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Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen… And Continue To Annoy

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

Did you see this weeks Best Buy ad? It seems that Metallica Selloutica are about to drop another steaming pile into the stores.  Of course, I had to take a peek at RIAA Radar to check it. Yep, of course, buying this disc does support the RIAA - so if you buy it, you’re funding the greedy bastards that are trying to take away your rights to choose what and how you listen to.

Back when I was in high school, Metallica gained a rabid following by kids swapping tapes of Metallica, without any radio or MTV airplay. We kept up with every bit of news about the band and in 1986 when Cliff Burton was crushed under thier overturned bus during a European tour really had the pre-internet grapevine filled with news.  I remember when Metallica said they would never create a music video in the midst of all the hair bands that were filling the MTV schedule and felt the videos made the band sellouts.  Soon, Metallica released thier self titled album, aka the black album because of it’s cover art, and “One” was released with a companion video that recieved heavy MTV airplay.  Metallica were being praised for being just like the fans as they walked on stage with jeans and T shirts and didn’t go overboard, ala KISS, and stayed true to thier roots.

YouTube Direkt

Soon, Metallica started to stray as they were included on the Mission Impossible soundtrack and a big budget video followed.  So much for staying the course.  It was about this time that I swore off Metallica becuase the transformation into Selloutica was beyond the point of no return.

Years later, Napster had gotten everyone around me intrested in music again - in the same way that Selloutica started, by sharing songs and word of mouth. Soon, it was Lars from Selloutica completing the transformation from fellow music lovers to greedy bastards as they lead the attack on Napster.  The fact that they gained the original fans from being able to give the ‘outsiders’ something to rally around and now Selloutica was full heartedly part of the system that they fought so hard.   I guess a full checkbook will easily erase any memories of where you came from.

Go a few more years ahead and there’s some documentary about them “Some Kind of Monster” I was unwilling to waste my time and money on Selloutica when this came out, so I’ll be brief. I understand they actually had a shrink come in!!!  WHAT??  Yeah, rock gods need to have thier throne repo’d when they are seeing shrinks and have started the family.  They were no longer worthy of thier fans, heck they were no longer worthy of the white throne that flushes.

Metallica would have been legendary, if only they all would have been killed in the bus accident instead of being allowed to live until they were greedy and worried about thier sales instead of thier fans.

Now, as music fans, it’s up to us to vote with our wallets and deny any of our dollars to go to the RIAA and Metallica.

Just have some fun, go over to Google and do a search for Metallica Sucks

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Joss Stone Reveals Her Views On Piracy

Posted on August 21st, 2008 by William.
Categories: General, Music.

For the original site, CLICK HERE

Here’s a video that starts in Spanish (?) and then the actual interview takes place in English. Joss Stone gives her views on piracy in music. I was ready to run out and pick up some Joss Stone discs, but after checking with RIAA Radar, it seems that her discs are released by a member of the RIAA. I guess the next best thing is to get a used copy, so I can have an original disc, and none of my money will go directly to the RIAA.

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World Turns Deaf Ear To Magificent Music Collection

Posted on August 20th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

Music is unlike anything else in our hectic lives. Music is about the moment. Movies are about telling a story and getting to the end, same with books. Magazines don’t make you tap your toe. Sitcoms are about filling the time slot with some story, only to return to the original set up, so everything will be reset and ready for the next episode. Music, on the other hand, has the ability to calm the savage beast within, unleash our aggression, tug at our heartstrings, or drill it’s way into our brains as an earworm.

If you really want to get to know someone, take a long look at their music collection, it’s the soundtrack of their lives. My collection has discs to remind me of every event in my life since Jr High. The first album I ever bought was Dire Straits ‘Brothers in Arms’. To this day, any work from Mark Knopfler (guitarist and singer for Dire Straits) just leaps from the speakers and is instantly recognizable. When in High School, the big decision was to choose between a class ring or a CD player. That Panasonic played for years and years, for countless hours. I remember getting paid from working after school at McDonald’s, then going straight to ‘The Record Chest’, a small record store run by James Brown. Not the singer, but a fellow music collector. Ryan would work behind the counter, and he’d offer up suggestions of some great tunes, others not so great - but I was thrilled to hear what was out there. That’s how I was introduced to many excellent albums that would never be played on the radio station, even before Clear Channel choked the life out of radio.

I remember walking into a friend’s house and his brother was playing the most amazing disc, and that was my introduction to Joe Satriani’s ‘Surfing with the Alien’ - which will always have a special place in my life.

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

When I worked in a cubicle farm, I always had a decent stack of discs on my desk. It always amazed me how people would look through the stack, and would put them down saying “there’s nobody I know”, and not borrow anything. Jeez, you’re trapped in a cubicle, with access to free music - what’s it going to hurt to give it a spin? I’ll listen to just about anything, then figure out if I like it or not later.

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The Demon Gene Simmons Can Go To Hell

Posted on August 13th, 2008 by William.
Categories: General, Music.

So Gene Simmons took a few moments out of his schedule to sit down and talk with Billboard. You can read the complete Q&A session HERE.

HERE is another similar interview with Portfolio.com.

The part of the interview that really screamed at me was: (emphasis added)

It has been nine years since we’ve seen a new KISS album. Any plans to get back into the studio?
The record industry is in such a mess. I called for what it was when college kids first started download music for free — that they were crooks. I told every record label I spoke with that they just lit the fuse to their own bomb that was going to explode from under them and put them on the street.

There is nothing in me that wants to go in there and do new music. How are you going to deliver it? How are you going to get paid for it if people can just get it for free? I will be putting out a Gene Simmons box set called “Monster” — a collection of 150 unreleased songs. KISS will have another box set of unreleased music in the next year.

The record industry doesn’t have a f*cking clue how to make money. It’s only their fault for letting foxes get into the henhouse and then wondering why there’s no eggs or chickens. Every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid’s face should have been sued off the face of the earth. They should have taken their houses and cars and nipped it right there in the beginning. Those kids are putting 100,000 to a million people out of work. How can you pick on them? They’ve got freckles. That’s a crook. He may as well be wearing a bandit’s mask.

Doesn’t affect me. But imagine being a new band with dreams of getting on stage and putting out your own record. Forget it.

I do believe that artists deserve to be paid for their work. I’m also a large music consumer that’s done getting screwed by the music industry. So Gene Simmons is openly stating that he feels that a loyal fan ( let’s say a member of the KISS Army) downloads a few songs and then it’s alright for the RIAA to sue the kid and take away his college fund, their houses and their cars. So having more homeless people is going to help the music industry? Help me out with that financial logic, please. Although I only have a couple of greatest hits compilations from KISS, the music is not THAT great. If I were to lose my collection, I’m not sure I’d replace those discs, or the Metallica discs. Serioulsy, KISS has always been about the live show… so go charge for the concerts, the merchandise and such. I find it hard to fell sorry for him when I watch his show Gene Simmon’s Family Jewels when he’s in his mansion. I will continue to watch the show, but I will also make a list of any advertisers on the show and boycott them.

The ‘music industry’ (read that as EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music) have gotten an estimated $400 million from thier settlements with KaZaA, Napster and Bolt, but the money has not trickled down to the artists. The music industry claims that after the lawyers, there’s just not much money left. Riiiiiight. Check out an indepth account HERE.

The RIAA (the trade group, aka lobbyists, that represent the major labels) seems to think that pissing off your core customers is a great business decision.

I would ask them explain to me why Evian, Ozarka, FIJI, and the other bottled water companies are not using thier legal teams to sue all the bastards that drink water from the tap? Instead people willingly pour thier money into those companies for water that can be found in many other places for FREE, and legally. This proves that it’s possible to complete with ‘free’.

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Trent Reznor Steals Music Too

Posted on August 11th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

click here for ORIGINAL SITE

The site Zero Paid has an excellent write up about Trent Reznor, the outspoken front man for NIN (Nine Inch Nails). Sure, most of the original fans that put NIN on the map have moved on and aren’t as rabid as we once were, but it’s still great to see Trent fighting the good fight. The article explains why Trent was upset that he saw his new CD for sale for $29 US in Austrailia. The quotes from his discussion with a record label jerk at a meet and greet was excellent.

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Best OF Bootie 2007

Posted on August 6th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

It seems that today’s lifestyle gives us ever more entertainment choices, but doesn’t seem to add any time to the week to enjoy those entertainment avenues. Well, Bootie will help you out, by the new-ish art of the mash-up. Instead of three songs at two ro three minutes each, why not mix them all together and listen to all of ‘em at once?  All the funk, beats and riffs, in far less time. The record company bastards must be sweating all the way to the bank that this may catch on across the country. A mash-up basically takes sampling music in a whole new level. Hear a guitar riff you love? Well, grab that, grab a rhythm from another great tune, sprinkle in some chorus samples from another tune and instead of making a total mess, create a totally new ear worm that will be running around your brain for the rest of the week.

The Best of Bootie 2007’s track listing is:

Right Click on each track and click ..Save Target As..

Or click on the ORIGINAL SITE

1. Earworm - Bootie Intro

2. Party Ben - Galvanize The Empire (Chemical Brothers vs. John Williams) - San Francisco

3. A plus D - Pour Some Hot Sugar (Mims vs. Def Leppard) - San Francisco

4. Party Ben - Tender Umbrella (Rihanna vs. General Public) - San Francisco

5. Go Home Productions - Passenger Fever (Peggy Lee vs. Iggy Pop) - Watford, UK

6. DJ Moule - Sympathy For Teen Spirit (Rolling Stones vs. Queen vs. Nirvana) - Bordeaux, France

7. Copycat - Fade To Pretty Vacant (Visage vs. Sex Pistols vs. The Charlatans vs. Fun Lovin’ Criminals vs. Nouvelle Vague) - Sweden

8. Matt Hite - Me & Yoo & Yazoo (Cassie vs. Yazoo) - San Francisco

9. Earworm - Funky Goes To Hollywood (Wild Cherry vs. Frankie Goes To Hollywood) - San Francisco

10. A plus D - Standing In The Way Of Connection (The Gossip vs. Elastica) - San Francisco

11. The Illuminoids with Donita Sparks - Pretend We’re Alala (L7 vs. CSS) - Los Angeles

12. DJ Paul V. - Phantom On The Bottom (The Lady Tigra vs. Justice) - San Francisco

13. Earworm - Say It Right Away (Nelly Furtado vs. The Egg vs. Madonna) - San Francisco

14. team9 - Britney - Dead Or Alive? (Britney Spears vs. Dead Or Alive vs. Daft Punk) - Perth, Australia

15. King Of Pants - Detox (Amy Winehouse vs. Britney Spears) - Seattle

16. DJ Paul V. - Tequila Lip Gloss (Lil Mama vs. The Champs) - Los Angeles

17. Lobsterdust - Walkin’ Out Yo Girlfriend (Unk vs. Avril Lavigne vs. Toni Basil) - New York City

18. A plus D - Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock (Journey vs. Afrika Bambaataa) - San Francisco

19. DJ Topcat - More Than On Point (House of Pain vs. Boston) - Seattle

20. Divide & Kreate - Illiterate City (Jackson 5 vs. Guns N’ Roses) - Sweden

21. DJ Magnet - Love Comes Running Up That Hill Gently (Placebo vs. Pet Shop Boys vs. Kate Bush) - Denver

If you’re new to mash-ups, then start with track 20 to see if this style may be for you. Sure, the opening riff from the beloved Paradise City doesn’t exactly sound like it lends itself to prop up the lyrics of Jackson 5’s ABC, but I double dog dare ya to listen to that without singing along while tapping your toes.

There’s an inherent thrill built into mash-ups for those listeners that have spent untold hours with their music collections, as each track is filled with little riffs and samples that will take you back through the soundtrack of your life and put a smile on your soul as the game of naming those samples unfolds.

There are other levels to The Best of Bootie series that will lend itself to the youth that haven’t mined the cut bin of the local record store for the 80’s tracks that were great, but didn’t make it onto the golden rolodex to be called upon to be in the Best of the 80’s complilations. The young ones can enjoy the samples of the more contemporary artists that haven’t had a wing at the Betty Ford clinic named after them yet.

Then there’s the people that just have a pair of 12’s in the back seat with no other speakers and just like the booty shakin beats that this disc has to offer.

An alas, there’s the fact that by downloading this - none of your money goes to the evil RIAA, a level that I do enjoy more than I probably should.

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Digging Up Aerosmith Rocks

Posted on August 5th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

I was surfing the ‘net when I saw some trivia about ‘classic rock’ that mentioned that Slash, the top hat wearing former guitarist for Guns’N'Roses, went to see a girl to date and she put on Aerosmith Rocks and Slash was so enthralled with the album, he forgot all about her. Well, since I have Aerosmith Rocks in my collection, it seemed like a good time to dust it off and give it a spin. (Ok, so MP3s don’t collect dust, but somehow ‘doing a search for ‘em’ doesn’t have the same ring to it).If you’re a Milly Cirus fan, then just stop reading now and go back to the mall - all hope is lost for you. If you’re an American Idol fan, just go drive your Millie Cirus fan to the mall now… you’re on the wrong site.

Back in the Saddle opens the album with terrific force. Joe Perry’s guitar’s tension with the drums of Joey Kramer’s drums immediately lets you know that this is going to be a thrill ride. Steven Tyler’s howl rips through the sonic blast with authority, then settles down into the rhythm and if you’re not moving your butt by this time, all hope is lost. The recording engineer, Jay Messina, pulls off that difficult balancing act of giving each member their own sonic space to shine, without stepping all over the rest of the recording. Sure, the entire disc comes in an a mere 34 minutes, but after that 34 minutes, your soul will be re-energized, and you’ll be in need of a break and possibly a cigarette. Jay Messina does a very consistent job of letting Joey’s drums pound out a blues inspired foundation and builds upon that with Tom Hamilton on guitar and bass. Brad Whitford also adds to the guitars. Steven Tyler’s sonic blast of a voice whips around the riffs coming from Joe Perry’s frets. This disc is proof of the legendary Toxic Twins, the nick name of Tyler and Perry, abilities. Put this in your collection - Kill If You Must!!!

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Van Halen Still Earn Thier Place Among Rock Royalty

Posted on April 24th, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

Thursday night, Van Halen ruled the stage at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and have clearly won the battle against Father Time as David Lee Roth sounded great, Eddie Van Halen’s connection with the strings continued to be legendary, Alex Van Halen beat the drums with the glee of Animal of The Muppet Show as Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son, looked comfortable on stage filling in for Micheal Anthony from the original lineup.

The fans were very grateful to see the original lineup as we all went back to a pre-Van Hagar era and there was no mention of time beyond the album 1984. The crowd knew the lyrics and sang along loudly, giving David Lee Roth his own choir.

I managed to forget my custom molded hearing protection, so I asked for some foam ear plugs from the ushers and was suprised that none of them had a clue of where to get them. I finally had to just ask for the first aid station to find some. The EMTs manning the

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Ten Masked Men

Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

I’m a sucker for any bizarre cover song, and Ten Masked Men do an..um.. inventive job of twisting many songs well beyond the breaking point. Sure, these will never get rotation in a Clear Channel playlist and maybe that’s why I like ‘em so much.

YouTube DirektBaby One More Time

YouTube DirektGangster’s Paradise

YouTube DirektPapa Don’t Preach

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Buckethead On Tour

Posted on April 21st, 2008 by William.
Categories: Music.

Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma will be hosting Buckethead on June 7th.  Tickets are around $25 before the show, a bit higher day of the show. If you’re interested, let me know. I may have to rent a car and pack it with friends and make a proper road  trip of it.

Here’s a clip of Buckethead taking Star Wars to the dark side.

YouTube Direkt

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