Author Archives: robert duffy

Yes, this is the third New York Times story in a row we’re quoting, but these past few days they’re on the ball asfar as music stories go, so what can I do?

The latest installment of NYTimes writing is about online music services, and why they all still kind of suck.

THE only thing record companies know for sure is that they want to kill off the insanely popular Sons of Napster: free music-sharing services like KaZaA, Gnutella and Morpheus. After all, the millions who use these services are in effect stealing music, depriving the five major labels of perfectly good money. But watching the record companies as they try to find a formula for a successful paid alternative is like watching five people play blindman’s bluff on stilts. (full story)

An excerpt:

Q. You’ve said that your band’s new album, ”Elephant,” is about the ”death of the sweetheart.” What does that mean?

JACK WHITE: The sweetheart, the gentleman — it’s the same thing. These ideas seem to be in decline, and I hate it. You look at your average teenager with the body piercings and the tattoos. You have white kids going around talking in ghetto accents because they think that makes them hard. It’s so cool to be hard. We’re against that. (full story)

The rest is pretty good. More insane rambling from Jack White.

Doesn’t this just make you sad?

The band is called Audioslave, which means Rage Against the Machine fans should consider themselves warned: a group famous for its left-wing sloganeering has been reincarnated as a rhetoric-free supergroup. There were no antiwar speeches onstage, although an anarchist bookstore was given a table in the lobby. The night’s big political statement came at the end, when the band displayed a banner emblazoned with ? well, perhaps it was supposed to be a peace sign. But the banner got snagged on the group’s logo, a five-pronged flame, and it never unfurled. The band members didn’t notice, though, because they were too busy hurtling through a swaggering song called “Cochise.” After all, they had a job to finish. (full story)

Where have you gone Zach de la Rocha? Please come back, please.

I’d just like to say to everyone enjoying a live Coldplay concert: I dropped the ball, and the show sold out in my town before I could buy tickets.

Weep for me, damnit, WEEP.

Lesson learned.

I wouldn’t write ads like this one.

An OH Columbus! update.

Our very own local heroes The Sun will be opening some dates for Flaming Lips including their Columbus show. Very good, very good.

Tue 04/15/03 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
Wed 04/16/03 Charleston, SC Centre Stage @ The Plex
Thu 04/17/03 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Fri 04/18/03 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
Sun 04/20/03 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Mon 04/21/03 Towson, MD Recher Theatre
Wed 04/23/03 Boston, MA The Roxy
Fri 04/25/03 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Sat 04/26/03 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
Sun 04/27/03 Pittsburgh, PA Metropol
Tue 04/29/03 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
Wed 04/30/03 Pontiac, MI Clutch Cargo
Sat 05/03/03 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
Sun 05/04/03 Urbana, IL Canopy Club

Sheryl Crow is working the coffee crowd:

Grammy Award-winner Sheryl Crow has teamed up with Starbucks to put together an Artist’s Choice release. The album comprises songs that were important in Crow’s life. The complete list of artists featured on the upcoming collection include the Pretenders, Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House, Marvin Gaye, Emmylou Harris, the Band, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Trott, Ryan Adams, James Taylor, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, and Squeeze. (full story)

Here’s my Starbucks secret: when I order, I ask for a LARGE coffee. I don’t bother with that bullshitt venti, tall, grande, etc. stuff. And you know what? The people who work there know what I’m talking about.

How you like me now?

Get all the MP3 goodness here.

There’s also live covers of the Lips doing Nirvana, Sex Pistols, and The Breeders just to name a few more.

Norah Jones is #1 on Billboard charts.

Maybe that Good Music magazine for old geezers will be a big hit, after all.

Brother Stephen Mejias, our resident musician and writer of the donewaiting.com column, Bridges & Tunnels, offers us a great recap of his band’s (The Multi Purpose Solution) weekend of rock. A highlight, if you will:

We knew that the Friday night show would be a success. For whatever reason, the kids in Pennsylvania, who have now become our friends and spend much of their free time chatting on our forum, simply love us. They know the words to our songs, they have special dances for each one, and they look forward to us visiting them every other month or so. They come to the shows ready to have a great time. We haven?t found success like this anywhere else. As a result, we, of course, love scheduling shows there, despite the 2-hour drive. It?s worth it.

The Saturday night show, however, didn?t hold as great of a guarantee for a good time. We?ve become wary of the Brooklyn crowds, and the Brooklyn scene in general. It?s become trendy, fashionable, and sleek—all things we are not. It?s a hotbed for the hipsters. Let them be hip, let them do whatever they want to do, but I must admit, I feel uncomfortable around them. I want to bite their noses off. (continued)

It’s a good read, for musicians, wannabees, and everyone in between.