RIP Stylus Magazine

Stylus Magazine is finished as of Wednesday. Sad times for the internet, as we lose one of the best (if not best) music magazines around. I started reading the magazine back in '03, and to some extent it played the anti-Pitchfork, having multiple writers review the same records, comment sections on each article (which were often great realizations of what online discourse is all about), and an attitude towards music that was more music fan/geek than music fan/snob. This magazine will be missed.

The Bluffer's Guide to Stylus

Separated at birth

A couple of eerily similar videos... with different directors.



Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
[75 Music] - Directed by Jonas & François

---



The Rapture - Whoo! Alright Yeah Uh-huh
[Waverly Films] - Directed by Ben Dickinson

Some bitchin' new videos

The single cut for this song features the old "speed-up-the-track-for-the-single-mix" trick:

I found it, a bear-able rendition of...

I don't think I could ever get tired of watching this.



How he did it. Don't you just love internets?
If you have the time, click on those handy "related" and "more from this user" tabs.

Back from exile

Another unfortunate return of a band in 2007: Matchbox 20 (that is the only way I will write it) releases a greatest hits album this month featuring a couple new songs including "Thanks for the Memories"... I mean... "How Far We've Come". You can practically hear the Fall Out Boys oozing out of the track and leaking all over the rug. The video successfully rips off Linkin Park's formula of mixing performance footage with global history/events in order to give these mediocre talents the emotional buoyancy needed to fool the public.

Digging further, we find the group covers Bowie's "Modern Love" as the b-side to the new single. What a wonderfully brilliant torch-passing, the band paying homage to the now classic single, as they mimic the legendary chameleon in an effort to bolster their own style change and attempt to reconnect to a broad audience.

There was a time, of course, when Rob Thomas and co. were keeping the envelope firmly in the middle-of-the-road rather than playing a desperate game of catch-up. For me, this is the final nail in the coffin for an otherwise inoffensive band that really could have cashed in on the nostalgia factor in another 3 or 4 years. Ironic TV ads, Adam Sandler comedies, student films-turned-viral videos... those sweet royalties and cool factor points were all theirs for the taking. Now they've gone and fucked it up by exhuming the corpse far too early.

No one ever said pop had to be original... though it is becoming clearer these days that the meme has run dry. And now, a quote to illustrate.

From Ghostbusters:

Dr Ray Stantz: Every ancient religion has its own myth about the end of the world.
Winston Zeddemore: Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately is 'cause the dead HAVE been rising from the grave?
Dr Ray Stantz: [Pause ] How 'bout a little music?
Winston Zeddemore: Yeah.

Club of choice

Damn you, BRMC, and your insistence on denying me the ability to embed your video into my humble blog! I will promote this song anyway, 'cause it's one of the top rock singles of the year... as for the video, it's visually striking, as far as performance videos go, anyway.

Links:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club [Official Site]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club [myspace]

Fake book titles #2

As Weeks Go By: On the Road with Mashmakhan

Charting disaster

The awkwardly designated "Soulja Boy" [sic] continues his reign of terror atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the third straight week (and fifth overall). I find it extremely hard to believe that Kanye West can't overtake this guy, leaving one with the impression that the chart is wholly contrived (nah...). How else could a guy without a high school diploma best a guy who just graduated college? It certainly wasn't Mr. Boy's clever wordplay or immaculately produced tracks, though he apparently conjured up the whole mess all by his little self. He's credited with producing most of the tracks on his album, including the follow up to "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" [sic], the imaginatively titled "Soulja Girl" [sic].

Embarrassingly, the AllMusic guide gives the album 3.5/5... instilling in me with a curiosity that I will likely take to the grave.

In other heinous chart debacles, Feist tumbles from #8 to #27. Maybe that fruit company should run some more ads for mp3 players? With the drop, the 'board is left with Nickelback as its Canadian chart-darling... here's hoping 'Rockstar' can make it to #1 before "Soulja Girl" [sic]

Links:
Soulja Boy [sic] - Crank That (Soulja Boy) [sic]

Playlist of the Century...er...

David Kravetz at Wired.com has been following the RIAA trial of a woman who downloaded a few songs from Kazaa. The woman has been ordered to pay up to the tune of over $222,000 (or, $9,250 per song). Score one for the bad guys.

This is the corporation who was awarded the dubious title of "Most Hated Corporation in America" last year, edging out Cheney's Halliburton.

The most interesting part of this whole thing is, of course... the playlist for which Jammie Thomas was liable!

*Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"; "November Rain"
*Vanessa Williams "Save the Best for Last"
*Janet Jackson "Let's Wait Awhile"
*Gloria Estefan "Here We Are"; "Coming Out of the Dark"; "Rhythm is Gonna Get You"
*Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
*Journey "Faithfully"; "Don't Stop Believing"
*Sarah McLachlan "Possession"; "Building a Mystery"
*Aerosmith "Cryin'"
*Linkin Park "One Step Closer"
*Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
*Reba McEntire "One Honest Heart"
*Bryan Adams "Somebody"
*No Doubt "Bathwater"; "Hella Good"; "Different People"
*Sheryl Crow "Run Baby Run"
*Richard Marx "Now and Forever"
*Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills"
*Green Day "Basket Case"

The lesson here is obvious. If you're going to download music, simply avoid downloading songs that are remotely popular. This list contains four tracks that peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Bills, Bills, Bills, Iris, Save the Best for Last, and Coming Out of the Dark), not to mention "Basket Case", which went to #1 on the Modern Rock chart, along with chart double-threat "Iris".

The ridiculousness of this situation is hard to overstate... it will do nothing but harm the RIAA's credibility in the eyes of the very people they're selling peddling their wares to. Certainly the RIAA intended to use this poor woman as an example, hoping to incite fear in their consumer base rather than concentrating on re-imagining their business models for the 21st century.

I wonder if anyone is willing to pay $92,500 for the new Radiohead album?

That could never happen here...

Suing your customers is actually expensive.

Happy Monday

Unkle Dysfunctional isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. After an extended break from producing albums, Manchester's most -lovable miscreants are back at it with a new album that certainly doesn't diminish their legacy. Part of the reason the music sounds fresh is because the band hasn't changed their sound... yes that's right. Thanks to pop's cyclical self-replication regime, 1991's hottest sound is also today's biggest fad. And depending on your viewpoint, this is either terribly sad or terribly impressive.
Besides boasting excellent tunes, the album is actually fun to listen to, there are also sorts of production flourishes that audiophiles will enjoy. It's sort of like going to some ecstacy-fueled carnival, and everyone at the carnival is kind of old. Truth is though that the songs here are filled with more melody and attitude, not an easy feat, than anything the current crop of rock and roll deltas could muster out in their collective careers.