Sole Returns

A quick perusal of the website for Southern Records, the record company responsible for manufacturing and distributing Anticon in Europe, revealed that they are gearing up for the promotional push for the third official Sole release, "Live From Rome". Their press page contained press releases and cover art for the first single entitled "God Save the Whales" out January 5, and the new album due Febuary 21. Although the press release suggests the new album will have moments of a greater political swing than Sole's previous efforts, it also quells any notions of it being a "political album"; "his effort to place the personal and self-critical in the big and political helps him avoid singing to the choir... Live from Rome is a lyric volley of shots taken, but it's lightened by his humor..." Since Sole now resides in Barcelona, Spain, it will be interesting to note how differently, if at all, the album is received by the arguably more liberal European crowd. Press releases and cover art can be found on the press page: http://www.southern.net/southern/band/SOLE0/press/

What A Pity Mix

Check out our buddy's west coast mix over at Schizophrenic Tenant Number One. Emil does a good job at defending his choices and I have to say his knowledge of west coast indie rap seems as exhaustive as ChrisV's. The mix covers '94-'98 and it may or may not include one of your favorite Saafir verses (it has one of mine).

Bingo Gazingo Has Flavor

Flavorpill features Bingo Gazingo venue at the Bowery:

Music historian and WFMU DJ Irwin Chusid coined the term "outsider music" to describe the work of such artists as Syd Barrett and Wesley Willis, work which falls well beyond the bounds of pop taste. Bingo Gazingo is another emblematic member of this group, a septuagenarian performance poet whose CD is WFMU's only single-artist release. As Bingo sits at the Bowery Poetry Club and waits to perform, he looks dazed and distant, but once he is helped onto the stage, he launches into a manic, lyrical fit of pop culture references and divine consultations, suddenly transformed with youth. (AC)

balance (pt. 2)

As the industry continues to reach a balance could it be we'll see more people going the way of Positron? I took a screen shot from indie label Positron's website which recently announced it's embrace of the creative commons license (via boingboing).

Labels, Get On Your Knees (balance)

It seems some labels are beginning to acquiesce to the changes being forced upon their precious "traditional" music-industry business model. Coping with the possibility of losing their stronghold on artists and the multi-million-dollar-hit-machine, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group are developing "online" labels. These labels will initially release music through popular sites and concentrate on developing a presence online. What is upsetting to me is that the labels are still trying to reason that their value-added services are more valuable than the artists' contribution. Why else would they feel entitled to approximately 75% of royalties? Maybe I'm cranky because it's Monday morning, but what the f*ck? Artists should not bow down, the labels need to finally get on their knees. Maybe the industry is finally ready for balance, wherein egomaniacal execs and artists realize they had a disproportionate amount of wealth handed to them because of their quasi-monopoly, not because they are geniuses or favored by the heavens. In the excerpt below someone asks something along the lines of how are we supposed to make a profit with 99cent singles? In my opinion the question hidden in that context is how are we supposed to maintain our fat-cat status and riches by selling so cheap? My answer this morning, accompanied with a slap in the face, is that maybe you shouldn't have been that paid in the first place.

Music Industry Is Trying Out Digital-Only Releases (registration required) Labels usually carry out global marketing campaigns that include several radio singles and music videos spread out over a year or more. How, executives ask, can they turn a profit if they spend the money to turn an unknown into a star and then only sell singles, which usually cost 99 cents each? "The economics don't necessarily work today," said Bruce Resnikoff, head of Universal Music Enterprises. "But the economics of the business are constantly changing." To keep up with the shifts in where and how fans shop, the record companies are grasping for new approaches. As they move toward licensing their music catalogs to companies that plan to filter unauthorized material out of the free file-sharing systems, Universal has made a deal with one such company, Snocap, started by Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster, the former file-sharing Web site. Warner Music Group is developing a unit similar to Universal's, initially to sign artists and finance recordings for online sales, with the potential for later CD releases. Mr. Gilbert of Universal said he came upon the idea for a digital-only label after getting to know a few Los Angeles musicians who didn't have major-label deals. Mr. Gilbert said the effort provided a chance for acts whose music did not fall into the dimensions crafted by radio formats and music video television. Universal has signed acts including Rusty Anderson, a singer and guitarist who has played in Paul McCartney's band; John Jorgenson, a guitarist for Elton John; and Parthenon Huxley, who performs with former members of the art-pop act Electric Light Orchestra. For the artists, the deals do have a downside. The company does not pay them an advance or cover the cost of producing an album. That part is up to the musicians, who finance their own recordings and in most cases have been selling their music - in the form of regular plastic CD's - through their own Web sites or outlets like Amazon. The artists retain ownership of their master recordings but license them to Universal for a limited time; if online sales of an artist's music reach a certain point - around 5,000 copies of a particular song - the company has an option to pick up distribution of the CD to record stores. Universal is paying the musicians an estimated 25 percent royalty on the retail price of the downloads, without taking the industry's standard deductions for CD packaging and promotional giveaways, according to people with knowledge of its contracts. In exchange for the music, Universal is throwing its considerable muscle behind promoting the artists, including them in its own advertising and seeking to license their music to films and television shows. The company will also handle online marketing. The trick will be to "reach the next frontier of consumer, the consumer searching in the digital world," said Mr. Resnikoff of Universal Music Enterprises.

E. Money Bags

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, Murder, Inc.'s Muscle, Linked to Three Killings For those who have been following some of the events surrounding the notorious Supreme Team, day before yesterday Dennis "Divine" Crosby and Nicole Brown were indicted for the murder of Eric Smith, aka E. Money Bags. The Smoking Gun has made available the actual search warrant affidavit. For those who are not familiar with E. Money Bags, he was a rapper from Queens (amongst other things) loosely associated with other Queens rappers like 50cent, mobb deep, noreaga, nature etc. He released a few tracks which circulated in the underground through mixtapes. I was a big fan, especially around that era. We digged through our archives and made some tracks available. A lot of them are from my old mixtapes and a dub of his lp so excuse the shout outs and low quality. If your interest is sparked you might want to cop the Kay Slay dedication. E Money Bags, Kool G Rap, Nature - Friend Of Ours E Money Bags, Noreaga, Uknown - Thugged Out E Money Bags, Prodigy - Heads Off E Money Bags, Nature - How Cool Can One Man Be E Money Bags, Prodigy - Regulate E Money Bags, Live Squad, Tupac - Big Time

Martha Cooper's Hip Hop Files

Martha Cooper, renowned photographer and Hip Hop archivist, has just released her latest book - Hip Hop Files (1979-1984). Check out the samples or the official press release. The book also features comments by almost all major figures photgraphed including Bobbito, Kay Slay, Grand Master Caz, Lady Pink etc. Well worth the 30 beans at amazon if you ask me. Update: I think it actually becomes available November 30th.

Grey Video

For all you fans of Danger Mouses' Grey Album, someone put together a Grey Video for the Encore track. It's pretty entertaining to watch one of the Beatles breakin' on stage [Via Boing Boing].

F*ck Clear Channel?

Should Sage Francis have named his tour F*ck Clear Channel or F*ck Lee Abrams? As a growing population of counter-culture kids and adults unleash their inner angst by deriding Clear Channel and its peers (for horrendous playlists and lack of variety among other things), this man supposedly goes to work everyday trying to undo some of the things he has been credited for - like significantly contributing to the "watering down" of radio programming. Abrams pioneered certain methods of mass programming and he is now trying to counter this by giving niche markets "what they really want" through a new medim, satellite radio. Should we really attribute so much blame on one man or should we be blaming Clear Channel for fighting the war and profiting from it? Or maybe we should just blame the people who listen to crap music? Peep this article which digs a little into the past and future of radio:

Would You Buy The Future Of The Radio From This Man? Seven years ago, Lee Abrams found himself in exile. Once the most influential radio guru of his generation, Abrams pioneered systematic audience research and "psychographics," connecting people's lifestyles to their listening habits. He invented a music format called album-oriented rock, or AOR, which in the 1970s shifted the music industry's focus from singles to albums and showed radio execs how to hold listeners and attract advertisers - to make money in the new, boundary-free world of FM. But his success had a cost. The rise of AOR was the beginning of the end for the brief, storied era of free-form radio and iconoclastic DJs - "some guy in a basement in Brooklyn, burning incense and playing whatever he pleased," as Abrams describes the late-'60s scene. The format ushered in such airwave dreck as classic rock, teen pop, and … there's no easy way to say this … smooth jazz.

Gossiping B*tches

This site can get some serious laughs out of me. Most of the time I just smirk but sometimes I actually laugh aloud so props to them. It seems like they were on hiatus for a minute but now they're back to it, trying to become some kind of über-sarcastic HipHop Gawker-Defamer hybrid. Peep the excerpt:

“HHS-ychic” Hotline to Open

Online hip-hop retailer HipHopSite today announced plans for a psychic hotline. The fee-based service, to be named "HHS-ychic," will allow callers to listen to HipHopSite employees making bold predictions about hip-hop culture. "From an early age, people always suspected I had a gift," said uncertified psychic, part-time Ed-from-Sandbox hater, and full-time honky Pizzo. "I just started getting these visions. They started small, like when I foresaw that Casual was not dead – I had no proof, but I just knew. Once I had that vision two years ago that the Helter Skelter album would not see the light of day, I was like 'Ok, this is getting weird.'" His latest prediction, though, is what finally convinced Pizzo he did indeed have a sixth sense. "It's undeniable now. How else could I have known that Jay-Z's retirement would, in fact, not be a retirement at all? I mean, most people were like ‘I guess that’s it for Jay-Z, going out at the high point of his career and passing up a ton of money’ – but not me." Pizzo is referring to the item in this week's News On the DL, a weekly column that promotes items in the site's online shop disguised as news and rumors, where he states, "At this moment, I would like to remind ya'll about all the trash talking I was doing in this column some 12 months ago, speculating Jay-Z's retirement. And I quote on 12/16/2003: 'Okay, so Jay-Z may have finally hung up the mic for good. It's possible, but don't count on it. My personal theory is that he is going to take two years off, rather than the usual annual break between albums…'"

RESPECT ODB

I guess the rumors ended up being true. Ol' Dirty Bastard, aka Russell Jones, has passed away. We've made a few tracks available in his honor. These were slept on in my opinion. I also threw in an interview with him from 1997 where you can experience a somewhat calm ODB. I think WuTangCorp.com is planning some kind of memorial so check that soon. Peace. R.I.P. Ol' Dirty Bastard - Dirty The Moocher Ol' Dirty Bastard - Nigga Please Ol' Dirty Bastard - Ol' Dirty's Back Ol' Dirty Bastard - Interview 1997 Ol' Dirty Bastard - Rollin With You This is our first time using yousendit so hit us up if it doesn't work well or if you know of any alternatives.

Dope new Busdriver track titled "Avantcore" (Via Royal Music).

Bingo Gazingo lost and found lyrics probably circa '99 (via, LegJoints). Wish I saw this one live...

Bingo Gazingo YOU DON'T EXIST YOU'RE OFF MY LIST YOU'RE OUT OF THE COMPUTER I DIDN'T SHOOT YOU I JUST TOOK HER OUT OF THE COMPUTER AND I TURNED MY HEAD AND I SAID YOURE OUT OF THE COMPUTER.

I TOOK HER OUT OF MY HEART WITH A ROTO ROOTER AND I RAN HER OVER WITH MY BRAND NEW SCOOTER AND I SAID YOU'RE OUT OF THE COMPUTER CAUSE YOU'RE THE WORLD'S WORST PROGRAMMER AND I'M THE WORLD'S GREATEST HACKER. YOUR WERE THE ONE I WOULD DIE FOR

YOU WERE THE ONE I WOULD CLIMB THE SKY FOR.

YOU WERE MY LOVER BUT YOU MADE ME SUFFER WHEN YOU BECAME THE WORLDS GREATEST SURFER NOW YOURE OUT OF THE COMPUTER. YOU USED TO BE MY SOFTWARE NOW YOURE JUST A PIECE OF HARDWARE AND YOU'RE OUT OF THE COMPUTER, I TOOK AWAY YOUR KEY I TOOK AWAY YOUR MOUSE IM A LOUSE IM A TURKEY I THREW YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW YOU'RE OUT OF THE COMPUTER I TOOK AWAY YOUR LAPDESK I TOOK AWAY YOUR WEBSITE I TOOK AWAY YOUR DISCDRIVE I TOOK AWAY YOUR DATA BASE. I SPENT WONDERFUL MOMENTS IN YOUR COMPONENTS. NOW GET YOUR DIGITALS OUT OF MY MODULES GET OUT OF MY MEMORY AND OFF MY MOTHER BOARD GET YOUR MCINTOSH OUT OF MY MISH MOSH OR ILL HIT YOU WITH A SWISS WRIST WATCH, IM THE WORLDS GREATEST HACKER AND YOURE THE WORLD'S WORST SURFER. I WISH THINGS WERE SMOOTHER BUT THEY CANT BE BLACKER YOU SHOWED THEM YOUR MODEM

YOUR OUT OF THE COMPUTER YOU WERE SUBLIME BUT YOURE OFF LINE WITH THE ONLINE AND EVEN IF YOU TELL 'I NEED A KEY' YOU AINT GETTIN BACK AND IN TWO THOUSAND AT THE STROKE OF THE MILLENIUM YOU'RE ALL

OUT OF THE COMPUTER DON'T SCRAMBLE MY SCANNER. LOG OFF

OVERCOMIN' No. 111104

As I continue to contemplate the significance of the election's outcome and try to understand why it hurt my feelings so much, I force myself to breathe easy by thinking of my family and friends and all the other people out there that make sense to me. Another way to calm down is to read about the impracticality of our voting system and, of course, listen to bangers! I guess we're keeping good on our word. Here are this month's tracks: Slim Thug - Like A Boss Ra The Rugged Man featuring Masta Killa, Killah Priest - Chains Shapeshifters featuring Slug, Busdriver, 2Mex - American Idle Kool G Rap and Ma Barker - You Know I'm Wit It Vordul Mega - Neva Again Micky Ritter - One Eyed Looking Glass Handsome Boy Modeling School featuring Dres - First and Then Azeem - Family Man Dom Pachino - I'm That Nigga All these low-fi real audio samples can only be available for thirty days, so as not to a) annoy any artists or audio-hound sites and b) annoy our current host. Too bad we can't post mp3s, maybe in the future.

Read Books, Get Brain

Akademiks got in trouble for this suggestive advertisement. Funny or offensive? [Link, via Adrants]