "world pop." If you're scroungin' for good vibes, ya won't do better than this--especially on a beautiful spring day. "Oh, yeah, the grass is green/but can you tell me/can you feel it?/I want to feel it ..." One of the downsides I've discovered as I've gotten older is that many contemporaries pretty much brush aside "new" artists in favor of the same-old tried-and-true music they know forwards, backwards and sideways. Fact is, though, there are plenty of cool young musicians and bands out there ... and Nelly's one. |
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5/6 - If you've seen and enjoyed , odds are you'll get a kick out of Paul Feig's book, , which is a hilarious, if warped, collection of events from Feig's childhood. (Feig created F&G and wrote/supervised most of the scripts, basing them on instances from his own life.) Here's a cool new site: . |
| 5/2 - For the past week, every night around nine we've settled down to watch , a DVD box set. For those not in the know, It was a short-lived, animated comedy that ran for two seasons (one on ABC, one on Fox) in the early '90s, and chronicles the misadventures of short, pompous and slightly rotund movie critic Jay Sherman. In four words: it's laugh-out-loud funny ... in a subversive, Simpsons-kind of way. (Small wonder: some of the same folks behind that oversaw Homer & Co. for a few years.) Add in Jon Lovitz as Jay and ... it's a hoot. |
| 5/1 - As the last entry for April hinted: my Album of the Month for May is ... . Half a year late, perhaps, but--regardless--"Powerless" packs a punch, as does the immigrant's tale "Fresh off the Boat." Along with the first track, "One Trick Pony," they stick around after the CD's done. Same goes for "Explode," the subdued "Picture Perfect," which gradually grows into a truly hypnotic song, and the sublime "Build It Up," another perfect track. The CD as a whole recalls 's brilliant album of the early '90s, which traded in an infectious mix of rhythms, pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop. I.e., there was more to the picture than met the eye. Same here. As a whole, the album exudes a warm, late-spring/early-summer vibe, which probably explains why it didn't play well in winter. |
Previous: April 2004.
| --, aka "the old grey cat" |
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