My favorite band is old and ugly.
Or at least that’s the case for my favorite member. Harsh, I know. But compared to today’s annoyingly skinny, nubile poster-boys of rock, I could care less… in my minds’ eye, he’s hot, hot, HOT. Oh, and also one HELL OF A GUITAR PLAYER. Call me smitten.
In a recent Harvard commencement speech, J.K. Rowling (not surprisingly) exalted the “importance of imagination,” the distinctly unique human quality which serves as a precursor to all kick-ass achievement; in order to save the planet, compose a timeless guitar lick or write a novel, you must dream of the possibility first.
Which is why, when it comes to Andy, visually speaking, I simply invoke Rowling’s “power to imagine better” or at least to remember younger. Call me shallow. But it’s more than that.
Certainly, music isn’t about what we see… nor is it simply about what we hear. What we DREAM of while a song is playing, that’s how we engage with music — mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, as FANS.
Moreover, as Rowling suggests, not only is this our gift but our charge.
So sure, I like me some YouTube. But WATCHING the song is not the same thing as LISTENING.
Listening requires participation; it’s up to us as fans to fill in the blanks and thereby interact with the music intellectually as opposed to just visually, passively. Participation then requires us to draw upon the aforementioned distinctly unique human quality… imagination. After all, imagination magically allows us to identify with music, to give it new meaning, to transform it into timeless sound, and to feel as though the song is for us alone, i.e.: “They’re playing our song!”
All of which is a roundabout way of revisiting the Buggles; video, although at times unbelievably wonderful and informative, makes us LAZY. And similar to reading a novel as opposed to watching the DVD, somehow the sound of a song by itself is almost always superior.
As fans then — especially grown-up fans — it’s our duty not only “to imagine better” but to also DEMAND it. That is unless, like last year, we truly believe Josh Groban is as good as it can get.
I for one, am for dreaming bigger.
© Outlandos MusicTM 2008
6/30/08 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
Outlandos Music is pleased to offer a partnership with NewSong, providing Guided D.I.Y. Career Consultation to its community.
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What’s running through the minds of radio programmers or music supervisors while listening to one of your songs? This is an insider’s quick review, for individual tracks only. A 15 minute review per song and a summary of recommendations based on the review.
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A customized independent do-it-yourself campaign, where together we establish and clarify your career goals and expectations, answer your questions, deliver useful advice and opinions, act as a both a filter of and a resource for information (regarding booking, management, music licensing, promotions, publicity, etc.), underline strengths and weaknesses, advise on creating realistic marketing plans (including media kit review), determine relevant targets, and identify the most advantageous media outlets and services (from online distribution to labels) that are compatible with your music.
More information here.
6/28/08 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
As an industry insider, whining, while overrated, is mandatory. So here goes: radio sucks, labels are greedy, people have no taste, musicians are short on talent, and yes, Ticketmaster is demonic. Wah, wah, wah.
That’s the gig.
Certainly, it can be exhausting to read (I too get the Lefsetz Letter — often what seems like 10 times a week).
Part of it is because when you’re trying to perpetuate an idea, you have to hit people over the head again and again. Repetition breeds recognition, right? Advertising 101.
And not to get all freaky-deaky on you but I’ve also read The Secret. It’s true. Constantly complaining? That shit is toxic.
Admittedly, Lord knows I can hem and haw with the best of them. Today, I just don’t feel like it.
Instead, two things:
1. For Artists/CEOs
Why Bigger Goals = Less Competition. I’ve mentioned Tim Ferris’ book before. Entrepreneurial enlightenment in roughly 300 pages.
2. For Fans
What do Fat Boy Slim, David Byrne, Dizzee Rascal, and Atari have in common?
Cathartic.
© Outlandos MusicTM 2008
6/23/08 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
When the June issue of Real Simple arrived, I tore through it, my inner (and hopefully hipper and better dressed) Martha Stewart unfettered by the wistful yet impractical thoughts that such magazines inspire: a busy girl CAN transform her backyard into a “Summer Oasis,” master “No-Cook Summer Meals,” AND institute “10 Smart Uses for Old Plastic Bags”. Eureka.
But when I read their list of “No. 1 Summer Hits From the Past 16 Years,” it seemed that it was RS in dire need of a musical makeover.
2007: “Umbrella,” Rhianna featuring Jay-Z
2006: “Me & U,” Cassie
2005: “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey
2004: “The Reason,” Hoobastank
2003: “Crazy in Love,” Beyoncé
2002: “Hot in Herre,” Nelly
2001: “Hanging by a Moment,” Lifehouse
2000: “Bent,” Matchbox Twenty
1999: “All Star,” Smash Mouth
1998: “Iris,”The Goo Goo Dolls
1997: “Semi-Charmed Life,” Third Eye Blind
1996: “You Learn,” Alanis Morissette
1995: “Water Runs Dry,” Boyz II Men
1994: “I Swear,” All-4-One
1993: “That’s the Way Love Goes,” Janet Jackson
1992: “Baby-Baby-Baby,” TLC
Granted, an arbitrary list, simply “based on radio airplay.” And I’d stopped listening to pop radio a long time ago. But still, I felt excluded. After all, this was a club I supposedly belonged to: women aged 25 to 54, college-educated, middle-class, employed. Am I alone among Real Simple’s 7.3 million readers as a gal who gets her “5-Minute Morning Beauty Regimen” summer groove on to something other than vapid-pop?
Even box-store radio plays Phish’ “Heavy Things” and the Damnwells’ “Golden Days.” Not the kind of songs I would expect to be on a pop radio airplay list but for a magazine which prides itself on appealing to do-it-yourself, pink toolkit-slinging “changemakers” musically, Home Depot has them beat.
So ladies. If, like me, you rock but yet you also aspire to cleanliness, godliness, and the idea of homemade ice cream (although, let’s face it, Ben & Jerry’s does a damn fine job), let me suggest a summer pop soundtrack that’s well, a little less vanilla:
Meet the new girl of summer, Santogold and her self-titled, solo debut. Punk + Ska + Rock + Hip-Hop + Pop all wrapped up in a sort of new New-Wave — complete with nonsense-word choruses and feral screams. FUN! I can’t remember the last time I wanted to actually DANCE to music. And I don’t mean head-bob.
You wanna feel 14 again? Buy the whole thing.
However, if iPod-a-few-at-a-time you must, a Santogold-inspired sampler… 16 Songs That Beat the Crap Out of Real Simple’s Lame List:
01: “L.E.S. Artistes” Santogold
02: “Words,” Missing Persons
03: “Mirror in the Bathroom” The English Beat
04: “This is Radio Clash” The Clash
05: “Say Aha” Santogold
06: “Private Idaho” B-52′s
07: “Spiderwebs” No Doubt
08: “You’ll Find a Way” Santogold
09: “Informer,” Snow
10: “Cities in Dust” Siouxsie and the Banshees
11: “Running up That Hill” Kate Bush
12: “Anne” Santogold
13: “Small Town Boy” Bronski Beat
14: “Voices Carry” ‘Til Tuesday
15: “Lights Out” Santogold
16: “Lorelei” Cocteau Twins
Pop-friggin’-tastic.
© Outlandos MusicTM 2008
6/16/08 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
While the whole Music 2.0 blame-game bread-and butter has largely centered around the usual gundyguts (labels, radio, etc.) — barring McGuinness’ ISP/fan-as-thief bandwagon — it would seem as though the culprits are clear: the rich guys are the bad guys. Easy enough.However, there are also the little guys. And as much as I hate to say it, by little guys/girls, I mean the artists themselves.
Don’t get me wrong, I like sinking my teeth into a good industry-bully finger-wagging just as much as the next blogger. Lord knows, I WANT the underdog to win. And badly. I’m a Red Sox fan, for Christ’s sake.
But you’ve got to admit that there is a whole LOT of really AWFUL music out there, thanks in large part to the anyone-can-do-it nowstalgia of Pro Tools, Reality TV, etc., along with what seems to be a flagrant disregard of quality in general.
Which brings me to my old college English professor who, while scoffing at subpar novels (those of empty-calorie summertime reading list ilk), would affectionately refer to them as “Fritos of the Mind;” the idea being that indulging in thoughtless art invariably leads to the creation of thoughtless art, thereby breeding a contagious, “junk-food” mediocrity. You can see how this might also apply to music… hence, this week’s Billboard stats touting songs like Bleeding Love and Viva la Vida. Muncha Bunch.
For sure, it’s by no means entirely the artists’ fault. With the music industry relentlessly spoon-feeding us sub-standard songs (so sub-standard as to now be presumed free) it’s no wonder that gobs of enthusiastic, somewhat self-indulgent, off-the-couch fledglings have been able to handily over-saturate the market.
But still.
We’re talking about a little accountability here. Because an endless Long Tail eventually devalues talent. Which is bad for everyone. Most importantly, the FANS.
So I’m not saying that we don’t all have an inalienable right to own a guitar… but don’t we also have a duty to then use it responsibly? To make mindful art?
Perhaps making GREAT music should still be the goal, no matter what the market exigencies, no matter how ridiculous your mustache…
Hot diggety.
© Outlandos MusicTM 2008
6/9/08 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
