Marnie Stern Adds More Dates with Gang Gang Dance, Spins
By Mr P on 10-29-2008
Look at the silhouette of Marnie Stern spinning below. Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?
If you think Stern is spinning clockwise, then you use your right side of the brain more, which tends to be associated with feelings, imagination, symbols, philosophy/religion, fantasy, and creativity.
If you think Stern is spinning counter-clockwise, then your brain is more attuned to logic, language, reality, practicality, math, and science.
If you like Stern's new album, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That (TMT Review), then you'll want to catch her and Gang Gang Dance (TMT Review) on their newly expanded tour, where she'll spin for you in person:
$ Gang Gang Dance
Surprise! Payola Still Keeps Indie Labels off the Air, According to Study
By ryryjensen on 10-29-2008
Independent labels do not get the same treatment as majors in terms of radio airplay, a new survey finds. The A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) conducted the 18-month survey of 61 indie labels -- the largest in the past decade -- to judge the effectiveness of FCC's Rules of Engagement agreement, which was signed in March 2007 and put into place to curb payola in commercial radio practices.
The study concludes that over 92% of indie labels reported no change in relationships with radio stations, and 41% claim payola still determines commercial radio airplay. Since the signing of the FCC settlement, one in four labels (nine of the thirty-nine that responded to this particular question) indicated they had been asked to at one point supply some form of payola.
The A2IM is quick to dismiss the study as a completely negative finding, indicating the presence of some success stories and the 5.8% of labels that say they have a better relationship with commercial radio stations since the agreement. The organization also considers the success of internet and satellite radio by independent labels and musicians as a positive sign.
Commercial radio stations, meanwhile, can take this survey into account and pay more attention to independent labels. As Rich Bengloff, President of A2IM explains: "Rebranding radio as cool and creating a stronger bond with their local listeners is vital to the health of radio. We invite radio programmers to read this report and open their minds – and playlists – to the opportunities presented by playing more independent music.”
Frida Hyvönen Hopes That Major East Coast Cities Will Love Her New Album
By Melissa Muenz on 10-29-2008
Swedish singer/songwriter Frida Hyvönen will be releasing her new album Silence is Wild next Tuesday, Election Day, via Secretly Canadian. And just how she hopes that her sprawling vocals and enjambed lyrics will be enough to carry the whole album, she also hopes that performing in major East Coast cities will be enough to promote it. Perhaps these are the cities where vocally-driven piano stars are born?
While Hyvönen takes the day off from touring on her U.S. release date -- perhaps to let the political importance of it all sink in -- she hits New York, DC, and Philadelphia in the first half of November. And Chicago, just to shake things up. Chicago loves lady singers, too. Then she's off to Europe through mid-December.
Silence Is Wild tracklist:
Bon Iver’s Big Spankable Tour
By Hatchet on 10-29-2008
In a perfect world, Bon Iver would provide the soundtrack to the film adaptation of the romance novel, Big Spankable Asses. At first thought, you may think the tender music of Bon Iver might clash with the blunt substance of a movie like Big Spankable Asses, and you'd be exactly right. They wouldn't go together at all, IF you let some Hollywood bigwig muck it all up by changing the purity of the story.
Big Spankable Asses is written in the literary tradition of E.M. Forster's An Assage to India and Graham Greene's The Quiet Ass. The story takes place in 1940s New York City, following an ass-loving private detective who is wrapped up in a murder mystery after his partner is killed. He finds himself with a femme fatale, searching for the stuff dreams are made of: Big Spankable Asses. He thinks he's found the mythical items, but they're made of lead. Oops!
The story is delicate and emotional, and it needs someone like Bon Iver to paint a soothing picture over the pain and greed for asses that is our humanity. I'd like to write the adaptation, but I know those Hollywood turkeys would turn it into some sleazy sex romp with guys running around bottomless getting all ass-crazy. I haven't approached Bon Iver with the proposition yet, but I'm confident we can maintain the integrity of the work of all three original authors. I'll try and meet up with Bon Iver at all of these locations:
