So what has already shaped up as the Summer of Jay Reatard (a documentary, a new album, and a free + all ages in-store tour to name a few major things) is quickly becoming the Autumn of Reatard as well. Perhaps we should simply declare 2009, the year of Jay Reatard?
What can’t be debated is that Jay has put together an allstar line-up to celebrate his own label, Shattered Records. This fall Jay and his friends take to the road for a run of memoriable shows, packed full of unique and terrific bands, headlined each night by Jay himself.
For more about this tour continue to check JayReatard.com for details.
Brian Turner supplied the link to the story below, which is as good an excuse as any to mention that WFMU’s annual fundraiser starts this Monday, March 2 and runs until March 15. From the Sun :
THEY may share the same surname but that’s it for similarities between angelic Britain’s Got Talent teen FARYL SMITH and gnarled FALL frontman MARK E SMITH.
So imagine Universal Records’ surprise when they received the first shipment of Faryl’s debut CD from the pressing plant.
A cock-up in production meant that instead of delicate balladry in the honeyed tones of their recently signed youngster, what actually ended up on discs bearing her artwork and info were the grumblings of Mark and his fellow Manc veterans’ 2008 album Imperial Wax Solvent.
Needless to say, Universal chiefs weren’t best pleased.
My spy tells me: “They had ordered hundreds of copies and they were staggered by what was on it.
“They have had severe words with the pressing plant.”
Careful followers of Matador quality control are aware we’ve only made mistakes like that about a half dozen times in our history.
From last Wednesday’s Guardian, here’s a SFW excerpt from Alex Hoban’s profile of Japanese boy band factory Johnny’s Jimusho, and the company’s scary founder, “the 77-year-old Don Of Dubiousness, Johnny Kitagawa.”
If graduating from a Junior Johnny to a mere Johnny sounds about as glamorous as pulling slippery condoms on to cucumbers in biology class, then it’s fitting, as being a Johnny’s protégé is hardly a ticket to artistic maturity or even financial security. Most of Johnny’s recording artists are paid a base salary for their efforts, receive no royalties and have no rights to any of their music, their image or even the group’s name. After a few years in the spotlight, many Johnny’s bands are dropped without fanfare, and their members swiftly descend into obscurity and, most probably, depression.
So far, so cut-throat, but there is an even darker element to this whole grim business. Kitagawa claimed he works only with boy bands because they are “easier to handle”, which would be fine if he didn’t mean it literally. Rumours had always been rife of him engaging with unsavoury activities with the boys under his care, and in 1988 Kita Koji, one of the original members of the Four Seasons, published an exposé that accued Kitagawa of sexual harassment and rape. Opening the flood gates, similar accusations from other ex-members came to light, with fresh exposés being published right up to this decade.
Anna Ives is the very young, very adorable daughter of Zac and Amy Ives. Zac is co-owner of Goner Records, the singer for Final Solutions, and a flat-out great guy. The Goner Records BBS is currently holding an auction while Zac, Amy, and Anna are in Boston, where the latter is receiving specialized radiation treatment. The auction is to help offset the Ives’ mounting hospital bills. I’m here to encourage Matablog readers to either bid on some of the great finds that have made it to the block, and to offer their own donated items for auction. All of the needed information, including Anna’s story, can be found HERE.
…Chris and I still get chucked out of Dee-Lite listening parties. What’s all this about? According to a post at the endlessly entertaining Metal Sludge.com, former Geffen A&R exec Tom Zutaut was physically removed from a listening party for the new Guns ‘n’ Roses opus, ‘Chinese Democracy’.
“Yeah, sadly it is true that I was escorted out of the Roxy by a beefy security guy just prior to the last three songs of the playback. I did stand on the sidewalk and hear the last three anyway.
“It is sad and disappointing to me that those around Axl would lie to him to fuel his hatred towards me with imaginary events used to drive a wedge between us. I love him deeply, will always love him and wish only the greatest success to one of the world’s last true creative musical sparks with a god-given voice. I am proud of my contributions to his career and am always there for him should he one day become enlightened to the truth of what surrounds him. It is also sad that he doesn’t mention the hard work I put in on my short involvement with ‘Chinese Democracy’ with even a ‘Thank You’ considering lesser players are credited or thanked in the liner notes — even those who ridiculed him, belittled and made fun of him behind his back while I defended his genius ’til those around him poisoned him against me with distortions and lies.
“I wear his hatred as a badge of honor as it would be far worse for him not to care at all.”
Mr. Zutaut has a substantial connection to the Matador Records family tree, having signed Tommy Keene to Geffen, and many years later, starting the now defunct label known as The Enclave, home to the initial US release of Belle & Sebastian’s ‘Are You Feeling SInister?’. As such, we can promise him that if he’d ever like to attend one of our listening parties, we’d love to have him along.
In announcing their upcoming indie / digital-only EP, the auteurs behind such hits as “Semi-Charmed Life” and uh….whatever their other hit was, have penned the most confusing, self-congratulatory press release this side of my early draft for the Condo Fucks’ ‘Fuckbook’.
Becoming superstars took its toll on the band members’ psyches, and as 3EB ground through the star-making machinery, they eventually found themselves losing creative control of their music and their image, until one day in 2004 they woke up and realized they didn’t recognize themselves anymore. It was then that they decided it was time to take a break — time to take a look inside, re-evaluate who they were as artists, and get back in touch with themselves and their music.
3EB have been inspired by the possibilities and potential that new media provide, and are discovering their own paradigm on how they create and reach people with music. They have toured consistently over the past two years, and sold out every show, playing in front of crowds of up to 11,000 fans, in response to an entirely new fan-base who have discovered this music on the web.
These new fans have proved that, despite a 5-year hiatus between albums, 3EB has in fact deepened its connection with its community.
It’s a pretty amazing piece of work, and aside from their publicist deserving a raise (if not combat pay), we’re now left to ponder the following : just what sort of groundbreaking stuff would these schmoes have come up with had they not “lost creative control of their music”?
“Art and commerce have always made strange bedfellows,” Gould told EW.com. “When they asked Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, they didn’t say, ‘Can you do it in the fourth quarter?’ so they can make their numbers. Great art sometimes takes time.”
…would you be interested in writing bios, one-sheets or sticker blurbs for a NY-based independent label? If so, please get in touch. From The Gauntlet.com :
EPHEL DUATH has never been one to take the traditional approach to creating music and their latest effort takes this outlook even further. THROUGH MY DOG’S EYES is based on a bizarre concept conjured up by guitarist and founding member DAVIDE TISO, in which the entire album is written from the perspective of a dog. TISO explains: “I wrote a few short stories and it was really fun for me to imagine myself as a dog and to imagine the world from a dog’s perspective. The challenge was to translate the words into lyrics.”
From opening track ‘Gift’, which TISO describes as being about “A cat that the dog kills for the owner as a gift, and he asks the owner if he is happy with the present”, to the thought-provoking ‘Promenade’, a song about a walk in the park which takes a twist when the owner questions himself as to why he’s not as carefree and happy with life as his dog is, the barking mad brilliance runs throughout the course of the whole album. “Every song is a window into the dog’s mind or an event,” TISO continues, “The album touches on a lot of things, both deep and sometimes silly.”
It’s not only the lyrics in THROUGH MY DOG’S EYES which are written from the dog’s perspective – rather the entire album, including the music, is based around this unique and previously unexplored concept. “The music in this case is the soundtrack of the thoughts of the dog – at times you can hear the dog running,” TISO elaborates.
So we already brought you a teaser of info about the forthcoming triple-fun-shot-fest that is SHREDYRFACE. Now here’s the full lowdown :
WEBSITE: SHREDYRFACE.COM
This will be regularly updated on the road by all bands, showing you exactly what goes on on tour. So keep heading back there for updates and exclusives.
LOGO:
INFO:
Times New Viking, No Age and Los Campesinos! travel across the UK in a big old bus, singing show tunes and making noise. Often individually, occasionally together. We’re pretty sure a bit of Kumbaya will be going down.
DATES :
October
14 Brighton, England – Komedia
15 Liverpool, England – Academy 2
16 Leeds, England – Irish Centre
17 Dublin, Ireland – Whelans
18 Glasgow, Scotland – School of Arts
19 London, England – Pure Groove (in-store) (3 p.m.)
19 London, England – Beyond Retro (in-store) (5 p.m.)
19 London, England – Rough Trade East (in-store) (7 p.m.)
20 London, England – Electric Ballroom
21 Bristol, England – Fleece
7″ ACTION :
The three bands have got their collective heads together for a limited edition tour 7″ that will be available from the Coalition group of indie stores in the UK.
Tracklisting :
01 Los Campesinos!: “Death to Los Campesinos! (Napoleon III Remix)”
02 No Age: “Revolving Credit for Kitty”
03 Times New Viking: “Anything Could Happen” (The Clean cover)
INSTORE(S) :
As well as all this, there’s gonna be some super hot instore action where you can get up close and personal with each band. Maybe you’ll even get sweated on by Beth?
So this is where it gets a little confusing. You’ll already get TNV up at the Leeds Crash store, but as well as that, all three bands will play a store of their choice around London on October 19th. They’ll hit Pure Groove at 3 p.m., Beyond Retro at 5 p.m., and Rough Trade East at 7 p.m., but its currently a big secret as to who plays where. So why not go to all?
ONE LAST THING :
Seattle artist Carlos Ruiz has designed a t-shirt and a limited edition silkscreened poster for the Shred Yr Face tour, both of which will be available at the shows and at Coalition stores. So get down there early and bag your own piece of history.
“Like DethKlok,” writes Wired’s Elliot Van Bushrick, “Metallica has its every action scrutinized to an extent other bands can only dream of, as if one misstep by the group were capable of causing a worldwide economic meltdown.” Or perhaps, they’re even worse at coping with public criticism than a certain independent record label?
The band’s loquacious drummer Lars Ulrich says fans need to quit bellyaching, accept the released version of the ‘Death Magnetic’ and stop signing an over 12,000 names-strong petition to have the album re-mixed and re-released.
Ulrich told Blender, “Listen, there’s nothing up with the audio quality. It’s 2008, and that’s how we make records. [Producer] Rick Rubin’s whole thing is to try and get it to sound lively, to get it sound loud, to get it to sound exciting, to get it to jump out of the speakers. Of course, I’ve heard that there are a few people complaining. But I’ve been listening to it the last couple of days in my car, and it sounds fuckin’ smokin’.”
He said that in the online world, negative comments reverberate stronger than positive ones. “The Internet gives everybody a voice, and the Internet has a tendency to give the complainers a louder voice. Listen, I can’t keep up with this shit. Part of being in Metallica is that there’s always somebody who’s got a problem with something that you’re doing: ‘James Hetfield had something for breakfast that I don’t like.’ That’s part of the ride.”
(thespian/rocker while playing the part of John Lennon’s assassin a typical independent label executive, and on the right, after hunger strike to protest non-payment of royalties)
If you think the fact that we have sold in excess of 2 million records and have never been paid a penny is pretty unbelievable, well, so do we. And the fact that EMI informed us that not only aren’t they going to pay us AT ALL but that we are still 1.4 million dollars in debt to them is even crazier. That the next record we make will be used to pay off that old supposed debt just makes you start wondering what is going on. Shouldn’t a record company be able to turn a profit from selling that many records? Or, at the very least, break even? We think so. – Jared Leto, 30 Seconds To Mars.
Harsh stuff, indeed, however Leto fails to disclose in his response to Virgin/EMI’s $30 million suit against his band precisely how much 30 Seconds To Mars were advanced against royalties. It does seem rather fucked that a record company couldn’t turn a profit on two million sales. However, it’s entirely possible that enough dough was dropped signing the band, recording their horrible records and promoting & marketing said recordings , that EMI did in fact, lose money on the deal.
Which doesn’t necessarily mean Leto and pals aren’t owed anything, either. But if he’s unwilling to specify which portion of EMI/Virgin’s spending on his behalf was recoupable and which wasn’t, this is just a dopey exercise in posturing. But I remain hopeful 30 Seconds To Mars can resume their career with an artist-friendly label, one that unlike the revolving chair scenario at publicly held EMI, has had the same visionary leadership in place since the label’s inception.
If Tony Victory would like to pay me a finder’s fee, I’ll gladly donate it to charity.
Veteran rockers AC/DC are set to become the next major band to sell a new album only through Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, a move that highlights the growing music-industry clout of Wal-Mart.
The AC/DC deal, however, comes at a time when the retail giant — the largest seller of compact discs in the nation — is signaling it may rock the music world by stocking fewer CDs. Such a move is part of a trend that would further accelerate the already steep decline of CD sales as consumers make the transition to digital music.
Aside from the chilling effect this is likely to have on what’s left of music retail, we’re particularly enraged that AC/DC have effectively stolen our thunder. Matador’s mooted deluxe reissue of The Bunnybrains’ ‘Easter’ LP was meant to be a Wal-Mart exclusive as well. Now, we’ll just have to see if Hudson’s will stock it.
Everyone at Victory is ecstatic about the forthcoming album from Hawthorne Heights. It is by far their best material to date. When Victory and Hawthorne started our relationship in 2003 it was always about beating the odds. Our country has just seen and experienced historic change with the Democratic nomination of Barack Obama. Everything happens for a reason and there is tremendous positivity in the air.
We have lived in a reality of petty disputes, unresolved misunderstandings, unhealthy friction and negative sensationalism for too long. Forgiveness and the ability to reunite are powerful gifts. They create a spirit. Couple that spirit with great music and you have something that is extraordinary and transcendental. You cannot change the past but you can affect the future. There is a bigger lesson and story here than just releasing a new album. Victory, and I know Hawthorne Heights, are thankful to be a part of that.
Charles Ray Fuller: Aspiring Hip-Hop Label Entrepreneur?
Look at his face. This man is HIGH AS SHIT. But then again, you’d have to be (this) high to start a record label. Is there any more ambitious way to fund a label startup? Who else is dying to hear the records he intended to release?
Not since William G. McAdoo handed to Lord Cunliffe, Governor of the Bank of England, a Treasury warrant for $200,000,000, have I heard of anyone attempting to cash out this much scratch.
A man has been accused of attempting to pass a $360 billion check, which he claims was given to him by his girlfriend’s mother to start a record business, Fort Worth police said.
Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, was arrested on April 22 on an accusation of forgery, police said.
The personal check was not made out to Mr. Fuller and when the bank contacted the check owner, the woman said she did not write a check for $360 billion.
Mr. Fuller was also accused of unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of marijuana, Lt. Henderson said. He may also face a theft charge in Crowley.
Lt. Henderson said he did not know if Mr. Fuller and his girlfriend were still together.
shown above, the latest 7″ from Jennifer’s own Kiam label : Jennifer O’Connor – “I Was A Race Car Driver”, b/w “I Was So Wrong” (Dump remix) and Dump’s version of Rose Royce’s “I Wanna Get Next To You”. Sleeve art by Mr. James McNew, all copies on beautiful white wax. Jennifer’s peddling these gems for $5 (+ $2 for U.S. shipping), with full details available at the Kiam MySpace page.
Not since the heyday of Crucial Youth has there been such a stirring advocate for clean language. From the AP:
Bill Cosby’s path has taken him from pudding pops to hip hop.
The 70-year-old has recorded a hip-hop CD set for release next month. “Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency” blends the comedian’s concepts and stories with a hip-hop, pop and jazz soundtrack.
“I do not rap on any of these things,” Cosby told The Associated Press on Monday. “I wouldn’t know how to fix my mouth to say some of the words.”
What Cosby does know, though, is that the hip-hop music he hears is profane and degrading. His album is “the opposite of what I think is the profanity for no particular reason, the misogyny for no particular reason. It really looks at the frustration and the anger that a young man may have,” he said.
The album, assembled by Cosby’s longtime musical collaborator Bill “Spaceman” Patterson, has guest rappers providing the rhymes. The subject matter? “The value of an education. The value of respecting one’s self and … giving (listeners) a chance to raise their self-esteem and confidence,” Cosby said.
Patterson said he was surprised when Cosby first inquired about making a rap record — until the comedian revealed he wouldn’t be the one doing the rapping.
“People started speculating — is he going to rap about Jell-O Pudding Pops or what?” Patterson said. “But he’s always been involved in music and he was there for the first generation of spoken word … He has always understood rap’s potential, but he was appalled by the foul language and the misogyny — the way people used a medium that could be used to elevate people, to open their eyes and provoke thought.”
Long-running independent label TVT Records has reportedly terminated a majority of its employees and is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the week, according to Billboardand Allhiphop.com. Started in 1985, the label—now home to artists ranging from Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz and Ying Yang Twins to the Polyphonic Spree—first found success with Television’s Greatest Hits collection, a compilation of TV themes songs, and has also released albums by artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Guided By Voices and Sevendust (above).
A few weeks ago, TVT artist Pitbull criticized label head Steve Gottlieb for insufficiently promoting his album The Boatlift, and urged fans to download it rather than purchase it.
Around the Matador offices, we’re always gonna think of February 19, 2008 as the day the music died. I’m sure this is hard for you kids to fathom, but back in the late ’80’s when Chris Lombardi was contemplating leaving the Peace Corps and I was still earning big money in the modeling industry, we’d sit around late at night in our one bedroom Upper East Side apartment and fantasize about starting the ultimate independent label. Sure, you had your Factory, Rough Trade, Touch & Go, Dischord, etc., but we were thinking of something so much bolder and adventurous. The kind of label that leave an aesthetic stamp on contemporary culture that you couldn’t wash off no matter how hard you scrubbed.
We never quite got around to starting that kind of label, but that’s mostly because TVT beat us to the punch. From the very first time we heard Sevendust’s “Black” — clearly that generation’s equivalent of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy In The UK”, we could see the writing on the wall. Music had changed. The world had changed.
Anyhow, that’s all ancient history. Once upon a time, this business was ruled by risk-takers and people who really loved music. The end of TVT Records — easily the most visionary independent imprint since the heyday of Enigma — should send a chill down the spine of every man, woman and child.
Though the excellent 3rd solo album from Arab Strap guitarist Malcom Middleton , ‘A Brighter Beat’ (Full Time Hobby) is getting a bit dusty, there’s been an effort in the UK to push the single for “We’re All Going To Die” to an improbable Xmas no. 1.
Based on the clip above, we hope he gets there. (video link courtesy Jesper)
Were it possible to release a box set that featured Radiohead playing 7 albums that sounded exactly like ‘The Bends’, there’s every chance Parlophone would give it a shot. Maybe Xmas 2008?
