W♥M

W♥M Podcast #20: Home Taping is Killing Music

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:59:36 -0500

08/24/2008 18:55:38 ♥ written by vu ()

WOW, another epic podcast, with co-hosts Derek & Soup. Although this episode is more topics-centric (RIAA, MP3s, and state of music), I think the next podcast will be half-topic and half casual.

Download this episode (41 min)

Some topics we touched on:

RIAA vs Muxtape, CDs are too expensive, music blogs, internet radio royalties going up twice as much as traditional radio, taping off the radio, whatever happened to recording hunting?, Taping Kills Music, concerts, what we're listening to...

Music used:

♥ David Yazbek - Introduction (davidyazbek.com)
♥ Weird Al - Don't Download This Song (weirdal.com)
♥ Hellsongs - Breaking the Law (hellsongs.com)
♥ Le Tigre - Get off the Internet (letigreworld.com)
♥ S*M*A*S*H - Take Your Breath Away ( myspace.com/llyc)
♥ Spin - Not In Love (spinrocks.com)
♥ Ladyscraper - Gangbanger (hellsongs.com)
♥ Ironlung - Liar (myspace.com/lifeironlungdeath)
♥ Jeff Hanson - I Don't Quite Remember (jeffhanson.net)
♥ P. Hux - Wear My Ring (parthenonhuxley.com)
♥ Elastica - Operate (live)
♥ AIDS Wolf - Down, Holy Ground (myspace.com/aidswolf)

If you want to join us on the podcast, send me an email - I will need your telephone number or Skype username.

Links: weheartmusic.com weheartmusic.mypodcast.com

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Wire - Object 47

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:42:40 -0500

07/08/2008 08:39:14 ♥ written by vu ()

Wire - One Of Us

Wire

Tour Dates

07/11/08 Traffic Free Festival Torrino
08/30/08 Offset Festival London

Album Discography

[Dec 1977] Pink Flag	[Aug 1978] Chairs Missing	[Sep 1979] 154
[Apr 1987] The Ideal Copy	[May 1988] A Bell Is a Cup... Until It Is Struck	[May 1989] It's Beginning To And Back Again
[May 1990] Manscape	[Apr 1991] The Drill	[Oct 1991] The First Letter
[May 2003] Send	[Jul 2008] Object 47

Wire have been around for a long time! I'm so very pleased to see that they are still making music, and having listened to their new album, Object 47, I can tell you that they are still amazing after all these years.

Since forming in 1976 in London, this band took their influences of the UK punk scene (Sex Pistols, after all was quite huge from 1975-1978), although I have never really thought of them as pure punk. They reminded me of more art rockers, with a talent for writing very catchy melodies.

Their short, but influential debut album, Pink Flag (1977), seem to have inspired a slew of bands either covering their songs (REM, The Urinals, Minor Threat) or ripping them off (Meanswe@r, Elastica, Clinic). Elastica and Wire eventually settled out of court for "Connection" infringing on "Three Girl Rhumba". Be sure to also check out Line up the Fly article for even more comparison between Elastica and Wire.

Wire - Three Girl Rhumba

Elastica - Connection

See Also

Elastica

http://weheartmus...

Cristina requested a comparison between Elastica vs Wire. So here it is: There's really no do...

With Object 47 already released in the UK (it looks like July 15^th in the US according to amazon), this will be the first studio album in over five years. The album's name comes from this is the 47^th release from Wire since their very first Mannequin EP in November 1977.

If you're a fan in the UK, you'll probably already bought the album. Here's a guide to the best songs on the album:

I absolutely thought "One Of Us" was brilliant. The bass instantly will make you move, while the lovable singing of one of us will live to rue the day we met each other will remind you of old school Wire. The song is a free download on their official website.

"Are You Ready?" should make a great object 48, as a single. Let me to try to explain the song to you, it seems to be Colin Newman asking a series of questions, and his guitar answering back.

Are you part of the future, part of the plan?
Are you willing and able to do what you can?
Are you part of the problem, or part of the band?
Are you willing to draw a line in the sand?
Are you true to your friends loyal to your brand?
Are you smoking for China, Iraq or Japan?
Are you searching for something you don't understand?
Do you still hold ambitions of being a man?

The last song is an energetic, driving song, "All Fours". It seems to build up with some excellent drumming here. It is really too bad that it doesn't just keep going on, but it does send the album to a great finish.

So what I have noticed here is that they are more or less sticking with what works here, kind of minimal guitars, bass and drums, and less art/experimental of their early 90s work, after the loss of their drummer, Robert Gotobed.

Speaking of losses, it seems that their longtime guitarist, Bruce Gilbert, was not involved on this album. They look, currently, to be a three-piece band.

Wire's Object 47 was released in the UK yesterday, July 7^th, and in the US, July 15^th. If you have always loved Wire, then you'll love the new album. They are only doing some music festivals this year, so good luck on finding a good spot to see this legendary band.

Links: www.pinkflag.com myspace.com/wirehq

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Elastica

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:51:52 -0500

06/22/2008 01:45:04 ♥ written by vu ()

Elastica - All Nighter

Elastica

Discography

[1995] Elastica

[2000] The Menace

[2001] The Radio One Sessions

Read More

Elastica

http://weheartmus...

Cristina requested a comparison between Elastica vs Wire. So here it is: There's really no do...

Here's a band I know a lot about: Elastica. I have all their singles, EPs, albums, bootlegs and miscellaneous releases (booklets, playing cards, etc). I was a pretty massive fan, I guess.

I felt that I fortunate to have followed their career very early on, unlike bands, such as The Smiths, that I had discovered very late into the game had to track down records one at a time and uncover that mystery. For Elastica, at the time, the story unfolded in real time.

As I was getting into Sleeper, Echobelly, Lush, and here comes Elastica with their magnificent Stutter in 1993, followed by Line Up in 1994. All the weeklies (Melody Maker, NME) and monthlies (Q, Vox, the short-lived Raw) were talking about them, hyping them up as the best thing since sliced bread. The more they loved Justine Frischmann, the more I fell in love with Donna Matthews.

Sadly, you might probably know them as a "one-hit" wonder with Connection, which I never understood the logic behind why this song was ever that popular. I don't think it was the flashy video, I much preferred the one-take, all white background of Stutter, but this video never really did well (even after a second boost at trying to make the follow-up single in the US after "Connection".)

By the time their self-titled debut album came out, it was possibly the best thing I've ever heard at the time. Forty minutes of perfection. I knew all the songs, from start to finish. From the Wire-inspired "Line Up" to the fast and furious/one-take "Annie" to the bassy "Car Song" to the funky "Hold Me Now".

The song that my friend Jenny and I used to sing all the time was "All Nighter". We never figured out the lyrics, but I think we figured it out eventually: "Got to go to the garage/Got to get some fags and make some tea/Can you lend me enough wedge?/Do you want to walk up there with me?

I take it back, not all the forty minutes were perfect, I'd always managed to skip over "Indian Song". Don't know why, just never really liked the song.

Obviously with success, came the lawsuits. Several bands sued them for plagiarism, particularly Wire ("Connection" and "Line Up" bore huge similarities to Wire's "I Am The Fly" and "Three Girl Rhumba").

Elastica-How He Wrote Elastica Man

Elastica-Generator

They decided to lay low for a while, and after a very long break from the music business, they were reported working on the difficult sophomore album - five years too late, in my opinion. Prior to the album, a 6 Track EP came out with a collaboration with Mark E Smith, from the Fall.

When they asked Smith why they had asked him to appear on the single, he jokingly said something to the extent that if they were going to rip off the Fall, they might as well have the real thing. It was a good collaboration, although the five other tracks were either hit or miss for me.

Once The Menace came out, five years later, I think people were pretty much felt disinterested in Elastica. They tried to write all original material, but it felt more or less cut and paste for me. The only songs that I really liked off The Menace was a overproduced "Generator" (the demo version is more punchier), "How He Wrote Elastica Man" (a different mix), "Your Arse...My Place" (this is a fun song), and "Love Like Ours" (a rough and superior version appeared on Volume earlier).

Elastica - Bitch Don't Work

Elastica - Spastica

They broke up a year later, with their final single, appropriately titled The Bitch Don't Work in 2001. The Radio One Sessions was also released shortly, collecting all their BBC sessions. I believe most of these songs appeared in one or or another as B-Sides on various singles - but it is very nice to have them all on one CD.

I was fortunately enough to catch them on tour for The Menace and even bought an overpriced concert T-Shirt, which I've never regretted. It's one of my favorite shirt, a dark navy blue with the classic "Elastica" logo on the front.

After the breakup, I didn't really follow too closely to where everyone went to. Frischmann went to Colorado, of all places, schooling, after a (very public) breakup with Damon Albarn of Blur. Matthews went on to be the frontswoman for Klang (I have a few 7" releases). Bassist Annie Holland disappeared, she's no longer in the music business, while drummer Justin Welch eventually married later member Mew.

Below, you will find some classic singles from Elastica: Justine on Line Up (US version), Donna on Connection, Annie on Stutter, and Justin on Stutter (Australian version).

Elastica - Line Up

Elastica - Connection

Elastica - Stutter

Elastica - Pussycat

Links: www.elasticated.org

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Line up the Fly

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:24:16 -0500

Cristina requested a comparison between Elastica vs Wire. So here it is:

Wire - I Am The Fly

Elastica - Line Up

There's really no doubt about it, Elastica ripped off that "I am the Fly" chorus in their "Line Up" single. Would a 10 second rip off warrant a lawsuit? That's exactly what I think is happening in the Rubinoo's lawsuit: they are suing for one alleged copied line in a song.

So listen to The Rubi-boos' version and Avril's "Girlfriend" (in Japanese) and can you honestly tell me they are the same song or that Avril deliberately stole their chorus?

The Rubinoos - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (Japanese)

July 05, 2007 08:08 AM vu vu@weheartmusic.com elasticated.org avrillavigne.com rubinoos.com

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The Rentals - Getting By

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:15:03 -0500

Albums

[1995] Return Of The Rentals

[1999] Seven More Minutes

Singles/EPs

[1995] Friends of P

[1995] Friends of P (Promo)

[1999] Getting By

Friends of V should know that I love "the Weezer". I recently found out that ex-Weezer bassist, Matt Sharp's band, The Rentals, is coming out with a new EP in August 2007 called The Last Little Life EP.

If you haven't heard of The Rentals, I will tell you a little about them. They're probably best known for their song Friends of P, which some people might debate that "P" really stands for pot. Then it sort of made sense, "hey if you're friends with p, then you're friends with me."

They broke up in '96, but then got back together in '99 just in time for Seven More Minutes. You should probably know that the title is a reference of Andy Warhol's quote that everybody has "15 minutes of fame".

I think they broke up again in '02, or whenever they stopped touring. Despite not having a band, Matt Sharp continued to release two solo albums: Puckett's Versus the Country Boy (2003) and the self-titled Matt Sharp (2004).

So, I guess the Rentals reformed once again last year to record that difficult third album.

The Rentals - Getting By

So, the song I've picked out for you to listen to is "Getting By". This is, in my opinion, their strongest song off their second album. For the first album, I would have to go with "The Love I'm Searching For". As a special bonus, I will be posting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover of this song on coverlover.vox.com.

Trivia #1: Justine Frischmann of Elastica appears in Seven More Minutes as backing vocals.

Trivia #2: Matt Sharp appears as keyboardist in Tegan and Sara's So Jealous album.

vu Links: www.therentals.com

Pants Party wrote:

Jun 6, 2007 at 5:22 PM

Trivia #3: Maya Rudolph, of Saturday Night Live and Mike Judge film Idiocracy was one of the early touring members of The Rentals and can be seen in the video for "Waiting".
I LOVE The Rentals! I got to see them play one of the first shows after they reformed and it was incredible!! They're playing four shows in L.A. next month and I'm seriously considering riding down from San Francisco to go to at least one.

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Dramarama - Anything, Anything

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:46:11 -0600

Dramarama - Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)

Dramarama

The Best of Rodney on the ROQ

Rodney Bingenheimer is getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 9th, 2007 (tomorrow). They're just handing out these things like candy, huh?? To the world, nobody knows Rodney, but if you were in radio (or happened to live in Los Angeles), you'd probably heard of him. He's probably one of the world's most famous radio DJ, at least very influencial on his "Rodney on the ROQ" show on KROQ Radio.

Rodney was the subject of the documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003), which was directed by George Hickenlooper and produced by Chris Carter (not the X-Files creator).

Because it was produced by the bassist from Dramarama (Chris Carter) there was definitely a section about how Dramarama rose to fame in the US because of Rodney. Apparently, the band (formed in New Jersey in 1982), released their debut LP, Cinéma Vérité, in France under New Rose Records.

Rodney somehow got a hold of this record and started playing "Anything, Anything". He thought they were a French band (wow, their English is SO GOOD!). But it's all cool, because the airplay and demand for the band prompt the album to finally be released in America.

[copy/paste]

Rodney was the first to play records by - and interviews with such artists on his KROQ show as: Blondie, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Van Halen, The Go-Go's, Nina Hagen, The Cramps, Nena, The Clash, The Cure, The Smiths, The B-52's, Billy Idol, Adam Ant, Echobelly, Ride, X, Siouxie and the Banshees, Bad Religion, Duran Duran, The Jam, The Bangles, The Runaways, Redd Kross, Bananarama, Joan Jett, Tom Petty, Dramarama, Teenage Fan Club, Suede, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunnymen, No Doubt, Blur, Elastica, Belly, L7, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Rialto, Placebo, Oasis, The Verve, Kent, Ash, Gene, Travis, Coldplay, Doves, JJ72, The Strokes, Starsailor, The Hives, The Vines, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and The Electric Soft Parade.

Trivia: Rodney, in the 60s, was best known as the stand-in for Davy Jones of the Monkees.

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