U.S. and U.K. Likely to Impose Conditions on Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger
By Brom on 10-13-2009
There’s nothing quite like a bit of monopoly-bashing! Hot on the heels of the U.K.’s Competition Commission making a preliminary ruling against the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, it is now likely that U.S. regulators will coordinate with the British authorities to impose conditions on the deal. This could mean “Ticketmaster and Live Nation will be forced to sell off assets, or forced to sell some concert tickets through a competitor.”
Regulators (and especially Bruce Springsteen) are concerned that the merger of Ticketmaster (the largest seller of tickets to entertainment venues in the U.S.) and Live Nation (the world’s largest concert promoter) would create a behemoth that “could control every part of a live concert, from artist management and promotion to venue management, merchandise sales, and ticket sales and resales,” in the words of Ken Solky, President of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. The two companies, however, maintain that the deal is necessary to “strengthen a flagging music industry.”
Lawyers, sensing an excellent opportunity to make millions of dollars, suggest that both Ticketmaster and Live Nation went into this agreement knowing they would have to make some compromises. Mark Ostrau, an antitrust lawyer with Mountain View-based Fenwick & West LLP, said “I think the writing is on the wall that the deal is not going to happen without some fix," while Kevin Arquit, another antitrust lawyer, argued “The fact that the U.K. regulators acted puts the U.S. more on the spot.” The deal has also provoked consternation in Congress with 50 House members wanting Justice officials to take some kind of action.
“Live Nation shares fell nearly 6 percent Thursday, while Ticketmaster shares fell more than 4 percent,” (waaaaghhh!).
A Story to Warm the Coldest Hobo Heart: Railcars Release Second EP, Give First Away for Free, Embark on 59-Date Tour
By David Nadelle on 10-13-2009
At a certain age you begin to ask yourself questions: "Will I ever find the love of my life?" "What am I going to do when I retire?" "Could I get away with murdering Bono if I was really, really careful?" Some questions are better left unanswered. And some ponder while others pound on with the task of living and following their creative muses down previously unexplored paths. Aria Jalali is quickly garnering kudos on the West Coast where he produces messy shitgaze noise music as railcars, and he will release his second EP TODAY!
Already available as a digital download through Gold Robot, Stumparumper hard-releases Cathedral with No Eyes today. To celebrate the new record, Jalali is offering the first Jamie Stewart-produced railcars EP, Cities Vs. Submarines, as a free download available by clicking right here. Never one to play uninteresting, Railcars' Cathedral with No Eyes is a song cycle about the 9th-century King of East Anglia, Edmund the Martyr. The six-track EP details "his life and succession to the throne as a young boy, his conquests, his suffering at the hands of vikings and death by their arrows." So, in other words, it's a lot like "Baby Got Back."
1. Life of Saint Edmund (Ponds)
2. Castles
3. Passion of Saint Edmund (Rebirth)
4. Passion of Saint Edmund (Miracles)
5. Cathedral with No Eyes
6. Martyrdom of Saint Edmund (End)
Here are the latest railcars tourdates, including some already announced 2010 ones. Backing Jalali on the current tour is Sam Farzin. Grab your hobo bindle stick and hop along the trolley line!
10.13.09 - Tulsa, OK - Soundpony
10.13.09 - Tulsa, OK - house show at 2251 East 10th St
10.14.09 - Dallas, TX - Good Records
10.14.09 - Denton, TX - Majestic Dwelling of Doom $
10.15.09 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk #
10.16.09 - Fayetteville, AR - Ameroplace
10.17.09 - Little Rock, AR - Rad Haus
10.18.09 - Nashville, TN - Little Hamilton's
10.19.09 - Athens, GA - Go Bar
10.20.09 - Greensboro, NC - Maya Gallery
10.21.09 - Richmond, VA - The Triple
10.22.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Shea Stadium %
10.25.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Danger Danger Gallery
10.26.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel
10.28.09 - Boston, MA - TBA
10.31.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Death by Audio
11.01.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Monkeytown
11.02.09 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class
11.05.09 - Toronto, ON - Garrison
11.06.09 - Chicago, IL - Weirder Park
11.07.09 - Minot, ND - Pangea House
11.08.09 - Missoula, MT - The Laboratory
11.10.09 - Vancouver, BC - The Shed
11.11.09 - Victoria, BC - Logan's
11.12.09 - Seattle, WA - Baserment ^
11.13.09 - Olympia, WA - Le Voyeur *
11.14.09 - Portland, OR - The Artistery
11.17.09 - Santa Rosa, CA - North Bay Film and Art Collective
11.18.09 - Sacramento, CA - Fungarden +
11.19.09 - San Francisco, CA - Thee Parkside
11.20.09 - Oakland, CA - Flux 53 Gallery
11.23.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Synchronicity Space
11.24.09 - Irvine, CA - Acrobatics Everyday ~
01.05.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
01.14.10 - Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club
01.15.10 - Wroclaw, Poland - CRK
01.16.10 - Kracow, Poland - Kawiarnia Naukowa
01.17.10 - Prague, Czech Republic - Strahov 007
01.18.10 - Budapest, Hungary - Dürer-kert
01.19.10 - Vienna, Austria - Rhiz
01.20.10 - Maribor, Slovenia - Pekarna
01.21.10 - Koper, Slovenia - MKSC
01.27.10 - Dijon, France - Deep Inside
01.28.10 - Metz, France - Emile Vache
01.30.10 - London, England - TBA
01.31.10 - Bristol, England - Start the Bus
02.01.10 - Glasgow, Scotland - 13th Note
02.02.10 - York, England - TBA
02.03.10 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
02.05.10 - Utrecht, Netherlands - dB's
02.07.10 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - TAC
02.08.10 - Karlsruhe, Germany - Kohi
02.09.10 - Freiburg, Germany - KTS
02.10.10 - Munich, Germany - Kafe Kult
02.12.10 - Frankfurt, Germany - Ivi
02.13.10 - Ansbach, Germany - 13eins
02.15.10 - Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
02.16.10 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Lades
02.20.10 - Malmö, Sweden - Debaser
$ Fur
# Arrington de Dionyso
% Javelin, Holiday Shores
^ Alaskas
* Batrider
+ Pregnant, Megazord
~ Little Teeth
The Fiery Furnaces Plan Zany Fall Tour in Which They Will Send Instructional DVDs, Sheet Music, and Customizable Set Lists to Mailing List Fans So That They Can Construct the Shows in Their Own Homes! (Okay, Not Really… But Doesn’t That Sound Oddly Plausible?)
By Nobodaddy on 10-13-2009
Can you believe that Thrill Jockey hasn’t signed your band yet? Well, it’s probably no offense to you or your music. It’s probably because The Fiery Furnaces have that label hypnotized into spending like 94% of its budget putting out, supporting, or otherwise underwriting their never-ending spew of loopy-ass, cockamamie Dada-pop projects every Brooklyn-via-Chicago minute!
See, after finishing up their eighth fucking record in like six years this summer, the comparatively tossed-off sounding I'm Going Away (TMT Review), the duo set about, you know, creating their own individual (that’s two separate) cover versions of that very record. Those are due digitally some time in October. Oh yeah, don’t forget about the forthcoming "silent record" that they’re also “working on” for this fall, which they plan on releasing as sheet music only. They’ve also sponsored video contests, lyric writing contests, and who knows what other sorts of contests, largely in the name of that whole “democratically written” record that they’re also promising us.
And as if all that isn’t enough for you, they’re also hitting the road this November for a North American tour, during which they’ll most likely confound your expectations a little bit more by mangling your favorite Furnaces classics right in front of you with the sort of dramatic irony akin to you watching your cute-but-heedless little cousins throwing their own coveted toys into the microwave “just to see what’s gonna happen.”
So yeah, my guess is their label’s got its hands pretty full these days. Keeping Les Enfants Terribles satisfied at all times is probably a pretty full-time gig. If I were you, I’d probably give Drag City a call instead.
Fiery Furnaces Fall Tour:
11.04.09 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
11.05.09 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
11.06.09 - Troy, NY - Revolution Hall
11.07.09 - Toronto, ON - El Mocambo Club
11.08.09 - London, ON - Call The Office
11.10.09 - Toledo, OH - Frankie's Inner City
11.11.09 - Ferndale, MI - The Magic Bag
11.12.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
11.13.09 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
11.14.09 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
11.17.09 - Vancouver, BC - The Red Room
11.18.09 - Seattle, WA Chop - Suey
11.20.09 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
11.21.09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater
11.24.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
12.11.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
12.12.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
