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October 31, 2007

ニギー・ターダスト

ニギー・ターダスト
アーティスト直販アルバムの日本語訳(niggytardust-japanese.pdf)をやっちゃってみました。

ご参考までに。
適当に回して下さい。

同じファイルは既にアーティストに渡っています。


Niggy Tardust and the Pigs from Oink, turning Japanese

This, for me, was pretty funny.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/10/trent_reznor_and_saul_williams.html


What do you think about OiNK being shut down?

Trent: I'll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If OiNK cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn't the equivalent of that in the retail space right now. iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc. Amazon has potential, but none of them get around the issue of pre-release leaks. And that's what's such a difficult puzzle at the moment. If your favorite band in the world has a leaked record out, do you listen to it or do you not listen to it? People on those boards, they're grateful for the person that uploaded it — they're the hero. They're not stealing it because they're going to make money off of it; they're stealing it because they love the band. I'm not saying that I think OiNK is morally correct, but I do know that it existed because it filled a void of what people want.

I had been exchanging email with a new "virtual" friend of mine, a fellow who is also involved in music commerce. I think my friend is far more grounded than I am!

Anyway. What I wrote to him in my email was:

In reference to the blog post at http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2007/10/when-pigs-fly-death-of-oink-birth-of.html which I had read before being notified, I said;

I read that oink article a few days ago, very interesting I agree. I wasn't aware it was done by the guy that did NIN art. I knew he had proper perspective.
Oink was great, as I said, all it lacked was monetization. Interestingly, xxxxxxxxxxxxx said he fwd'd my translation of Niggy Tardust over.

Oink wasn't utopia though, it could of have been deeper, there were some bootlegs I was on the lookout for some friends in America, Neil Young stuff. But it had the modern contemporary classics like Steve Reich, etc, it was of quality. But it didn't deny current stuff, I downloaded Fallout Boy just for kicks. Would I buy that stuff? No way. I was skeptical of it at first, but I found myself using it more and more. I obviously knew what I was doing and how much it cost to make those recordings, but I wanted to see from the user perspective, what entices them to act in such ways? With oink, it was simple. Good music, filtered and recommended by knowledgeable people and a members only social filter that didn't allow any mess. SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD OLD RECORD SHOP TO ME! All that imeem stuff pales in comparison to oink.cd, too much frosted sugar coating and no meat. No hardcore. However, I am slightly impressed with imeem, they seem to use a robot/crawler or an intern to scan the blogs and they have checked out my post. The guy running oink.cd probably made no money doing it, it was 100% contribution only. I would of have paid maybe $30 a month subscription or probably $3 to $5 per album if the money went to the artists.

What makes the story even funnier is that having found out about the Niggy Tardust album, it triggered feelings inside of me. So, I translated it into Japanese. Took a few hours. Not one of my best works, but I felt if it had a chance, time was of essence. I know one of the people in the NIN camp, so emailed it over and it is now apparently in the hands of Trent Reznor. I've no idea if they will use it or not, they have their agendas and lives, so I don't really care. What is important is that I agreed to their idea and principle and acted upon it. I even blew off a date to do that (and a date for me is a rare occurence)! If any of you want a copy, here is a download link to niggytardust-japanese.pdf.

Links for 1st November, 2007

I'm going to start posting links to websites and/or articles and/or stuff that evoked a response out of me.

Found this yesterday.


http://www.folkstreams.net/

The best of American folklore films
I was looking for footage of Othar Turner and stumbled onto this seemingly wonderful website.

Now deceased, I've only seen Othar Turner perform once. I was lucky I actually saw the man play, since that might be the best musical/spiritual experience I've had and was one of his last. It was indescribable.

There is always something that connects the dots and in terms of rock and roll, a lot of it did come from the blues. If you think about where punk, etc came from, a lot of it came from rock and roll. With wonderful and free databases such as the above website, youtube.com and amazon.com aplenty, there is a whole legacy of dots that are waiting to be connected, by you.


October 30, 2007

this is great

sourced from http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/?p=967

connect the dots. keep the legacy alive.

"long before Boston was Titletown and even longer before people like us figured out how to commodify stuff like this"

tomorrow's hits today (??????????)

i was just checking my email. then found this.

ピクチャ 1.png

i have nothing against any of these people, in fact, i think they're all competent singers and entertainers. however, i do find the titles "tomorrow's hits today" and "new music tuesday" very ironic. is this what is left? surely not.

seems like recommendation algorithm/engine rehash time! dear itunes, why don't you hire a music editor to proof read this stuff before it goes out? surely there are qualified people abound.

http://www.vbs.tv/

http://www.vbs.tv/, Vice Magazine's internet TV station. I think this is great, it actually gives content with context. Take this interview with Mark E. smith for example. He's alive and it not some intello-jello making muso journo asking the same old bs. He's laughing, he's engaged, he wants to talk.

http://www.imeem.com/

my main computer, an apple macbookpro, joined a wet t-shirt contest and won. she found a hunk of a man and took off with him. so while i try to get her back, i am back with my old lover, powerbook. powerbook is a hot bird, she gives me burns when i type her on the bed. she's a little slow, but her keystrokes are a more solid feel.

anyway. been checking out http://www.imeem.com/. is it just me, or do these websites always have the same "schtick" on playlists and genere classification and whatnot? ie, don't they all seem very shallow?

i can understand that if you're aged between 10 to 20, your musical tastes being narrow. i can understand that this is probably the (shrinking?) age group that the marketeers want to dominate. but what about me? almost 40, but still interested in finding new music. do i have to keep on stumbling upon website after website? isn't the world going to be flat? i like modest mouse "dashboard", fuck, they're friends of mine. major namedropping aktion! but when you reach a conversant level with music, if you heard a song twice, you kind of build a database of the structure and you want to move on to something else.

or what about older music? don't people want to know what inspired whoever to come up with whatever song? or where they got the idea, or oftentimes, plain ripped it off? the art is in making your references vague, referencing happens all the time. it's a statement of respect and compliment.

i want a panic/surprise button.

applestore genius bar, you better fix my keyboard on the spot tomorrow. otherwise i ain't buying that leopard skin swimsuit. ooh, just gave me the horn thinking about that. build my own midgets.

Brian Eno - Music For Airports Interview

October 26, 2007

Quite Interesting

I've thought about it and have my own set of conclusions. Some are pretty solid, some graduate slightly. But they are opinions nonetheless and by having a thought process, my thoughts are mine. Collected and derived from other sources and wonderful coaches I have found, but via exercise, they become mine, not yours or a copy. I've had enough of copy copy copy. Deconstruct it, get rid of the ego. Scream if you have to.

Think for yourself.

googleは日本発はあり得ない?

■技術とイノベーション 2007-10-17 7:29:00 by yousmz

ある知り合いと久しぶりにあっていろんな話をした中の一つです。

Googleがどんどんすごいことになっていますよね。
新しい技術を研究して、それを無料サービスとして公開する。


広告で成り立っている企業とはいえ、このスピードはすごいですよね。

日本でも最近多くのサービスが立ち上がり、それによって多くの企業が成長しています。

しかし根本的なな違いがあります。

日本ででてくる新しいサービスは「米国ですでにある」ものだということです。

要するに、「コピー」+αでしかないということですね。

もちろんGoogleも検索エンジンという考え方は「コピー」になるかもしれませんが、サービス全体を捉えた時のビジネスモデルがこれまでにない斬新なものだったということだと思います。

このようなサービスは日本では生まれていない。

ここに大きな理由があります。
日本企業の風土です。

日本の企業はこれまで築き上げたものを成長させるような仕組みを考えるのは得意ですし、そういう形態を守る傾向にあります。
これが悪いということではなく、このために、新しい形のサービスや商品がでてくることに抵抗を持っている企業も多いということです。

大企業であれば、そういうサービスが現れたと同時に何かするというよりは、様子をみてそろそろというときに同様のサービスを、お金と人の力であっという間に立ち上げます。

でも、世界にもないような本当に新しいサービスがでてくることはほぼないです。

なぜでしょうか。
それは、日本の企業風土として、「これまでのものを壊す」ようなものを良しとしない傾向にあるからです。

新しいサービスを嫌うというよりは、大きな変革を好まないという方がいいかもしれません。

別にこれまでにないものを作りだすということではなく、これまでのサービスに新しい技術や考えを取り入れて新しいものを生み出すことがなかなかできないというのが正しいかもしれません。


ベンチャーキャピタルやエンジェルも同じです。
日本の投資風土は、「ある程度見込みがでてきたら投資」です。
正直これは投資ではなく融資と変わりません。
立ち上げ時期、俗にいうアーリーステージでのリスクまで負った形の資金援助がベンチャーには必要です。
でも日本の投資家はこの時期のリスクを負わない。
というより、アイデアは認めても、それをビジネスにするための支援はできないのかもしれません。

ところが米国の投資家は、アーリーステージから資金援助を確実に行うことが多い。
正直、Googleもそうです。
二人の学生がビジネスにできたはずはなく、そこに目をつけた投資家がビジネス化も含めアーリーステージで支援したことがとても大きいと思います。

こういう企業風土の違いで、現在の社会に影響をもたらすような変化を起こすビジネスは日本では立ち上げにくいんだと思います。


日本も少しずつかわってきていますが、今の時代スピードが命。
たった数日、いや数時間決断が遅れただけでそのサービスは他の企業で立ち上がってしまうかもしれません。

Googleのような斬新なサービスが日本発になるのはいつの日でしょうか。

Indie Rock College Cred Algorithm from Hell

So I have been trying out the new music recommendation and social network service www.jango.com.
It's ok.

It's like last.fm but with quicker access to music. Please note, I have not used www.last.fm in ages, my comparison of the two is not fair.

I have two issues with www.jango.com, one is to do with the site itself and the other, more to do with social networks in general.

1. I find their "music matching" algorithm or whatever it is they got running in the background, what I would call "Indie Rock College Cred Algorithm from Hell". Their recommendations are stuck in CMJ land. I like to think that my musical tastes and reach have a bit more now, since I am not 18. Maybe these recommendation sites need a "panic" button or "suprise the hell out of me" button.

2. Ok, someone I don't know at all from somewhere in America wants to befriend me. But why? Because I listen to similar music? Because I have cool looking glasses?

More insight into the relationship factor would fair nicely, thank you very much.

Disclaimer stuff. I am not involved in any of the above mentioned websites.

October 25, 2007

Here's a Good Rundown on the Oink.cd Saga

TechCrunch Article (quite fair report apart from the bias on FLAC files, not true)
Article Linked From TechCrunch (the most fair report I've read so far)

The comment I left on the above TechCrunch article

# oink user

October 25th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

i was an oink user for the past few months. i originally found myself there through finding out that an album i had worked on was “leaked” close to 4 months ahead of it’s intended commercial release. i found myself an invitation and started to use it, trying to understand how it works from the user perspective.

i must say, it was a very good system, all it lacked was monetisation. it was easy to find good music, downloads were often good quality (not just FLAC, mp3’s in various rates from the same album for example), lots of lost gems.

i do find the “leaking” of material before it’s intended commercial reelase date quite rude, this is probably mostly done by journalists and people who receieve advance copies. under what intention, i’ve no idea, maybe they want to appear cool and elitist, which it isn’t, at all, since in most cases, people who leak the work were never an integral, crucial part of the making it. in the case of the album i was involved in, i hadn’t even heard the finished version!

oink did have a sense of fairness though, they had no files that led to the new radiohead album and instead, when you searched for it, it went to the band’s website. yes, i bought it as well.

as i said earlier, it was a good website that promoted finding new music and exploration, within a fairly safe environment; real music fans.

if a rights governing body, made from the ground up, that is not full of the political bs that surrounds existing rights agencies for physical and broadcast were to exist and handle rights management and collection of monies from websites such as oink.cd, a subscription model would be perfect. for such, i would be willing to pay.

as for the curent state of music, a lot of the problem lies in the fact that the current value structure is no longer valid and probably has not been for the past 5 years, but a lot of people still want to cling on to this crippled model. believe me, i was/am one of them. i have come to realise in the past few months that those days are gone for many and on it’s last legs for the successful and one has to create a new/recycled viable method of music commerce that is kinder to the curious fan, serious fan, the people that make the music and those that help to sell it.

'nuff said.


dontpanic.png

October 23, 2007

Please Try Me

I am all so very scared.

oink.png

Back in Black

Sadly, it's all true.

Sourced from Japan Probe.

Here's the REAL DEAL.

Tomorrow's World

Once upon a time, in the prior century, during the decade of the 7th, there was a Japanese boy born in Tokyo in the 6th decade, growing up in North London, England, United Kingdom, Europe, Earth.

From a very early age, this Japanese boy was always into gadgets, like most boys are, but this particular boy loved to take things apart and see how things worked. He even wanted to be a scientist at age 5. However, this boy had control issues and was not able to put things back (and he still can't). He always used to tinker and fiddle about. His parents called him "the touch of death", or in a direct translation "don't let him touch anything new, he'll break it". Those comments disturbed the little Japanese boy, but nonetheless, drove his curiosity in the pursuit of the "why?".

This Japanese boy used to enjoy watching Television. Here's a typical flow for a Thursday night.

As mentioned in the above clip, during this period, there was (is?) a British television show called "Tomorrow's World" that captured the heart of a then, very young Japanese boy. Here's the intro to the programme from the early 80's (could not find one from the 70's).

Here's Kraftwerk on Tomorrow's World.

Here's Pink Floyd on Tomorrow's World.

Tomorrow's World preceded the famous music programme, "Top of the Pops". This combination proved to be "killer content", for this Japanese boy loved gadgets and dancing women.

Original version of the above song by the Monks (not the American garage/punk band).

This is an example clip. Back then, it was natural for TOTP to comprise of Dexy's Midnight Runners, the Pretenders, and Legs & Co. The first two mentioned were NEW bands back then, Chrissie Hynde was a seemingly rather mesmerising woman that the young Japanese boy felt attracted to. Dexy's were all about the horn section and the black colours.

But, Legs & Co. damn, this was the fumie moment for any parent exposing their children to TOTP. In the case of this Japanese boy, he was often told to eat his fish fingers. What you can't get, you want more.

Anyway, back to Tomorrow's World. Apparently, the programme was slotted just before TOTP on purpose, so that the kids, who anxiously waited to see what was happening that week, would also tune into TW, in essence, an education programme made with a pop perspective. Well, BBC, it worked.

In 1981, TW and TOTP even had a joint episode "Look Around You, Music 2000", where they held a contest to see what kind of music would become popular in the 21st Century.

Contestant Anthony Carmichael was going on about rap, back then, there were only 2 known examples of rap music on a commercial basis in the UK.

"Rapture" by Blondie

"Fab 5 Freddy" I think he used to present MTV Raps??

"Ant Rap" by Adam and the Ants

Tom Tom Club were 82, I think. Maybe 81. "Wordy Rappinghood"

Anthony Carmichael. Impressive.

October 19, 2007

Robert Andrew Deacon, music producer, born August 6 1965; died September 8 2007

Just read this.
I have pretty much all the issues of "Volume".
It was a good magazine/sampler.

Obituary
Rob Deacon
Pioneering record and CD producer at the forefront of new music
Robin Gibson and Sarah Champion
Wednesday October 10, 2007
The Guardian

Rob Deacon, who has died aged 42 in a canoeing accident, was a true innovator in the independent music world. He helped break many artists across a vast range of styles and introduced a unique format with his 1990s compilation series, Volume and Trance Europe Express. He worked outside the mainstream, yet succeeded by the sheer force of his creativity, good nature, powers of persuasion and friendship.

P2P vs Radiohead's "free" Rainbows: why P2P can be a hard habit to break / Social Network Portability

Intereting read over at arstechnica. I've inserted additional material into the original text. I may add more thoughts on this later.

P2P vs Radiohead's "free" Rainbows: why P2P can be a hard habit to break
By Nate Anderson | Published: October 18, 2007 - 11:11PM CT

Radiohead's innovative digital distribution arrangement for their new album, In Rainbows, lets people pay whatever they want for the music, including nothing at all. Despite that, BitTorrent swapping of the album has been on the level of other major releases. Are people really so cheap that they won't even register with the band in order to snag a free download? The answer appears to be yes.

By handling the recording, mastering, and distribution themselves, the band managed to keep the tubes clear of any Rainbows before the official launch (no mean feat for a hotly anticipated album). Once the album became available for download, though, it spilled immediately onto P2P networks, primarily BitTorrent. According to BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland, who spoke with Ars about the issue, the album was grabbed by BitTorrent users roughly 240,000 times in the first day of release and has tailed off since in "a perfect half-life curve."

Insert. Source: Alexa
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Insert. Source: Infofilter 1rdhd357496.png

Unlike most BitTorrent song swapping, In Rainbows is generally being shared as a complete album. Radiohead, which hasn't been known for singles in the last decade, might be pleased that their work is being downloaded as a whole, but would no doubt prefer that people get it from the band's website.

Garland speculates that convenience is the main factor at work here; price doesn't enter into the equation. Radiohead's site does request a number of user details that go beyond the e-mail address needed to create an account and retrieve the download code, and such a process will put some people off at any price. Plenty of users have simply become accustomed to getting their music from BitTorrent; for this group, it's easier to simply grab it when the album shows up on the network than to visit another site, register, get an e-mail, and then download the songs.

Insert: I was also reading presentation by Tantek Çelik on the issue of Social Network Portability The reason I have been purusing this is the number of websites where I now have to be a registered member. I have to input my email address, etc details EVERY time I want to check out something new. Right now, there are a LOT of them. Think about it, how many websites do you have your email address (real or not) registered with? How many of them do remember the passwords? How many of them do you remember actually registering?

The fact that the band let users set a price for the music also encourages the perception that the price of music should be up to the buyer. If both BitTorrent and Radiohead offer the album for the same price, fans might see little difference between the two sources. In fact, Radiohead's move might even make BitTorrent look increasingly legitimate as a forum for picking up new music. Thus, assessing this as a "piracy versus free" issue isn't exactly right; once some users got the message that it was "free," it didn't matter where they got the album.

Garland agrees that the move "amplifies a long-standing" disconnect between the industry and the people who buy its products, and he points out that this is hardly the first time the issue has arisen. Downloaders have long claimed that "radio is free" and "I can make mixtapes" to defend the free downloading of music from P2P services. Despite the music business' attempt to counter these arguments, radio, mixes, and P2P all "feel like free" to many end users. This hurts the perception that they shouldn't torrent their music, and Radiohead's set-your-own-price model may encourage that feeling (as have record label attempts at using P2P services to promote certain songs; how does a user know if the song they're grabbing is illegal or not if even the labels use BitTorrent to offer free music?).

To Radiohead, there certainly is a difference between sources. The band wants people to use their sites, it wants to collect their information, and it likely wants to send them information about concerts and merchandise at some point down the line. But the band has learned the hard way that money isn't the only thing that matters to Radiohead fans.

October 18, 2007

DLT, Kid Jensen, Simon Bates, phooyuk

i was looking for stuff on youtube just now and one thing led to another. just like the telly. bad things.

it took 1 minute 36 seconds for the music to start. little boys start to have various thoughts..........

this song has no meaning, but never mind.........

so is the one, but she warps from america to cambodia........... and adds a big "wooo" backing chorus

this, another "wooooo" song, this was out on stiff records if you didn't know

then before that one, they had this song, i believe it went to number one. KENDO!!!! ha ya!!! ah so!!!!

then to wrap it up, i give you sheena. she won something with this song, eurovision or something. no, that dress? probably did not come from midge ure. no, people did not dress like that back then. at least not in north london during the daytime. i forgot the words, but i think not the 9 o' clock news has some joke on this song.

totp of the same song. notice same outfit. 10% unemployment rate back then, mate. you were lucky to be a pop star, probably.

headmaster and pupil. hit me with the ruler. i think i saw this programme. "swap shop" is a children's tv show on the bbc i think it was, saturday morning. the flip show was "tiswas", i believe. notice at number 76, WORZEL SONG! 77, SKY! Cheggers! sorry, got carried away there.

modern girl was a hit. "na na na na na/na na na na na/na na na na na//she's a modern girl".

flourescent lighting was uber cool back then. light sabre effect probably. this was only a few years after star wars 1.

Reward a passionate friend

Julian Cope writes about Japanese rock.

japrocksampler_button.jpg

I was wondering about this book. There was D, a photographer/art director friend from NYC in town last week and when we went out, bumped into a friend of mine, N. N plays in a cult status Japanese band. N doesn't speak a lot of English and I'm pretty hands off about that stuff (use yer brain) so naturally, 2 people having communication issues turn to mutual subjects, music (and a bit of old tv programmes). They started talking about rock, then psyche rock, which N plays and D likes, so they start throwing names around. The MC5, followed by Julian Cope was one of them. D has worked with Julian, my Japanese friend is part of a band that Julian likes and they've exchanged email. Small world. It turns out, Julian and N have similar hobbies.

Anyway, so I was checking my email. I tend to ignore the ones I get weekly for a couple of days, and there it was, included in the weekly email blast I get from Other Music in New York. Hmm, me wonders, so I took a lookie at Amazon, where the following review comes from.

In the book, Julian Cope mentions bands from generations quite a bit older than I am, like the Flower Travellin' Band, Les Rallizes Denudes (Hadaka No Rallizes) etc.

FACT: The recordings of these bands are quite rare, though some of them have reissues now. But do you know what has been happening since the turn of the century? People in America and Europe have been bootlegging these recordings. A lof of known Western bands have been listening to them and appreciating them. The Long Tail before it was defined, dude. They've been on sale at various record shops in America. They probably still have sections for it at Other and Kim's in NYC.

Julian also mentions some people I've had the pleasure of knowing over the years. 3/3 is a band that precedes the legandary (at least to me) Friction, aka Reck. So 3/3, Reck goes to NYC, plays with the No New York bands (Contortions, Teenage Jerks), comes back, then forms Friction. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Reck is one of the first Japanese guys that started to go to NYC. No? Mr. B? Ms. H? Mr. B?

I mean, people like JO who used to be in a known band, knows more about Japanese stuff than most Japanese people. They do their research. It's not just musicians. There is H, who now resides in AL/USA, he does serious work for seriously famous magazines, but he's been a follower of Japanese music for decades. When I first hooked up with H via Buffalo Daughter in the 90's and went to his former apartment in the East Village, NYC, man, the guy has shit you would not believe. I kid you not. Original pressings of Japanese bands. You ask him where he got them from, and he goes "oh, I found it at a supermarket/flea market" and you just wonder what made him pursue them and he goes "oh, they're interesting". H's been talking about BD, Cornelius, etc, since before they were known, and this is before the internet. I'm sure H has sent a lot of money to Amazon Japan now.

When I came back as a 13 year old kid from England, I already had the rock/punk/whateveryouwanttocallit genes inside of me, I was abducted by aliens. So, I was thinking most Japanese bands were utter crap, lifeless smily shiny white teeth shit (which I unfortunately feel the same to this day, but then again, the quality of Western bands is getting bad as well, flattening effect, compressors in action!). Anyway, there were a few Japanese bands that made my high school days not so much a dread. Friction was one of them, and though I have yet to see the current formation of Friction (just drums and bass), I've enjoyed each show that I managed to see.

From what I've witnessed, there is an underlining thread between these guys. They don't care what the fuck you think of them, they do their music on their own terms. I could tell you stories, but I've no right to on the internet. In a nutshell, they're fucking real and sincere about what they do. Maybe that's what gets reflected into their sound and over time, crosses borders (a lot of them never played outside of Japan) and gets appreciated, re-interpreted, re-cycled. Food for thought.

A to Z
Man, just look at the names, Julian's definitely done his research. Video and other stuff.

Julian's not some amateur, he's had success as a pop star and he probably had enough of the bs, and just wants to do what he wants, in his own terms. He's selling stuff by other bands on his website, that is one way of doing it. Bands helping each other.

Julian Cope
Julian Cope Wiki

Yes, I did buy a copy of Reward, when was that, 80, 81? I saw this particular TOTP back in the day. All those trumpets, gives me the immense horn, that. Dexy's, Modern Romance, UB40, The English Beat (ok, sax)? For a 11, 12 year old kid, trumpets are trumpets. Then I saw Julian play around the World Shut Your Mouth period, 86, 87?

What am I saying here? Nothing much really, but other than someone will connect the dots.


Japrocksampler (Hardcover)

Excellent, September 20, 2007
By zphage - See all my reviews
Follows up on Mr. Cope 1995's Krautrocksampler, which detailed Germany's (1st of 3 Axis powers) late 60's early 70's heavy pysch and experimental music scene.

This book details Japan's (2nd of 3 Axis powers) late 60's early 70's heavy pysch and experimental music scene.

Beautifully written, enclosed in a hardbound, "trade paperback size" book. Divided into two books: Book One has four chapters that deal with Japan pre and post World War II, the impact of Western/American culture, rock'n'roll, (GS)Group Sounds emergence and decline, the confluence of the Japanese avant garde, jazz,and rock scenes with the youth culture explosion of the 60's.

Book Two has 8 chapters, which deal with specific bands as follows:

Come Together 1969
Flower Travellin Band
Les Rallizes Denudes
Speed, Shinki, and Glue
Taj Mahal Travellers and Takehisa Kosugi
J.A. Caesar and the Radical Theatre Music of Japan
Masahiko Satoh and the Free Thinkers' Union
Far East Family Band

A Top 50 round up follows with a short list of albums to avoid.

A truly great treat for the open minded and curious listener, this book promises to be the groundswell moment just as Krautrocksampler was.

(Mr. Cope is there a book on the 3rd Axis power, Italy, due? Pejoratively titled " Woprocksampler"?)

Web 2.0 Summit: Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz

these bits really caught my attention. i totally agree.

Web 2.0 Summit: Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz

Moritz: Lesson of Google: Larry and Sergey taking their time and being deliberate, and being prepared to say no. Most people are in such a panic because they have product deadlines to meet, or open reqs; most every leader and director of every company will fall prey to temptation to lower hiring standards to fill the spot; that is very much a short term fix. Very glad Larry and Sergey were insistent in take their time, and finding Eric Schmidt, thanks to John Doerr, to join their company. I am huge, huge believe that greatest possible thing that can happen to an investor in a company is to be blessed with the sort of personal people who start company with enthusiasm, verve, talent and develop and grow with that company. No accident that the really great companies - Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Larry Ellison, Gordon Moore, Larry and Sergey - the founder grow up with the companies, and do not lose the zest they had in the early years. Look at the history of Apple over the last 20 years and what happens when the founder returns.

John is asking Moritz about platform companies; he is wondering if Facebook is similar to other ones?

Moritz: There are traits of those companies; you get the whiff of them, more than a whiff, at Facebook. When communications flows through one of these companies, good things tend to happen on the Internet. Facebook is this incredible communications system. That would be one common theme - Google, PayPal, YouTube - company that few, than 100s, than 1,000s then millions and 10s of million can do something for themselves. Enable millions of people to do something they haven’t done before.

October 15, 2007

U CANNOT B SIRIUS

LIKE OMG.

Did he try PRAM clear?

more Radiohead anger management

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/101407radio


"This is a solution for Radiohead, not for the industry."

Of course it is. If there was a question asking the contrary, can the music business PLEASE get a life? Why are you expecting a SINGLE FUCKING BAND to save your business and broken model?

1.2 million is a very commendable, successful and hopefully sustainable figure for the band and their related staff. I wonder how much the bandwidth is costing them. I'm sure they don't need too many people to serve the downloads just before the physical products kicks in place.

And are there new downloaders continuing to purchase downloads? I better try that, RIGHT NOW. How much.......well, this would be my second purchase (I got the diskbox), so er, 1.5 Pounds? that would be about 300 Yen, US$2.7? One second thought, why buy it again? Stupid.

Radiohead Sales Estimates Surface, New Wrinkles Emerge

Radiohead has yet to disclose sales numbers on its latest album, In Rainbows, though fresh estimates are bubbling. The first comes from Gigwise, which pointed to downloads of roughly 1.2 million several days ago, citing a source "close to the band". That figure was echoed by a similar estimate of 1.3 million received by William Blanchard, owner of digital content delivery and ecommerce firm Lambcast, Ltd. Blanchard tracked sequential order numbers from the Radiohead website, and shared the top-level estimate with Digital Music News on Sunday.

But how many of those customers actually paid for the album? A survey of 5,000 participating fans by the London-based Telegraph offered a possible breakdown. The newspaper found that one quarter paid nothing or one pence, another half paid between one pence and £10 ($20.32), and the remainder volunteered higher prices or purchased the £40 ($81.30) box set.

Meanwhile, some dissatisfaction surrounds a choice by the band to deliver the album in a compression quality of 160kbps, a level that trumps iTunes but falls below standard CD-quality. The move appears part of a larger plan to motivate purchases of the more conventional CD album, slated for release early next year. The traditional disc - like the more complicated box version - will carry bonus tracks to encourage purchases. "If we didn't believe that when people hear the music they will want to buy the CD, then we wouldn't do what we are doing," manager Bryce Edge recently told Music Week. "This is a solution for Radiohead, not for the industry."

October 14, 2007

\\\\\HUH????!!!! HAVE WE SEEN THIS SOMEWHERE????!!!!/////













there are two things in here that has not changed much. and they probably don't care of the changes going on right now.

bonus clip. i'm not a big fz fan, but the way he conducted his career is worthy of much respect. and his last album, white shark? something shark is beautiful (he knew he was dying).





October 13, 2007

the next logical step for a MAJOR record company

this does seem to be the next logical step for a major from a financial and risk perspective, but i don't feel is a long term solution. i'm sure it will at least do ok, especailly if it is going to try and sell the new zune hardware, microsoft will want business badly to maintain it's corporate dominance and regain lost confidence in music ventures.

but you know what? have you ever seen microsoft or any major do something really cool with music? in terms of microsoft, have you ever seen them do anything cool at all? ok, disclaimer. i am a mac user and have been for a while, since er, like os 6. but i did have a 5 year period where i had an affair with bill gates. i did not enjoy it, because the ui (that's user interface) SUCKS, trying to fix something os (operating system) based SUCKED, they have all these little components that SUCK and man, their design philospphy or lack of is pretty consistent. if you want pure performance, windoze is good, i admit, but so is unix/linux. macs ain't that bad nowadays too.

and as for major record labels doing websites? dude, there's shit i found out earlier in the year that i just cannot tell you, but my reaction was "HUH????"

oh, maybe it has to do with that, aha............ i really hope not.

this model will work to a degree if the hardware manufacturers decide they need to xxxx xxxx and put up the tab. i really have reservations towards FREE music, i mean, i'm not accountant, but come on, there is NO AVERAGE for production costs. it could be $400 to $400,000 (and more). does a painting have average production costs and are they free???

see, the thought process of majors is not an integrated one and is very single perspective. it definitely puts the intent of the artist (produce supplier) waaaay back. ok, a lot of artists are pretty ignorant about their commerce, but still.

oh, i am going to be killed again for being honest. so, i've probably spent about 4 lives out of 9, got 5 more.


Universal Music Takes on iTunes

Universal chief Doug Morris is enlisting other big music players for a service to challenge the Jobs juggernaut

Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on Apple's iTunes Music Store. That's because Jobs wouldn't ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music.

Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world's most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together the three would control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S. Besides competing head-on with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL ) music store, Morris and his allies hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing the likes of Microsoft's Zune media player and Sony's PlayStation and by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse sliding sales, will be called Total Music. (Morris was unavailable for comment.)

This isn't only about Jobs; Morris badly needs to boost his business, and Apple is the one to beat. The iTunes store has grabbed about 70% of downloads in the U.S. And the iPod--well, what's left to say about that juggernaut? Plus, music companies have been here before. A few years ago they launched services with the aim of defeating Napster-style file-sharing--and failed miserably. And let's not forget that existing subscription services have signed up only a few million people, vs. hundreds of millions of iTunes software downloads.

While the details are in flux, insiders say Morris & Co. have an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Music companies would collect the subscription fee, while hardware makers theoretically would move many more players. "Doug is doing the right thing taking on Steve Jobs," says ex-MCA Records Chairman Irving Azoff, whose Azoff Music Management Group represents the Eagles, Journey, Christina Aguilera, and others. "The artists are behind him."

Morris and Jobs were once the best of allies. When Jobs began pushing his idea for a simple-to-use download store in 2003, Morris backed him. Industry insiders say Jobs felt that Morris, unlike many other music executives, understood that they had to adapt or die. And in the years that followed, Apple and Universal moved in near lockstep.

But before long, Morris realized he and his fellow music executives had ceded too much control to Jobs. "We got rolled like a bunch of puppies," he said during a recent meeting, according to people who were there. And though Morris hasn't publicly blasted Jobs, his boss at Universal parent Vivendi is not nearly so hesitant. The split with record labels--Apple takes 29 cents of the 99 cents--"is indecent," Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters in September. "Our contracts give too good a share to Apple."

After unilaterally breaking off talks with Apple in July, Morris continued offering Universal's roster--Eminem, 50 Cent, U2, and other artists--to Apple, but on a month-to-month basis. That freed Universal to cut special deals with other vendors, such as cell carriers eager to generate revenues. AT&T (T ) is packaging ringtones and music videos of Universal artists and is expected to start selling downloaded tracks with videos soon.

That's not all: In August, Morris announced a five-month test with Wal-Mart (WMT ), Google (GOOG ), and Best Buy (BBY ). The three companies will sell music downloads that can be played on any device--a freedom not available to buyers of iTunes songs, most of which play only on Apple devices and software. Morris wants to see if the downloads, which won't have copy protection, will help cut into piracy and hike sales. And of course he won't be upset if iPod owners bypass iTunes.

With the Total Music service, Morris and his allies are trying to hit reset on how digital music is consumed. In essence, Morris & Co. are telling consumers that music is a utility to which they are entitled, like water or gas. Buy one of the Total Music devices, and you've got it all. Ironically, the plan takes Jobs' basic strategy-- getting people to pay a few hundred bucks for a music player but a measly 99 cents for the music that gives it value--and pushes it to its extreme. After all, the Total Music subscriber pays only for the device--and never shells out a penny for the music. "You know that it's there, and it costs something," says one tech company executive who has seen Morris' presentation. "But you never write a check for it."

The big question is whether the makers of music players and phones can charge enough to cover the cost of baking in the subscription. Under one scenario industry insiders figure the cost per player would amount to about $90. They arrived at that number by assuming people hang on to a music player or phone for 18 months before upgrading. Eighteen times a $5 subscription fee equals $90. There is precedent here. When Microsoft was looking to launch a subscription service for Zune, Morris played hardball. He got the tech giant to fork over $1 for every player sold, plus royalties. Total Music would take that concept even further. "If the object is to wrest control of the market from Steve Jobs," says Gartner analyst Mike McGuire, "this is a credible way to try it."

Of course, Morris still needs Jobs. It's noteworthy that Universal has not pulled its music from iTunes--Morris simply can't afford to do that. Universal's earnings fell 25% in the first half. Jobs, of course, knows that and can afford to be magnanimous. "Doug's a very special guy," the Apple chief told BusinessWeek. "He's the last of the great music executives who came up through A&R. He's old school. I like him a lot."

phrase of the day

the computer is a weapon. google is a tool. music is a handshake.

(c) me! 2007

i know it's flawed in detail, but i have a headache, can't bother.

huh huh huh























October 12, 2007

if it's information

that you can access and manage (via rss or whatever), keep it.
the chances of you finding that little piece of info that may solve the puzzle, may be very slim.

October 11, 2007

day 6

i think it is. i am human.

230 words so far. i think i'm not done on this level. but a LOT BETTER than where i was a week ago.

profession

profession
Between xxxxxxx and You

Minoru Yokoo
9:59pm October 9th
xxxxxxx君は今の仕事(ってxxxxxxxxx?)はしばらく続けるつもりななの?音楽業界、閉塞的でつまんないかも。本当はただ録音したいだけなんだけどね。

xxxxxxxxx
Today at 3:50pm
そうすねえ。。xxxxxx、そしてxxxxxx。かな。
飽きましたけれど。でもまだ残尿感があるので、
最後にパパっと花火を。線香花火??

ヨコオさんは自らレーベルなどは?
それこそ「搾取」されてしまうのかな、ギョーカイ・システムに。

ま。お互いそろそろ40すからw
どうしようかなーというところですよね。

Minoru Yokoo
Today at 4:47pm
レーベルは興味ないですね。服のラベルと同じですから。んでも、もっと前向きなことなら興味あります。たいていの音楽に罪はないんですから。

実は、xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

あそこxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxというか。その辺りを目指しているらしく、xxxxxxxxxx経営のxxxxxxxxxと何かしないか、という可能性はあります。それだとxxxxxxxxxxxxxx欲が絡んだ金じゃないので、いやじゃないんですけどね。

レディオヘッド落としました。買いましたよ(爆笑)。
悪くないな。大量消費としたものと考えると。音は160kだから、その程度。でもちゃんと作ってるね。

Minoru Yokoo
Today at 10:48pm
http://minoruuuu.tumblr.com/

deliciousの新しいやつもこういう感じなら移行しなくて済むんだけど............暫く両刀使いかなぁ。tumblrは引用できるのが最高。全部読み直さなくて済む。

いいすね、これ!ありがとう!
opal fruits
http://minoruuuu.tumblr.com/
Share

xxxxxxxxxxx
Today at 2:10pm
スパグルご招待39!2005.02に登録はしていたようですw
http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx.suprglu.com/

タンブラのBookmarklet (Share on Tumblr) はいいすよね。
ヨコオさんの言う、思考スピードについてくるってのは、まさに。

FFでのブラウズをお勧めしたのは、必須ツールがいくつかあるから。
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8551
とか
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/9436
はマストね。
共にGreasemonkyが必要です。
http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/index.html

Dashboardが見やすくなるコレも、ね。
http://userstyles.org/styles/2410

友達をつくったりこのあたりから掘ってみたりして、
http://mao.s151.xrea.com/tumbrowser/
Reblog行為をしたりされたりしていくうちに、
タンブラの真の姿が見えてくる。かもw。です。

just do it ;)

Minoru Yokoo
Today at 2:23pm
僕ちゃん元々火狐愛用者だから。今はね、火狐でしょ、網景でしょ、あと唄鳥というのも試しているところよん。

野生冒険とかはもう本当に極たまぁにしか使わない。だって性転換手術しないと枝折の自由貿易できないんだもん。

でもドングリコロリンにまだ求婚できないんだよなぁ、だって情報ガンジガラメじゃない。輸入はできるけど輸出できない。

ちょっと出島だよね。

僕ちゃんは火狐の操作棒に「ドングリコロリン接続」をもうけてあります。今のところこれでいいかなぁ、別に商業目的のデナイザーじゃないから見てくれは今のところどうでもええし。

でも今おもろいのはググル・アナリテイックス。まだ火が浅いから判断できないけど、普通のispが提供するようなスタットよりは全然いいし、わかりよい。

んでも、ググは相当情報押さえてるね。

今はthink outside the boxな感じぃ?