Author Archives: robert duffy

All the headlines were coming out about Jewel’s new look. “She’s having fun!” “She’s playful!” Blah blah.

And then that crazy video came out where she satires a lot of the trappings most music videos have – product placement, scantily clad women, etc. So I started to think that Jewel was just offering up a heaping of social commentary.

Then the album cover was shown and it’s Jewel wearing weird neon clothes, and I kept thinking, hmm, more social commentary! She’s playing around with image.

Then she did the sexy cover of Blender and I started to question it.

Then I bought the record, and here’s the problem: the music sucks. Not only has she developed a new image, her music matches it. Jewel used to be a folk singer with a pop slant. Now she’s a pop singer with a minimal folk slant.

The image is the music. The music is the image. There’s no seperating it now.

I like Radiohead. But I want to fight them.

Back in the public eye:

Now Mr. Dando, who still has his surfer-boy good looks despite years of hard living, has done the most unexpected thing of all. Just when hopes for him had all but vanished, he has returned with a record, “Baby I’m Bored” (Bar/None), that reconnects with the peak artistic moments of his once-upon-a-time career. Though some of the songwriting lacks polish and he occasionally sounds distracted, the record expresses in sincere terms the experience of losing confidence and starting over from the bottom. (more)

Does anyone else remember when the Lemonheads were the house band on one episode of Jenny Jones? That was seriously fucked up.

Our dw/Houston Hero, David Cobb, reports from the Lone Star State about a book that should be required reading for everyone called Our Band Could Be Your Life. Lots of discussion of the many true indie bands of the 80s. Read David’s review and then buy the book.

This idea has been done so many times before by publications that I’ve already forgotten — that’s how bad it is.

WHOOOOOOOOPIEEEEEE!

The problem with magazines is they’re so magazine-y … A company called ASG Entertainment is changing all that with Mag-A-Music, a multimedia product affiliated so far with Rolling Stone and Radio Disney magazines. Featuring the familiar nameplates of those periodicals, Mag-A-Music hopes to lure regular readers into impulse purchases of the glossy, four-color, three-panel publication. The product comes with a sheet of stickers, a poster and an enhanced CD featuring songs from six established artists and two lesser-known artists, along with music videos, downloadable screen-savers and more. (full story)

A sheet of stickers? Color me excited! WEEEE!!! Unless you’re a specialty magazine like CMJ giving a CD away won’t work. Know one gives a shit. Seriously. LISTEN TO ME PLEASE.

Poor magazines, so afraid and aware of their slow deaths thanks to the internet that they’ll do anything to be hip and/or cool.

Sorry, it’s just not working.

This is a very exciting time in music history. There’s so many advancements being made in technology it’s hard to keep up.

That’s where Signal to Noise comes in. Written by my great friend Bryce, sTn is going to try and make sense of all these things. MP3s, Apple iTunes, P2P, Soulseek, what are all these things? Are they good? He’s gonna try to find out.

An excerpt from his opening column:

Do you remember when being a music fan was a hell of a lot easier? When political activism, property theft and packet-sniffing weren’t prerequisites to enjoying music? Granted, for a lot of people, the equation is still pretty easy. Head down to the local Wal-Mart and find that Kenney Chesney Greatest Hits. Plunk down your hard-earned cash, or slap some plastic and bet against tomorrow’s meal. You’re done. And there’s absolutely no shame in going that route.

But most of us can see the writing on the wall. Will we be buying CDs 10 years from now? or even 5? Possibly. Probably. But it won’t be the only option. (full story)

So please, check out the new part of the site and then welcome Bryce and talk tech in the new tech folder of the message board.

These are important times. We need to stay on top of it.

Our man in England, Steve Miller, recently visited the Peter Saville exhibit in London. Peter was the guy who did cover art for many Factory bands including New Order. It was a fun time to relive his youth and put it in context to his life today:

I can?t separate the sleeves from the records. Each one of them was so perfect, such a superb complement to the music. There?s some form of symbiosis kicking off whereby New Order + Peter Saville design = Pop Heaven. (full story)

I’m happy Steve Miller writes for us.

Man cannot live on Radiohead alone. Because of that, we offer you once again three albums you should buy this week if you have the disposable income:

“Hail to the Thief” by Radiohead

donewaiting’s Tankboy Discusses the Album Here

“Sumday” by Grandaddy
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“Welcome Interstate Managers” by Fountains of Wayne

True Story Swear to God: The band Fountains of Wayne is named after a store where I grew up in Wayne NJ of the same name. As you could guess, they sold fountains. And Christmas decorations, outdoor crap, all that stuff. I used to drive by it all the time on my way to hang out with the other kids at Willowbrook Mall.

Season four premiers tomorrow.

This quote from Incubus about their upcoming record made me laugh. The bold bit:

The new record, which is being produced by Brendan O’Brien, will “probably be very shocking to some people,” Einziger predicts. “I guess you could compare it to some of our older records that we’ve made. The spirit and exploratory nature of those records is sort of indicative of what our new material is going to sound like.” (full story)

The only thing that could make Incubus shock people is them putting out a good record. Come on now.

ALMOST RELATED: Fan shocked to death with electricity at Red Hot Chili Peppers concert.