In no particular order

Over the course of a semester, sometimes really good albums fall through the cracks. For the Arts in Review page, we try to cover relatively recent records, and sometimes I won’t hear (or even hear about) a really good album until it’s too late. So, basically, this is my second chance. The following are a half dozen really, really good albums (in no particular order) you should go listen to right now. Also, early apologies for the fact that they’re all extremely condensed and thus kind of jumpy.

Dear and the Headlights – Small Steps, Heavy Hooves

Let’s start with the most embarrassing omission of the year so far, Dear and the Headlights’ debut album. They’re signed to Equal Vision but might be the most dissimilar of all the EV bands, playing a much more mellow, melodic style than their label-mates. The band’s style is varied, sometimes folksier, sometimes more anthemic, but always worth tapping your toes to. Vocalist Ian Metzger in particular has a singing style that jumps from Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) to Richard Thompson (Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s) to Casey Crescenzo (the Dear Hunter) to Brandon Flowers (the Killers). Whether he’s whispering or yelling or anything in between, though, his clever-with-a-side-of-childishness lyrics are fully his own.

of Montreal – Icons, Abstract Thee

This one, an EP, is somewhat excusable, as I reviewed its accompanying full-length (Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?). I gave that an A, and I’d do the same for this one. In fact, I would go so far as to say Icons, Abstract Thee is even better. It represents the same stylistic shift of Montreal has made towards dance-punk and is equally as listenable, but the lyrics are much more straightforward and, because they still document Kevin Barnes’s own marital issues, from falling in love in “Du Og Meg” to where he is now in “No Conclusion,” it’s heart-wrenching even at its danciest.

The Diminisher – Imaginary Volcano

The solo debut of the well-traveled David McDonnell, who has played with the Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel in the past, to name a few, is difficult to describe stylistically. The bass line says 1960’s psychedelia and the electronic parts say contemporary electronica, but the ubiquitous harpsichord suggests something else entirely. McDonnell’s singing is reminiscent of Thom Yorke in its aimless wandering across the vocal spectrum.

Elliott Smith – New Moon 2xLP

If you remember this blog entry, you’ll recall I was initially unsure of what to expect from this. It’s entirely listenable and each track is just as good as anything Smith released in the time period, but much like 2004’s From a Basement on a Hill, New Moon lacks Elliott Smith’s blessing, without which the album seems premature.

Portugal. the Man – It’s Complicated Being a Wizard

Another EP, this one took a little to grow on me. It’s definitely a departure from the band’s more melodic debut, Waiter: “You Vultures,” and it’s paced a lot more deliberately, but this 23-minute electronic epic has its moments. Maybe I’m just a sucker for falsetto.

Dr. Dog – We All Belong

I hate calling things “Beatles-y,” but this album definitely feels like it’s pulled right from the 60’s. While it’s difficult to call anything with such clear influences “ambitious,” We All Belong is at the very least more dynamic than Dr. Dog’s last album, Easy Beat. Catchier hooks, stronger melodies, and there are tons of three-part harmonies, which is always a good thing.

Phantom From Another Planet

Well, the headliner of Movin' On, Phantom Planet, just capped its set and encore. The band rocked the Hub Lawn even after lead singer Alex Greenwald cut his finger and used the blood to make his own war paint. It was the fitting end to a long, long day for us reporters. But we had fun, so we guess that's all that matters.

Don't forget to pick up Monday's edition of the Collegian for a full recap of the day's events, including much more on Phantom Planet's set.

[That's what we call a teaser!]

Beardy McGee Udpate

Phantom Planet is rocking the night's biggest crowd right now, but we wanted to update an earlier post.

We managed to score one of his handbills, and he's running for county commissioner. His name is Chuck Roeschen, and if the name sound's familiar, it's because he's the organizer of the Chuck's Farm music festival. Rock on, dude.

He lists himself as a "political outsider" and "a voice for change."

We'll talk about Phantom Planet in a bit.

-Adam Clair

Can you Headbang to Sax and Bongos?

Lemonsoul, the winner of the Battle of the Bands with the most audience votes, with their sax and bongo drums, just didn't translate well to the audience who just got done watching Autority Zero howl and bang chords out of their guitars.

As a crowd began to fill by the main stage waiting for Phantom Planet, Lemonsoul played on the side stage to a fraction who chanted their name during what seemed like a short set, compared to Authority Zero's up-and-down long set (where they kept promising that each song was their last).

More to come on Authority Zero...

It's time to go run down for the main act!

-Stacey Federoff

Unoriginal

During Authority Zero's set, someone just yelled out a request for "Freebird." This is a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, but it's a request that has been made at every rock concert ever.

Incidentally, it's never been funny.

That's all for now.

-Adam Clair

Grease, Not Gas

We caught up with Piebald guitarist Aaron Stuart as the band was refilling their vegetable oil-fueled van with, well, more vegetable oil. Stuart said the crowd here was "super nice" and hoped all the Piebald fans new and old would come out when they come through Reading in about two months with Pennsylvania natives mewithoutYou.

Stuart urged that everyone try out the benefits of vegetable oil and of alternative fuels in general and repeatedly plugged the Web site www.greasenotgas.com. Using almost solely leftover grease from restaurant deep fryers, the band has covered roughly 13,000 miles on only about $500 spent on petroleum fuels. For the math impaired, that's 26 miles per dollar or 71.5 miles per $2.75 gallon of gas. Gnarly stuff.

-Adam Clair

Movin' On in the dark

The sun has set and the sky is dark. The temperature is dropping and our feet are growing sore, but the music plays on.

After Piebald's performance, which brought out the biggest crowd of the night thus far, No Outlet took the smaller stage.

After each show on the "large stage" the next band plays on a smaller stage. When this happens it seems the bands on the smaller stage get the leftover crowd.

However, No Outlet garnered a medium sized crowd, which grew as the performance went on.

Their music wasn't anything amazing. The performance was done with a simple play it safe style.

Their music was your typical battle of the bands type alternative rock, but the set was solid and the crowd seemed to enjoy the performance for the most part.

Authority O is now performing. Only about an hour and a half until Phantom Planet hits the stage.

- Katie Dvorak

So THAT's What a Real Rock Band Sounds Like

In front of the largest crowd of the day (which has now turned into night), Piebald played undoubtedly the best set of Movin' On so far.

Though they had a set list, the band varied its songs on request from the crowd as lead singer Travis Shettel bantered back and forth with them. They made a lot of new fans tonight and managed to please the old ones, playing songs from even their oldest albums as opposed to primarily playing songs off the new record as an attempt to shill it. After the bassist they had merch available underneath the tent, the guitarist added that it was more important for fans to come over to their van (powered mostly by vegetable oil) just to chill. Piebald has its priorities in order.

Isn't weird to read an entry on here that isn't just heckling?

-Adam Clair

Candy in the van?

Maybe it was because the weather has gotten everybody down, or maybe it was because we have been standing all day, but we were definitely more into Piebald's set than most of the crowd was, even though some people were singing along and the band gathered the biggest crowd we had seen all day. (The mellow audience watching Days Away comes in a close second.)

Coming off of a six-week tour, lead singer Travis Shettel said that the band was excited to go home and sleep in their own beds, but from the performance you wouldn't have know that they were tired. Near the end of the set, Shettel even climbed onto the guitarist's shoulders while they both continued to jam. (Hopefully there's a picture of that in the Collegian Photo Gallery! Our camera wasn't quick enough to catch it!)

The band invited everyone to their van, "Thor," to buy CDs and let the crowd know that "we have tons of candy in there if you want any..." and then said that they'd be around at their merch. table after the set.

A weather update: the rain that Lidz brought down fizzled out, especially after Shettel told it to "Stay up there, you!"

(Also, the kids, dogs and hippies seem to be fizzling out, too.)

- Stacey Federoff

Not Just For Elementary Students

"We mostly play for elementary students." That's how Lidz started their set. However, with their unique style and matching tee shirts (which on the back read "We Recycle") they received a lot of cheers and claps from a crowd full of people who haven't walked the halls of an elementary school in many years.

Their instruments included garbage cans, plastic containers, drumsticks and even brooms. Winner of the Battle of the Bands, Lidz kept the attention of the audience even as the clouds that have been threatening rain all day finally opened up.

As they began their last song, proclaiming "the storm was about to come," the rain eased into just a slight drizzle.

Piebald has now taken the stage. We're hoping the rain will keep holding off. Although, even the rain can't stop the music.


- Katie Dvorak

Z battles

Kidz in the hall finally got their set moving and they tried their hardest to get the crowd pumped. Penn State'z hip-hop following seems small by the reactions of the crowd. MC Naledge had some pretty good banter with the crowd. After one song where there was next to zero applause, he said "I feel like a lounge singer here, y'all want some requests? How about some John Mayer your body is a wonderland or something? These mics feel like rock mics, I feel like a real rock star here right now"

Naledge then freestyled over Nirvana's "Zmells Like Teen Spirit." He also pulled an encore freestyle that really wrapped up their set nicely, despite the lackluster crowd.

Then Lidz started their set and pulled a Doug Funny by banging on some trash cans and strummin on some street lights. As much as we wished and prayed for a full on Z battle between Kidz in the Hall and Lidz it didn't happen.

The Halfway Point

We're just about 6 hours into Movin' On.

Rap duo Kidz in the Hall was supposed to take the stage at 5:00, but the show didn't start until 30 minutez later. The microphone didn't start working until 5 minutez after that, and the second Kid in the Hall didn't make his entrance until 5 more minutez after that.

On the plus side, it's finally loud. The bass is turned way up and it's awesome. Just what the crowd needs.

More updatez to come.

And for those of you keeping track at home, the dog count is up to 7 (though the clothed dog count is still at one). We've also seen a whole bunch of hippiez and even more little kidz, but those numberz are still being tabulated.

-Adam Clair

More Numbers

Just in case you're wondering you can chalk up two more dogs and one more child.

Dogs: 6

Children: 4

- Stacey Federoff

All Metal-No Mosh

After Days Away the lawn emptied like Beaver Stadium after a football game. However, once Anamide got going the crowd started to return. Most people just stood and stared as the lead singer screamed into his microphone, jumping around on the stage and finally tearing off his sweatshirt - and sunglasses.

The band, which hails from Baltimore, brought their own banner promoting their own Web site-who needs a Myspace when you have that?

At the beginning of one of their songs the lead singer said a quote that sounded a little too familiar - until the realization set in that it was one of those quotes splashed across posters in middle schools all over the country, "Shoot for the moon, even if you don't reach you'll land among the stars."

The lead singer mentioned that the band had received hundreds of phone calls and thousands of e-mails to be put on random rotation at their local radio station. Saying that with fans, no matter what kind of band you are, "anything is possible."

But it didn't seem like they had too many fans here, besides a few head bobbers and one girl who seemed to know all the words despite the fact we had no idea what they were singing about. The fact that they played the opening to the song "C is for Cookie" by the one and only Cookie Monster didn't help much.


- Katie Dvorak and Stacey Federoff

Face melting

Before we talk about metal band Anamide, we wanted to update you on the dog count. There have now been five total dogs sighted, and we're hoping for more.

Now, Anamide. They've tried to cram as many metal cliches as they can into one little set, and in that regard, they're doing an admirable job. The lead singer greeted the crowd with an "Are there any rockers in the house tonight?" in spite of the fact that we're outside and it's, like, 4:30. Come on, dude.

Also, why is he wearing wraparound shades? We haven't seen the sun in hours and hours. Maybe it's best that he doesn't see the crowd, because aside from the sparsity, those who are still here aren't really rocking out to his liking.

-Adam Clair

Movin' On: By the Numbers

We promised at the beginning that we'd keep track of the Myspace shout-outs, but unfortunately, that blew up in our face. The count's held steady at three for the past couple hours, and as we get to the more established bands, it's likely to stay that way.

We did, however, have fun coming up with other categories to keep tallies of, and here's the updated list:

Hippies: 3
Dogs: 4
Dogs wearing clothes: 1 (see below)
Children: 4
Crazy dudes hoarding pamphlets: 1

iTunes and Napster are just barely behind Myspace. It's a race to the finish!

And yes, there are currently four children on the Hub Lawn. Unfortunately for Days Away, the reception in the 4- to 8-year-old age bracket was lukewarm. Another note on Days Away: the lead singer looks like either Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), Adam Levine (of Maroon 5), or Jason Lee (the actor with a son named Pilot Inspektor). We can't decide which.

Oh, and kudos to Chris, Tom, and Dev on the draft updates. Only three more picks until Puz drops to the Birds...Also, LOL @ Brady Quinn. Have fun in Cleveland.

-Kevin Doran

And the weather will hold; It's been ever so, ever so gray

Some observations:

-This is the worst fog machine we've ever seen. Seriously, it's barely a notch above "squirt bottle."
-The crowd is really starting to grow, which might be because Days Away is playing.
-The weather has held and it looks like it's actually improving. A rainless Movin' On, for which we're all desperately hoping, looks like a possibility.
-Days Away uses a lot of effects anyway, but we doubt it was intentional when lead singer Keith Goodwin knocked over the microphone stand, even though the feedback sounded Hendrix-like.
-There's a guy here (who has a sweet freaking beard) that has been clutching a stack of pamphlets. He's been really stingy with them, though, and we're not sure to whom he wants to hand them out. We sort of want to ask for one, but we're afraid it might ruin the mystique. It reminds us of the Sunshine Carpet Cleaners from Seinfeld.

-Adam Clair

You can be my Yoko Ono

Quick update on Slim Jim and the Fatty Five. We were listening to their last song and noticed the chorus had a very prominent placement of the phrase "moving on." We couldn't help but think they might have wanted to omit that song from their lineup 'cus people might think they're shills for ARHS & UPAC. Well upon further investigation we found that they actually wrote the song FOR MOVIN' ON. They wrote the song as a tribute to the festival. We just thought the world would need to know that.

Also, the between set music has been dominated by a Barenaked Ladies live CD. That's right folks, Movin' On is playing a live cd between sets at a concert. We guess that's a post-modern statement, because it's completely self-referential in the fact that they're reminding us all that we're at a concert at the moment. deep.

- Jim DiGiuseppe

"Anyone want to be the eggshaker?"

Slim Jim and The Fatty Five hit the stage in place of The Man as one of the winners of the Battle of the Bands. However, there were only four of them, with no one to play the eggshaker.

With a softer more acoustic sound, Slim Jim brought something different to the event. A violinist and keyboardist took the place of the electric guitars previous bands had.

Wearing sweaters and jeans and singing a song inspired by Bob Dylan the previous energy of earlier acts was not found.

The singer, who tried to engage the crowd in the music, didn't succeed with his vocals being too soft and quiet to make any impact on the crowd.

- Katie Dvorak

Is that the fog machine that smells like french fries?

Because one post on You, Me, and Everyone We Know isn't enough...

There's a huge depth to this band's sound. For instance, in the middle of one song, the lead singer started rapping Method Man's part from Jay-Z's "4 seasons":

"Where all the ladies at?
All the ladies in the house with the real hair
The clean underwear and she don't need welfare, make some noise
Check this sh*t out"

We can't make this up. If that wasn't enough in the middle of another song he started singing lyrics from Weezer's "el scorcho."

The banter was even better as he started talking about the weather more than anything else. Now we know that in the last episode of The Sopranos, Tony said the lowest form of conversation is "remember when." But we'd have to disagree, weather talk is by far the most waste of time you can spend communicating with people. This is a rock concert, not a call from your great aunt Betty.

Some more quotes from the band:

- "Everyone here is drunk" (said at 2:30 in the afternoon)

- "Thanks a lot. We're You, Me and Everyone We Know and we're a f**king train wreck"

- and of course the title of this post could only be a quote by these guys

The set never ended because on at least four separate occasions they told the crowd this was their last song and then played another song. This went on for 30 minutes.

The Myspace count is at 3 and rising, we've also managed our first hippie sighting. Speaking of hippies one can only pray for more rain so the latest rising of the Woodstock mud people can occur.

Slim Jim and the Fatty Five is playing in place of The Man, because The Man played a block party in Bloomsburg and didn't feel like making the drive back up to State College. We guess even the bands don't want to come to Movin' On!


- Jim DiGiuseppe

Mistaken Identity

Apparently George Lucas is a big fan of You, Me, and Everyone We Know. Since they screwed up naming their band after Me and You and Everyone We Know, maybe they can change their name to War of Some Stars or maybe Indianapolis Jones.



-Adam Clair

You, Me, and Every Fall Out Boy We Know

After a late start (spending a few minutes tuning their instruments and stuff), You, Me, and Everyone We Know took the stage. As journalists trying to write in AP style, that Oxford comma is a killer.

Both their lead singer and bassist have what we're going to describe as halfway between a mullet and a mohawk (because we can't think of a clever enough portmanteau to name it), with the charm of neither. Not really sure what that's about.

Anyway, the sound is a little bit of an issue. There hasn't been much feedback or anything like that, but it's just not loud enough. The volume is somewhere around a 4 or a 5, and it should probably be closer to a 9.

Earlier in the week, in the Behind the Arts Scene blog, we mentioned that the band sounded like a mix between Fall Out Boy and Say Anything, but this was after listening to just one song on their Myspace. After listening to a lot of their set, it's safe to say their sound is a lot closer to Fall Out Boy. Eh.

-Adam Clair

"Average At Best"

Someone Say Something just left the stage, and they're all headed back to New Jersey for a show. But only one will return. We're not sure if having 20 percent of your band attend Penn State should qualify you as eligible for the school's Battle of the Bands, but then, that's not for us to decide.

The band broke some lifetime milestones for our concert-going experience: It was the first time we'd seen a punk band cover The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Fire" while playing to a crowd that included a chihuahua wearing a hooded sweatshirt. God willing, it won't be the last.

First controversial moment on the HUB Lawn! A man wearing a brown leather jacket was totally breaking the No Smoking rule! Scandalouuuuuuus!

And here's a picture of that cute little chihuahua. Call me crazy, but does it look like it'd rather be somewhere else?


-Kevin Doran

Simply delighted

Even though it was drummer Jon Jester who had told me of his high expectations for the show, I just talked to Driving East lead singer Barrett Mullins, who told me that, because of the rain, they were surprised (and delighted) that anyone came out at all.

"The weather is always a determining factor," he said.

In other news, local act Someone Say Something has just taken the (side) stage. When people list their band's influences, they're usually talking about to whom they listen or from where they draw their inspiration. But I'm pretty sure that when lead singer Tim Sussman isn't listening to New Found Glory on a constant loop, he's watching old concert footage, studying it like game film to mimic their stage presence. I wouldn't be surprised if Sussman were related to NFG lead singer Jordan Pundik, down to the face and the posture.

-Adam Clair

Buy a CD. Help them drive further east

Driving East just finished their set and boy did they try their all. They really brought what absolutePunk.net calls "unparalleled monstrous hooks" It's almost... almost heartbreaking to see these bands play at top energy in front of about 80 people. I'll give Driving East one thing, they're pros when it comes to energy. Even when they got no reaction from the crowd after songs or even during some comedic banter, they still gave it their all.

Things to note:

- There's a new tally: The unnecessary Les Paul guitar countdown: and it's set at 2 now

- Driving East is the second band to mention iTunes, so it's good to see some support for DRM free music.

- there's a septuagenarian man here.....and he's sooooo gearing up for Anamide. In fact a third of the crowd at this college music festival seems to either be in high school or over 40.

- There's a 110 lb girl on security detail . Now I don't know how many crowd-surfers she's going to catch, but she is breaking the cardinal rule of concert security. No matter how much you enjoy the band behind you, always face the crowd...always.

Check back in after Someone Say Something for another update

- Jim DiGiuseppe

Driving East

When we talked to the lead singer from the Driving East last week for the profile in Venues, he told us he was excited to play here because he doesn't usually play in front of a couple thousand people. With a set time of 12:30 p.m. at one of the biggest party schools in the country at a muddy, overcast outdoor show, it's not really a surprise there are still fewer than a hundred people here so far, but we're sure he's let down. It's kind of ironic he came on after Hopes High, we guess.

As the day goes on--and our legs grow tired, our bodies weak, and our morale weary--expect these blog entries to be increasingly bitter and judgmental.

-Adam Clair

High Hopes

Hopes High just left the stage, and people are starting to show up. At first count, the crowd on the lawn couldn't have filled a Willard Building classroom. Now, it's looking more like the Forum. The clouds seem to be clearing out, so hopefully more people will start coming out.

A quick rundown of what to watch out for today:

- Besides updating whenever something cool or crazy happens, we plan on giving everyone a glimpse backstage. Whenever we interview a band, we'll bring you some excerpts.

-Myspace watch: with every post, we'll keep a tally of how many times a band mentions Myspace. Currently, the count is at one.

-Anyone who wants to give us NFL Draft updates throughout the day, they'd be very welcomed. (JaMarcus Russell? Seriously?)

That's it for now. Keep checking back every so often; we'll be updating regularly.



-Kevin Doran

Are You Ready to Rock?!

Good afternoon State College! We, the brave Collegian Arts reporters, will be bringing you live Movin' On updates over the course of the day.

The show is about to begin and there are roughly 14 people here. If you want an intimate show, this is where it's at.

-Adam Clair

Kicking It Live

Down here at the Collegian newsroom, I feel left out. The Greeks reporters had their THON blog, live-updating the world on all 46 hours. The football guys had the Outback Bowl, and more recently, the Blue-White game. As a music reporter, it's hard to do any live blogging unless you can travel. And as much as I'd love to travel to South by Southwest in Austin, or Coachella in California, I'm not sure many readers would care that much.

But this weekend will be different. Tomorrow is The Granddaddy of Them All for the arts staff. For film, it's the Student Film Organization's annual film festival at the State Theatre. For me and my music-oriented cohorts, it's Movin' On, live-blogging from noon until midnight. We'll have five reporters roaming the HUB Lawn and running to a computer whenever something crazy happens. For anyone reading, it'll be consistent entertainment throughout the day. For me, it'll be a first-time experience, something I've always wanted to do.

Every reporter dreams of breaking a story, getting the information published before anyone else can. Music reporters rarely — if ever — get that chance. The music world moves slowly, through press releases and very public leaks. As soon as one person finds out, a million other people have the information.

But tomorrow, the Collegian's Inside the Music World will be the only one with the information, and I'll be one of the people providing it. Sure, journalism is something of a public service (and it pays as such), but there's nothing more satisfying than the rush of delivering exciting news to the masses.

That's what I'll be doing tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it as much as I know I will.

The Plight of the Collegiate Music Reporter

In my time at the Collegian, I’ve interviewed a lot of musicians. In the past few weeks, the number has shot up with profiles for last week’s Battle of the Bands and next week’s Movin’ On Festival.

When I interview a musician, the first question I usually ask is, “How would you describe your music?” Even if I know the answer, it’s good to get it in the musician’s words, so I can use it in the article.

For some reason, as has been especially salient in the past few weeks as my number of interviews has skyrocketed, this question always catches people off guard. Honestly, if you get a call from a music reporter planning to write an article about you, how could this possibly be unexpected?

Seriously.

In very rare cases am I the first person to interview someone. In most cases, the subject has done interviews before, sometimes hundreds. They should have a stock answer by the time they talk to me. “Uh, we play, um, rock, I guess, high energy rock” isn’t good enough.

As a music critic, I describe what music sounds like on close to a weekly basis. I guess this means I have a “bias” towards others who can do the same, but I also figure that if you’re making music on a daily basis, you should be able to talk about it in a relatively confident manner.

First and foremost, music is meant to be listened to. But, as with any legitimate art form, there is merit in talking about it, too. When I review an album, I rarely spend more than a week listening to it. When someone is in a band—writing the music, rehearsing the music and playing the music live—there is a copious amount of time spent with the same material. If you can’t describe it, in concrete or abstract terms, you’re not paying attention.

You Can't Always Get What You Want (Or Pay For)

The digital age has brought a wealth of opportunities for music consumers to find new music, and a wealth of wealthiness for the companies ripping consumers off. That trend will end (or continue, depending on how you look at it) thanks to a new deal between iTunes and EMI.

Allow me to explain.

There are four major record labels in the entire world (called "The Big Four") which own 81% of the global music market. The rest is left to "independent" labels. But between Universal, Sony, Warner, and EMI, the music world is essentially split amongst four giant conglomerates. EMI, one of the Big Four, has been the least accompanying with iTunes, heretofore holding onto the Beatles' digital catalog as though it were made of digital diamonds. But thanks to EMI's persuasive skills and the power of Lennon-McCartney, iTunes is making some changes.

See, before now, everyone who's bought a track or album on iTunes has gotten screwed. When you buy an album on iTunes, you're buying a second-hand version of that album. A retail CD plays at 320 kilobytes per second (kbps). An iTunes album plays at 128 kbps. That's a huge drop-off. In addition to getting a second-hand copy of an album, consumers are also giving up their full ownership rights to that album. Thanks to something called DRM (digital rights management), consumers who buy an album on iTunes can only make a certain amount of copies of that album. This wouldn't be a problem to most people; they just want it on their iPods or computers to listen to once in a while. But it's somewhat akin to buying a DVD, watching it four times, and then being forced to give it back. It's like renting music for full price.

But now, thanks to EMI, consumers will have full rights to the music that they buy, if they get it DRM-free. They'll also get a version that plays at 256 kbps, that while still short of the 320 mark CDs provide, is actually pretty good. Hooray for justice!

Of course, it's not that simple. Thanks to these super-awesome advances for consumers, iTunes is going to bump up their prices. If you want to actually own your music and expect that it'll be of somewhat decent quality, you're going to have to shell out $1.29 as opposed to the usual 99 cents. As per iTunes' usual track-to-album ratio, that'll mean albums will go for $12.99 — no less than anything you can get on Amazon.com or City Lights Records, places which will give you a full 320 kbps version of the music.

In the end, I suppose the decision is left up to the consumer, which means the masses who see nothing but $1.29 versus 99 cents will continue to buy cheap. But if you expect to get everything you pay for, I suggest hitting the local record store.

The Fool

Let me recount for you how the early part of my Friday went last week.

I woke up inexplicably around 9 a.m. (inexplicable because I have no classes on Friday and thus no reason to get out of bed so early). I watched a movie and went back to sleep for a little while. When I woke up again a little before noon, I went onto my computer, where I saw that Tinymixtapes.com had announced they would be putting together a summer music festival in Minneapolis, an event that they promised would be headlined by a one-time reunion show of Neutral Milk Hotel.

Amidst my euphoria in the wake of this news, I quickly told anyone I thought would care as much as I did (and a few ungrateful others). Then I went to the gym for a little while.

When I got back, I checked the site again, where I saw that the site had admitted it was all a hoax and merely an April Fool’s joke (albeit two days early). The same site that had made my day that very morning managed to totally ruin it only a few hours later.

(As an aside, I listened to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea first to celebrate the great news and then later to wallow in my sorrow. It’s things like this that make it my favorite album ever.)

Anyway, when I first heard this news, I was cautiously optimistic. The band hasn’t made an album in nearly a decade and the last time “they” performed, it was Jeff Mangum by himself, in New Zealand, in 2001. I was justifiably incredulous, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say a part of me (the naïve, hopeful fan boy part) thought it could be true.

In the midst of the myriad other band reunions in the past few months, this didn’t seem wholly unrealistic. I had read only a few days earlier (*sigh* on an internet message board) that Mangum was in upstate New York writing new material, and based on what I know about the guy, he’s probably writing something, somewhere, not to mention his recent appearances at live performances and on albums of other Elephant 6 bands.

Though I wasn’t totally sure this was true, I immediately began contemplating the logistics of an August road trip to Minnesota.

Needless to say, I still feel a little bit miffed. When I was about 10 or 11, I thought it would be funny to run into my house in a panic and tell my mom that my little brother had been hit by a car. Yeah, I tricked her; I got her good. So good, in fact, that a few seconds later when I told her the truth, I got myself sent to my room for a little while.

I don’t think anyone will be sending Tinymixtapes.com to its room.

Yeah, they got me. I fell for it. Again, while I wasn’t totally sure, it’s the type of thing that’s such a big deal that questioning its validity is not the first reaction. In the case of my elementary age antics, my brother’s wellbeing was so important to my mom that, even if I was kidding, it made more sense to prepare for the worst. In the case of a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion, the course of action was to prepare for the best.

You may have noticed by now that this blog entry doesn’t really have a “point” or a “direction” or any sort of “focus.” Honestly, I don’t really have one. I’m just kind of pissed—at Tinymixtapes.com for duping me, but not at Jeff Mangum, who seems to be selfishly withholding his art. I’ve made my thoughts on this subject no secret, and even though I’ll probably spend the rest of my life waiting to hear more of his music, if he never records another note, he’ll at least have recorded one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. I reckon that’s good enough.

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

When the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the music world was turned on its end. The 1960s, a decade dominated by singles, had suddenly become an album-oriented era. This trend continued through the '70s, '80s, and '90s. In recent years, the art of the album has slowly died down.

But with this in mind, two significant album-related items came up this week. On Tuesday, Billboard announced that Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank moved the most copies of any album last week, totaling 129,000 albums ordered by retailers. To put the significance of this into perspective, the band had never had so much as a gold album until its 2004 release, Good News For People Who Love Bad News. With the new release, Modest Mouse beat out such pop heavyweights as Joss Stone and American Idol's Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry.

This news was interesting in conjunction with an article titled "The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor" in Sunday's New York Times. The article details how the album is essentially a dying art in the mainstream pop, hip-hop, R&B and country genres, offering the example of girl group Candy Hill, recently signed to a two song deal by Universal. Two songs? Seriously? Even Universal, which — no matter what the RIAA tells you — is making more money than God, can't afford to risk signing this group to a whole album deal. But in contrast to the more radio-friendly genres, "fans of jazz, classical, opera and certain rock (bands like Radiohead and Tool) will demand album-length listening experiences for many years to come."

Are these two events connected? I say they are. Modest Mouse has gradually built a rabid album-loving fan base, ultimately resulting in two smash hits in a row. A similar thing happened to Arcade Fire, though signed to an independent label, hit number two with its second album, Neon Bible. The same goes for The Shins, whose album Wincing the Night Away debuted at number three without the help of major label support.

Is the album going the way of the buffalo? Maybe, for the RIAA and Clear Channel. But even in the singles era of the 1950s to 1960s, artists like Bob Dylan were relying on the LP to hit it big. I love albums, but I'll welcome this singles era with open arms if it ends in another golden age of music.

You know those guitars, that are like, double guitars, you know?

Over spring break, I went to a pair of concerts, headlined respectively by of Montreal and the Shins. Both bands played great sets, and the of Montreal show was actually one of the best I have ever seen. But, in spite of two great performances by two great bands, the most salient thing from either show was a minor equipment change by one of the opening bands.

Viva Voce is a two-piece indie band originally from Muscle Shoals, Alabama but currently based in Portland, Oregon. They played a pretty blah set, until Anita Robinson—the wife part of the husband-and-wife duo—made another equipment change, pulling a double-necked guitar off the rack and strapping it on.

Sometimes double guitars have a 12-string and a six-string. Sometimes, one neck is fretless while the other is regular. The one Robinson pulled out was a bass and guitar combo.

Sweet, I thought. Most of the songs were primarily her playing guitar and her husband, Kevin, playing drums and maybe a few toys, with a recorded bass line dubbed underneath. Maybe now she’ll play both.

For the first song with the double guitar, she only played the bass part. Then they stopped, told everyone they’d be playing one more song, and proceeded to play, as promised, one more song. On this number, she played only the guitar part.

There was absolutely no reason for her to have had a double necked guitar.

Putting two necks on the same guitar can be extremely convenient if a musician has to switch instruments midway through a song, or if he has to change instruments quickly between songs. Robinson played one neck through one song, stopped, screwed around, and played the other through the other song. Both band members had made a few equipment changes throughout the show, so this premeditated time-saving technique seemed superfluous and served only to say, “Hey, look at this cool thing I have.”

I realize this just sounds like I’m making a huge deal out of a tiny little thing, and that this tiny little thing has absolutely no bearing on the band overall. First of all, if the band had played a great set, this is the type of thing I could probably excuse—but they didn’t. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good enough.

Second, and more importantly, this seemingly tiny little thing is what we like to call a “microcosm,” emblematic of the illusory concept of theatrics in music. The two headlining bands I saw were perhaps the two most diametrically opposed acts I can think of when it comes to on-stage histrionics.

The Shins took the stage, played their set, and left, with little banter or anything in between. For them, it worked. Of Montreal, on the other hand, had a set littered with costumes and props and bizarre performance art for which I can think of no comparison, but for them, it totally worked, because it wasn’t forced. Of Montreal is a whimsical band by nature, and it’s nothing out of the ordinary to see frontman Kevin Barnes ascend a 12-foot ladder, put on a dress, and sing a song as his transvestite alter-ego Georgie Fruit.

But it’s not something every band can pull off. The double neck guitar serves a purpose, but it’s mostly for show, and for an otherwise unassuming band like Viva Voce, it was totally unnecessary, wildly pretentious, and actually, it was kind of insulting.

Steal This Blog

The Recording Industry Association of America needs to back off.

If you want to read a book, you can go do it for free at a library. If you want to watch a movie, you can rent one from a video store. If you want to look at a painting, you can do so for a rather low price (if any at all) at a museum. And yet, miraculously, people still buy books and magazines and DVDs and paintings and prints and posters.

And yes, despite what the RIAA might have you believe, people do actually still buy CDs.

In fact, there has been absolutely no concrete evidence proving any decline in record sales as a result of internet file sharing. There is slight correlational (although no causal) evidence to suggest as much, but there is just as much that will tell you record sells have actually increased since the “Napster Era” began.

Basically, the RIAA has not been able to prove that they’re losing money as a result of internet file sharing (though they’ll probably make plenty of money from the thousands upon thousands of lawsuits they’ve filed and continue to file against, among others, children, dead people, and folks who don’t even have Internet access).

In a perfect world, people would be more concerned with making great music great than with being great musicians and great artists, and in general, people wouldn’t be motivated by money. But, unfortunately, art and money have gone hand in hand for some time. Michelangelo probably wouldn’t have painted the Sistine Chapel were it not for commissions from Popes Julius II and Paul III, and Charles Dickens probably wouldn’t have written Great Expectations were he not paid by installment. So if a musician is motivated even partially by money, so be it.

If this is true though, file sharing still shouldn’t be discouraged because, quite frankly, musicians don’t make much money off album sales anyway (though the recording companies make plenty).

Where a musician makes his money—if he makes money—is from ticket and merchandise sales, meaning if an artist really does want money, he needs people to come to his shows. Is it not logical to figure that, if more people who hear your music (whether they’ve paid for it or not), more people will come to your show?

I’m not a marketing expert, and I’m in no position to tell record executives how they should market their bands, but then again, it’s not the musicians who are losing or making money as record sales fluctuate. But as long as the RIAA is going to cry poverty in the name of the artists, they need to start working to actually help the artists.

I Wanna Be Your Dog

Iggy and the Stooges (or just the Stooges, if you prefer) were one of the driving forces behind the proto-punk era. Aside from The Who and The Velvet Underground, I don't think there's a single band that did more for the creation of bands like the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols.

Iggy Pop is now 59 going on 90, so naturally the Stooges are re-uniting for a new album (with the Minutemen's awesome bassist Mike Watt joining them). Judging from one of the new songs, "Free & Freaky," the album will suck. But let's focus on the positive. I want to talk about what made the Stooges great in the first place: the band's seminal self-titled album, released in 1969.

The signature of the Stooges was Iggy Pop. He wasn't the only great thing about them, but he was the MVP of the band. He defined the punk frontman aesthetic that guys like Joey Ramone and Johnny Rotten strived to embody. You might say that Mick Jagger already defined that aesthetic with the early Rolling Stones records, but Iggy took that attitude to a new level. His growl on "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and his screams on "No Fun" were unheard of to that point.

The band nicks a lot of its style from the Velvets, of course, but while Lou Reed's style matched the DIY attitude that punk rockers would take to heart, his music lacked the visceral anger that Iggy and the Stooges provided. Going back to "I Wanna Be Your Dog," I don't think there was a song that sinister ever recorded to that point. I don't even know if there's been one since. The riff is heavier than anything Led Zeppelin ever did, but the bleak staccato piano in the background combines to make it sound just plain evil. And the jingle bells! There are jingle bells!

The Stooges were undoubtedly one of the most influential rock bands of all time. They've been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame six times, including this year, but still have yet to make it in. Ironically enough, if the new album flops, it might wipe them off the Hall's radar for a while. But seeing as the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols are all Hall of Famers now, it's a headscratcher as to why the Stooges are still out in the cold. I'm sure they'll make it in someday, but hopefully that day comes before Iggy Pop's skin falls off his skeleton.

A question mark

First off, as a newcomer to this blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Adam. Though I may be the shortest tenured and perhaps least heralded of the Collegian’s senior music reporters, I’m a feisty up-and-comer looking to prove my mettle.

Last week, I read on Pitchfork that more of Elliott Smith’s music would be released by Kill Rock Stars, the label that released Elliott Smith and Either/Or. The label plans to put out a two-disc collection of some of his unreleased songs, recorded between 1994 and 1997, the same time he was making the two albums that KRS released.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this.

I’m a huge Elliott Smith fan, so I won’t even hesitate to listen to all of it (and I’ll probably really like the music), but I can’t help but wonder what it will do to how I feel about him as an artist.

I often ask myself the question, “What if?” when it comes to a lot of bands and musicians. What if this rock band was still together, or what if that singer-songwriter never killed himself—what would they have done? Sometimes, like in the case of At the Drive-In members forming the Mars Volta, one great band can spawn another one, but this is a rarity in the grand scheme of things. More often than not, I find myself feeling bitter and wondering about what could have been.

It happens in the sports world, too: What if Barry Sanders hadn’t quit in his prime, if Bo Jackson hadn’t divided his focus between football and baseball or if Shawn Kemp had never discovered the effects that copious amounts of cocaine have on the human body. But with music, it’s a little different.

With an athlete, the player inevitably retires, and as legendary as he may be, he will always be confined by the context in which he succeeded. You can watch highlights of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and recognize he was a dominant player, but when you see his short little shorts and his ridiculous goggles, you know he was from a different time. While you can’t see most bands from the 1960’s play live anymore, you can still listen to them in the same capacity that fans from nearly half a century ago listened to them. As a result, truly great music carries with it a certain unequivocal timelessness that makes it continue to matter on the same level. For example, the Beatles are as relevant now, decades after they broke up, as they were when they were actually together—if not more so.

Sometimes a band breaks up, or a musician dies, or sometimes they simply can’t bring themselves to make music anymore. In all these cases, though, it reminds us just how taxing—emotionally and creatively—it is to be an artist in the spotlight. It’s something I take for granted when actually listening to something like Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea or Jeff Buckley’s Grace, but at the same time, it’s something that lends a certain mystique to these kinds of albums without which they just wouldn’t be the same, and it’s something that sometimes makes me feel like crying when the music stops.

There’s a line in a Neil Young song (“Hey Hey, My My”) that says “It’s better to burn out/Than to fade away.” More than 25 years later, Young has ignored his own wisdom and continues to make music.

In 1994, Kurt Cobain ended his suicide note (and, obviously, his musical career) with the same lyric. While Young is thought of as one of the most influential artists of the last 50 years, Cobain (along with Nirvana and Nevermind) is iconic, and it has everything to do with the fact that only one of the two is still alive.

I’m not saying Neil Young should have killed himself—he’s made some great music, and he’s probably a pretty decent guy who deserves to live. What I’m saying is that if he had killed himself, or if he had found some other tragic way to end his musical career and had abruptly stopped playing while he was still at his peak, his music would be looked at in a profoundly different way.

If the Beatles hadn’t broken up, or if Jeff Mangum hadn’t had a nervous breakdown, or if Elliott Smith were still alive, maybe they’d all still be making more incredible music. Or maybe they wouldn’t. There’s absolutely no way of knowing—and this can be extremely frustrating—but it’s this very uncertainty that comes from wondering about the music they could have or would have made that makes listening to the music they actually did make an engaging, reverent and wholly powerful experience.

Declaration of Independence

More times than I care to count, I've heard "indie" used as a genre label or even sometimes as a put-down, as though "indie" music is automatically inferior to mainstream music.

The truth is that neither of these things are true. In recent years, "indie" has become a genre like rock or hip-hop or pop. In reality, "indie" doesn't really mean anything anymore. I blame this on The O.C., but that's another blog for another time. Radiohead and The Flaming Lips could be called indie rock, but both are signed to major labels and therefore, by definition, not indie. Lil' Jon is signed to TVT Records, an indie label, but I doubt you'd ever hear anyone call the King of Crunk "indie."

Since everyone has a different definition of "indie," here's mine: placing the artistic integrity of music at a higher priority than the commercial result. A band like the Foo Fighters is what it is at face value: a high-energy "alternative" (another label that no longer means anything) rock band that makes a ton of money. But to survive, they have to keep pumping out hits. To keep pumping out hits, they're going to have to do things that might sacrifice their artistic integrity.

On the other hand, you have an "indie" band like The Decemberists who comes out with a modern progressive pop concept album based on a Japanese folk tale, all while signed to Capitol Records, a major label.

I don't mean to come off as biased against the mainstream. I don't hate the player, I hate the game. I wonder why some bands like TV on the Radio and The Decemberists can sign to major labels and still put out albums that work artistically. I wonder why a band like the Foo Fighters can go from making near-perfect albums like The Colour and the Shape to making bloated, overwrought albums like In Your Honor. I guess it's all about the Benjamins.

Let's Go Crazy

Sometimes I just don't understand the winds of change.

All the VH-1 shows in the world couldn't make me understand why the '80s were such a weird time for music. Boy George was a superstar. Robert Smith of The Cure made it socially acceptable for sad teenagers to wear make-up. And Prince was an icon.

Growing up, I never understood the mystique of Prince. I wondered who this weirdo with the symbol for a name was, and how he ever got to be famous. When I actually listened to his music, I wondered how he had so many hit songs. But I guess the '80s was just a weird time to be alive.

In recent years, I've warmed up to Prince. He's still weird, but he writes some awesome pop songs and he's one of the best guitar players since Jimi Hendrix. But it seems like my peers, many of whom genuinely enjoy plenty of '80s music, give Prince mixed reviews. Immediately after the Super Bowl Halftime Show, I got a few texts that demonstrated this perfectly:

• "This is such a train wreck."
• "Someone should tell him he's not a pop star anymore."
• "That was awesome...They have no taste or appreciation."

I can understand why people would doubt Prince's relevance at this point, since he hasn't had a hit in what seems like forever. But for me, the proof is in the pudding. Two of his singles from 3121, his most recent album, are fantastic. "Black Sweat" is the 48-year-old Prince beating J-Tim at his own game, and on "Fury," Prince plays guitar better than most of his contemporaries could dream of. In the halftime show, he did things the Foo Fighters wish they were capable of doing on his cover of "Best of You."

It's a shame, really. If Prince had done this show 20 years ago, it would've gone down as one of the best ever. But now his star has faded, and much like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones in the past couple years, he's seemed over-the-hill to younger generations. To me, though, he showed he can still shred like a beast.

Oh, Inverted Charts

Hey there, this is Dustin Pangonis. If you read our local arts blog, you might recognize me. If you do read it and were glad to see a music blog without my name attached, sorry to disappoint you, but I'll be posting on this on now and again, too.

My column this week focuses on a bit of surprise: the Shins' third album, Wincing the Night Away, will debut as the second-best selling album in the country this week. In an era of weak album sales, this only took 118,00 units, but it's still the second biggest in the country, and still a bit of a surprise.

It's the best chart position ever for indie label Sub Pop records, which has released only one platinum album (Nirvana's Bleach) and one gold album (The Postal Service's Give Up.) But in an era when the lines between indie and major label are being blurred further and further, how much of a surprise is it?

While the Shins do well for themselves, they're certainly not pop stars. Yeah, they've got the O.C./Garden State thing going for them, but they don't have any hit singles or pop star image. In fact, I defy anyone but huge fans to tell me what the guys look like or pick them out of a sea of clean cut indie guys in t-shirts and jeans.

And for a genre that used to be defined by inaccessibility and quirkiness, that's a huge change. The Shins are indie mainly by virtue of their label; their music is fairly accessible, catchy guitar pop, and that's just gotten more straightforward on the new release. Their success isn't as bizarre as that of a group like Modest Mouse, but it's not as much of a no-brainer as an emo-skirting group like Death Cab, either.

I guess it worries me that a pretty average album (given a flat "C" by the other author of his blog, Kevin Doran) is becoming one of Sub Pop's greatest successes. It's safe to say the Shins won't go on to rock the music world like Nirvana. They don't have that unique charm of the Postal Service, or of countless other Sub Pop bands.

So how does something like this happen? For awhile, I was kind of excited by the growing interest in indie bands, but I think my interest in the style made me blind to the obvious: as with any type of music, the blander and less challenging you get, the more chance you'll have of mainstream success. The new record doesn't have anything on the first two, but it will sell tons, and they'll move to a major and probably water it down some more. When a band on Sub Pop sounds fine on the radio inbetween Coldplay singles, no wonder the term "indie" is losing all meaning.

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

Last semester, we took a big step at the Daily Collegian by expanding our Web coverage. As a fan of novelty on the Internet-- I live on Youtube and Wikipedia -- I was satisfied. While it seemed like we had all the bases covered with my esteemed colleague Dustin Pangonis' Behind the Arts Scene blog, I still found that there was a lot more about the music world Collegian readers need to know about. That's where this blog came from. Dustin and I will be switching on and off for the arts and music blogs depending on our moods, but the important thing is that now you, the Collegian reader, will get a look at what's going on in music across the world.

This week's big news item was the unveiling of the lineup for the Coachella Music Festival. In case you don't know what that is, picture thousands of music snobs gathering in the California desert to catch hundreds of the most significant indie, hip-hop, and alternative acts in the world. So what makes this year so special? Well, Coachella has been the place to be for reuniting rock acts of old, with recent years including performances by the Pixies, Jane's Addiction and Iggy Pop & the Stooges. This year is no different. For the first time in seven years, Rage Against the Machine, who played the inaugural Coachella back in 1999, will play together. Fear not, Audioslave fans, for it's a one-night-only thing. The band will close the three-day show with its signature high-octane live performance. Rage hasn't seemed as cool since they broke up, but when they were around, they were one of the greatest live acts in the world.

If you're not a Rage fan and you're planning on heading west in late April, the other highlights at the show are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, The Arcade Fire, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys, The Decemberists…you know what? There are way too many to list. Check out the full lineup here.

In other news…speaking of reunions, The Police are reportedly set to reunite at the Grammys and subsequently tour. I like the Police and all, but I'd much rather listen to Outlandos d'Amour than see some 50-somethings play songs they recorded 25 years ago. Van Halen is also looking to tour again, this time with David Lee Roth. I wonder if he can still fit into those spandex pants...Russ Feingold (D-WI) is calling for the FCC's payola reform to include "meaningful access to the airwaves for independent labels and local artists," according to FMQB. Fight the Man, Feingold…Ewan McGregor has expressed interest in playing Kurt Cobain in Courtney Love's sure-to-be-a-trainwreck biopic of her widowed, Heavier than Heaven. Love said, "It has no script and no director attached, but if the movie is made it will of course be an A-list and high end film." I'm glad she's got her priorities straight...

That's all for this week. Tune (get it? TUNE?) in next week for more awesome music news.