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| A blog for commentary regarding the music of today (and yesterday...and the day before...) |
Click here for a review of Dark Circles by The Devils.
Click here for a review of Bangs...Sounds of the 80s.
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May 23, 2002 Awwww, yeah! On May 21st, the Librarian of Congress rejected CARP's proposed royalty rates for streaming digital media. This is a step in the right direction, folks. Internet radio isn't out of the woods quite yet; the Librarian has until June 20th to look over all the information and decide the appropriate royalty rate. But at least they realized that the proposed rate was ridiculous. For more information on their decision, go here. If you have no idea what the bloody hell I am talking about, go to Save Internet Radio and read all about it. posted by DJOktober at 10:59 PM | link this post! | Comments []
This has nothing to do with music. But it's horrible: This irks me. The insinuation is that body piercing in high school kids is a sign of rebellion and is an indication that the child is engaging in deviant behaviors. In fact, the article practically declares that body piercing is deviant behavior. Good lord, aren't we in 2002? At least the article somewhat redeems itself by saying they did not study adults or college students, so it does not apply to them. Good. I still think it is an absurd conclusion, though. Not all kids with body piercings do drugs. Just like not all people with tattoos are rebels. Why did I post this? I'm heavily pierced and tattooed and I'm not deviant in the slightest. At least...I think I'm not deviant.... FYI this article was sent to me by Jillmatrix who gives the credit to this person for giving her the link....
Trent Reznor's live show never ceases to amaze me. The man can truly sing, and the live audio on the DVD sometimes sounds eerily close to the studio versions. But it is 100% live all the way; from the moody-sounding piano riffs to the electronic samples to the pumping bass and the power guitar. And that band is tight. Just listen to the complex rhythm of "March of the Pigs"; the verses are in the extra-fun time signature of 7 and just watch the drummer hit every beat dead on. The high point for me was the gratuitous insertion of variations of the word "fuck" wherever and whenever possible. My favorite addition was during "Suck" (a bonus track from the Broken album) where he replaced the original line "I'm Jesus Christ on ecstasy" with "I'm Jesus fucked on ecstasy." "Starfuckers, Inc." totally rocked, especially with the brief rendition of "You're so Vain" right in the middle. I admit that I didn't listen to The Fragile more than once. And I was doing dishes, as I recall. I popped the CD into the player and nothing really jumped out at me enough to want to rush to the CD player and find out the name of the track. The first Nine Inch Nails I heard was in 1990; the "Head Like a Hole" single. In 1991 I heard Pretty Hate Machine and was completely hooked. The first time I saw them was during Lalapalooza in 1991, and it was kick-ass. Noone knew who they were, though, and me and my friends were the only people in our row singing along. Unfortunately the next live show I saw was in 1995, during the Downward Spiral tour. And as you know, he was super-popular with the release of "Closer" (sidenote: it still amazes me that "Closer" is the song that broke Trent into the mainstream; what a raunchy number that is...and they never totally editted out the "fuck" in the chorus so it always sounded like "I want to Ffffft you like an animal" and DUH how could anyone not know what he was saying). Nine Inch Nails played at Madison Square Garden of all places, and even though we were 7th in line at the Ticketmaster outlet, we were up in the third balcony or so. It was like Deja Vu from Lalapalooza; in our section we were the only people who were singing along to "Terrible Lie", "Head Like a Hole", and "Sin". These teenage girls in behind us kept looking at each other and going, "What is this song?" BLASPHEMY! It was awful. I mean, the show was great, but I really regretted not seeing a club show before they were popular. It would have been nicer to be in a small club, with a group of less than a thousand people, all of whom knew the old stuff in addition to the new. Going back to the DVD. All that being said, I was happy with the setlist for the Fragile 2.0 tour. There was a great mix of old and new material. I didn't know any of the new tracks since I hadn't listened to the new album more than once, but I think it's time to give it another chance. My only criticism is that the "slow" portion in the middle of the set was a little too long for my tastes. The music was great; especially the haunting piano sections. But I got a little bored. Maybe that's just me! The DVD ends with "Hurt". This track is up there on my Nine Inch Nails favorites list (another one is the Queen cover "Get Down Make Love" which is also on the "Sin" single). Trent is so good at emoting during his live shows, and I think the song truly captures this ability. The lyrics are brooding and depressing, and he sounded like he felt the pain as he was singing it. How about that last line: If i could start again *sniff* *sob* Shit, I'm having a "deep moment". Sorry about that! Anyway, the bottom line is that the DVD is great. The show is full of fun lighting and pyrotechnics, but there isn't a lot of visuals except during the slow part (and the DVD includes commentary from the guy who did the video bits; it's an interesting segment). It's a great show and now I am feeling like a super-asshole for not seeing him on this tour. With any luck he'll be touring again, and I'll be sure not to miss it. I'm going to have to buy the audio CD now. They have a combo-pack of the DVD and CD but I was too lame at the time to buy it. Ah well. It comes down to this! Your kiss! Your fist! And this strain it gets under my SKIN. WithIN. Take IN. The extent of my SIN. Stay angry, Trent. I love ya. *lezzie smooch*
And by the way...new album by John Taylor out on May 21st. *shameless plug* Honestly, his latest CDs aren't half bad. If you like indie solo work, you really should check out some of the CDs they have at his website. I'm not just saying that because I run his Internet radio station. My personal favorite is the Neurotic Outsiders, with John Taylor (Duran Duran), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum (both from Guns 'N Roses). It was a short-lived quartet that started with live shows at the Viper Room in Los Angeles and then turned into a CD release on Maverick Records (you know...Madonna's label). I am a royal schmuck for missing their shows. I was in a musical coma during the year this project existed and so I didn't discover it until long after the group had disbanded. The CD is full of hard and fast punk tunes, including renditions of John's own "Feelings Are Good" and "Always Wrong". There is also a great cover of "Janie Jones", originally by The Clash. My favorite is "Jerk", full with enough utterances of the word "cunt" to make anyone's head spin. Don't like cuss words? Try the clean, radio friendly version of the track, available on the single for "Angelina", released only in Japan. That single also contains a version of Duran Duran's classic "Planet Earth", in an ass-kicking punk rendition that is a must for any music collection. Regrettably, the Neurotic Outsiders CD is currently out of print. Scour the stores and see if anyone has a last copy, or check out your local used record store. Will there be a re-issue? Don't know....try and find some of the tracks and if you like it, bug Steve Jones, John Taylor, Maverick Records, even Guns 'N Roses and tell them all to bring back the Neurotic Outsiders project! Hey, I can always hope, right? I want to see 'em live, damnit. Steve Jones.... *sigh*
Go to Live365.com and tune in to their "Stinky Fish" broadcast, which is packed full of indie music and broadcaster-submitted audio material, including a PSA by Late Bar Radio set to the tune of Meltdown radio's title track. For more information on today's actions, also visit RAIN (the Radio and Internet Newsletter) and Save Internet Radio. Don't let Internet radio go silent....
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