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Lefsetz 6.3.11

If you want to sign to a label… Last night we went out to dinner with Daniel Glass and his wife, and then to see Glassnote’s new signing, Givers, at the Bootleg Theatre. We met at Craig’s. Craig’s is the new hip joint on Melrose. And the story is important. Because Craig used to be the maitre d’ at Dan Tana’s, which J.D. Souther just went on record as being the inspiration for the Eagles’ “Sad Cafe”. It’s right next to the Troubadour. It’s been the hip joint forever. But Dan Tana, the owner, wouldn’t forge a succession plan, he wouldn’t make Craig the owner. So Craig set up shop a few blocks away. Took his rolodex and boy is the place jumping. I’ve been there twice and both times I had imperfect meals (although last night’s chocolate bread pudding was INCREDIBLE!), but there’s a vibe, that this is where it’s happening. And upon being shown our booth, Daniel stopped by to speak with the people sitting next to us. Unrecognizable to me, they turned out to be the infrastructure at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They used to work at the Beverly Wilshire. Daniel stayed there. Then he got a phone call, they were up and moving to the Beverly Hills Hotel. Did he want to come along? Loyalty. It’s everything if you’re a businessman. Daniel said yes. And these people take care of him. All those perks, all those extras, Daniel gets them. By being friendly. He even invited one of them to the show, and he came! I wouldn’t have the chutzpah! That’s what Daniel’s got. Chutzpah. He’ll ask when someone else will not. In other words, a label is run by people. You can sign with a guy who can talk music all day, is great to get high with, but what are his relationships, will he go the extra mile for you and him? Is he cunning without turning people off? The nineties school was record label exec as king. Everyone bow down to the grand pooh-bah. And some of those people remain. Along with worker bees who are told what to do and can barely say yes. Which is why so many people want to be with an indie. But does that indie have major label chops? After sitting down, Daniel reeled off the stations that were playing Second Serenade. Sure, he’s working me, he’s showing his promotion roots. And I never listen to terrestrial radio, I find it condescending and interminable, but if you’re going to play this game…you’ve got to be with someone who knows it, someone who can get Gene Sandbloom to the gig, which Daniel did, and Chris Douridas too. Yes, Givers, Daniel’s band, had appeared on “Morning Becomes Eclectic” that morning. And I don’t listen to KCRW, but there are so many self-satisfied tastemakers who do and this is the easiest way to reach them. I’ve got to believe that’s why the gig was full. The KCRW imprimatur. Not that that was the only incentive. But the rest of the incentives are unclear. All Daniel could say was “The Internet”. That vast world of links. I tweeted I was at the gig and people tweeted back that they were there and came up and said hi and that’s what the networked world is like. And if you’re not networked, you’re gonna have a hell of a hard time making it. Ultimately Givers played four gigs yesterday. From the morning to the evening. It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. They travel in a van, towing a trailer. If you think that’s glamorous, you probably revere Snooki as the height of decorum and fashion. But the band wants to make it. And this is what you’ve got to do. And today they’re down in San Diego doing Sunset Sessions and then tomorrow they’re in Phoenix. Will Givers break? Time will tell. But Daniel Glass is not on anybody’s payroll but his own. If his bands don’t succeed, he’s out of luck. He’s not raping and pillaging, he’s building. He’s not signing bands as favors, it has to be about the music, because not only is his reputation on the line, but his wallet. The game is changing. But if you want to get your feet into the old game, you’ve got to know someone who understands it, who’s got an investment in it, who knows how to play it. There are tons of fired employees who will take your money to do publicity and promotion, but ask them to work on spec and you’ll get a bunch of nos. Daniel Glass is working on spec. And that makes him hungry. His track record speaks for itself.

Lefsetz on Adele 5.27.11

All the scuttlebutt about Adele has been the chart success, BUT HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE MUSIC? For too many years we’ve been inundated with look at me artists. I’m better than you. Watch me dance, see my big tits, come join the party. You don’t want to party with Adele. THERE IS NO PARTY! Hip-hoppers sing of kicking women to the curb. This is a record made by someone who WAS kicked to the curb. How does that feel? You know. Because you’re not a famous rapper, you’re not a famous starlet. We’re inundated with them, from Paris Hilton to Kim Kardashian. It’s fun to watch the movie, but it’s soulless. And you can never say that about “21”. “21” is a peek into Adele’s world. Her inner life. It’s like we walked by a house and heard someone crying, got closer, and put our nose to the window. And inside, saw someone who was where we’ve once been. The land of heartbreak. It’s the human condition. To the point where some hook up with someone random just to stay in the game and others get old and refuse to play anymore. It’s not about automobiles. It’s not about being rich. It’s about being human. There’s a distance between “21” and the listener, and that’s why we’re so infatuated. That’s why there’s no stage set-up required. That’s why it’s not about festivals and arenas. Because it’s not about being part of a mass audience, it’s not about the party, it’s not about dancing, it’s about connecting with the artist, doing a mind-meld. Not that Adele is better than the artists of yore. But she’s part of a long continuum. Which has been whittled down to a thread. But when we hear something real, we connect. That’s what’s amazing about “21”. It’s about the music. Not about the videos. Not about the fame. Only the music. Sure, now that she’s successful she’s pulling back on the hype. But that’s the way it’s always been done. Even the Who did a commercial. Before “Tommy”, before credibility. You do anything and everything to get traction, then you pull back. But people want to tear Adele down. Talk about her statements re paying taxes. As if music is about stardom, as if artists are paragons who’ve got it all figured out and never say anything wrong or stupid. But they do. As did John Lennon. The best are honest and open, instead of hiding behind makeup and getting cut to appeal to an ideal that doesn’t really exist. Tell me the men who like the inflated lips of the trout pout set. It’s an endless race to the bottom. One in which money trumps art and everybody’s looking to get rich quick and won’t take a risk. Where marketing is more important than music. Where set-up is king. Sure, XL and Sony helped make Adele a success. But the reason she’s become a juggernaut is the music. The tracks don’t sound exactly alike. They don’t have the required beats. She’s not playing by the rules. And that’s why we like her so much. It’s like she’s taken the TMZ/Perez scene and flushed it down the toilet and walked away. You’ve got to listen to the tracks. There’s not a clinker on the record. It’s one of the few albums you want to play from beginning to end, over and over again. And you’ve got no doubt she can sing. It’s not studio trickery. It hearkens back to what once was much more than it looks into the future, yet it’s not retro, it’s just right. You know the single, “Rolling In The Deep”, but the next track is “Rumor Has It”. It’s got a tribal beat that Paul Simon wishes he could lock on to: “She, she ain’t real
She ain’t gonna be able to love you like I will
She is a stranger
You and I have history” HISTORY! That’s one of the hardest parts of breaking up. You split up the friends, the photos, you’re cleaved in half and forced to start all over. Romance is a bad “Groundhog Day”. The third track, “Turning Tables”, is the piece de resistance. It’s the song that Rufus Wainwright is dying to write. With all the drama, all the emotion of the tail end of a relationship. It’s an epic, with strings, a mini-opera, with the classic line: “I won’t let you close enough to hurt me” Who hasn’t been there? You get too close and you get burned. You’d like to return, but you’ve been singed and you just can’t do it again. “Don’t You Remember”. A quintessential album cut. Starting so quietly, it’ll never be played on Top Forty radio. The first line says it all: “When will I see you again?” The one left behind. He or she is not done yet. They believe if they see you they can convince you to stay, or at least hearing it in the flesh accept the truth and begin to heal. But who hasn’t dealt with a wimp who can’t even tell you you’re done to your face? “Set Fire To The Rain” has a jauntiness akin to the lyrics. The recovery process has begun. The anger has been embraced and is now being evidenced. What’s enrapturing about “He Won’t Go” is the sound. The twinkling, jazzy piano, like a rainy street after a night in the club. And the killer line: “If this ain’t love, what is?” I climbed this mountain and I’m not at the peak? And “I’ll Be Waiting” has an upbeat feel, no one can accuse Adele of making a completely downbeat album. Kind of like when you start to recover from the end of relationship, you have good moments, they counter the bad. “One And Only” is what the “American Idol” contestants strive for, but can’t achieve. With them, it’s solely about the vocal gymnastics. But they’re only half, the other half is the story, the song, when Adele sings you have no doubt it’s her, her story. And she stays shy of Mariah Carey/Christina Aguilera histrionics. Because just because you can do it, that does not mean you should. And the closer, “Someone Like You”, is the summation. It’s done, it’s over, she’s recovered, to the degree anybody really can, he’s got someone else, she accepts it, if she still doesn’t like it. The killer couplet: “I had hoped you’d see my face
And that you’d be reminded that for me it isn’t over” WHEW! I’m truly shocked. I’d about given up. People play me what they’re into and I brush it aside, it’s subpar, it’s music, but it’s not life itself. But then I hear “21” and I get that tingle, my inner flame starts to flicker, my faith in music is suddenly rekindled. That the art form can be more honest and more pleasing than any other. You know what hooked you once? “21” has got that. And the public has responded. In a record breaking way. This is not anomalous. This is the way out. This is the beacon. Very few can do it, but enough can to sustain us. Music happens in the mind. It goes in the ears and percolates in the brain. When done right, you close your eyes. Why has everybody been imploring us to keep our eyes open for so long? I don’t care if you like punk or jazz or emo or hip-hop, you should listen to “21”. You’ll get it. Because it’s open. And honest. Like you.

Lefsetz 5.25

• From: Michael Shrieve
• Subject: Re: Rattlesnake Shake
• Well Fuck, God Bless you for caring enough about the music to really seek it out.
• Peter was a friend of mine back in the 70's. Sometimes, when I was on tour with Santana, which was always, and Peter was in the Bay Area, I'd loan him my house in Mill Valley. Of course you could stay there, Peter. I'd call him from the road and check in. Is everything OK? "Everything's great, mate".
• So tonight, right now, I'm back from my weekly gig, which I've been doing for four years in Seattle, with my band, Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder. It's an instrumental band, but cool as shit, and we get the whole range of age groups at every show. Here's the truth. I make $60.00 every Monday night; $30 of which I pay to a friend to set up and take down my drums. I don't enjoy that part of it, so it's worth it to me. So I make $30.00. The people love the music, and I know why. It's real musicians, playing passionate, beautiful music right in front of there eyes. Exceptional musicians, truly.
• You want to know my reality? This year alone I have been voted one of the top 50 drummers of All Time in Drum Magazine, and been voted in the Top Ten in a Reader's Poll in Rolling Stone Magazine two months ago of Best Drummers of All Time. Of course, you should know, no real musician considers these accolades as something serious, because the real players know that there there is always someone better than you. But that is not to say that we are not grateful for the recognition. But that and a buck fifty will get you on the bus.
• If I told you how many Booking Agents I have contacted all around the world to consider booking my band you would be shocked. If I told you how many of them have had the decency to even reply to my emails, you would be even more shocked.
• I ask myself, WTF? Why do I bother with this shit? I love music, like the heart that beats inside me, but is this worth it? And I have come to the conclusion that no, it is not worth it. I must find another way to make a living. I should build on what I have, and I have ideas, but it is so completely different than what I had imagined.
• I didn't mean to rant, but it here I go. I love the vibe of that music that you posted, like I used to love Michael Bloomfield with Paul Butterfield and those extended jams like "East West". I still love that shit. But I insist with my band that we are not a jam band, that we play tighter arrangements than other bands. Everybody jams now, but it better be fucking great because frankly I'm tired of hearing 10 minute guitar solos.
• Back to Peter. Part of our connection, aside from the fact that with Santana, I recorded his song "Black Magic Woman" and made it more famous than he would ever imagine, we shared that Black Magic Woman, and her name was Annie, and she was truly remarkable, and mystical, and nurturing, as were a few very special ladies in that time and place. It was a very special time.
• Years later, when Santana was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Fleetwood Mac on the same evening, Carlos was gracious enough to invite Peter Green to play "Black Magic Woman" with us, as it became obvious that Fleetwood Mac was not going to have Peter Green be a part of their ceremony. Shame on them. Peter was a shadow of himself then, and barely remembered me. It was sad, for sure, but he was there with us on the stage playing his song that we made famous. And that night The Eagles were also inducted, as was Fleetwood Mac, and I saw the road kill of what was the leftovers of that fiasco as well. The tears in the eyes of the wives of the members of the band that left or were kicked out, and finally seeing their embittered husbands getting a shred of recognition for the work they put into the band that became so famous, the few that survived shined and the rest are road kill. It's not a pretty picture.
• God Bless the musician that has his own, I always thought.
• But now, even I'm not so sure of that. I always told myself when I younger, watching older musicians becoming embittered, don't ever become bitter, that serves no one. I remember telling Mitch Mitchell, who was so bitter because truly, he got so screwed financially with all the Hendrix stuff, "Mitch, forget about it. What you've done, no one can ever take that away from you. Your contribution is so enormous, anyone would trade places with you. Forget about the money, forget about the lawyers, I said. Go back to that place where you first loved music, go play in a club every week like I do, and forget about everything else, and trust me, the music will set you free, like it did in the beginning.
• But man......
• With Respect,
• Michael Shrieve

LimeWire Settles, Pays $105 Million To Recording Industry Association Of America

Long Way from $75b. SAN FRANCISCO — File-sharing software company LimeWire, which shut down last year after being barred from allowing people to share copyright-protected files online, reached a $105 million out-of-court settlement with the major record labels Thursday, the labels said. In a statement, Recording Industry Association of America Chairman Mitch Bainwol said his group, which represents the labels, is pleased with the settlement. Read More… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/limewire-settlement-recording-industry-association_n_861460.html

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Brett Dennen

Perry Farrell’s Plan to Save the Music Business

In partnering with the city of Chicago, Lollapalooza and its owners Perry Farrell, C3 Presents and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, have created a model that works. Now Farrell tells Billboard.biz he thinks he knows how to save the music biz. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mediaredef/~3/4q4NUo3QP4s/perry-farrell-s-plan-to-save-the-music-business-1005124752.story

Sade featuring Jay-Z – The Moon and The Sky (Remix)

Here comes the previously announced Sade and Jay-Z collaboration in the shape of the “The Moon and The Sky” remix. Production credits come courtesy of Noah ’40′ Shebib who created an intriguing beat for this legendary get-together. The tune was premiered on Jay-Z’s recently launched Life &… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mediaredef/~3/vGBqOQYRafs/