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Mexican Pop Star Makes Sony Walk Their Own Gangplank

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:46:10 +0000

Sony, the company that tries to infect our computers with spyware & malware, that sues its customers to the tune of 2 million dollars for piracy, that has been investigated themselves for software piracy, and that is guilty by association of corrupting our judicial system, has gotten a tiny taste of their own medicine. Like me, you may not have heard of Mexican mega popstar Alejandro Fernández before, but today he’s sort of a hero. It seems that while Sony was in the process of screwing him out an entire album, he turned the tables by having police raid their Mexico City offices to seize thousands of his CD’s, audio masters, and artwork. Sony’s PR people seem to be getting less easily rattled these days; although they expressed that they were “shocked” at the multimillion dollar settlement in their favor when suing a customer for piracy, they apparently are only “surprised and disappointed” by the recent raid. Personally, I think we should all show our support by buying some Alejandro Fernández songs. And I think Sony needs to just chill out. Don’t they know that pirates are ten times more likely to buy music than other people?

Now that he’s got his music back he looks like he’s ready to kick Sony’s ass too:

Iggy Pop’s New Release – Préliminaires

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:02:06 +0000

I think it’s finally time
for Iggy to put on a
shirt. How about you?

When you’re Iggy Pop, you have to go to great lengths to surprise people. I mean, after being one of the first to pull your penis out on stage (I think Jim Morrison beat him to “the draw”), being credited with inventing the “stage dive”, and acquiring the moniker “Godfather of Punk”, what’s left? Well, Iggy came up with something. Just enter your Serge Gainsbourg-slash-Leonard Cohen phase at the age of 62 with a release like his new CD Préliminaires. I’ve been an off-and-on fan of Iggy since I was about 16, when his new album The Idiot was on heavy rotation at my house along with with Bowie’s Low. His energy and crazed persona were never what interested me; and half of his music really doesn’t do much for me. But that other half? Holy crap. He just goes places others don’t go, and occasionally brings back something we didn’t know we needed. And I’m reluctantly forced to admit that I’m enjoying what he’s done on this new release. Except that I’d like to strangle him for covering Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Insensatez”. Jesus Iggy, why? Just why? If you want to pick up a copy, there’s a limited edition package available (6,000 worldwide), as well as a regular CD and a digital download. They also have some amusing video clips of Iggy performing the new material in France on Iggy’s site. I wonder if the now legendary (and hilarious) tour rider is still in use? If you’d like to read more about Préliminaires, BlogCritics has a fairly even-handed review. And can someone tell me how you say “please put on a shirt” in French?

No really, Iggy. Put on a shirt.

Only 151 Shopping Days…

admin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:25:49 +0000

…left until Christmas, and this collection of samples of baby sounds turned into Christmas carols is going to drive me nuts. If I don’t buy it now, I’ll forget about it until Christmas, when I’ll be saying to myself “damn, I wish I’d bought that JingleBabies CD, it would be really fun in this Xmas mix I’m making”. If I DO buy it now, when Christmas rolls around, I’ll be saying to myself “damn, what a waste of twelve bucks, this was really only funny for about ten seconds as an audio preview”. Decide for yourself. Listen to Silent Night, as sung by babies.

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

admin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:05:55 +0000

Except the release of Brian Eno & David Byrne’s album of the same name, which will happen on August 4th, 2008. The music will be available exclusively at everythingthathappens.com with free previews and a free song, and it actually goes on sale two weeks later. Can’t wait for some new Byrne & Eno? Then make your own by remixing studio quality tracks from the 1981 release Bush of Ghosts. They’ve generously provided all the necessary tools and files at the Bush of Ghosts remix site .

Khalid Hanifi – Pamplemousse Presse

admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:02:34 +0000

On his new release Pamplemousse Presse, Khalid Hanifi pulls off something any pop songwriter could admire, drawing from the pop palette without resorting to pop cliché, and effortlessly (well, maybe he worked on it…) blending excellent hooks with solid song craftsmanship. This collection of songs is solidly listenable from beginning to end, and in fact (whether I like it or not) remains pretty listenable in my head when the songs get stuck there. Very catchy stuff. Although you could toss off comparisons to a wide variety of singer songwriters (Rufus Wainright, Joseph Arthur, Joe Jackson, Michael Penn and others spring to mind) Hanifi has a maturity and purity of pitch in his voice and delivery that he clearly owns. You can only really compare Khalid Hanifi to Khalid Hanifi. Well paced, produced & mixed with exceptional clarity, strong melody, and nicely placed, sophisticated harmonies, this CD has only grown on me more with each listen. This is a seriously radio-ready (people still listen to those, don’t they?) artist who would fit comfortably into an adult alternative rotation as easily as an alt-country mix. If this is what Khalid Hanifi does when he’s not pursuing his music career full time, I can’t wait until he gets serious about it. Purchase a downloadable version on DigStation for USD9.99, or pick up the CD at CDBaby for USD12.97.