This week, it’s all about the filth that we as a music-loving audience have to deal with when it comes to governments, journalists, corporations, and billionaires. Owen Pallett gets his OHIP taken away, Maxim magazine is making up articles, the RIAA is raking in billions, and Music 1.0 is apparently dead. But all is not lost. South by Southwest (SXSW) is fast approaching, and the site has put up its yearly mp3 grab bag, this year containing more than 700 free mp3s.
All this and videos by the Smashing Pumpkins, Nicole Atkins, and The Terrordactyls on a brand New Sound Now.
Tomorrow, I’m going to be talking about this on the show, but I wanted to explain it in better detail. Recently, a team of music executives got together in New York to try and figure out how to save this whole mess about losing billions of dollars a year (even though the President of the RIAA made over a billion dollars all by himself last year) and they came to the conclusion that Music 1.0 is dead, whatever that means. New plans have to be hatched, new schemes have to be unfoiled, etc etc etc.
All they have to do is look around.
South by Southwest (SXSW) has, for the past three years, given out a gigantic torrent filled with one song from each act that performs at the festival. This year, the package chimes in at over three gigabites. That’s more gigs than a low-to-mid level iPod can handle. Every year, thousands of people download this file. Hell, this year’s package has only been up for little over a week and already 500 people have begun to seed the thing.
What good is three gigs of singles, though? Well, apart from being a fantastic free taste for the festival (to lure in ticket sales), it’s also the digital equivalent to what the festival is itself; a way for new bands to be given time in our ears. Even if one only 10 percent of the songs get a proper listen in your ears, you’re still allowing yourself to listen to seventy new bands.
This torrent enables bloggers almost a year’s worth of bands to highlight and brag about to their friends. It allows casual fans of mainstream music a free shot at hearing an entire community of indie acts. It allows venue promoters a chance to see a shortlist of what is hot with the kids these days, and it allows retailers to predict what to stock.
Wired has an excellent cover story this month on the future of the ‘free’ market, and mp3s have to be included in this discussion. Much like Gillette gave away razors to sell blades, bands are going to have to give away mp3s in order to sell concert tickets.
But it’s more than that. If Music 1.0 is something dead, then we must have in place a business system that is truly 2.0, and that means integrating interactivity into the mix. It’s not just the end of days in terms of selling overpriced CDs, it’s also the end of the one-way road of musicians selling to customers. In the past 3 years, the internet has shown us a fantastic way of gaining a crowd, and that’s social networking. In plain speak, word of mouth at the base level, where everyone gets a say, and the pyramid of free-market capitalism collapses.
Of course, one could argue that nothing needs fixing, that the slow demise of the music industry will benefit both the listener and the artists, but not the machine that’s kept them apart. That’s where SXSW and organizations like it truly shine, because they can exist without the machine. One might argue it would be better to have people like them in charge.
When I sat down with Garner a few weeks ago before their performance at a benefit show, they had a lot to tell me about the past few months. Lead guitarist James Bloemendal, Keyboardist Matt McKenna and Drummer Matt McFarland are eager to talk about their new album, It’s About Time.
As we get into the interview, I start to realize that underlying the positive attitude of Garner is a streak of successes that would give just about anyone reason to grin. According to both McFarland and McKenna, their journey toward creating It’s About Time began about a year ago, when the band first developed the unique sound that’s been steadily attracting fans ever since.
“We didn’t really have a sound at the beginning, and when we did start to acquire one we had this kind of more folky thing happening with our first EP,” Says McKenna of their progression as a group.
McFarland adds in that, “When we (Garner) started writing our own music, McKenna brought in this jazzier funk and soul thing that really opened doors.”
The influence of jazz and funk is definitely evident in It’s About Time, especially in the flowing lyrics and fast-paced guitar work of “Slow Down” and the more mellow feel of the album’s title track. The album has a nice blend of funky, catchy tunes that mix jazz licks with a sound similar to that of Barenaked Ladies in the late nineties and tender love songs that accentuate McKenna’s soulful vocals. The lyrics, especially on the opening track, You Were Right, are skillfully written and blend nicely with the instrumentals.
According to the band, Garner’s new sound brought even more successes. On a chance encounter, they ended up at the Canterbury music company in Toronto, famous for its production of Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and even one of Garner’s major musical influences, the Barenaked Ladies. I ask the guys about their experiences working with Canterbury, and what it was like in the studio producing It’s About Time.
McFarland says that working with their producer in the studio “Was really fun. Sort of like a kid in a candy store. We had all these new things open to us and at the same time it was our first big experience with a studio, so it was a bit of a crash course on how the industry works.”
They are also thankful for the added diversity that they acquired in the studio.
“The producer that we had encouraged us to go in places that we thought might not fit and just try them out,” says McKenna.
According to Bloemendal, Garner ran into some surprises on the way to finishing It’s About Time, as well.
“We had a bass player named Marc Rogers just kind of wander in and we found out later that he played with Nora Jones, The Philosopher Kings and Nelly Furtado, and he was willing to perform the bass parts for our album. Those circles are so open. I was expecting the artists to be a little more exclusive, but they’re not.”
It really has been a year full of successes for Garner, but they tell me that they’ve still got more planned for the future. Rather than rest on their achievements they would prefer to continue writing and getting their music out to the public. Last month, It’s About Time became available for download on iTunes. This month, they have an ever-widening array of concerts as scheduled on garnerband.com geared toward reaching out to new fans. The guys even admit that they’ve been writing more songs and integrating all the members of the band into the songwriting, something that has been challenging for Garner in the past.
In addition to the old standby of world domination, McKenna says that “We just want to get our music out to the people. We’re looking at trying to get out to the east and west coast, and we’re also trying to hit at least two new cities a month in Ontario.” which means that pretty soon, Garner will have the chance to put a smile on your face, too.
When I arrive at St. Catharines’s The London Arms on Tuesday, December 22, McKenna is already there. Lead singer Ryan McKenna, Guitarist Joel McKenna, and Drummer Danno O’Shae are at the table closest to the stage, laughing and chatting with passersby. Within a few minutes, Ryan and Joel get up to start the show. Ryan throws a festive Santa hat on his head and a girl stands up from a group in the corner, calling out, “Sociable!”
This is not the first sociable of McKenna’s career, nor will it be the last. Ryan explains the tradition after opening with a guitar-and-vocals rendition of Elton John’s Rocket Man. A “sociable” is, essentially, an impromptu Cape Breton toast. Ryan counts down from three; we all raise a glass, shout “Sociable!” as loudly as possible and take a drink. After a few tries, just about everyone at the bar is joining in.
Ryan and Joel carry on with their set, applying their self-described sound of “aggressive acoustic guitar-driven rock” to James Taylor’s Carolina on my Mind. The duo showcases some tight harmonies in the final chorus of Canadian classic The Drinking Song. Next, they power down for a quiet moment with I’ll be Home for Christmas. Ryan’s powerful yet expressive vocals lend the necessary sensitivity to the song, while Joel’s guitar work acquires a hint of gentleness. Despite the serious tone of the song, Ryan doesn’t lose his sense of fun. He plays at tripping someone on the way to the bathroom, and lets a passing girl sing part of one verse.
Long time fan Liz Chapman says that having fun and enjoying community are essential parts of the McKenna experience.
“The boys joke around, but they’re trying to draw everyone in,” she says via chat, “After a visit or two, (the band) started to recognize me by face and name. I think it took (Ryan) a month to get me up on the stage regularly. I don’t think many people out there could have convinced me to do the same.”
Ryan agrees that fan interaction is very important to McKenna. He shares some of his favorite aspects of McKenna’s fan base during an online interview.
“I love seeing people return to us time and again and make the experience their own. They make shirts, travel distances, and organize theme nights. It becomes a kind of community. I mean, sure, we’ve been flashed. Our schmengies have been grabbed. Lots of cool and crazy things have happened, but the atmosphere generated by our fans who are willing to open themselves up to public experiences is the best part of it all.”
As Ryan implies, McKenna has more fan traditions than just sociables and “amazing guest musician spots”. Their regular Wednesday night show at Patrick Sheehan’s on St. Paul St. sees fans reciting bawdy call and answer chants, taking off their shirts during specific songs and singing along to such original McKenna classics as Big Fat Bag of Awesome (originally conceptualized by a slightly tipsy fan). Patrons can cozy up to fifty of their best buddies in the raised area where the band plays, affectionately dubbed “the love pit,” or relax at a booth. Get there before ten though, because floor space fills up fast.
Interested parties, or those interested in a party, can still see McKenna even if Tuesday and Wednesday nights in St. Catharines are off-limits. In addition to their regular gigs at The London Arms and Patrick Sheehan’s, McKenna will be playing in Stratford on the twelfth of January at Molly Bloom’s Irish Pub, The Honest Lawyer in Hamilton on the seventeenth and Ceilidh’s Maritime Pub in Barrie on the eighteenth and nineteenth. Come out, drink a sociable or two and create your own McKenna fan tradition.
Due to a predictable February illness, there will be no show this week. Instead, I’m going to write out the show, with links and videos available.
This week on New Sound Now:
World’s largest record collection
-This guy is selling off 3 million records to the tune of 3 million dollars
-The story isn’t so much the bid or the collection itself in my mind. The fact that nobody has yet bid on it is. The post-CD nostalgia factor of albums isn’t exactly high enough to destroy the fact that music is primarily a digital thing, now, and nobody with a practical head on their shoulders would trade in a hard drive full of music for a record collection like this, impressive as it may be.
iBand
-Two ipod touches and a Nintendo DS make a band
-The idea that devices built for the purpose of consuming media has been transformed into machines that create it. While the video is amusing, it comes off as cutesy, but that’s because it’s only the beginning of something huge. It’s possible that we may soon be in a place where music becomes like youtube - user-created, free, and collaborative. But with more Game Boys.
Gap’s Sound of Colour videos
-Five different bands write 5 songs about a certain colour, which get sent to 5 directors who produce 5 videos based on the colour and the music
-A wonderful collaboration that feels absolutely inspired. It’s incredibly easy to forget that these were commissioned by the Gap, since they seemingly have nothing to do with selling clothes and everything to do with real feeling. Also, you can download all five songs for free.
Michael Showalter’s Mix Tape Store
-Documentary about Michael’s mixtape store as a promotion for the Plug indie music awards.
-The circle of mixtape life is finally complete. It may be that Showalter’s store will end up being more a grave site for the mix tape, but the passion that went behind putting this together is apparent. I don’t know if I’d ever buy anything at a mix tape store, because it would feel like going through other people’s photo albums, but I’d love to have one in my neighborhood just for bragging purposes.
Videos
“Death to Los Campesinos”
Los Campesinos
http://www.loscampesinos.com/
“Myriad Harbour”
The New Pornographers
http://www.thenewpornographers.com/
“The Royal Family”
Free Blood
http://www.myspace.com/freeblood
“Right Hand On My Heart”
The Whigs
http://youtube.com/user/TheWhigsband
I generally don’t like reviews. That’s not to say I don’t do them, because I do. I write lots of reviews. But I don’t like doing it. Reviews, to me, should say more than whether something is of a certain quality. I find those kinds of things a rather large waste of time. However, sometimes I feel a record is worth talking about so much that I want to talk about only it. What’s a column called that only talks about a single record? A review. It’s an inescapable devil, so I’m going to ratify it. When I go out of my way to review an album, it’s because the music is so great I want everyone to hear it. Thereby, I’m appending the word “good” on the end of “music” as you can see on the title above. What you read below is an analysis of some good music. There’s no argument needed preluding the reasons why it is good. It just is.
So.
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Every review of every Raveonettes release goes the same way. The band takes Buddy Holly-like lyrics and sexes them up using distortion and zombie-style vocals, creating this fantastic mixture of sleaze, innocence, and nostalgia. They take a surfing film and they paint a coat of pure fuck all over it. Every review explains this because the Raveonettes have done such a great job of explaining themselves. Music journalists often pride themselves on piecing together the etymology of a band, but the Raveonettes have laid it out so clearly that it becomes difficult to break it down further. They are Buddy Holly’s “Let’s Rave On” mixed with the Ronettes. Variances bubble up along the way, but essentially it’s that simple.
I owe the Raveonettes much, let me tell you. Whip It On, their EP from 2002, was transmogrifying for me. It didn’t change how I saw music so much as how I saw the world. Up until then, everything was present-tense. The now was the cheap magazine subscription we all got suckered into, and could never figure out exactly how to escape. Whip It On was the scene in every great b-movie where the bad ass car is introduced. No, it wasn’t the time. It was the car. Whip It On was the bad ass car that I didn’t know I was needed to rescue me from the merciless sleaze of the now.
The first full-length, Chain Gang of Love (2003), was a major label debut and, while it felt similar to Whip It On, it was clearly cleaned up for the mass market. This was my first time experiencing what the system could do to a band. I found precise moments where I could tell the band compromised. Pretty In Black (2005), the next full length, furthered this slide into mainstream sounds to an even greater extent, losing their fuzz entirely and coming across as a throwback band rather than the grayscale motorcade of destruction I knew they could be. It wasn’t that I was losing my precious Raveonettes. I understood that bands go in different directions for any number of reasons (the lack of fuzz was apparently due to their equipment being stolen), and it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy these records, but neither gave me cause to realize that there was a law in which to fight (even if the law would inevitably win) like Whip It On did.
That brings us to Lust Lust Lust, a revitalization in both sound and philosophy for the band. The fuzz is amplified, as if to remind us how much it was missed. The songs are back down to the three and a half minute mark for the most part. There’s no cutesy covers to be found. This is the full length that should have come after Whip It On. Propulsive yet shifty, direct yet decidedly in the shadows, Lust Lust Lust is the fuck record for the irony-tinged past that never really existed.
“Ally Walk With Me” starts off with a sneer of guitar warm up, scuffing our ears with dust, reminding us that rock music is supposed to be the bad kind of fun. It’s the most telling track, because it’s so laid-back compared to most of Lust Lust Lust. “Ally Walk With Me” takes its time, drawing you into the world, removing consideration and complication. “Dead Sound,” the shoegaze-boogie single I’ve been waiting for since 2003, is built for the post-ironic dance floors of 2008. “Blush” reminds us of the mangled morals in this world: “I can’t keep you/I can’t hold you tight/I can’t love you/see, despite my hurtful ways/I can still make you blush.” “You Want the Candy” gazes with one eye at your childhood innocence and, with the other, winks at your crotch. Finally, “Blitzed” rolls out the Let’s Rave On-style surf-rock, reminding us that there has been a journey between the never that the Raveonettes look back to, and the now they inevitably haunt.
Lust Lust Lust is both saccharine and bloody, hugged by a wall of noise so encompassing speakers barely give it justice. The easy mixtures of reference points may be easy to trace, but that makes it no less futuristic in Lust Lust Lust’s view of the past.
This week, we talk about Amazon’s next step towards world domination, Last.fm and Qtrax’s new deals with the majors, how the RIAA can now sue you for millions, and the new (free) Charlatans record. Plus, videos by Rivers Cuomo, Robots in Disguise, Saul Williams, and Lightspeed Champion, as well as a spotlight on the new Wifi party idea that might replace DJ’s.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
- Hunter S. Thompson
New Sound Now
NSN is a weekly video blog with a mandate to illuminate the music news normally swept under the carpet by other televised music news shows. Instead of talking about fashion or when a new album is dropping, NSN reports on topics about the industry as a whole, including both brazen new concepts and brutal failures.
Host K Sawyer Paul, former DJ and music columnist, provides an honest voice in the increasingly corporate venue of music reporting.
As well, every week we highlight several remarkable music videos that would normally fly under the radar.
