Jimmy Aquino writes in SF Bay Area's Metroactive: COMMERCIAL RADIO DJs can't be trusted anymore—ever since they let themselves become the palm-greasing promoter's bitch. So in 2004, the music geek nation turned its lonely eyes to the MP3 bloggers—those self-important desktop DJs who push music snobbery to its geekiest by putting streaming MP3s on their site. As a result, '04 was the year I bought more singles than albums. I love how iTunes gives you the option of buying individual songs rather than the whole kit and caboodle. Good lookin' out, iTunes!
Read the entire piece here - Movie soundtrack fans take note: Jimmy's Fistful of Soundtracks webcast is carried via live365.com (also available via iTunes radio button)
THE STORY OF THE FIRST MINUTEMEN DRUMMER: the reactionaries formed in dec. '78 with d.boon on guitar, mike watt on bass, george hurley on drums, and martin tamburovich on singing. they broke up in jun. 79. d.boon and mike watt started the minutemen themselves in jan. '80. george hurley had already joined new wave band hey taxi! so they asked welder and fellow homeboy frank tonche (TAWN-CHEE, just out of the polish eagle polka band) to play drums. in apr. - may '80 the minutemen played their first two gigs. greg ginn saw them and asked them to record for sst records. frank tonche became afraid of punk rock after the second gig and quit the band. and with only one month to go before recording. luckily, george hurley quit hey taxi! and rejoined boon & watt. the "paranoid time "ep (sst 002) was recorded july 20, 1980.
the songs on this record (except for "joe mccarthy's ghost") have never been released in any version until now. george hurley never learned them so only these frank tonche versions exist.
-- liner notes from the 7"
Photo from a 1984 show by Murray Bowles
People would laugh when I talked about vacuum tubes because solid state was the only thing out there. Even professionals, other studios, and engineers would just laugh and call me prehistoric. Because I saw value in vacuum tubes. I just started learning all that I could about it, it was kind of a lost art form during the 70s. Tubes were basically cast out. Even the old equipment that would be revered these days, people would laugh at.In 1980 or so, the Wipers released their first album, Is This Real, and the answer was a slap-on-the-table YES. The sound being so immediate that its rare even today to hear someone who has come close. His uniquely sounding guitar with its controlled feedback and fuzz echo and the meticulous mic'ing of the drums are what you first notice. For a first self-produced record, very few of the common recording mistakes are made. It makes it more amazing to learn that it was recorded on a 4-track. I might quibble with some of his new wave-ish vocal styling but this has certainly improved over the years. Anyway, "Alien Boy" was a standout cut from Is This Real and released as part of a 4-song EP and then some German company came along and re-released it as a 12" with a different cover (I've put the original cover art into the MP3s, though). The three fairly short songs ("Image of Man", "Telepathic Love" and "Voices in the Rain") on the B-side didn't appear on Is This Real and were recorded at a different "studio" from "Alien Boy". Was this a "real" studio or some other version of Sage's 4-track set-up? I dunno. There is a slightly different, more paranoid feeling with these songs I guess. SubPop later re-released Is This Real as a CD and stuck these three songs on it. And then Greg Sage put out a box set of his first three record for a shockingly low $17 (available on his website, link below - great Christmas gift for your indie pals).
I also think, well, it’s a crazy theory of mine, but that everybody is subconsciously clairvoyant, and that maybe since your subconscious has no communication with your conscious, that maybe people foresee the future being so different that they remove themselves from it, consciously, but without being aware of it.
As with every Wipers LP I would spend many months observing people and their situations to get ideas of what was in their mind and their motivations. This was always where the inspiration would come from for our songs. I would get a glimpse of the future by doing this and it was easy to write songs that would make sense 10 years from then. (from In Music We Trust, Sept 2004):So if you're ever in Arizona and some cadaverous gray-haired vaguely punkish guy in a bandana starts following you around, just ignore 'im and check out his next album because you might be in it. This notion of "telepathy" is a common theme in his songs -- "Telepathic Love" of course being one literal example. Come to think of it, aliens are also a common theme in Sage songs although usually to describe differentness from the conformists. But who knows, he may also believe in UFOs.
"THE Wipers were a Portland punk band who were started in the late Seventies by Greg Sage and released maybe four or five albums. The first were totally classic, and influenced The Melvins and all the other punk rock bands. They're another band I tried to assimilate. Their songs were so good.
"Greg Sage was pretty much the romantic, quiet, visionary kind of guy. What more can I say about them? They started Seattle grunge rock in Portland, 1977."
How can you serve me chicken on Wednesday?Sooo... I don't really know how this record came into my possession. I did have a roommate who had all the Jethro Tull albums, even the very lousiest of them so I think this might have gotten into my collection somehow. I think he went off with my Reptile House single -- talk about a lopsided trade. I still bring up this loss with my therapist.
My contract rider said I specifically wanted pork
I don't see the Evian, you'll hear from my lawyer
A contract rider is not something to spurn
Now is the solstice of the year,And is winter REALLY the glad song that YOU hear? I dunno about you but when I hear "winter" it ain't a glad song, it's generally a slushy, bitingly cold, depressingly dark song. And come to think of it, isn't summer also a "solstice of the year". Where's the Summer Solstice song, Ian? Or would that not sell?
winter is the glad song that you hear.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Have the lads up ready in a line
Seven strapping Chippendales move in seven timeMoving on.
Have the maids line up with dollar bills
Join together beneath the mistletoe.Holy Oak, Batman! That's a big... mistletoe you have there. And let's pause and reflect on that great Christmas image Jethro Tull paints for us -- seven middle aged Druid priests in hoodies dancing around and "loudly chiming." What? no blood dripping off their blades? Wait, come to think of it, I remember a few Christmases like that in the Baltimore Marble Bar.
by the holy oak whereon it grows.
Seven druids dance in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.
Crappy or non existent mp3 metadata
If I load up the mp3 of your big single and it says it’s “Song” by “Artist” on the record, “Album,” you’ve completely blown it already; I have no way to ever find you again. Ditto for file naming. Remember: people often download dozens or hundreds of songs at once, so it’s really unlikely they’ll remember where
Track%2007.mp3came from.Tip: Fill every possible field of ID3 data with rich, correct information. This is the digital version of an album cover, so give the kids something to read while they’re rocking. Basic track info is a no-brainer, but also consider adding cover art, track number, composer credits, genre and year information, and—duh—add a link to your web site and email address in the comments field. Posting an MP3 without metadata is like Safeway ordering the hair-netted sample lady not to tell hungry customers which aisle those nummy chicken fingers are in.
Look at it this way. ID3 data are the new run-off grooves.
