Amoeblog

THE DEATH OF RADIO

Posted by Billyjam, April 3, 2008 10:50pm | Post a Comment
The recent business news story reports on the $27 billion sales figure deal by radio station-owning company Clear Channel Communications to Bain Capital and THL Partners have focused on how the two big investment giants had, as of last week, sued a cadre of major Wall Street banks to force them to finance the extremely large dollar takeover.   You see, with all the recent drama and fallout and uncertainty of the US economy, the Wall Street bankers who were supposed to finance the takeover (initially agreed to in 2006) basically got cold feet.

In court Bain and THL said that the banks supposed to pony up the cash essentially had "buyer's remorse" when they realized that, with the recent turns in the US economy, that they would not rake in the profits they once foresaw.

 Anyway, all of this news merely blurs, or perhaps further highlights, the real news story here:  The story of the slow decline and final death of (commercial) radio, once upon a time a vibrant creative media form which in the last decade and more -- thanks in great part to Clear Channel, along with other like-minded, huge but soulless entertainment conglomerates -- has been drained of its former glory and destroyed essentially.  This new deal is just the final nail in the coffin.

Of course there are still amazing non-commercial radio stations (especially if you are lucky enough to live in the Bay Area) as well as oodles of great specialized streaming online music feeds, not to mention your iPod's collection of your favorite fifty thousand songs. But long ago commercial radio also satisfied that same need to hear good music, new music, different music, and presented by DJs who personally programmed (and loved) what they played.   But the days of fun, freeform creative commercial radio stations - a la the fictional WKRP Cincinnati or the real KSAN San Francisco- are long long gone.

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Sissy Rappers - Tell me what a sissy know

Posted by Eric Brightwell, April 3, 2008 04:42pm | Post a Comment
In hip-hop circles, you often encounter self-appointed arbiters of hip-hop taste who decry certain supposed negative trends in hip-hop. One frequent target for these musical Taliban is the prevalence of "bling," which is regarded as a new corruption of the scene (conveniently ignoring Gucci-clad, Rolls Royce-flaunting, "paid in full"-singing Eric B and Rakim or the massive gold ropes that adorned every rapper from Big Daddy Kane down the alphabet to Yella.) These paternal advocates of fiscal responsibility feel that rappers should be saving their money, I suppose, and not spending on ostentatious jewelry.

These conservative cultural watchdogs usually then go into an oft-repeated, well-rehearsed diatribe about meaningless, party-centric lyrics, the lack of reliance on DJing, the importance of being real and other things that place them ideologically in the traditionalist camp alongside their trad jazz forebears that griped when jazz moved beyond its Dixieland roots, the guy that yelled "Judas" when Dylan plugged in and prog-rock fans who decried the lack of humorless, showy, technical proficiency when glam began took over the charts and hearts of rock fans in the 70s.

But music evolves, regardless (and sometimes in defiance) of the griping and sniping of those stodgy snobs who stand scowling and motionless with arms folded whilst the masses keep on getting down. In 1968 Nik Cohn virtually created rock criticism with his book Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of RockAs the title suggests, Cohn viewed the meaningless, shallow, fun music of rock's dawn in higher regard than the pretentious progressive rock of his day.  Another genre of music that haters love to hate is Bounce music. I felt like my love of this despised genre was validated, in a way, when the same Nik Cohn moved to New Orleans and worked with Choppa, an under-rated rapper from Algiers on the West Bank who had a big regional hit with "Choppa Style." Choppa dubbed Cohn "Nik the Trik" and Cohn wrote another book of criticism about his experiences, Triksta: Life and Death and New Orleans Rap.

out today 4/1...sun kil moon...

Posted by Brad Schelden, April 3, 2008 03:23pm | Post a Comment
Out today is the brilliant new album from Sun Kil Moon. The album is full of the intense heartbreaking songs that we have come to expect from Mark Kozelek. I don't know how he does it, but he creates the most depressing songs imaginable and he keeps you coming back for more. I just can't get enough of his albums over the last 15 years or so. They sometimes almost hurt me when I listen to them. Like the emotions actually become painful. I can sometimes feel the tears just by hearing his name or thinking about his music for even a second. It is sort of Pavlovian. My body had been trained to get emotional just at the thought of Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters. This might not sound like very much fun, but I completely enjoy listening to Sun Kil Moon albums and I can't barely imagine my life without Mr. Mark Kozelek making music. My journey through his music began a long time ago. I still remember going to Morning Glory Music in Santa Barbara to pick up my fist copy of a Red House Painters album. At this point in my life I was very much obsessed with 4AD Records. I was determined to own everything on the label and had not yet been disappointed. I also based some of my purchases on album covers at that point-- this is how I first got into another 4AD band, This Mortal Coil.

The two self titled Red House Painters albums came out in 1993, a year after Down Colorful Hill came out in 1992.  My first album by them that I bought was the "rollercoaster" cover self titled album. The cover was a brilliant sepia colored photo of an old broken down roller coaster. I absolutely love roller coasters and am a sucker for anything with a sepia filter on it. The album included "Grace Cathedral Park," "Mistress," and "Mother."  The entire album is fantastic, and I guarantee you that this album will make you cry. It is really all about that fantastic voice that belongs to Mark Kozelek. The slow, dreamy, folky music fits in perfectly with his voice. Many of the songs on the six Red House Painters albums remain some of my favorites. I became obsessed with Red House Painters after this first album. I went back on bought the other two albums and patiently waited until 1995 for the release of Ocean Beach. This became one of those albums forever attached to a year in my life. I can't really think about 1995/1996 without thinking about this album. It was my last year in college and this was the perfect album to sort of help soundtrack my life that year. There was lots of Blur, Elastica, Gene, Suede, and Stereolab to get my through the year as well, but Red House Painters have been in my life ever since.

They Call Me The Mercenary #14

Posted by phil blankenship, April 3, 2008 12:54pm | Post a Comment
 



Abolute Body Control Sat. Nite @ M/R/X

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, April 3, 2008 10:40am | Post a Comment
Live @ M/R/X this Sat...Belgian Industrial pioneers:






















































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