Words for the Dying DVD

Words for the Dying DVD (09/30/08)

Words for the Dying MC-845, 1990 microcinema exclusive $US 24.95 $US 50.00 Format: DVD, NTSC, Region 0 (All), European List Prices: £16.99 / 24.95€ License for theatrical exhibition

 

NOTE: I wrote the following three weeks ago, and on retrospect, I was rather harsh on it. The more I thought about it (and re-watching it recently to get a good frame still for this article), this is really meant for fans that’s been waiting for the original documentary to finally be made available on a, assumingly, cleaned up version on DVD. There are a ton of old movies and documentaries that’s not available on DVD, so I applaud Provocateur for making this happen.

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We don’t normally get ’screener’ DVD copies for review (I think the last one I got was for Negativland’s DVD), so I was pretty excited to get Words for the Dying DVD for review.

Being an early adopter of the DVD format (I own over 2,000 DVDs), I do appreciate the higher visual and audio quality that DVD had over VHS. I am starting to get into Bluray (I also have a handful of HD-DVD), so as far as movie snobbery goes, I’m up there. Keep this in mind when I talk about the poor visual and audio later.

First of all, for introduction purposes, both John Cale and Brian Eno are very accomplished musicians. Cale’s history with the Velvet Underground and Eno as regarded by many as the “father of ambient music” and his work with Roxy Music. This DVD release, it seems to me, was for fans’ services/demands. Documentary fans might also want to check this out, but to be honest, if you don’t like music documentary, you should skip this one.

This is a documentary, by director Rob Nilsson, is about the recording of John Cale’s album, also of the same name. Although the cover art clearly depicts and credits Brian Eno, it would seem whenever he’s conscious of the camera’s presence, he’s either covering his face and/or giving the viewer the finger. He makes it known that he did not want to be part of the documentary (although he does appear with a former interview at the very end of the album talking about the mix).

According to the DVD box, there are four parts to this documentary, revolving around four Dylan Thomas poems. However, watching it, it felt to me that there was only three parts (Cale in Moscow, in London, and Wales). Moscow and Wales are shot in black and white, which leads me to believe that either it’s done for artistic reasons and/or the footage they had (with poor lighting) was unuseable in color. Sometime the poor audio and visual made it hard for me to watch on my high definition television, maybe I’m just spoiled, but speaking for myself, I like seeing movies in color.

At the beginning of the documentary I had trouble understanding what was going on. Why were they going to see these various Moscow bands? I eventually concluded that they were talent, but there are random things like playing racquetball that I felt didn’t belong in music-making documentary. Overall, it felt like the journey on recording the album was really epic and squeezing all that in an hour and a half documentary is quite an achievement.

For their defense, they did have 1987 film equipment (probably VHS recorders) and considering that the original 1990 is long out of print that having it re-released on quality DVD by Provocateur DVD is well worth your time if you are a fan of John Cale or Brian Eno. The DVD price listing is $24.95, but obviously you can find it a cheaper online price. As a long-time DVD buyer, I can tell you that usually Deep Discount DVDs usually have the best prices ($16.47 includes free shipping).

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Tracy Shedd

Tracy Shedd is releasing her third album, Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, this Tuesday, and I will confess that I’m smitten with her sweet voice. Her voice is as pretty as her looks, which surprised me when I read that in her early albums that she deliberately hid her lovely voice behind musical shrouds. With Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, it’s her voice that is in the forefront. So, I get the impression that earlier in her career, she loves (or would enjoy) the three colors Kieslowski movies (Blue, White, and Red). Let’s take a look at the cover art, first of all. The cover does not feature Shedd, it’s actually one of her friends from 1996 named Emily Wilder, photographed by Amanda Sciullo. The cover is of a girl in blindfolds, and appearently Shedd had wanted to use this image for a cover - and finally used it with Cigarettes & Smoke Machines. “Never Too Late” starts off the album with this tone that anything can happen, that it’s never too late. The album then become a little more frantic with the guitar on “Whatever It Takes”. It’s a little faster and direct, and I can see why they chose this song for their promotional music video. After watching the video, it seems to translate literally what the song is about - an angry/jealous woman and her boyfriend/husband. Tour Dates 09/26/08 Hotel Congress // Record Release Party // Party On The Patio Tucson, Arizona 10/04/08 Eclipse // Record Release Party // Happy Hour with Tracy Shedd Jacksonville, Florida 10/15/08 The Apple Store Tucson, Arizona Discography [2001] Blue [2003] Red [2004] Louder Than You Can Hear [2008] Cigarettes & Smoke Machines The pianos, bass, percussion, and cello, are all there in the background, while the strength lies in the guitar and her voice. It would seem that whoever arranged this album did a pretty good job, keeping you interested. For example, I felt that some of the songs are laid out in a slow/quiet and then followed by a faster/uptempo song. I know that sounds incredibly formulatic, but it works for me. So let’s break down the tracks: 1. Never Too Late [Y] 2. Whatever It Takes [G] 3. Hardest Part Of Good-Bye [R] 4. Won Past Ten [G] 5. Plastic World [R] 6. Not Giving Up [G] 7. Remember The Time We Set The Highway On Fire? [Y] 8. Go On [G] 9. Paris [R] 10. Valentine [R] 11. So Sick [G] 12. Home [R] I will have to say that I am a fan of the more faster song, as I felt like I should be dancing to these little stories that Shedd is singing about…. However, “Paris” has a nice spacing and pacing. Cigarettes & Smoke Machines will be available this Tuesday, September 23rd, on Teenbeat Records. Be sure to check some of their other bands, including The Rondelles and The Feminine Complexe. As always, additional information over at our news.w♥m website.

Links:
www.tracyshedd.com myspace.com/tracyshedd

Posted in USA, Vu, Indie Rock, Arizona | No Comments »

Benjamin Taylor

Tour Dates 09/20/08 Joe’s Pub New York, NY 10/18/08 Borgata Atlantic City, NJ 10/19/08 World Cafe Live (WXPN Studios) Philadelphia, PA 11/21/08 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA Discography [2003] Famous Among the Barns [2005] Another Run Around the Sun [2008] The Legend of Kung Folk: Part 1 (The Killing Bite)

ENTER THE TAYLOR
I think I get what Benjamin Taylor - of musician parents of James Taylor and Carly Simon - is trying to do with his themed The Legend of Kung Folk: Part 1 (The Killing Bite). The way I see it, with the television show, Kung Fu, a Shaolin monk wanders along the countryside spreading his kung fu. Instead of a monk, it’s Benjamin Taylor spreading his co-called Kung Folk! I love the idea and name of Kung Folk, it seems like an American Folk with an Eastern philosophy. It is obvious to me that Taylor is deeply interested in Asian culture - and not just because of Bruce Lee (although that’s cool too).

In 1997, Taylor took the musical path as The Ben Taylor Band, a “neo-psychodelic folk funk” as Taylor puts it. He changed that music style, more classic folk starting with his 2005 album, Another Run Around the Sun.

FOLK OF FURY
The melodies and backup singers on “Wrong” makes the song an obvious choice to represent Taylor, plus it’s a great song. I also really enjoyed “Wicked Way”, a fun song about a guy who wants to have his wicked ways with this girl. I love bluntness of it:

I don’t want to meet your friends or just pretend I like you
I don’t want to talk about what happened on your favorite TV show
I just want to get you close enough so I can take off all your clothes
I am not going to make you cry or break your heart

Girl, we don’t have the time
I’m just thinking of three hours or more
So I can have my wicked way with you.

The most interesting song on this album is “Wilderness”, the only song that’s not written by Taylor. I found out that it comes from rapper John Forte, who’s currently serving time in prison for procession and intent of distribution of narcotics. The song is what you would expect from Taylor, so I am interested in what it would sound like under Forte’s direction.

RETURN OF THE KILLING BITE
The Legend of Kung Folk was released September 16^th on Iris Records. I recommend buying it from Newbury Comics as it comes with an autographed CD booklet.

I leave you with this Taylor quote:

Laughing at myself is proving to be very good Kung Fu.

- Benjamin Taylor

Links: bentaylormusic.com myspace.com/bentaylorofficial

Posted in USA, Massachusetts, Folk | No Comments »

The Chemical Brothers - Brotherhood

Discography [Jun 1995] Exit Planet Dust [Apr 1997] Dig Your Own Hole [Jun 1999] Surrender [Jan 2002] Come with Us [Jan 2005] Push the Button [Jul 2007] We Are the Night Read More The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance The first time I heard about The Chemical Brothers, they were known as The Dust Brothers, named .

Let me throw out some numbers to impress you: 10 million records sold, 5 consecutive UK #1 albums, 4 Grammy Awards….. The Chemical Brothers needs no introduction. (Be sure to check my previous Chemical Brothers article for We Are the Night if you do need an introduction.)

Their second greatest hits album, Brotherhood (the first was Singles 93-03), they prove they are still the big beat techno kings with two brand new tracks, “Midnight Madness” and “Keep My Composure”. I was doubtful, at first, for the new tracks, because I felt the intro to “Keep My Composure”, was weak - however the song quickly turn amazing when Spank Rock did more rapping. “Composure” feels like “Galvanize”, a mix between beats and rap - a sound that the Brothers seems to be heading towards.

Those are the two stand-out new tracks, but we shouldn’t ignore the other 12 greatest hits tracks. Some of their best known songs are on here - unfortunately my favorite song, “Life Is Sweet”, isn’t on here. This is understandable because if you listen to their debut album, the song doesn’t really have an ending (it just morphs into “Playground for a Wedgeless Firm”).

I personally think that they are also known for their amazing music videos, with some of the most memorable video moments like the girl that keeps seeing skeletons (”Hey Boy Hey Girl”), a couple on the run from the law (”Block Rockin’ Beats”), a singing fish (”The Salmon Dance”), that amazing train ride (”Star Guitar), etc. If you haven’t seen their music videos, you need to do yourself a favor and look them up on youtube or something.

Brotherhood comes in two formats: a standard 15-track release and a deluxe package (which I recommend for fans), which comes with a bonus disc. The bonus disc contains 10 “Electronic Battle Weapons” tracks - these songs were available available on ultra rare DJ-White labels, but for the first time it’s publically available with this release. Although it’s kind of neat to hear some of the standard beats and loops that the Brothers use in their sets, I felt you had to be pretty big hardcore trance/dance fans to really appreciate this. After a while, forgive me for say, but it sounded all the same to me. It’s still good though, like something you would put on when you’re cleaning the house.

The package also comes with lyric book containing all the singles cover artwork, but in duo-tones colors (like silkscreening art), and one postcard showing them on stage at Glastonbury.

If you’re a Chemical Brothers fan, you definitely need to pick this album up, if only for the two new songs, but the package is pretty sweet. Brotherhood is available now from Astralwerks.

Links: thechemicalbrothers.com myspace.com/thechemicalbrothers

Posted in Vu, Dance, Techno, Big Beat | No Comments »

Lady Dottie and the Diamonds

Tour Dates 09/13/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center 09/13/08 The Casbah — CD RELEASE PARTY! San Diego 09/15/08 U31 San Diego 09/22/08 U31 San Diego 09/27/08 Adams Ave. Street Fair san diego, California 10/04/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center 10/10/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center 11/21/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center 12/10/08 House Of Blues– Hollywood Hollywood, California 12/11/08 YOUR PARTY! SAN DIEGO 12/20/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center 12/23/08 Valley View Casino Valley Center See Also Sharon Jones http://weheartmus… Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a modern day funk and soul band from Brooklyn, New York. Ceji pr…

I listened to NPR’s story on Soul Music making a come back a few days ago, and I have to say that it’s perfectly true. Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse, Angie Whitney, Jamie Lidell, and, to a lesser extent, Adele, are just some of the modern artists still producing some of the best Soul music today.

To give you a little background, soul music came from the gospel church, but mixed with rhythm and blues. I want to say that Motown Records really popularized the genre in the 60s with Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye, to name a few, and by the early 70s, everyone heard about the hardest working man in showbiz: James “The Godfather of Soul” Brown.

It seems like after thirty years that Soul is making its comeback.

One of those bands that you’ll probably hear about is Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, they’re about to release their self-titled album next Tuesday, September 16^th. I have been listening to this album for a few weeks now (despite what lastfm is reporting) and just refreshing the album as I write this.

The whole album is full of soul music, designed to get you to stand up and dance. I can only imagine what it would be like to see them at a live concert, with Lady Dottie infectious dancing and singing.

My favorite song off this album is easily “Livin’ It Up”, which was also their first EP they released last year. If you listen to the very end of this song, you can hear Dottie commenting how great this song is. I’m so glad they kept that in, as it gives you a glimpse of their personalities.

Other songs I dug was their BB King cover of “Why I Sing the Blues”. The song is obviously a blues song, but there is an element of gospel thrown in there.

By the way, the last song on the album is a cover of “Movin’ On Up”, that famous Jeffersons theme song. I didn’t know this until today, but apparently the song is sung actress Ja’net Du Bois, who you may know her as the maid in Sanford and Son.

Also, looking at the pictures of the band, I think they’re mostly white guys and it made me think that the Dap-Kings are mostly white dudes too. This fascinates me for some reason.

Lady Dottie and the Diamonds will be out next week on Hi Speed Soul Records.

Links: ladydottieandthediamonds.com myspace.com/ladydottieandthediamonds

Posted in California, Soul | No Comments »

Rahim

Tour Dates 09/14/08 BLACK CAT w/ Maps & Atlases, Nurses Washington, Washington DC 09/15/08 TEA BAZAAR w/ Arctic Rose Charlottesville, Virginia 09/16/08 21:11 BEER & WINE Greeneville, North Carolina 09/17/08 GO BAR w/ Iron Hero Athens, Georgia 09/18/08 NEW WORLD BREWERY Tampa, Florida 09/19/08 1982 BAR Gainesville, Florida 09/20/08 TIN ROOF w/ Win Win Winter Charleston, South Carolina 09/21/08 SOAPBOX LAUNDRO LOUNGE w/ Win Win Winter, Fortress of Swatches Wilmington, North Carolina 09/22/08 DRUNKEN UNICORN w/ Liverhearts, Win Win Winter Atlanta, Georgia 09/23/08 RESERVOIR w/ Win Win Winter Carborro, North Carolina 09/24/08 MILESTONE w/ The Lights, Fluorescent Charlotte, North Carolina 09/25/08 TALKING HEAD w/ Deleted Scenes Baltimore, Maryland 09/30/08 BERNIE’S w/ Thin Fevers Columbus, Ohio 10/01/08 EAGLE THEATER w/ Thunderbirds Are Now!, Born Ruffians, Plants & Animals Pontiac, Michigan 10/02/08 RONNY’S w/ Netherfriends, Darren Keen Chicago, Illinois 10/05/08 FOUNDATION Kansas City, Missouri 10/06/08 CONSERVATORY Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 10/07/08 HAILEY’S Denton, Texas 10/08/08 EMO’S LOUNGE Austin, Texas 10/11/08 SKULL ALLEY w/ Young Widows Louisville, Kentucky 10/12/08 BRILLOBOX w/ Life In Bed Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Did I mention dark and moody? How about Rahim? Their sophomore album, Laughter, just came out last Tuesday, and everyone seems to really love them (especially Spin & Pitchfork to name a few).

Maybe it’s my headphones, but, listening to the album, the audio sounds hollow. Like it was recorded on poor recording equipment. Maybe it’s intentional, who knows, but it does come off like they recorded inside a padded cave.

I did like the experimental noises, anything from synth to weird percussions to foot stomping (?) on the record. It’s obvious, whoever is playing all these instruments is very talented.

The album starts off with an introduction song, “Death” of clanking cans, to give you a taste of what to expect. The first major song is “The Same”, which establish your relationship to the band (”hey, it’s true, you are the same as me“).

The band seems to really like “Through A Window” (which you can download off their myspace). The radio-friendly song sounds too short - maybe too short? In fact, the whole album is a hair less than 30 minutes.

My favorite song off this album is “Laughter”, which ends the album on a strong note. There’s some strange cord progression on this song with an almost 18th century monk-like chant that made this song interesting to me.

If you’re into indie rock, but with non-traditional guitar/bass/drum equipment, you should definitely check out Rahim. Laughter is available now from Pretty Activity. In support of this record, expect the band to be touring through your town.

Links: rahimrahim.org myspace.com/rahim prettyactivity.com

Posted in Experimental, New York, Indie Rock | No Comments »

The Dark Romantics

Links: www.thedarkromantics.com myspace.com/thedarkromantics www.lujorecords.com

Posted in Synth Pop | No Comments »

W♥M022: Meet the Meat Extender, plus Bookcast!

These podcasts keeps getting longer and longer! I promise to cut it down next week.

Some bands/music that we used in the podcast are: Philanastasia, Inga Swearingen, Sal Kimber, Beatnik Turtles, Canvas Solaris, and Ladyhawke.

PART ONE: News topics covered are Michael Jackson goes on secret dates with Pamela Anderson, Guns N Roses wants blogger to “rot in jail”, Album leak welcomed by Metallica, Heart Lash Out At McCain Campaign’s Use of “Barracuda”.

PART TWO: Meet the Meat Extender, Alex and Brian talks to us about their punk band.

PART THREE: I originally requested the Music Success book to compare and contrast to The Indie Band Survival Guide, but having read both books, I have to say that these two books are not really in the same league. Both are written for different audiences, and both are worth looking into if you’re thinking about promoting your band.

MUSIC SUCCESS IN NINE WEEKS
by Ariel Hyatt
cyberprbook.com

Music Success in Nine Weeks Book (2008)

Billed as a “step-by-step guide to supercharging your PR, building your fan base and earning more money,” this 2008 book comes in both print and electronic version, and retails for $34.99 (there is no discount for the e-version, the last time I checked).

The book reads like a self-help book and generally is a breeze to get through. On a quiet evening, you can get through this 128-page book in a matter of hours. Don’t let the 100+ pages discourage you, if you take away non-essential spacing or “notes” and exercise, I would guess this book is no more than 50 pages of solid reading.

The things I like about this book is that it’s very easy to follow and read. No pretentious tones, and it’s written through the eyes of Ariel Hyatt, a publicist who’s been in the music industry for at least twelve years. Sometime her writing falls too much on the personal side (dealing with her past experiences or mentioning she’s married to a blogger), but I sometime think that’s part of the charm.

I also liked her money-saving tips, from free website endorsements to doing your own PR work. Writing your own biography and networking seem obvious to me, but if you’re new to this, then reading the step-by-step guide is essential.

Like most self-help books, this book really depends on your participation. I would only recommend getting the printed version and following the instructions explicitly, otherwise the book might not work for you.

As an exercise, I did try and apply some of the tips to promoting W♥M: for instance, I will only give out my business card if someone asks what I do (instead of bringing up what I do in conversations). I have also thought about building the email list, which I think might not work for us (since people already subscribe to our RSS feed or via the neighborhood networking)… but I really should be more aggressive in promoting our Twitter which you can subscribe via email or text messages. Ironically, this account was setup by Ryan in the UK and twitter recently dropped their option to text to UK mobiles.

THE INDIE BAND SURVIVAL GUIDE
by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan
www.stmartins.com

The Indie Band Survival Guide Book (2008)

Billed as a “complete manual for the Do-It-Yourself musician”, this hefty 300+ book by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan, two members of the band Beatnik Turtle, details their experiences and success in this essential guide.

The book is very affordable ($14.95, but obviously you can get it lower online), so there is no excuse to not owning this book. Although it’s written for the musician, I think this book can apply to anyone interested in the music industry or work in promotions.

The book is broken into two sections: Get Prepared and Get Fans. The first part focus mostly on your image/branding and web presence, while the second part focused on publicity, distribution and getting booked. Between the two, I felt that the second part is the big hurdle, so you may want to focus more on the first part - which goes into details from picking a searchable band name to your website’s content.

The book is very detailed, so as a guide book, which is not necessary cover-to-cover read, I suggest skipping to topics that interests you. You can get lost in all the details, for instance it goes into image color formats (RGB, CMYK, Black and White Line art and Grayscale), which I found very interesting - but might not apply to you.

From a web developer, I liked reading over the band website chapter. They stressed over the ‘contact page’, from their experience (and mine), that there are many opportunities that present themselves just by making contacting you easier. They also noted that if you’re comfortable, you should also include a telephone number, as ABC Family/Disney (aka traditional media) still does business through the telephone. From a promoter’s point of view, I can tell you that I have passed over some band because there was simply no way of contacting them.

Other interesting thing I discovered reading the second part (since this is the part that is most unfamiliar to me), that you can actually have your CDs in smaller stores as consignments (where they pay you only after they sold your CD). Even if you don’t sell any albums, it works as a small advertisement for you as people will start recognizing your name. It even goes into detail about giving an extra store copy as a promotional device - really great tip.

For emerging bands there is a section to have banter or “stalling banter” prepared, in case you break a string on your guitar. Personally, I have always enjoyed when a band is talkative, and it really does help add to a band’s showmanship.

They do admit in the forward that this book is best used by acting and doing, in addition to using the book as an idea or theory. The low cost and invaluable guide, I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in music.

Links: www.weheartmusic.com news.weheartmusic.com podcast.weheartmusic.com

Posted in Podcast | No Comments »

Potpourri

  
♥ written by vu ()

Here are a few non-indie rock album reviews for you. One of the nicest thing about W♥M is that we don’t necessary serve a niche music genre, so we’re often sent a huge variety of music genre. Below are some genre of music that I don’t normally listen to - but all equally enjoyable: oldies, reggae, death metal, and Christian.

Links: www.weheartmusic.com news.weheartmusic.com wp.weheartmusic.com podcast.weheartmusic.com

Posted in USA, California, Vu, Metal, Death, Sweden, Christian, Christian Pop, New Zealand, Reggae | No Comments »

Remote Control Frequencies

Ok I’m just going to start off by saying this sort of noisy, ambient, sample ridden cluster fuck of sound is so up my alley it’s actually IN my alley. And to quote a famous new wave band, I just can’t get enough. Remote Control Frequencies latest album Tempus is about 45 minutes of some of the coolest stuff I’ve heard in a while. It’s all fuzzy guitar, echoplex madness, swirling drones, manic organs and vocals that are just buried under all that sound. Throw in a healthy serving of what sound like samples from late night infomercials and you’ve got yourself one hell of a party. I would really be hard pressed to narrow this down to one genre so I’ll go ahead and describe this best as ambient post shoe gaze hip-hop.

Remote Control Frequencies is a two man wrecking crew of awesomeness consisting of R-Rock handling the vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, noise, digital signal treatments and other effects with long time collaborator LG handling the drums. there are a few guest appearances on the album by Player 1, PJ Sumroc, and Sharkula. Despite all the sonic madness there is still an underlying pop sensibility here that is very keen. The hushed vocals do a great job of not overpowering the true artistry of the music, and overall R-Rock and LG have done a splendid job of taking elements from a diverse selection of genres and creating an pastiche of musical styles. I would definitely suggest this album for fans of psychedelic music and pretty much everyone with an open mind about music.

You can find out more about Remote Control Frequencies by visiting their myspace page at www.myspace.com/rcf (although they claim to have lost the password so it might not be updated), or by going to their label’s web site at www.tslos.com, and as always be sure to stay tuned to W♥M for the latest in independent music. Next week I’ll be dusting off the old phonograph to bring you a few gems from my vinyl collection. Yay records!

Stay classy internettes,
Appples

Links: myspace.com/rcf

Posted in Experimental, Noise, Ambient, Appples | No Comments »