June 28, 2002

 
Delayed Reaction

Last week the United States Copyright Office announced new performance royalties for all US webcasters, a move which will price out nearly every noncorporate webcasting concern in the country save for a few exceptions, such as WFMU, who will be financially damaged but not ruined by these new laws.

This is a major blow to those who love diversity and autonomy in broadcasting, and a major victory for corporate interests who seek to control and wipe out all competition in internet broadcasting, something which most logically belongs in the hands of the people. For more information, go here and here. For a real audio archive of WFMU program director Ken Freedman's on-air discussion of this topic, its history, and its ramifications, click here.

Hello John this is John this is John John this is John...

Speaking of WFMU, their new program Aircheck recently broadcasted an abridged recording of John Lennon acting as a guest DJ on a SoCal radio station called KKHJ in 1974. It's a pretty interesting thing to hear - Lennon comes off alternately as a likable gentleman, and an irritating Robin Williams-esque spazz. The most amusing parts for me are the bits in which he does live on-air advertisements for the station's sponsors, including a pre-chain Tower Records, zit cream, and some clock store offering up Big Ben replicas.

Aircheck also recently aired a grim 1998 on-air conversation with Hank Earl Carr (aka Joseph Lee Bennett), a man who was on the run for what he claims was the accidental death of his son, and his subsequent murder of three police officers. It's very unsettling when Bennett calmly states that he is going to kill himself because he does not want to be executed or sent to jail - it gives me the chills. For more about Carr, go here, here, and here.

Also in that real audio archive is the airing of a tape of an unidentified DJ in the 70s who sounds as though he is losing his mind on the air as he psyches his listeners up for the weekend.

A Little In The Baggy, A Little In The Purse

In case some of you weren't aware, there are some new Jay-Z recording floating around on various file sharing services right now, they are from a special advance promo of this fall's The Blueprint 2. The songs are "South Philly Niggaz", "Show You", "Calling My Name" and "Early in the Morning".

I'm not sure how I feel about them just yet - I really love "Calling My Name", which has this thumping one-note bass line and a piano sample that sounds extremely familiar but I can't place it. It sounds a lot like late 70s Elton John or something. It's really smooth and sweet, it isn't entirely unlike a mellow "Takeover" with a little dash of "Hard Knock Life". This song, like the other three just don't sound finished yet - I hope they aren't. All four are promising, but seem to be missing something, they lack the 'oomph' of other recent Jay-Z music.

Measured up against the best songs off of The Blueprint, this stuff is neither here nor there. I hope Hov's saving the best for the actual release and is just trying to throw us all off with this promo.

The Same Band You've Always Known?

For the past few weeks, Steven McDonald from the band Redd Kross has been recording his own version of the White Stripes' White Blood Cells LP with his bass playing transposed over the band's music. He's been putting up MP3s of each completed song on Redd Kross' official website, and now has the blessing of the White Stripes themselves.

Here are some excerpts of what McDonald has to say about this project:

I hope that anybody involved with the White Stripes will see this as the tribute I have intended it to be. I am in no way trying to suggest that their music is not complete or unfinished, in fact I'm sure that some could use my interpretations as the perfect argument against the use of bass guitar in their music. If that is it's true validity, then so be it...

That is what this performance is for me, an opportunity to be a part of someone else's group identity, in this case family even. It's beyond fan ... I'm joining the band! This is still very much the White Stripes ... same band just a new take on their latest record ... rather my take on their latest record...

It's a pretty interesting and bold project, and I think that this is sort of the next logical progression from the bootleg phenomenon - I think things like this will become increasingly common as it becomes more clear to people that audio recordings don't ever have to be considered finished, that the audience can now 'improve' and alter the songs to meet their specifications.

Anyway, if you want to jump in on this, now is the time. Starting on Monday, McDonald will be reposting one song per day to catch people up to where he is on the record. So Monday, it's "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground", Tuesday it's "Hotel Yorba", and so on.

My verdict on what I've heard thus far - the two songs currently online, "The Union Forever" and "The Same Boy You've Always Known" are improved by the addition of bass/keyboards in my mind, but "Little Room" (which was posted last week) was fucking DESTROYED by the bassline that McDonald added. He should give that one another shot, maybe...

That's the way the Jell-O judicates, folks.