The AV Club’s interview with Trent Reznor is a good read, but I of course liked what he had to say about the brave new digital-music world: “The thing that I learned from Radiohead is, I don’t want to ask you what you think it’s worth. ‘Hey, I just worked a year on this thing.’ ‘Well, that’s worth 10 cents.’ ‘Hey, fuck you!’ The Saul [Williams] thing was a lesson. I naively thought at that time that if you gave the public the choice of do the right thing or not, I thought people would actually do it. Five bucks for an album? And I found that most people, no, they really don’t want to do that. I think I laughed about that and got shit-canned by everybody for whining about wanting to get paid for work that I did. The steps we’ve taken since then, I think, have gotten closer to something that approaches a business model. It doesn’t work for bands that nobody knows yet. These are things I’m thinking about.” Much more at the link. [AV Club] MORE »
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Sometimes, words to live by come from the oddest places. Take this pearl of wisdom from the rejected-comments file: “A Juggalow is down with the clown for life, not just until he gets pelted in the head with a faygo bottle.” Um… sic? Also, sure? [Previously] MORE »
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In an interview with Rap Radar, Young Jeezy refutes rumors that he got stabbed the other night–and he’s quick to point out that he did get something that evening: “RR: So I take it you didn’t check into Grady Memorial Hospital. YJ: Me? I checked into a broad’s house. [laughs] If that’s the hospital, then we we’re playing doctor.” [RapRadar via David Cho] MORE »
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Trent Reznor stands up and says “web 2.no,” thanks to anonymous harassment on the microblogging service Twitter: “I will be tuning out of the social networking sites because at the end of the day it’s now doing more harm than good in the bigger picture and the experiment seems to have yielded a result. Idiots rule…. we’re in a world where the mainstream social networks want any and all people to boost user numbers for the big selloff and are not concerned with the quality of experience.” [nin.com] MORE »
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Billy Joel on his design aesthetic: “The motorcycles that I’ve designed are essentially new bikes that I’ve made look like old bikes. They’re kind of retro-styled… I’ve become used to all the conveniences of modern technology, but I still like how the old things look. I do the same thing with the boats… I probably do the same thing with music.” Color me shocked. [Newsday] MORE »
the new model
Kim Gordon, Voice Of Reason
In a long-ranging interview with The Guardian, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon touched on the “whole machinery you have to build up” in order to sell an album these days, and why the whole idea of “The Radiohead Model” is at its core an art-devaluing myth: MORE »
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Ghostface’s new album is going to be more of an R & B record, thanks in large part to the personal growth he’s experienced since he first burst on the scene with the Wu-Tang Clan: “I don’t sell crack, yo. I ain’t movin’ no bricks or none of that other shit. I ain’t shoot nobody in like…since the early 90’s, man. How long you gonna be 40 years old and actin’ like you still sellin’ cracks and you on the block and you doin’ this and you doin’ that when times is more serious, man. We in a fuckin’ recession, B! Ain’t nobody gettin’ no money, man!” [Unkut via bg5000] MORE »
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Creation Records Founder Screws Up The Courage To Admit That George Michael Was Awesome (Well, Duh)
Apparently, the news that George Michael was a pop genius is so big, The Guardian’s music blog had to let Alan McGee take time out from his usual My Bloody Valentine bashing to pen a 650-ish paean to his brilliance: “Faith (the album) was classic pop. It found Michael moving into Brian Wilson Pet Sounds territory. Seriously–Michael co-produced, wrote all the songs, played most of the instruments and sang backing vocals and harmonies.” So basically McGee is trying to placate the Guardian audience by appealing to their rockist tendencies, and getting into the semi-dicey “authenticity” argument (the piece ends with him nattering on about “manufactured pop” and Neil Young). I always feel weird about throwing down that particular line of justification with any album where I didn’t sit in on every tussle-filled corporate meeting, but hey, at least I have an excuse to share my four favorite songs from the album in one fell swoop. Videos after the jump! MORE »
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Jessica Hopper on nostalgia and psychic growth, in the form of a review of Jane’s Addiction’s three-disc attempt to cash in now, honey: “To believe that Jane’s Addiction headlining Lollapalooza again is somehow historic, to be psyched about this recurrence, is like masturbating to the memory of losing your virginity. Sure, it was meaningful when it happened, but 20 years down the line, it’s a pity if this is what’s getting you off. If what was our pinnacle then is still our pinnacle now, it reflects pretty poorly on how we’ve been spending our time.” [Chicago Reader] MORE »
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Rick Astley Is Fascinated By The Internet
Rick Astley recalls the Five Stages Of Rickroll Grief in honor of moot, creator of the site that got the whole phenomenon, er, rolling around the Internet, making the Time 100: “I suppose at first I was a little embarrassed by it. I always liken it to when people look through their photo albums or home videos from 20 years ago and think, Gosh, did I really wear that? The difference is, thankfully on the one hand and perhaps a bit scarily on the other, mine are out there for the public to see whenever they want. I find some Rickrolls really funny. Have you seen the one with President Barack Obama? Someone has cut up his speeches and put them together so that he sings ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’ It’s totally amazing. I find it bonkers, by the way!” The original Rickroll video, by the way? 20 million views and counting. I wish someone would figure out a way to incorporate his later works into the joke, but maybe the Internet needs to first fall in on itself for that to happen. [Time; HT Rachel Sklar] MORE »
