Another day, another e-mail from Universal Music Group Distribution CEO Jim Urie. Last time he urged people to write to Congress to support Music Rights Now, an organization that wants Congress to step in on music pirating. All well and good, except that their thinking is fairly backwards, and the organization’s wish to get Congress … [Read more…]
Some musicians flounder when asked to create and perform new material on short notice. Extra Life frontman Charlie Looker isn’t one of them. In 2006, Looker was asked to perform a solo set at The Stone in the East Village. Looker didn’t have any solo material, as he’d been spending his nights exploring the esoteric … [Read more…]
New York magazine picked up a YouTube clip of Andy Rooney discussing newfangled artists atop the Billboard charts on a recent “60 Minutes” episode: [youtubevid id=”KGCg6EO-sr4″] Well, Rooney got something right about why he doesn’t recognize any musicians in the Billboard 200: Age. His sincere grasp on reality is refreshing: His understanding that he’s no … [Read more…]
Friday night I stood for two-plus hours in awe as I watched The Appleseed Cast perform their entire 2001 double album Low Level Owl. The Lawrence, Kansas emo band played to a packed crowd at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge, and gracefully played the criminally overlooked double album, with a brief intermission breaking up the two volumes and … [Read more…]