musical – unhillbilly

2013 Exhumation: Robots want your love.

I’m unearthing a unpublished draft post written in reaction to the announcement of Google Play All Access from 2013. I recall thinking of “Tyranny of the Majority”, “Dunbar’s Number” and “The 90-9-1 Principle” and the notion that communities of unpaid music curators are rare, fragile, precious and worthy of preservation. The thing is, what Google was promoting… Continue reading 2013 Exhumation: Robots want your love.

Rdio, dear Rdio

I’ve been a subscriber since June 2010. I’ve been a loyal supporter and paying customer. I’m seriously disappointed by the most recent UI changes which have either buried or eliminated the features that distinguished you from your competitors. I am not alone in this opinion. See here, here, here, here, here, and here. But that’s not the… Continue reading Rdio, dear Rdio

What is this Kawaii Metal?

I’ve seen lots of stuff I don’t understand but this particular video has me prisoner because I believe it signifies something of import. Yes, it is a mash-up of Death-Metal, Kawaii, millisecond edits, Jesus, teen-fetish, and intricate over-loaded hand gestures. It may play out as an ephemeral trans-cultural fad. However, I ponder why this artifact came to… Continue reading What is this Kawaii Metal?

Marvelous Band + Game Show to Tour Again

The Spectacular Return of ‘The Spectacular Spinning Songbook’-Elvis Costello has decided to revolve again this year – bit.ly/14B7sRD — Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) March 22, 2013 More details regarding past tours.

Jon Brion on Songs vs. Performances

In 2006 whilst on a relatively rare appearance outside Los Angeles, Greg Kot & Jim DeRogatis of SoundOpinions interviewed Jon Brion. The Full Show • Interview with Jon starts at ~ 20 minutes in. See also the Footnotes. TL;DR edited version: An illustrated YouTube excerpt of Songs vs. Performances

Philip “Pud” Kaplan

Why am I writing about Philip Kaplan? Pud founded AdBrite and Fucked Company. In retrospect, Fucked Company may have best thing I ever experienced on the internet (perhaps except for 4chan, about which I cannot and shall not comment). This is perhaps astounding because FC was nothing like the internet of today. FC was all text. Were such a forum to exist today,… Continue reading Philip “Pud” Kaplan

Meet The New Boss, Worse Than The Old Boss? -Full Post

Originally posted on The Trichordist:
By David Lowery (Copyright in the author, used by permission) What follows is based on my notes and slides from my talk at SF Music Tech Summit. I realize that I’m about to alienate some of my friends that work on the tech side of the music business. These are…

In SocialBookFace, the Music Plays YOU!

[originally posted on Rdio] I’m afraid the road ahead for digital music purveyors will continue to be bumpy. Expect the multi-billion dollar social media investment bubble to get serious about demanding returns from advertising, entertainment, gaming, and publishing revenue streams. Maybe it’s already started with the arrangements made between Facebook, Spotify, MOG, Pandora, Rdio, et… Continue reading In SocialBookFace, the Music Plays YOU!