David Emery OnlineDiscovery - Orange Shirt
Discovery is a little side project by Rostam from Vampire Weekend and Wes from Ra Ra Riot, and is totally the sound of the summer - the album is really something special.
From http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/vampire-weekenders-prepping-second-album-side-proj_066112.html
Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster
From Sonic Youth’s forthcoming album The Eternal – more info: http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2009/04/20/sonic-youth-first-mp3-secret-show-in-london/
Sonic Youth – Sacred Trickster
Visit ➔Phil Spector convicted of murder
US music producer Phil Spector has been convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson, after a five-month retrial. The 68-year-old, famous for the “Wall of Sound” recording technique, faces between 18 years and life in prison.
So does that mean we have to expunge his existence from musical history, Glitter-style? Or is murder, you know, not as bad?
Visit ➔iTunes Price Changes Hurt Some Rankings
Two days after the Apple iTunes Music Store raised prices on some individual tracks, there was evidence the increases have hurt the sales rankings of songs given the higher $1.29 price.
While it is difficult to say with certainty whether a price increase had resulted in less revenue, rough estimates reveal slight, negative changes in chart position would result in a positive change in revenue. The changes in chart position between Tuesday and Thursday, however, clearly show that higher prices had forced many songs to cede chart position to lower-priced songs.
It’s no real surprise to me that for chart ‘hits’ a higher price leads to lower sales – a chart-based purchase is more likely to be an impulse purchase, so it follows that that impulse is more likely to be quashed by a higher purchase price (especially when placed next to lots of other cheaper chart tracks).
Visit ➔UMG and YouTube officially announce Vevo
The rumours were right. Universal Music Group and Google have announced their joint venture, Vevo – a video site offering UMG’s music videos, with advertising revenues shared between the two.
Isn’t this just the same as what should be at universalmusic.com/videos? Such a pointless piece of band-engineering and marketing rubbish.
Also, while you’ve got a moment check out umusic.com (which is the groups site, as opposed to just music – or something…) – it’s stunningly awful.
Visit ➔Now That's What I Call Unrecouped
Common wisdom has it that the artists who get record deals then go straight to the bargain bins are by definition not very good. But this is myopic. Quite often they aren’t very good, it’s true, but some of them are there due to bad timing, bad luck, wrong single choice or simply that Jo Whiley’s producer decided they didn’t like the record.
Brilliant stuff. There are quite a few bands that I’ve worked with over the years that I’d add to this list, but I’m not going to name names as I think for some it might be a bit soon (the wounds are still fresh…).
Visit ➔No Rock And Roll Fun: 25,000
Music. It’s bloody brilliant, isn’t it?
No Rock And Roll Fun is one of my favourite music blogs, and one of the few UK based ones at that. Well worth reading if you’re not already.
Visit ➔Girls - Lust For Life
One of the best things I've heard come out of SXSW - more please! Via abeano.com
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