Even Canadian bands have it bad in the USA:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Questioned as Suspected Terrorists

The following email arrived from the Radiohead's Waste Dept. today. Nothing would be more ultimate than having your work on their big screens:

We've got a plan.
We need your help.

We're looking for moving pictures.
Can you make moving pictures?

Time is short.
This is what you have to do.

1. Take one of the live MP3's of a Radiohead track.
2. Make some moving pictures to it (can be anything: live action, animation, graphics
etc).
3. Make it at least 10 seconds and at most a song's length (although we prefer shorter).

OR... Have you already made a short film that would benefit from an airing?

Send your work to Radiohead at:

The Picture Gallery
w.a.s.te
PO box 322
Oxford
by Monday 8th May 2003

Formats Required:
For short films / whole songs : VHS (PAL) (You will be contacted if we require higher
quality masters)
For shorter animations, graphics: Quicktime (720 x 576 pixels) CODEC: Motion JPEG B (High
Quality)

Please enclose with it your name and e-mail address/telephone number.

Added newest addition to The List. Mostly all good.

Skinner and The Streets crew threw a jump up show on Thursday night. Anyone who can pull off a 2step version of 'Ghost Town' that works is deserving. Great show... short as expected.. but exactly what I expected.

Tell me whats wrong with this plugin rendering in Safari?

Tonight, The Streets live in Boston. Let's see what Skinner is made of.

So what make a good live show? The venue? The crowd? The Band?
How about a modern day 6 foot tall reincarnation of Janis Joplin?
Feel out Macy Gray. A soul-full of a woman who's know music and knows how to toss a crowd into a frenzy. Given that her last album, 'The ID' got caught between Alicia Keys and Jill Scott releases (Jill's albums being worthy of a full listen), it a pleasure to see her promoting her 3rd release, 'The Trouble With Myself,' by running a romping US microclub tour.
The Paradise was energy. Macy and her band (pure excellence) tore through re-worked hits and new album tracks. The full 2 hour show not only drained the crowd of energy by the last jam, but also left a solid impression on this music snob.
For those reading in from Philly, Brooklyn, or the Southwest, GO to a Macy gig. well worth the small admission price. True smokin grooves.

Most people that know me are aware of my sneaker fascination. I own more pairs than most humans have shirts... but would 'you' or I get get down for a pair of Puma's? Based on these purported ads from the EU, Puma thinks so ( 1 and 2). (borderline work safe).
How 'electro'...

Bunch of great upcoming shows:
03/19 Macy Gray (to see her high is to see Janice J)
03/20 The Streets (first Boston appearance)
03/21 The Datsuns
04/20 The White Stripes

Finally, the music returns...

I hate to admit this, but I think the Grado's sound better in the iPod headphone amp than in the fucking Marantz.....

This past Wednesday marked not only my 28th birthday but the start of a very loving relationship with an Apple iPod (thanks LA!).
How I lived without this device for as long as I have is news to me. By far the impressive piece of hardware ever developed. Sure we have all seen them: folks walking by with the big white earbuds.. . but until you actually hold one in hand and use it for a day.. you just will not understand.
The most difficult part of the iPod has nothing to do with the iPod itself but in choosing what to fill its 10GB of storage with. I rarely listen to music outside of my trusty Marantz CD5000 and Grado SR80's. I feared the loss of fidelity by converting to MP3, but I feel safe in the fidelity that LAME encoding gives me @ 192kps (via the iTunes LAME Encoder of course).
So what's in the iPod right now? A Carl Cox session, all the U2 and Coldplay records... encoding now: "Live @ the Social Volume 1 (the only Chemical Bros. mix CD worth owning)... much more to come.

...

For those in the USA (or access to HBO): The new Ali G show begins this evening at 00:30 EST. Respect.

Oh yes its been a while... the cold is cold in New England. So cold in fact, that it kept my fingers away from this forum. With the return of some warmth (> 35 F), comes a return to normalcy. Listed some new CDs in the list. Dig in.
Playing now: Hotel Costes Etage3. Always a favorite.

Listening to Nicola Conte's "Jet Sounds Revisited." Dope.

For those in the USA who have PBS (which everyone with a TV and antennae does on channel 13 VHF), make sure and catch the 3 part FRONTLINE series on "The Future of Sound." Part 3 focuses in on Iceland and its cast of interesting groups/characters. From my understanding, its well worth a viewing.

So no Walkmen/ Calla review (as you may have guessed by now). I unfortunately have not gotten my copy yet. Ironically enough though, they seem to have caught the eye of the advertising world (as Interpol did with the NFL advert heads). You can catch their 'hit' track "We've Been Had" in the newest Saturn Automotive ad. if you can break those holy gates, youre sure to make it big time.

Big ups to BC, a friend in the biz, that has eliminated my musical drought and provided me with a thick selection of new CDs to dive into. Of important note, was an advance copy of the domestic (US) release of Fischerspooner's "Feels Good Looks Good" (aka "#1"). So many of you should be asking, 'Who the hell gives a shit? It came out on International Deejay Gigilos back in early 2002 (see sidebar date 2002-02-xx).' True enough, but this domestic release is no simple repressing. Capital Records has taken this disc and completely remastered it with a bunch of new tracks. Its truly sounds good.... for a change.

Check the sidebar for the beginnings of the 2003 list....

Finally, the new Massive Attack has started making the rounds on all our favorite p2p's. My first listen is on now.... my thoughts in a bit....

2 weeks come and go.... come back tomorrow for my review of the Walkmen / Calla splt 12 inch....

Days before Christmas and just over a week until New Years.... what do these 14 days hold for music fags like myself? Top of 2002 lists of course!! For your reading pleasures.... two of the more respectables. Happy holidays and I'll see you soon!
Best Lists of '2002 Best of Lists':
Pitchfork.com
Other Music (my unoffical link to their official 2002 recap email)
I'll add a few more in time....

Radiohead tend to do things their own way and do it right: from production and mastering techniques of their last 2 records (KidA and Amnesiac) which are must listens on headphones (arguably the most harmonic and aurally spatial LP�s released in years), to their holiday �gift� to us.

You see, while REM and Pearl Jam release holiday packages chock full of stickers, and exclusive fan club only CDs, Radiohead says 'Fuck the gifts, lets throw a party' and webcast it online.

Last evening, Thom, Colin, and crew setup some turntables in their Oxford studios and spun their favorites live. Mixing utterly disturbing video of Bush and Saddam sharing a kilo of coke, to Thom�s attempts at mixing a Squarepusher track into an aged, ska Bob Marley 7inch, the band obviously does it their way and does not give a fuck about (perceived) image. Even more impressive, viewers were treated to 4 new songs performed live and off CDR (which may or may not make it onto their next release slated for dropoff on March 25, 2003)�.that in itself is the true gift of music.

Final question: did their webcast violate the DCMA regimes' stance on webcast royalty control ? Oh right.. Readiohead webcast the event out of UK. The RIAA doesnt control that market.... .

Zero Music Budget = Gifts of Music. A kind soul has supplied me with some very nice gifts: Kenny Glagow's "Toronto Mix Sessions" (on Turbo; featuring Rother's Decepticon-esque 'Simulationszeitalter') and Triple R "Friends" (on Kompakt). A span of choice mixes which cover the gamut between electro-tech and micro-house. Tiime to take a listen ... and thank you Erik.