The North Mississippi Allstars have lost their father, Bob Dylan has lost a “brother,” rock and roll has lost one of its great cult heroes and Memphis has lost a musical icon with the death of Jim Dickinson.
The 67-year-old Dickinson passed away early Saturday morning in his sleep. The Memphis native and longtime Mississippi resident had been in failing health for the past few months and was recuperating from heart surgery at Methodist Extended Care Hospital.
“He went peacefully,” said his wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, adding that her husband remained in good spirits until the end. “He had a great life. He loved his family and music. And he loved Memphis music, specifically.”
The Performance Rights Act, introduced into Congress earlier this year, is certainly causing much consternation across the music industry. The legislation aims to compensate artists whose music is played on AM and FM radio stations. A music coalition known as "musicFIRST" sent a petition to Congress claiming that broadcasters were “refusing to air the music of artists who demand to be paid when their songs are played on the radio.” The group also says radio stations are declining to air advertisements that support the Act.
MusicFIRST want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to look into whether broadcasters are "engaging in a pattern of threats and intimidation against artists to chill their speech and participation in the political process." This coalition includes the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), so somehow I doubt they have too many problems making their voices heard.
The FCC has said it will look into whether broadcasters are “threatening” artists who support the legislation. Surely, however, it’s up to radio stations to choose what artists they play. As the National Association of Broadcasters’ Executive Vice President, Dennis Wharton, says, "broadcasters are under no obligation to carry everything that is offered or suggested to them."
On October 6, Carla Bozulich is releasing her third Evangelista-related album Prince of Truth via Constellation Records. According to the label, the album is "More experimental, more urgent, more challenging, more coherent — just more of everything that makes this iconoclastic and uncategorisable project so intensely powerful." FUCK YES. In addition Tara Barnes on bass and Dominic Cramp (a.k.a. Arthur Dent of San Francisco rave fame) on keyboard and sound artistry, the new album features contributions from Xiu Xiu member Ches Smith, fellow Geraldine Fibber/Scarnella collaborator and Wilco member Nels Cline, bike wheel/thumb piano player Lisa Gamble, and drummer/guitarist Shahzad Ismaily.
It's going to be awesome.
Oh, and check it: We got an exclusive track for "The Slayer (promo)," a promo version of the first song on Prince of Truth. Aw snap!
1. The Slayer 2. Tremble Dragonfly 3. I Lay There in front of Me Covered in Ice 4. You are a Jaguar 5. Iris Didn't Spell 6. Crack Teeth 7. On the Captain's Side
Tourdates: 10.09.09 - Boulogne sur Mer, France - Poulpaphone Festival 10.10.09 - Coventry, UK - The Tin Angel 10.11.09 - Manchester, UK - Islington Mill 10.12.09 - Bristol, UK - The Cube 10.13.09 - London, UK - Cafe Oto 10.14.09 - Koeln, Germany - Kulturbunker 10.15.09 - Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur 10.16.09 - Weikersheim, Germany - Club W 71 10.17.09 - Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz 10.18.09 - Berlin, Germany - Prater @ Foyer 10.20.09 - Poznan, Poland - Dragon 10.21.09 - Warsaw, Poland - Powiekszenie 10.22.09 - Wien, Austria - Szene Wien 10.23.09 - Linz, Austria - Stop.Spot! Festival 10.24.09 - Innsbruck, Austria - PMK 10.25.09 - Graz, Austria - Elevate Festival 10.31.09 - Lyon, France - Grrrnd Zero
Michael Viner, the record producer whose 1973 recording of “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band is the cornerstone of hip-hop, died in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 8th, from cancer. He was 65.
Viner held a number of positions in the entertainment world. He was an executive for MGM Records in the 1970s, signing Debby Boone (whose “You Light Up My Life” was Number One for 10 weeks in 1977) and helping produce Sammy Davis Jr.’s “The Candy Man,” which topped the charts in 1972. He also produced the second Nixon inaugural ball in early 1973, a result of his association with Republican MGM head Mike Curb, lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. (Viner’s politics were more liberal; he’d worked as an aide for Robert Kennedy in the ’60s.) Later, Viner’s Dove imprint pioneered books-on-tape, and he later made a name publishing books based on tabloid scandal. Still, it’s the much-sampled Incredible Bongo Band recordings that stand as Viner’s lasting achievement.
"Their music is really pretty effin' sweet, dude!" --Mojo
"Holy moly. I really like this band. Gooooood stuff I'm hearing here on this here album." --Rolling Stone
"Plenty of amazing tracks. Two thumbs up!" --Pitchfork
"Uh, like, can I have another album by Dirty Projectors pronto!? This shit is to [sic] awesome!" --Spin
The critics have spoken, and Dirty Projectors are a hit! Following up on the success of Bitte Orca (TMT Review), Dirty Projectors are set to release the four-track Temecula Sunrise EP on September 28 via Domino. The EP, available as a 12-inch, will feature two new tracks, "Ascending Melody" and "Emblem of the World," alongside Bitte Orca tracks "Temecula Sunrise" and "Cannibal Resource."
The Temecula Sunrise EP tracklist:
A1. Temecula Sunrise
A2. Cannibal Resource
B1. Ascending Melody
B2. Emblem Of The World
Tourdates: 09.09.09 - Paris, France - Maroquinerie 09.11.09 - Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival 09.12.09 - Isle of Wight, UK - Bestival 09.13.09 - London, UK - Scala 09.16.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelans 09.19.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique 09.20.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg 09.21.09 - Berlin, Germany - Festsaal Kreuzberg 09.25.09 - Toulouse, France - Le Printemps de Septembre Festival
So, Radiohead didn't release a new EP this morning. But we did get both the new track "These Are My Twisted Words" free (via their website or torrent) and a message from Radiohead, which oddly fails to address the leak at all. (I bet it was Nigel Godrich! He always seemed prone to leaking tracks.) From Radiohead.com:
So here's a new song, called 'These Are My Twisted Words'.
We've been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished. We're pretty proud of it.
There's other stuff in various states of completion, but this is one we've been practicing, and which we'll probably play at this summer's concerts. Hope you like it.
Obviously the website was created by someone else (someone in The Netherlands, in fact), and sure, TMT never posted on the rumor, but boy do we feel put in our place anyway. What a profound gesture. This website, my friends, will alter journalism forever.
