Loading ...I’ve been a pretty unabashed fan of the Seattle music and arts festival Bumbershoot, which has occurred every Labor Day weekend since 1971 since I first heard of it, with the caveat that I first heard of it under rather good circumstances. An old roommate had told me about it in 1994, but I’d forgotten all about it until the August 1996 road trip I wrote about here, I defected, via Greyhound, to Seattle from the group’s intended San Francisco, and I wound up at the Green Tortoise, a rooming house near Seattle Center, where Bumbershoot was underway. I went to the gate, paid my fee, and caught good sets by Ani DiFranco, Los Lobos, and the Sex Pistols without realizing I could see any of them before arriving at the hostel. (I also saw a superb Elvis Costello show–a separate ticket–that weekend, his final-ever with the Attractions.) If I have an unusually rosy view of Seattle, it was installed that day.
Archive for August, 2008
Bumbershoot, Day One: Comedy, British Soul, and Singer-Songwriter Couples Fight Off the Rain
Robert Altman Turns On His Radio
Ed. note: It’s time for another installment of “VHS Or Beta?”, where Andy Beta looks at the music behind the movies–from preserved-by-Criterion classics to completely inane summer blockbusters. In this installment, he looks at the sounds of two mid-’70s movies by famed director Robert Altman, California Split and Thieves Like Us:
It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Paper Thin Walls, the insightful, smart online music magazine (not “blog”) that is closing its doors after a two-year run. The editors–Christopher R. More »
Are The Feds Going To Make An Example Of The Guns N’ Roses Leaker?
Kevin Cogill, the Antiquiet proprietor who was arrested earlier this week for leaking nine songs from Guns N’ Roses’ eternally delayed Chinese Democracy, is out on $10,000 bond, and there’s a bounty on his head from none other than ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash: “I hope he rots in jail,” the curly-haired guitarist told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s going to affect the sales of the record, and it’s not fair.” Whether or not Cogill does “rot” in jail (and pay fines, and possible civil damages) rests on the court’s interpretation of the the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which makes the pre-release dissemination of even one song a felony. The act hasn’t been used much; one notable occurrence of its enforcement came when two people who leaked Ryan Adams’ Jacksonville City Nights before its street date were subsequently sentenced to two months of house arrest and two years probation. But lawyers that the Times spoke to hinted that Cogill’s punishment could be a bit harsher, thanks to the continued bottom-line hit that the biz has been taking.
It Was Fun While It Lasted, Jonases
It’s too close to call next week’s No. 1 album, but in all likelihood, it’ll be by someone much less palatable to the parents of today: The Jonas Brothers’ two-week stay at the top will be thwarted by either the name-dropping MC the Game or the masked metallers Slipknot. More »
Christian Rock Nerds, Rejoice In Your Button-Mashing!
Anyone who’s spent any amount of time around the Christian retail industry can tell you that the genesis of most ideas within that business come from the following formula: “Let’s make a Christian version of [fill in the blank]“. Which is why this generation of youth group children can now put down their Rock Band instruments and cleanse their ears of all that secular claptrap that game calls “music,” and instead start praising God while pressing buttons on plastic guitars hooked into the new game Guitar Praise.
Who Will Be The Next Blog Rock Crossover Star?
Many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock. To help figure out which is which, here’s “Corporate Rock Still Sells,” where Al “GovernmentNames” Shipley examines what’s good, bad, and ugly in the world of rock and roll. This time around, he holds a few recent blog-rock darlings up to the harsh light of commercial rock radio, and judges their potential for success:
It’s time for another Smiths best-of comp; this time, it’s a double-disc set that will be put out by Rhino Records. Let’s put aside the “Paint A Vulgar Picture” jokes for a second and focus on the name of the compilation: Hang The DJ: The Very Best Of The Smiths. More »
