My night with Bob Dylan
It was a beautiful spring night at the Prospect Park Bandshell and my chance to see Bob Dylan, thanks to a tip-off earlier this summer to the advance sales password on Ticketmaster.com. A woman I met in line during the show summed it up best when she told me, “I don’t care how badly he sings, I’ll love the show no matter what.” I think she pretty much summarized how the majority of people there felt. Gersh had a great review and write-up of the show this morning on The Brooklyn Paper, and he appears to be more of a Dylan aficionado than me. There were definitely two Dylans in attendance last night. His new songs were upbeat and melodic. His older hits were sung hum-drum and monotone. I wondered if he intentionally made an effort to sing them differently, just to mix it up after 40 years. Based on the enthusiasm with which he performed the newer stuff, I find it hard to believe that “he can’t sing anymore” as Gersh and others explained. He can still sing, but chooses not to, not coincidentally on all the songs with which you want to sing along. This left me feeling frustrated, a frustration that I think I shared with many others there last night. Some of his hits were barely recognizable, were it not for the fans who forcibly sang along to the traditional melody, which he fought off tooth and nail. That same woman who I met in line also told me that “Dylan never gives his fans everything they want.” Apparently, he thrives on the push/pull relationship, perhaps a relic of his 60s and 70s coming of age years. Either way, I had a great time and it was a thrill to see Bob Dylan live. No matter how badly he sang, I would have had a great time. Unfortunately, the mess of garbage left by fans after the show (pictured here) was disappointing to me, particularly on a night that we all came to see an artist who stands for socially responsible action.
Yael Naim….wow!
Saw Yael Naim perform last night at a celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary. She stole the show (which actually wasn’t very hard though did require competing with MC, Natalie Portman). People who don’t recognize the name, surely know her most popular song, New Soul, licensed by Apple for the MacBook Air commercials. Along with all the other accolades afforded to Steve Jobs, people are giving him credit for discovering this talent. I’d be curious to know the real story here. I suspect an ad exec with a finely tuned ear suggested a few songs and while Jobs made the final call, it’s this anonymous (for now) guy or gal who deserves the credit. Either way, I’m in love. Here are videos of her performing the two songs I saw her do last night:
November customer service award goes to….Sonos!
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Rachel Stagnaro, representing Sonos PR. She told me that Sonos "has listened to blog posts and forums" and has responded to the "#1 customer request and most hotly debated topic" and has added more content selection. She offered me a sneak peak at the new interface, which was slated to launch a week later. Eager to learn more, I replied asking how broadly the email was distributed. It turns out the email was sent to a select list of bloggers and people who had contacted Sonos to voice their opinions on the interface, namely the lack of keyword search. I fit into both categories since I blogged about it and wrote the VP of Product Management offering my consulting services. Not only did Sonos listen to our concerns, but they responded by introducing a drastically improved user interface with search functionality and allowed the most vocal customers to get first dibs. I had doubted Sonos since I purchased the system a few months ago, but they’ve righted the ship with this move and I’m back fully on board.
Radiohead’s direct sales experiment and test of their fans
By now, many music fans have read Eduardo Porter’s op-ed piece in last Sunday’s New York Times about Radiohead’s experiment distributing their most recent album, "In Rainbows", independently. The band posted the album for download on their website and are allowing fans to pay whatever price they choose to type in the box before checkout. In an era when a lot of music is being obtained illegally, downloaded for free through P2P services or shared amongst friends and record labels are scrambling for solutions, this was a brilliant test to see how fans of a band really feel about paying for music. As it turns out, while many did download it for free, many others paid $20+ and the average price paid was $8, less than a CD would sell at retail, but more than a band would get from a typical unit sale of an album distributed with a record label. Porter takes an economic perspective in analyzing this phenomenon, comparing it to the phenomenon of tipping, but I think it simply shows that music fans do appreciate artists’ work and are willing to pay for it, particularly when they feel close to the band as Radiohead accomplishes in this case by communicating directly with their fanbase. My biggest takeaway here is that this is just one more reason why record labels should be fearful of their future in the artist-production-distribution equation. With this exercise, I think Radiohead has proven they can be a more profitable enterprise while connecting more effectively with their fans by leaving the record labels out. Scary stuff for Sony/BMG, Universal, EMI and the rest…..
Arcade Fire lives up to the hype!!
I went to hear Arcade Fire last week at Radio City to see what all the hype is about. Now I understand. The show had a double-billing that excited me. Both The National and Arcade Fire have been selling out shows in NYC for the past year and this was an opportunity to see them together. However, as often happens, we arrived late, missing The National’s opening set <bummer>, but nestled up to our seats right in time for the main event. Arcade Fire’s presence on stage is very unique. They exude an energy that is fun, spirited and communal. You can tell they genuinely want to interact with their fans (as evidenced by several pleas by the band’s Win Butler to come closer to the stage, despite Radio City’s policies to the contrary). Apparently, fans were on stage with the band for their encore at United Palace Theater the previous night, documented for perpetuity by this video posted by my friend, Danny. Jon, who was at the show with me, remarked that they have a certain ethos and collective spirit that is palpable. It’s true. Their presence on stage is unique, partially because no individual takes center stage, rare for bands today. In fact, they spent much of the night trading places and instruments (I assume this is part of their routine), moving around on stage as if playing musical chairs. Combined with a dose of creative flare and expressive performing, this adds a theatrical element to the already compelling music…a unique genre I describe as symphonic rock. All in all, seeing Arcade Fire live is a thrill. Their music is great, but they are one of those bands who need to be seen live to appreciate why they are so special.
Jah live in Jamaica - Musings from a “buck’s weekend” and Smile Jamaica Concert
Spent the weekend at a buck’s night in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Buck’s night is Australian for bachelor party. We flew down Friday morning and were back for dinner Sunday. All six of us on the trip had a phenomenal time, something not easily accomplished on these quick group getaways. We logged some quality time at the pool/beach and ate some yummy home-cooked Jamaican meals courtesy of the lovely staff who worked at the home we rented. The highlight of the weekend, however, was undoubtedly the Smile Jamaica Concert that we stumbled upon Saturday night. After a few phone calls earlier in the day by one of the group who had some connections in the music biz, we spent the night as VIPs mingling with the Marley brothers and other celebs backstage. Bob Marley died February 6, 1945 and this concert is held annually the same week in tribute. The location was Nine Mile – a town in St. Ann parish, a solid 75 min from the coast in Northwest Jamaica. It was not a touristy bunch. In fact, we were some of the few tourists among the several thousand in attendance and virtually the only ones backstage, save a few photographers. This made the night all the more special. I’m still amazed that from a three-hour flight and two-hour drive, it’s entirely possible to experience extreme diversity of culture. I think most of us felt like we were in some sort of dream most of the night, fully awestruck by the environment. There is a lot about Jamaican culture that I find fascinating. For instance, Bob’s 80–something year old mother sat sidestage until the final performer began at 4:15am!! That’s just not something I can imagine seeing in America. I’ve also been intrigued by rastafarians since I discovered reggae around 6th or 7th grade, although it’s the type of lifestyle that I wasn’t convinced actually existed. Well, guess what?….it does.
This photo is with the first guy we met at Nine Mile. The second is backstage with some guys who sat there the entire show rolling these funny cigarettes.
Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, James Brown…and the end of a musical era
Has anyone else made the connection between Ray Charles, Johnny Cash and most recently, James Brown, who have all left this world over the past few years? After Ray and Walk the Line, it was hard for me not to think of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash together. I have little doubt that a new film, maybe entitled Its a Man’s World, will begin development soon. I wonder who will play the lead character - Denzel? Will Smith? By the way, this James Brown interview from 2006 is hilarious, if you haven’t already seen it.
What these three artists have in common and why their passing is so significant is that they each single-handedly created their own genres that bridged existing music categories. And they each did it in their own way. Ray Charles combined gospel, blues and rock & roll to create timeless sweet melodies that appeal to a strikingly broad audience. Last week, I was reminded of his version of America, The Beautiful from 1972 and I couldn’t stop listening to it for days. Johnny Cash had a totally distinctive voice and blended country, folk and rock into his soulful sound. And the godfather of soul? Let’s just say I felt blessed to stumble upon one of his last shows in Savanna’s Forsythe Park in May of 2005. Every musician who has dabbled in funk has borrowed a page from Mr. Dynamite. I feel like the majority of musicians today are not pushing the boundaries and defining new categories the way these three did. I dont know if it’s a sign of the times or that there aren’t as many directions left to go (I doubt the latter), but that makes these musicians and others of this era musical treasures. Arethra Franklin, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Simon and Dr. John are some others, still living, who may share their company.
Windows Home Server and my media storage nightmare
A few months ago, during a party at my house, a small scuffle developed over music selection. We had worked through the 5-10 CDs that I set aside for the evening and the tunes were beginning to repeat. Around the third time my 5-disc changer began Michal Franti (a perennial favorite), I grew embarrassed by the antiquated nature of my music system. This is not a new problem, but one I’ve had a hard time addressing for lack of adequate solutions. I have hundreds of CDs scattered throughout my stereo/TV cabinet. They are, needless to say, disorganized and difficult to navigate. Many are digitized on my home pc, some are not. Separately, I have a larger collection of music (approx 80gb) on my home pc, but haven’t developed any system for delivering that music to my stereo. This may seem silly, but I’ve been reluctant to invest in new technology, save an iPod, because I haven’t found any solution impressive or sufficient enough to do what I want. I think that’s about to change.
Microsoft unveiled Windows Home Server at CES a few weeks ago, and I think it may solve many of my problems. WHS serves as the hub for all media in the home and you can interact with it from any pc. It also provides auto-backup, and remote access so you can interact with your data and/or share it from the road or office too. This photo is of HP’s home media server, which runs WHS and is slated to be the first release later this year. I’d like to use it to store all my music, video, photos and documents that I can’t afford to lose. Paul Thurrott gave Windows Home Server a thorough review and I came away impressed. TechMeme also had a lot of discussion. Next comes the question of how I can distribute my music to my living room and bedroom. For this, I think Sonos has the best product on the market….at least until Apple addresses it. Their Zone Player allows you to distribute music from your storage device to multiple locations wirelessly and processes the sound in a high quality digital signal. Slim Devices makes a similar unit, but after reading reviews, I think better of Sonos. But I didn’t feel good about Sonos’ controller. It looks like a fancy iPod and probably provides an inferior user experience. After some research, I found the Samsung Q1 tablet pc with a 7" screen. I think it will provide a more fulfilling experience navigating my music and creating playlists, etc. In place of a Zone Player at the server, I plan to invest in Netgear Powerline Adapters and use the electrical wires in my apartment to distribute my network. I’m hoping the wires aren’t too old to handle something like this and it will save me several hundred dollars.
To me, this feels like a solid home media system and something long overdue. Since I can’t buy the Windows Home Server for a few months, and I couldn’t afford one now anyway, I’ll use my existing pc to host my music. I’ve been talking about this for months, and I think its finally time to pull the trigger. If anyone has thoughts or experience to share, please….
Ahmet Ertegun, music icon and Landon graduate dies
Ahmet Ertegun passed away last week after falling and hitting his head at a Rolling Stones show. He founded Atlantic Records in 1947 with a loan from his family’s dentist and remained involved in the label up until his death at 83. The list of artists whom he influenced and/or recorded is fairly outrageous:
The Drifters, Joe Turner, Professor Longhair, John
Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Ray Charles, Bobby Darrin, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, Dire Straits and The Rolling Stones. The list continues through the 70s, 80s and 90s as Atlantic became one of the great music labels of the 20th century. Ertegun was portrayed in the film Ray by Curtis Armstrong in the scene where he teaches Ray Charles a song which later became the hit, Mess Around (an accurate sequence of events). In addition to a tremendous appreciation of his work and sharing a mutual love of music, Ertegun and I have an additional connection in that we attended the same high school, Landon. What I find most inspiring about Ahmet Ertegun is that having come from a privileged background as the son of a Turkish ambassador to the U.S., he could have done virtually anything. “I had to decide whether I would go into a scholastic life or go back
to Turkey in the diplomatic service, or do something else,” he said.
“What I really loved was music, jazz, blues and hanging out.” And so that’s what he decided to do at a time before anyone thought the music biz was cool. In the pre-civil rights movement era, he recorded musicians of all colors and organized some of the first racially-integrated concerts. By following his passion and taking a risk, Ahmet Ertegun helped define an entire industry that we now call Rock & Roll and in the process, influenced the social fabric of a country. We can all learn an incredibly valuable lesson, in this regard, from his life.
Don’t call it a comeback - KRS-1 rocks NYC
I had the pleasure of seeing KRS-One last Thursday in Park Slope. I was so impressed that I returned to see him again last night in Manhattan. This man is a true performer, if I’ve ever seen one. Bringing it back to the old-school tradition of 1980s hip-hop, KRS-1 tells it like it is half preaching, half rapping his message of empowerment while Grand Wizard Theodore mixes on two turntables behind him. During both shows, KRS covered a wide range of topics including politics, history, racism, religion, gender and pop culture to go along with the standard "don’t mess with me" hip-hop attitude. By the end of each night, there were no less than 20 people sharing the stage with him, as he showed utter selflessness continually recognizing the work of others in attendance. On one occasion, he asked his crew to lift a man’s wheelchair with its owner in tow onto the stage so the fan could get a closer view. Most impressive to me, KRS’s voice seemed to keep rhythm throughout the evening, creating a powerful presence on stage and equally powerful sound reverberating throughout the venue. Recordings don’t compare to seeing a performer like KRS-1 live, but here is a video of his song "My Philosophy" to give you an idea of what he’s all about.