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Catching Up On The Week (Mar. 14 Edition)

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Aeon has a great article exploring the psychological underpinnings of our appreciation of music, specifically discussing the key that repetition plays in our unconscious love.  The article analyzes how the mere act of repetition has a specific psychological effect on our brains, and it can essentially even create the illusion of “music”, even though if we were removed from the process we would not give that objective determination.  It then goes on to discuss the significance of “rituals” and how music mirrors this concept, and their impact on our brains.  I find these scientific explorations fascinating, and I highly recommend reading it–I’m sure I unintentionally bungled some observations and that my imprecise language may have obscured some of the true results.  That said, the article still needs to explain how it could be that Krautrock is not the dominant musical genre of our time.

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age (and many, many other bands) recently did a video where he answered questions from fans, covering such topics as his band’s treatment at the Grammys and the recent dispute with other members of Kyuss over the use of the band’s name.  It’s always fun to hear Josh pontificate, so it’s well worth a listen.

Repetition

Repetition

If you follow our Tumblr, you know we’re at the very least intrigued by Neil Young’s new digital music service “Pono”.   We’re not entirely convinced about its necessity, and to that end we’re looking into posting a discussion with an engineer experienced in the field of acoustics to discuss the technological merits of the service.  But we’ll save the technical mumbo-jumbo for another day–here, you could read an article from The Quietus with some bullshit about the “iPod culture”.  Here’s a frightening quote:

“The spontaneous practice of iPod users then comes to very closely resemble the model developed by researchers working for the Muzak Corporation in the mid-twentieth century.”

A much more enjoyable discussion of music culture comes from the latest entry in the AV Club’s series on punk rock in the 90’s (“Fear of a Punk Decade”), which discusses the impact of different labels on the decade’s sounds.  It looks at the rise of several independent labels, including some that had the impact of major labels (Epitaph and Dischord for example), and the mutual relationship between bands and their labels.

Switching gears, The Oregonian takes a look at the significance of a good van for the touring indie act.  It’s difficult to realize the various struggles that bands have to go through especially with things we take for granted like our own vehicles.

And finally, Wye Oak has a discussion with SPIN about their new album Shriek.  In this interview, they discuss lyrical themes, the move away from guitars for this album, and their (slightly) relaxed touring schedule.  Wye Oak is a band that that is pretty powerful live, though their albums haven’t translated in the same way; we’ll see if that’s the case for Shriek.

Over the Weekend (Mar. 10 Edition)

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Some fun links for your Monday afternoon, as you realize that the name of this site could double for a True Detective fansite.

Let’s begin with a guitar workshop from Alan Sparhawk of Low.  The video begins with the mechanics of an electric guitar and how the sounds are created, which is pretty handy for novices.  Of greater interest to experienced players is the second half of the video, where Alan shows the different effects pedals that he uses, including one with his own added innovation.

We’ve got links to a few new tracks that are worth your time.  First, I recommend listening to this collaboration between Frank Ocean, Diplo, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon.  The laid-back, island vibe is great for easing into the week, but don’t get too comfortable, because things get a bit more lively.  Frank Ocean will probably need all the good vibes he can get, as he deals with legal issues stemming from a dispute with Chipotle.  And continuing with the theme of seemingly bizarre collaborations, there’s Kendrick Lamar rapping over Tame Impala’s “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”.  I think it would have worked better with a smoother flow, like the style of “Money Trees” (which is proof that Kendrick can rap with great results over an indie rock track), but if you approach it as a Kendrick Lamar song instead of a remix of Tame Impala, the snarl works better.  And there’s Taylor Hawkins, drummer of the Foo Fighters, who got bit with the side-group bug like Dave Grohl, and his new outfit “Birds of Satan”.  Not only does the name recall Eagles of Death Metal, but the music does as well.  That to me is a good thing.

While we mentioned the 20th anniversary of Superunknown on Friday, it was rather fitting that we didn’t link to an appreciation of The Downward Spiral from Stereogum, which celebrated its anniversary on the same date (I say “fitting” because Soundgarden beat out Nine Inch Nails at the top of the Billboard chart (and to add to the discussion of “fitting”–there is talk of a possible joint Soundgarden/Nine Inch Nails tour)).  There’s some great insight into how important the album was at the time and its place in rock history, especially considering it was the first exposure to “dangerous music” for many kids (I still remember getting nightmares from my first viewing of “Closer”, coupled with the thrill of watching something I knew I was not allowed to see).  However, this piece gets a few demerits for not mentioning the brilliance of “A Warm Place”, especially in between “Big Man With A Gun” and “Eraser” in examining the album’s exploration of the light/dark dichotomy.

Also worth checking out is an interview from The Quietus with Mike Watt where he discusses his favorite albums.  Consider this the best homework assignment ever if you haven’t listened to these albums or are at least familiar with these artists–I can think of few better teachers than the bassist for The Minutemen.  And if you’re unfamiliar with The Minutemen (though I know you know at least one of their songs), track down a copy of Double Nickels on the Dime as quickly as you can.  I’ll expect an essay in my inbox next Monday.

In new album news, The Dandy Warhols are releasing a live album from their recent tour for the 13th anniversary of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia.  I happened to be at one of the hometown shows, though I’m unsure if it was the one that was recorded (or whether the album will be a mix from both shows). That’s an album that should be considered a classic (perhaps the subject of a future TL;DR?), and any time you know that you are guaranteed to hear “Big Indian”, you should take that opportunity.

And while I was typing up this roundup, I saw a message from Spoon on Facebook.  This is great news indeed.

Finally, if you didn’t catch The National on SNL this week, please do so now.

The Curious Case of the Happy Birthday Copyright

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Last week, Stephen Colbert did a hilarious segment about the copyright of the song “Happy Birthday”, noting the litigiousness of Warner Music and the way they hound any potential violators.  Stephen’s substitute, an arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with alternate lyrics, is a particularly genius suggestion, and the bit becomes part of a long comedic tradition of attempts to avoid the wrath of Warner.  By using a song in the public domain like the National Anthem, Stephen is safe, even in his public performance–though imagine if one had to clear each use of the National Anthem or pay a license for every time it was played; that would probably bankrupt most kickball leagues.

Somebody messed with the copyright.

Somebody messed with the copyright.

(Side Note: The technical difficulties graphic that Stephen uses cracks me up every time, though it should be stated that The Critic was the master of that particular gag.  Also, the birthday hat for the silent lawyer was a great touch.  Comedy’s forged in the subtleties, folks.)

So it’s not exactly news to most people that somebody owns the copyright to a song that is familiar to just about everyone, and gets sung thousands of times everyday.  Not only that, it’s also well-known that the public performance of that song has several issues (as I mentioned, there have been numerous comedic bits built on that fact).  But did you know that in the past year that the copyright was challenged?  It shouldn’t be a surprise that a fairly simple song from the early 20th century would have some disputed origins; however it is surprising that somehow despite those dubious origins, the copyright holder has been able to maintain an iron grip on the use and performance of the song.  Right now, the lawsuit is still working its way through the courts, due to the various technical complexities that are bound to arise when law meets art: various state claims are being separated from the federal claims, and arguments over whether the federal statutes preempt any state claims are being heard.  As for the disputed facts of the case, the hook for you and me is that plaintiffs are offering up some interesting evidence that the song was in circulation prior to the registration of the copyright in 1935, using both the original music of “Good Morning To You” (from 1893) with the lyrics we all know, all the way back in 1911.  This would pretty much destroy any claim of originality, a necessary requirement for copyright protection.

The thing to remember is that, “Happy Birthday” notwithstanding, the concept of “copyright” is good.  We want to protect the works of artists, and allow them the ability to be fairly compensated for their work and protect against unauthorized distribution.  Now, whether or not that means that the protection should extend 90 years (or whatever arbitrary number Congress decides when Disney lobbies again to protect the image of Mickey Mouse), or protect works that even giving the benefit of the doubt as “original”, that’s a different story.  Maybe Colbert can do a bit on that.

Catching Up On The Week (Mar. 7 Edition)

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This week saw the release of a few albums that we’ll review in the coming weeks, including the latest from the band Real Estate.  They got a lot of buzz and critical acclaim from their previous album, Days, so it’s no surprise that they’re getting the feature treatment from a lot of the rock press.  Rolling Stone has a quick interview with the band, and Pitchfork has a much more in-depth profile as well.

Real Estate as people, not property

Real Estate as people, not property

Another group that is looking to capitalize on a breakthrough 2011 album is The War on Drugs.  Their followup to Slave Ambient will be released on March 18, but there are already features that have been published about the group.  Grantland has a good piece about the band and where they stand today, and Stereogum has an extended profile that I’ll be reading up on this weekend, probably with “Baby Missiles” on repeat.

If nostalgia is more your thing this weekend, Stereogum has you covered there as well, with an appreciative look at the 20th anniversary of Superunknown.  We’ve linked to the info on the upcoming reissue of the album, so you may have already noticed that we’re fans of the album (and of Soundgarden in general).  We may use this piece as a jumping-off point for a broader look at Soundgarden, but it does a good job of focusing on a few interesting details that some may not be familiar with, so it’s definitely worth reading at some point.

NPR has an article reporting that about five percent of the population lack the ability to feel pleasure from music.  Clearly, this is an affliction that is unfamiliar to the people both behind this site and our readers, but it’s fascinating to hear about the scientific reasons behind this condition.

And finally, here’s a cool piece talking about how Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah went on a “living room tour” over the past few months, and I’m not sure if quotation marks are necessary, because living rooms were the exact venues where he performed.  He talks a little about the fun and logistics of the experience, and I’m excited to learn from the article that CYHSY will be releasing a new album in May.

Over the Weekend (Mar. 3 Edition)

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It’s time to settle into another week, and what better way to capture the futility of another Monday than a pointless list from Rolling Stone?  This time, the “fearless” editors decided to rank every single song that Nirvana ever played, and decided that a slideshow of 102 clips is the best way to accomplish this.  Sure, some of the anecdotes are a bit fun, but mainly I’m surprised that someone listened to everything in the With the Lights Out boxset.

I'm sure there's a better way to utilize the asterisk.

These songs were ranked in some arbitrary order by Rolling Stone

As technology and the marketplace has evolved in music over the last decade, new business models have emerged, and not always to the benefit of the artists.  For example, a lot of emphasis has been placed on streaming services in recent years, and while some artists have endorsed this development, others have argued strongly against it, including notably Radiohead and The Black Keys.  We plan on doing future explorations of this argument in the future, but keep in mind this bit of evidence offered up by Zoe Keating, who provided a breakdown of where her income from her music came from in 2013.  Also, something else to keep in mind when you hear mindless preaching about how new technology will save us all: Camper Van Beethoven had a higher net profit than Twitter last year.  $645 million greater.

In a bit of great news for those who enjoyed our essay on The New Pornographers, Under the Radar has an interview with Carl Newman talking about their progress on a new album.

Speaking of our own work, it looks like we’re not the only ones who felt the time was right to take a look back at Danger Mouse’s career so far.  Stereogum has an “Annotated Media Guide to Danger Mouse” that you may want to check out.

SPIN seems to have the British band beat down this morning, with news about Coldplay’s new album (due May 19) and the premiere of the Arctic Monkeys’ new video for “Arabella”.

And finally, what better way to feel better about the week ahead than a reminder about the genius of This Is Spinal Tap.  ShortList has a list of the greatest “real life” Spinal Tap moments.  Some of these are probably worthy of a Jeff Goldblum laugh.

Fun With Maps!

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Cartography doesn’t usually get much attention, but in the past week there have been a couple of maps that have been making the rounds on social media and entertainment websites.  These maps were an attempt by Music Machinery to break down the listening habits of people by state and document exactly where certain artists are most popular.

Unfortunately, plenty of people seemed to have forgotten the basics of reading a map, like “take a look at the explanation below the map”.  That’s usually a good place to start, especially if you’re confused.  Since plenty of people forgot about that general rule, the reactions to the maps could charitably be described as chaos and total bedlam.  Also there was general mocking of Arizona and South Dakota, but at least this time we could tie that mocking directly to the maps themselves.

A Useful Map.

A Useful Map.

The first map that caused the ruckus was one entitled “Distinctive Artists By State”.  The purpose of the map was to represent whether certain artists enjoyed a particularly strong interest in certain states as opposed to the rest of the country.  The result was that a lot of people from different states responded with great vengeance and furious anger, shouting “I have no idea who the hell this band is!” (which was actually a fair complaint by someone from Alaska, because does anybody really know what a ‘Ginger Kwan’ is?)  Of course, when you’re looking for an artist that’s distinctive, that means there’s going to be a greater likelihood that the result is not universally known.  Generally, the most popular artists are ones that are universally popular, but the ones that are slightly below may vary quite a bit.  In other words, you and your friends are not special for liking Kendrick Lamar–a lot of people like him.

The site printed out some of their data to show how they got the results, and you can see how very obscure artists could be spit out.  If you think about it for a little bit, it makes sense then that someone like Kurt Vile could represent Oregon–while there are tons of alternative acts that get a lot of attention here, it’s not a stretch to say that it’s not significantly more attention.  We’re generally talking about maybe a slightly bigger venue for when their tour comes through (a difference of probably a couple of hundred people at the most), which wouldn’t be anything like a standard deviation off.

(It also helps if you take two seconds and realize that “by state” does not mean the artist comes from your home state, but that may be some second-order thinking for some folks.)

The second map was much simpler: a map of “Favorite Artists By State”. People then expressed surprise and anger at the results that…the most popular artists in the country are also the most popular artists in several states?  Did people honestly expect Jay Z, Drake, and Macklemore to not be popular, even after selling millions of albums this year?

That’s when people began attacking the methodology, though I doubt many of those who did so know the meaning of the word (or even knew that such a word existed).  I love that some complained that a sample of 250,000 people was too small, without knowing that very accurate polling (especially in politics) often comes from samples that are 10 to 100 times smaller.  The other complaint that I noticed was how the map used only streaming sources.  This is in some ways a legitimate point–due to the demographics of those who stream (young folks), the results are going to be skewed a bit.  On the other hand, a large sample size can help cancel this out a bit.

And on yet another hand (hopefully you packed an extra set),  were any of you going to answer a phone survey for just a fun side project?

I hope you enjoyed this short lesson in maps and statistics.  At the very least, it should help you understand what you’re dealing with when you tackle the Anti-preference map.

Catching Up On The Week With Special Guest Copyright Law (Feb. 28 Edition)

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A few quick links you may have missed this week and worthy of your time this weekend

I’m always interested in the intersection of music and the law, and considering I spent three years and a fortune for the privilege of receiving a sheet of paper that says “Juris Doctor”, I would hope that there would be at least one thing from my chosen profession that I should enjoy.  So I was excited to read an article discussing yet another lawsuit over sampling, with this one concerning Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids”, and not only because I’m a fan of the song.

Most sampling lawsuits concern an area of copyright law known as “fair use”, which allows certain reproductions that otherwise might be considered infringements in certain limited circumstances, using a balancing test of four factors.  Discussions about fair use are one of the more entertaining parts of copyright law, but unfortunately for most participants there have been several areas that haven’t been settled.  One concept that is still being debated is what is considered “transformative”, which addresses the “purpose and character of the use” component.  Changing the pitch or adding distortion can often be a huge change to a piece of music, so I would be more liberal in my assessment of the transformative question.  In addition, the article mentions a new proposed system that would seek to prevent the hassle of most of these lawsuits by instituting a compulsory licence system.  I’ll definitely spend some time this weekend reading up on that suggestion.

There was recently another development in the area of “fair use”, where an Australian company reached a settlement with a Harvard Law professor who used a clip from Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” for a lesson on on “fair use” posted on YouTube.  It seems to have been a clear attempt at steamrolling potential violators by the label holding the copyright, because the purpose was clearly educational and would be determined to be “fair use” by a court.  The label admitted as much, and thankfully also paid the professor’s legal fees (though I am generally loath to cheer on anything from that particular institution, I am glad for this particular result).

Just your neighborhood studio

Just your neighborhood studio

In a little bit of news, Stereogum has a look at the recording process behind the new Mastodon album.  Glad to see that it’s been smooth sailing for one of the most original bands in the metal scene today.

I know readers of this site are probably a bit Beck’ed out at this point, but if for some reason that’s not the case, SPIN has put online their cover feature from 1994 after the release of Mellow Gold.

I normally wouldn’t link to anything featuring Bill O’Reilly, but if you want to see a clueless argument against rap music, he’s a good source to follow.

Consider this quote:

O’Reilly argued it’s a problem when young black boys idolize “these guys with the hats on backwards” and “terrible rap lyrics” and drug use, and told Jarrett Obama has the power to “reverse the peer pressure.”

If you omit the word “rap”, Bill just provided a description of popular music from the last 50 years.  Congratulations Bill, glad to see you’re putting that Harvard degree to good use.

Finally, I’ve got a little bit of reading of my own to do this weekend.  There’s a Stereogum feature that goes in-depth into the My Morning Jacket “One Big Holiday” festival, and “extensive” doesn’t begin to describe it.  It’s been an open tab for nearly a week now, and considering how much of a fan of the band I am, I still intend to read it.  I’ll probably do so while downloading the shows from the festival.

What You’ve Missed (If You Haven’t Checked Our Tumblr)

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Here’s another reminder that not only do we have this nifty website with all sorts of in-depth analysis, but we also have a spiffy Tumblr which is great for passing on little bits of news.  Sometimes we even make an attempt at a pithy comment!  If you haven’t checked it so far, you’ve missed news about the anniversary reissue of Soundgarden’s landmark album Superunknown, a new song from Tokyo Police Club, that The National will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 8th, and that the Eels will be releasing a new album and going on tour this spring.

Live at the Schnitz, well after Superunknown

Live at the Schnitz, well after Superunknown

So yeah, make it a habit to check out rustisjustright.tumblr.com, and you won’t miss out on stuff like this!  Unless of course, we do more of these round-ups.  Which we probably will, but just save yourself the hassle and go directly to the source.

Over the Weekend (Feb. 24 Edition)

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I don’t plan on mentioning the name “Miley Cyrus” very much on this site, but when I found out that she performed a cover of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” with Wayne Coyne, I’m obligated to share that news.  Stereogum has the video of that performance, as well as her cover of OutKast’s “Hey Ya”, both of which were a lot better than I expected.  Also unexpected: the amount of times that Miley drops F-Bombs on her tween audience.

A highlight of any tour of Oklahoma City

We found it by total luck

Stereogum also has an inside look at the making of the new Fucked Up album.  I had recently been wondering about the status of the album, so it’s good to hear that it’s somewhat on track (less good to hear–the possibility that Stereogum may be reading my thoughts).  It’s an interesting look at the band’s unusual dynamic, where everyone kind of does their own thing, and reading about the internal tension between vocalist Damian Abraham and guitarist Mike Haliechuk is pretty fascinating.

Finally, if you’re stuck in a meeting, I recommend that you read up on a couple of old interviews.  The first one I have is an oral history of the making of the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) courtesy of SPIN.  As one would expect with any story concerning the Wu, there’s tons of great anecdotes about various members, including the ODB.  There is also a lot of revelatory discussion about the specific recording techniques that were used.  And finally, in preparation for the new Beck album that will be released tomorrow (and our upcoming retrospective on his career so far), it’s worth checking out this old wide-ranging interview with Pitchfork about his career.  You get a lot of insight into the early parts of Beck’s career and how he became an accidental superstar, and his attitude about the music business in general.  Towards the end of the interview, you also get a feel for Beck’s recording philosophy and techniques.

Winter’s Greatest Sport

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With the Winter Olympics ending today (well, depending on your perspective I guess–in reality the Closing Ceremonies have already happened, though they haven’t been shown on the tape-delay here in the US, so please forgive me if I don’t want to further discuss issues with the myth that is the way humans perceive time), it’s as good a time as any to share a song about the greatest sport that the competition has to offer: curling.  Courtesy of The Weakerthans, here’s “Tournament of Hearts”.