1. The New York Times featured Rick Rubin, who thinks he’s going to save the music industry by introducing subscription plans for music. Y’all think that’s the answer for them? Personally, I just think that the days of music moguls making millions off of artists are over. Music will go back to being local, only with the internet “local” takes on a whole new meaning. Either that, or they’re gonna have to start throwing entire Universities in jail for illegal downloading. I mean, I don’t personally like to steal music but lets face it, even mp3 blogs like this can be viewed as theft, even if labels and promoters send me lots of the commercial stuff I post. After all, one label threatened to sue me for an album I reviewed that was sent to me by their PR team. (Hence, my ban on RIAA material.)
2. To help support my point that blogs are important to the future of the industry, the New York Times recently wrote about how important blogs are to book publicity, specifically giving a shout out to one of my favorite sites, Largehearted Boy.
3. Dunno if this is legit or not, but supposedly this is the image of the new iPod nano.
From here.
4. Passion of the Weiss just went record shopping and got a few old school plates, including Grandmaster Flash’s first record. It’s great to see some of the classics on the net.
5. Amy Winehouse’s own peeps don’t want you to buy her stuff, thinking that her fame is contributing to her self-destruction. Does this make illegal downloading a correct moral choice? (Or does it just mean that her family doesn’t understand the true nature of addiction–the fact that Amy is doing well may affect how she implodes, but success hardly causes drug addiction. Just ask any crackhead.)
6. Yale Daily News features the summer’s best records. I’m with them on Spoon, I’m on the fence about Interpol, but their other picks? Feh.
7. What’s burning my ears right now:
– The new Okkervil River. I’ve never been a huge fan of this band, but the new album is transcendent. Especially the last song, which interpolates the Beach Boys’ classic, Sloop John B. Check out their work on Conan.
– The new Kanye. It isn’t officially out yet, but I will be downloading from iTunes on 9/11. I wanted to hate this record, but I have to admit that it’s pretty damn good. It may even be great, but I’ll have to see how it continues to play over the course of the winter. On the whole 50 Cent thing, where he promised to quit making solo records if he doesn’t outsell Kanye: That’s why he is the epitome of what is wrong with hip hop and with the industry in general. It’s all about making money, instead of being about honest art.
– The new Voxtrot (which isn’t all that new anymore) and the new Brother Ali (also not that new anymore). Two of the best albums of the year.
8. Led Zeppelin will reform for a show. Anybody give a shit?
9. They call this 21 albums to look forward to but I only count 5. Six if you include Stars, which is already out. Here’s another “albums to come” feature.
