A Solid Call 2.0

: Not Your Airwaves, Dammit!: UK 'bans' iPod radio add-on. The cool item that I use to play my iPod through the radio in my truck is illegal in the UK! I can almost hear notorious anti-freedom California "representative" Rick Berman dictating furiously to his assistant now. Must... outlaw... device! (Actually the FM transmitter I own is not even as cool as this iTrip, which powers right from the iPod itself. It looks well-designed, but it's built by the same company that makes the PowerMate -- which my geek-toy-guru friend could not get to work. More gear envy...

: Doh! The Full Monty: As I commented before, Xl-Recordings' Dizzee Rascal page features some tracks for streaming. I just thought I should note that by looking at the properties for the song links, a clever person could probably guess the URLs for every track on the album and put them into one .ram playlist for a full album listening party. My favorite is track xlcd170-10_56... oops I mean track 10. If you like it, you should probably buy it over at Amazon.co.uk -- UK because it's not released in the USA.

: Tasty: Britney Goes Topless! says FMQB. Some classy photos to appear in Elle Magazine. Google news helped me find the cover here. (Click to enlarge, indeed!) I guess she's also going to be Daisy Duke in an upcoming Dukes of Hazzard movie. I fully support that.

: Tiny Tech: Here's a cool new MP3 player: EMP-Z. I have no idea about the specs, but I like the form factor. It seems to be the size of a small pocketwatch, based on this photo -- but I dont know how big that Korean coin is. I'd wear it... maybe.

: New chillout? I see on my release calendar that Zero 7 have some sort of release set for October 7. Is it a new album? I'll ask around. Update: My contact at Palm -- Zero 7's label -- confirms a new album from Zero 7 but that it was just pushed back into 2004. I hate giving good people bad news.

: Guilty Pleasure: I know it's flawed, but I feel the need to listen to "Fix Up, Look Sharp" by Dizzee Rascal at least once a day. A decent quality Real stream can be found on XL's Web site here. (It's aggressive UK hip-hop.)

: Continent envy: I'm so sick of music I want being released in the UK but not in the USA. I can't support free trade unless it solves this issue. Here's the new CD from Elbow. Cast of Thousands

: Remix Radiohead: Now's your chance. Just grab Radiohead loops at The Loophole. I remember when Moby had this idea 7 years ago. It's quite cool.

: RIAA Names Mitch Bainwol Chairman/CEO says FMQB. Well, it's not who we thought, but all the Rebublican connections still apply. Bainwol was "previously Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and before that, chief of staff to U.S. Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) for nine years." The RIAA is smart to infiltrate the Republican Party like this. They just got much more powerful.

: MTV VMA Nominees 2003 are out. The Best New Artist category is what interests me.

• 50 Cent
• All-American Rejects
• Kelly Clarkson
• Evanescence
• Sean Paul
• Simple Plan

Who would you pick from this list to last more than three (hit) albums? 50 Cent probably will. Kelly Clarkson - maybe. I am rooting for All-American Rejects.

: Weird: I heard this on BBC Radio 1's Breezeblock. The Youngblood Brass Band is a hip-hop brass band. They have recorded with Talib Kweli among others. Downloads & streams on the site.

: VNUnet reports on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's online assistance for the targets of the RIAA lawsuit machine. EFF's "How Not To Get Sued" document is here. They even have a database of usernames gleaned from court docs that you can search here -- which is used as a nice little incentive to donate to the EFF.

: Wow! MUSICMATCH got coverage in The Register I'm so excited. The article from the oft-sarcastic tech mag doesn't even slam MM that hard.

: Guided By Voices plant a "golden ticket" in their upcoming CD for a free box set. That's a Great Idea that should be used more often.

: Of course, right after that last post I noticed RollingStone.com's 50 Baseball Moments that Rock. Fun stuff, but I hope you have a pop-up blocker...

: The Turk! Here's a punk rock interview with Phillies pitcher Turk Wendell. It's sort of lame, but I have to represent when music and baseball intersect.

: A Birthday Message to You, Rudie: Lynval Golding from The Specials was born this day in 1951.

: "Elderly Are Targets in Internet Subpoenas" reads the slightly hyperbolic AP headline. This is no surprise that some of the RIAA filesharing subpoenas went to owners of Internet accounts who were not aware what members of their huosehold were doing. "Within five minutes, if I can get hold of her, this will come to an end," said 67-year old Gordon Pate about his filesharing daughter of 23. I hope he does not resort to violence... The problem is, it's too late. This is bad PR for the RIAA.

: Major music acts to offer dedicated mobile channel, reports NewMediaAge -- a venture where artists directly provide things like ringtones to customers. From the article "The move highlights an emerging trend in the development of mobile music, as artist's managers, rather than labels, become more important in developing the mobile brands of artists." I agree with the idea that managers should be more involved, but I don't see sustained revenue from extras like ringtones -- unless the extras are really good. As with everything, whoever has the money and best ideas will do okay, the rest will suffer and then wonder "Why did we spend 3 million building a channel for an Afroman ringtone?" Still, this could have an upside. The endeavor will have a better chance at at success with long-term successful artists, so maybe this will encourage more investment in artist careers.

: Napster stuff: Doug passes along the Napster Bits -- some fun animations around the "resurrection" of Napster. The service may suck, but the movies are very well done.

: New Music I just heard from Gilles Peterson that the stellar Verve Remixed project will be seeing a Volume 2 -- coming soon!

: A partial RIAA Hit List is up over at TechTV. Yikes.

: Powell to exit FCC? muses the NY Post. I envision him overlooking the smoldering mess that is the currently embattled media ownership policy are in and saying "My work here is done." The good quote here is "Possible successors include [...] Kevin Martin, a FCC commissioner who has clashed with Powell over policy decisions." If he clashed with Powell, he can't be all bad. The FCC is supposed to ensure that the use of the public resource known as the broadcast spectrum is used for the common good. The airwaves belong to everyone. That's not just leftist sloganeering, it's the core ideal of the existing system. But, you wouldn't know it by Powell's policies.

: Django's is a great record shop that I used to frequent when I lived in Portland. They're currently running a little online contest. This one features a prize too majestic, too super-awesome not to try for. I just hope my winner's notification doesnt get blocked as spam!

: AOL Exec Could Head RIAA - I dont have a link to back this up, but John Buckley, the VP of Corporate Communications for America Online, is in talks to succeed Hilary Rosen as CEO of the RIAA. Perhaps this good news for the tech world -- having someone who at least understands "new" technology. There's more to it than that though. Here's the AOL profile for Buckley, once a staffer on the '96 Dole/Kemp campaign -- interesting because Hollywood and their lobbying lapdogs seems to lean more Democrat. (See Berman & Conyers for shining examples). His political connections might thus be more important than his tech-savvy, especially if Buckley has any Republican names in his Contacts folder, giving the recording industry a public face that's comfortable in tech and comfortable in politics -- a huge upgrade over Rosen when it comes to pushing the RIAA agenda.

: The Elusive Success of Idlewild 'The Next' Is Ready for 'Here and Now' is a New York Times article about the band Idlewild. (Free registration is required to read the article.) The piece describes the English band's relentless touring in an effort to sell at least 100,000 records in the USA without the support of their major record label trying to buy them airplay. I disagree with the author's assertion that the band could have the same success as Coldplay if given the same treatment from the record label. I really like Idlewild. They play densely interesting and intelligent music. Yet, the article spends a good deal of time comparing them to fellow Brits Coldplay and strongly implying that Capitol arbitrarily decided not to spend money promoting Idlewild to radio - thus short-circuiting the band's hopes - a familiar tale of a talented group screwed over by label politics. The author even passes along a joke suggesting that Idlewild's frontman needs to date an actress to get the same attention that Coldplay does. Except, that argument is way off-base. Idlewild have wonderfully complex and rich songs, but Coldplay have wonderfully complex and rich songs that regular people like to sing along to while they go about their daily lives. Coldplay's songs, while sophisticated, are hits not because a record label said they were or paid for play or anything like that. They are more accessible to the casual person on the street, the mom in the Volvo, the teen at the prom. The article talks about the praise that critics have given Idlewild, while commenting that only hardcore music fans know and appreciate the band, and even go so far as to point out that such a constituency is in the minority -- but then fails to reason the next logical step to recognize that that group of listeners ins in the minority because they are fundamentally different, taste-wise from the majority of record-buying consumers. If Capitol decided not to spend money trying to get the band radio play, it is because someone at the label recognized -- and rightly so -- that the band does not have a song that will sound good to your average person motoring home from work on a Thursday 6pm drive. Idlewild make great songs for repeated listening to in headphones wghen you have time to make sense of what they're trying to say. Most people don't have -- or are not willing to -- devote that time. That's just the way it is. In fairness, the Times article touches on the lack of a radio hit, but seems to dismiss this as a major concern, perhaps because of the widespread myth that radio airplay can be bought and paid for no matter what the source material sounds like. It's notoriously hard to define what makes a hit, but after listening to Coldplay and Idlewild objectvely, I'd submit that Coldplay have them and Idlewild don't. This is not an indictment of Idlewild's talent by any stretch. Some observers can argue that having hits necessarily means that a song has a degree of shallow digestability. that's not Idlewild's fault -- but neither is it their record label's fault either. If there is anyone to blame, it's a public with a short attention span seeking entertanment that they can instantly digest with 10% of their brains -- and even that is difficult to accuse. Idlewild should try hard to get their music in front of as many music junkies and critics as possible -- and they're doing that the right way, by touring. At the end of the day, there may be 75,000 such people out there with $15 bucks to buy the CD. The challenge is finding a way for Idlewild and their manager and producer and label and distributor to make a living from that combined $1.25 million. Is that possible? I would hope so, because that is how Idlewild will succeed, not by blaming record labels for not throwing money at radio. When a debate -- such as this one over why bands get popular and some don't -- has gone on this long, it often means that we're not framing the question correctly.

: Phunix.Org has a couple full MP3 192kbps downloads of tracks off the upcoming Rancid album (Aug 26) if you're interested. Greg sez: "Red Hot Moon" sounds like Time Bomb warmed over.

: The minds who brought you Kazaa Lite -- www.freecodecs.com -- have another tasty morsel. If you click on the "Codec Pack" link on the left side, they have just released Real Alternative 1.0. A codec that lets you play Real-format files without the creepy spyware known as RealOne. Enjoy!

: Tatu Duo To Split - PRAVDA.Ru The implications of this are staggering. "The two girls started liking one and the same boys - the lesbian love was just a promotional trick. Julia has a boyfriend now, which is another reason for jealousy." That's why we love music -- the drama.

: Remember when I talked about publicity as a key to sales? Check out this article about The Sanctuary Group -- independent artist managers. This seems pretty interesting, but we'll see how their current stable of artists does (Jane's Addiction, Kiss, the Libertines, the Kills, Allman Brothers, Sammy Hagar, Styx and Lynyrd Skynyrd. etc)

: U.S. Bill Would Put Net Song Swappers in Jail says Reuters. And hey, it's a familiar face behind this one: Rep. Howard Berman. otherwise known as Jack Valenti's "personal assistant". If A Solid Call had any influence, you might see a headline like "Bill Would Put Corrupt Lawmakers in Jail," but that won't happen. It's utterly ridiculous that Rep. Berman would seek to jail copyright violators when corporate crimes like price-fixing or pollution get fined. It's a crime that Rep. Berman should be wasting his time on this.

: Indie actor Steve Buscemi in the news. I didn't know he used to be a firefighter. Fight the power!

: Hif you read Hits, check out this interview with KOCH Entertainment Distribution President Michael Rosenberg. (Free registration required, I believe) It's interesting how successful independent distributors are becoming. If you want to make a living as a musician, you need sales. Sales are based pretty much on three things: talent, publicity and distribution. You handle the talent. Publicity costs money and the major labels do that well. Distribution is less of a problem now than iit has been in the past, thanks to players like KOCH. It's more evidence that the business is changing.

: The situation described in Hot spots elude RIAA dragnet @ CNET News.com is at once inspiring and a harbinger of conflict to come. From the article, "Increasingly, cafes, parks and even private homes are offering access to Net where no registration is required. With people logging in and out without offering identities, it becomes virtually impossible for groups such as the RIAA to track down the identity of copyright infringers using these nodes." It seems inevitable that paranoid lawmakers will quicklyly substitute "FBI" for "RIAA" because we already know that "copyright infringers" is a synonym for "terrorists" and thus outlaw this shining bastion of anonymity -- and by extension privacy. The conflict will eventually be freedom vs. security. Which one is more valuable?

: The Mac Observer - Pods Unite: Buy A Beetle, Get A Free iPod: This alliance between arbiters of cool must surely be either divine or diabolic. I would have to say that working in marketing for these companies must be a damn fun job.

: Operation Ivy Reunion? So says a rumor posted on Punknews.org. I'd have mixed feelings about the undead reincarnation of one of the most influential bands of my youth... like Ash's wife in Evil Dead 2. Update: The date on that post is 2001. I'm a sucker. Nothing to see here... move along.

: The All Music Guide -- usually spot-on as far ratings -- has given 4 and a half stars to the debut CD from UK garage rapper Dizzee Rascal. I am very eager to get my hands on this CD -- and I will likely have to pay an import premium to do it, as it is highly unsuited to North American audiences -- and the failure of The Streets to do anything Stateside will likely kill any chance this record had for a US release.

: Clear Channel Must Cut Stations in San Diego: (LA Times, registration required) Ironically, the FCC's relaxation of media ownership rules means Clear Channel needs to let go of some of its Mexico-based entities. Looks like 91X in San Diego might go independent? Or disappear?

: Illegal music downloads boosting album sales, reports the Scotsman (and others) last week. Free registration is required to read the article, but I will summarize. A group called Music Research and Programming -- referred to as "industry research experts" -- conducted a survey with results like this "A total of 91 per cent of file-sharers download individual tracks, but more than two-thirds go on to buy the album, with even the heaviest downloaders saying they like to own real CDs." In other news, 82% of heroin addicts report that it's not a problem at all with two-thirds replying that heroin does not interfere with daily tasks in any way. Satire aside, the only data you can trust is to look at actual number of tracks downloaded and CDs purchased. I'm not sure if anyone can get this data reliably. Interestingly, a Google search for "Music Research and Programming" returns ZERO results for the so-called experts except in conjunction with this one single survey. Do the search and notice how many independently written articles refer to them as "industry research experts". Something is amiss here.

: Nathan asks: "I want to know how much the RIAA had to pay the Guardian to get this headline: Superhighway robbery: The record companies have been so badly crippled by internet piracy that they can barely afford to invest money to combat the problem."

: Harvard's William Fisher has written "A royalties plan for file sharing" based on unique file names. It sounds dubious to me. He seeks to tax ISPs and Hardware manufacturers rather than consumers. Assuming that people don't change file names, then presumably, it's up to the ISPs to either charge heavier users more or find the break-even flat rate point. (I got the humorous mental image of telcos getting taxed everytime a phone conversation included a copywritten joke) I'm generally in favor of ISPs being common carriers who are agnostic and blind to what's going through their pipes. It's also unclear if hardware manufacturers will be taxed before their devices are used or after. Both hardware-taxing options seem fundamentally problematic. There may be something to this idea, but the real innovation will be in the details.

: Slashdot | Meet the DoJ's 'Anti-Piracy' Lawyers "This week's Slashdot interview guests are the 'point people' for Federal criminal actions against online file-traders and software misapproprators." Follow the link to submit questions for the Department of Justice.

: I found ChilledBeats.org's list of chillout (and related) labels... all 552 of them!

: READ Magazine - Gothic Pick-Up Lines: Hilarious

: Using MP3 to distribute music is a no-brainer, but the Bay Area Ska sampler pays attention to the finer details. 1) Links to the participating bands 2) PDF files for front & back cover, plus CD label 3) The tools you need to burn a CD. Kudos to them!

: DJ Rap is kinda cool, I guess. Some might say she gets play just because she's pretty hot. I have no idea if her new mix CD is any good, but pics like these can't hurt.

: The C|net story about RIAA suing Puretunes answers one question I have, which was "How does WebListen get away with selling major label non-DRM MP3s?" The answer to that is that "Puretunes took after an earlier Spanish company, Weblisten.com, which allowed subscribers to download unlimited amounts of music over a specified time frame. WebListen.com, which also launched without securing rights directly from labels, has been sued multiple times. " Even though WebListen has been sued, they continue to operate, recently improving their files to 192kpbs. They have a heck of a deal if you want to buy digital music online. If their site didn't read like a bad translation, I wonder how successful they could be. It's a bit scary that they aren't more successful in that maybe the demand really isnt there at all. Perhaps people buying from the Apple iTunes Music Store are buying the Apple brand more then they are buying music.

: What the heck ever happened to the duo Mandalay? They released a truly exciting album in 2001 on V2 Records... and then -- they completely disappeared. The V2 website does not mention them at all -- not appearing in the artist list. Their Web site URL www.mandalay.co.uk is up for sale. They seem to be gone -- even though the sticker on their debut claimed that they were Madonna's favorite new band. Madonna, how could you let this happen? Surely you could find a place for Mandalay on Maverick?

: What I'm currently listening to: Deep Dish -Global Underground #025. Electronic dance music is retreating back into the clubs ands into long mixes. This is one of the highest-profile dance releases this year, and there are no 'songs' on the two-CD set that are worth anything on their own. As a mix, a journey, a 2.5 hour movement, it's all good. But electronica seems to have given up on songs. Again.

: A site called i:vibes has posted the cover and tracklist from Brian Transeau's upcoming album. It looks like Peter Gabriel never came back to re-record the tracks that were stolen from BT's studio. Shame that. Thanks to liquidrythms for the link.

: Gilles Peterson's Worldwide radio show last week featured an hour of strictly 7-inch records including three never-before-heard Roy Ayers tracks! This show streams from the BBC Web site up until Wednesday night (7/9/03) so hop on over and take an eclectic listen.

: The Onion A.V. Club interviews Jon Brion. I know some people who are big fans...

: BMG + WEA merger a done deal? I can't even begin to comprehend what this means.

: The software product, Adobe Audition, was finally announced today. Why do I care? Because Audition is really Cool Edit Pro 2.1 -- the PC's best wav editing and audio processing software -- which Adobe seized Syntrillium, the original authors of Cool Edit. Cool Edit fans might want to scrape the Syntrillium Knowledge Base before Adobe appropriates it... P.S. The announcement says that Adobe acquired the "technology assets of Syntrillium Software" which sounds like anyone who worked on the program is out of a job. Good luck to them, whoever they are.

: File Swappers to RIAA: Download This! (TechNews.com): "'Forget about it, dude -- even genocidal litigation can't stop file sharers,' said Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster." That quote in the Washington Post pretty much sums up the situation, even down to the use of "dude" by the Grokster prez. (incredible!) Usage of P2P networks continues to climb in spite of impending RIAA-sponsored lawsuits.Some people are going to get their lives extremely complicated. A lot of people don't seem to realize that even if you're innocent, a lawsuit from a billion-dollar cartel can screw up your whole life. From high atop my objective perch, it's clear that some of our fundamental economic ideas are going to have to radically change if we have any hope of a enlightened society. When technology makes scarceness obsolete, we should be celebrating in the streets, not trying to make rules to protect outmoded suppliers. See global food production for more on this. What happens in X years when nanotechnogy means Joe Sixpack can walk up to the latest Hummer, take a digital picture and then assemble it molecularly from home? Shouldn't this be a good thing? Couldn't we then stop worrying about who has the luxury goods and start thinking about where humanity can go from there? This whole filesharing thing is just the tip of that iceberg. Like Tank said, "It's a very exciting time."

: Wired News: It's Hard, Being a Chinese DJ: There are lots of articles about music and the Internet - and this one mostly follows the usual theme. However, I found one nugget noteworthy: "[A]mong some hip-hop DJs in China, only tracks which have been downloaded are considered truly 'underground' and thus valuable." That's an interesting twist that could make for an interesting short story.

: "The Big Chill Eastnor 2003 Festival has now sold out, a month before the event." What's that you say. You didn't even know about it and now it's sold out? I am shocked too... a chillout festival? Look at the lineup. Plus "[...] the French sausages in red wine, the Sanctuary stage, ducks, comedy, spoken word & poetry, multi-media, the pie van, night time arts trail, international cuisine, pub prices, cocktail bars, 24 hour café, Big Chill FM..." Pie van?!? I'm dying... Why don't I live in the UK? It's pretty clear that I'd feel at home there.

: ASC's favorite new power pop act Rooney made RollingStone.com/MTV2's list of new artists worth checking out. But, then again, so did Mr. Lif.

: Duran Duran Follow Beckham Formula in Comeback says Reuters. Poking fun at Duran Duran for some odd reason. It says they were ridiculed for their videos? More like they were worshipped for their videos. "The new album is near completion" says Nick Rhodes. These guys wrote hits -- consistantly. I wouldn't write them off.

: Amazing! An ISP that's actually HELPING peer-to-peer (via caching files). I wonder what rent's like in the Netherlands these days...

: Tower Records and Liquid have teamed up to sell Digital Downloads. It's their idea of the iTunes Music Store for the Windows crowd. So the race to be the first to market is over, but the war is just beginning. (I hope)

: While we may have to wait another three to four years for the next  Harry Potter novel, the other series that never fails is just about to release its next installment. July 28, 2003 heralds the release of Back To Mine  from Underworld! (Or maybe Aug 12 for USians...). For the uninitiated, the Back To Mine series lets 'lectronic artists pick their own chillout mix to share with us lucky plebes. The previous twelve have all been 4 star compilations, and I expect no less from Underworld (...averting my eyes from the tracklist -- I like surprises.) Good times.

: I post the RollingStone.com review of Gang Starr's The Ownerz  not because it's a great review, but because I think I have discovered something dark about RS.com. On the surface, their decision to post Web site-reader responses to reviews with equal prominence appears to be a way to make the site interactive, which is a standard stickyness-builder. Yet, after reading many of the responses over the past year, it almost seems as if RS is daring people to notice how completely immature and utterly narrow-minded most users are. The terrible secret of the Internet is how it is reinforcing some really brain-dead behavior. The user comments on RS.com -- and a lot of blogs incidently -- throw this unfortunate situation into the spotlight.

: For anyone who was wondering when the new album from producer-savant Brian Transeau was going to be out, I just got this e-mail:

Hey everyone... If you live in the LA area you have probably heard BT's new single 'Somnambulist' (Simply Being Loved) on 102.7 KIIS-FM. You can help BT out in a big way by calling the KIIS request line and letting them know you want to hear more of Somnambulist!!! KIIS Request Line: 1-800- 520-1027 Don't forget, the album, 'Emotional Technology' hits stores August 5th! Thanks! BTmusic.com

You may remember that Transeau had this album nearly completed when all of his studio gear (including the discs that contained the work) were stolen in a burglary. I guess the moral of the story is... use off-site backups? Anyway, I have high hopes for this record.