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Pavement might release best-of compilation

November 6, 2009 /

Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs recently spoke with NME about the possibility of a best-of Pavement compilation. As previously reported, the band will tour for the time since their breakup in 1999, including stops at various festivals across the globe.

Most Pavement crazies already own all of the band’s available material, so it’s nice to know that this prospective compilation will contain previously unreleased radio sessions.

The guitarist, real name Scott Kannberg, told NME.COM that the album would be likely to feature outtakes as well as the band’s best-known songs, and be released around the same time of their reunion gigs next year.

“There’s talk of doing a best of, with some really cool outtakes on that,” he explained. “The very first radio show that Pavement ever did has never been released. I don’t think anyone’s heard it, so we’ll put that out there sometime.”

The Pavement deluxe reissues are incredible. Each package contains the standard album, b-sides, outtakes, and live performances. For a price hovering around 16 bucks, it’s a great deal. I didn’t think Pavement would be the type of band to release a best-of, but I’m game if we get to hear an ancient radio session. The compilation will coincide with the reunion tour, so I guess it’s good to a have a new release out there.

They should just make an album of original material and be done with it. I’m sure they’ll get the itch later in life, but fans won’t want to hear Stephen Malkmus waxing nostalgic. We want their strange brand of rock and we it now!

Artists, News

Taylor Swift: Fearless – Platinum Edition

November 6, 2009 /


RIYL: Julianne Hough, Miranda Lambert, buying stuff twice

Even by the record industry’s inflated, pre-Internet standards, Taylor Swift’s Fearless was a huge album, particularly for a teenage singer/songwriter on her sophomore release: in less than a year, it sold more than five million copies in the States, spun off a record-breaking 12 Top 40 hits, and provided some of 2009’s only tangible evidence that someone other than Michael Jackson can still sell records. All of which is presumably the only justification Swift’s label needed to join the obnoxious “deluxe reissue” trend by tacking on five brand new recordings, a “piano version” of album track “Forever & Always,” and a bonus DVD containing five music videos, four behind-the-scenes featurettes, a photo gallery, and the infamous CMT Awards clip that found Swift donning a sideways cap and rapping alongside T-Pain as T-Swizzle. It’s a ton of extra content, to be sure – and at Amazon’s loss-leader early price of $14.99, it’s a heckuva bargain, too. And it’s also worth mentioning that in today’s era of a la carte digital distribution, this kind of repackaging isn’t quite as crass as it was before iTunes and Amazon’s MP3 Store came along. Still, Fearless: Platinum Edition fails to resonate on two levels: first, although the new tracks aren’t bad at all, they don’t feel like missing pieces of the original album – which ties into the second problem, which is that at 19 tracks and almost 100 minutes of music, this is a bloated, unfocused version of a record that was pretty close to perfect as it was. Why not release an EP – or better yet, why not save these songs for the next full-length album? Simply to drop a piece of premium-priced product on store shelves in time for the holiday season, when Swift’s many teenaged fans can hit up their loved ones for a copy. Fearless still does a fine job of illustrating Swift’s gifts as a songwriter and performer, but this version just isn’t as much fun. (Big Machine 2009)

Taylor Swift MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Pop

Pixies launch “Doolittle” tour

November 5, 2009 /

Pixies

Chalk this one up to a tour I wish I could’ve seen. In 1989, the Pixies released Doolittle, an indie-rock classic featuring disjointed guitars, awkward screaming, biblical lyrics, and juicy hooks. It’s my favorite Pixies record, so I wish I had the time to catch them touring in support of the album’s 20th anniversary.

The reunited Pixies began a nine-city U.S. Doolittle Tour this week in Los Angeles, marking the 20th anniversary of their alt-rock classic. Its intense mix of sonic dementia and soaring pop melody was brought to life in a 90-minute set filled out with memorable, if overlooked Pixies B sides from the same era, beginning with the heavy thump of “Dancing the Manta Ray,” the thrashing Spanish guitar of “Weird At My School” and the blistering, spooky surf sounds of “Bailey’s Walk.”

Like the Doolittle album, the performance Wednesday was an unsteady balance of darkness and light, from howls of unease to the warmth of “Here Comes Your Man,” as the band’s faces were spread out on the big screen behind them, goofing in black and white like the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night. After some sci-fi gibberish from Francis on “Dead,” Deal announced happily, “We’re still on the first side” of the album.

The Pixies are another cherished band that I discovered later in life. They’re one of the the few bands I would go out of my way to see. From what I’ve read, they put on a great show.

Now the surviving members of the Replacements just have to get back together.

Concerts, News, Videos

Renegade company selling Beatles catalogue online

November 4, 2009 /

Beatles

Has anyone here ever heard of a music website called BlueBeat.com? Me neither. Well, they’ve recently made the news in a big way.

The online music store, owned by the audaciously-named Media Rights Technologies, has been selling downloads of Beatles albums and songs. Problem is, EMI is the only company licensed to distribute Beatles recordings. Despite the benefits of selling individual mp3s, the Beatles are absent on iTunes and other online music merchants. EMI has something else in mind. On December 7, EMI and Apple Records will release a “limited edition stereo USB” containing the Beatles entire catalogue in digital format.

Still, some fans just want individual Beatles songs, especially now that they’ve all been remastered.

Late last week, BlueBeat began selling Beatles song downloads for 25 cents a pop. It’s a great deal, but EMI isn’t jumping for joy. They’re suing.

BlueBeat is a division of Media Rights Technologies, a diversified Northern California digital media distribution firm. Execs at Media Rights Technologies did not respond to phone and email requests for comment.

Observers immediately viewed BlueBeat’s sale of Beatles tracks with suspicion, since even iTunes musicstore, digital music’s industry leader, has never had access to the Beatles’ music. The online sale of the band’s material has been the subject of protracted wrangling between EMI and Apple Corps (not to be confused with Apple Computer, parent company of iTunes).

Each album is offered as an unlimited free stream. Prices on full albums range from $3.50 for the Beatles’ debut “Please Please Me” to $7.50 for “The Beatles” (the so-called “White Album”).

In a twist ripe with irony, representatives of Media Rights Technologies recently wrote to the Librarian of Congress asking that the webcasting licenses of such firms as iTunes, Pandora and MSN Music be revoked on piracy grounds.

In a company press release issued in 2007, Media Rights co-founder and CEO Hank Risan accused Apple of failing to obtain the necessary licenses to distribute copyrighted material on the Internet, which prompted the company to remove all links to iTunes from BlueBeat.com.

Ha! Countersue!

Most of us don’t know who specifically makes money off the Beatles’ music. Obviously, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and their respective families get their proper share, but most of us could give a damn about the executives from EMI. Still, the company has the distribution rights. I don’t know what loophole Hank Risan and his Media Rights Technologies found, but I doubt it’s legitimate.

How do we solve this dilemma?

Why not make the Beatles catalogue public property? When Paul and Ringo start to experience ill health, I hope they sign over the Beatles music to all their fans. The idea may sound ridiculous now, but give it some time.

Artists, News

Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be

November 4, 2009 /


RIYL: Donovan, Marc Bolan, Veviter

Toiling within the ranks of the indie underground, Devendra Banhart has managed to elevate himself into the highest ranks of the so-called “freak folk” hierarchy. His last album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, made a pitch to expand that tag, with Banhart attempting to meld his obtuse approach with the idyllic imagery of the L.A. environs that spawned such ‘60s lynchpins as Neil Young, CSN, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, and various others that made music in those hallowed hills. Likewise, his recruitment by the majors – in this case, Warner Bros. records, home to many of those aforementioned icons – seemed to indicate a concerted effort to break through the barriers.

Indeed, while Banhart’s new label affiliation might seem a concession to commercialism, in truth, the results are every bit as eclectic…and, for that matter, every bit as eccentric…as his earlier efforts. The songs are sung in both English and Spanish, and rather than the clear, coherent melodies identified with the so-called Southern California elite, Banhart still shifts his set-ups – often radically and in the space of a single song. Consequently, “Rats” has a somewhat foreboding start before segueing abruptly into a state of kinetic jubilation. The jazzy inference of “Chin Chin & Muck Muck” morphs several times before the song hits its stride. Likewise, “Angelika” might have succeeded as a soothing serenade had it not accelerated midway through into a sizzling Latin samba.

Still, for all his abrupt turns, Banhart retains a decidedly old school stance. His melodies may seem somewhat amorphous, but his quivering vocals and loping tempos frequently recall the pixie-like warble of Donovan and Marc Bolan. A couple of tracks might bode well for future sing-alongs, specifically “16 & Valencia Roxy Music” and the gentle Spanish serenade called “Brindo.” As an album that’s magnified by ambition and grand designs, What Will We Be may well be his best yet. (Warner Bros. 2009)

Devendra Banhart MySpace page
Click to buy What Will We Be from Amazon

Alternative, Americana, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Folk, New Age, Pop, Progressive, Psychedelic, Rock, Widescreen

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