The Music Tank

Holy shit on a stick it’s been cold up here. I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, fever or something. The Chinese New Year went by this previous Thursday. Happy year of the rat to you rat folks.

THINGS THAT I LEARNED THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSIC

• If you’re out with your girlfriend and she wants to dance, just dance. Best get it over with now and avoid any silliness later.
• Don’t drink an excess of six cups of coffee in an attempt to flush your system of things.
• Your body needs water, so drink that shit.

THINGS THAT I LEARNED THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSIC, BUT MUSIC ARTICLES

While browsing the internet, I noticed that music articles on other websites can be pretty long. Nothing quite like STF. Then I noticed that a lot of news is merely articles taken from [and credited] by other websites. I also noticed that I started doing it in recent articles. That being said…

FEEL GOOD HIT OF THE SUMMER

From Reuters:

According to a study, U.S. popular music is awash with lyrics about drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Medical researchers have reviewed the words of the 279 top songs of 2005 to estimate just how common they are. Their report on Monday showed a third of the songs had references to substance abuse. And two-thirds of these references placed drugs, alcohol and tobacco in a positive light by associating them with sex, partying and humor.

They calculated that with Americans aged 15 to 18 listening to 2.4 hours of music daily, they hear 84 musical references to substance use a day and more than 30,000 a year. Certain genres contained more references than others — for example, rap and country music far more so than pop. The study did not quantify references to sex, violence or expletives. Seventy-seven percent of rap songs tracked in the study contained such references, along with 36 percent of country songs, 20 percent of songs classified as “R&B/hip-hop,” 14 percent of rock songs and 9 percent of pop songs. Alcohol and marijuana were the most common references found, with tobacco more rarely mentioned.

Team leader Dr. Brian Primack, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who conducted the research noted that music and popular culture in general have always been infused with substance use references. He also stated, “It’s not going to be feasible or even desirable to censor these messages… Probably a more empowering approach is to teach kids to analyze and evaluate the messages for themselves.”

I agree with the last sentence in the last paragraph quite a bit. I think we all knew about drug and alcohol references in music, just not to what extent.

HANG IT UP ALREADY

From Blabbermouth:

According to The Pulse of Radio, recent reports have indicated that GUNS N’ ROSES’ long-awaited new album, “Chinese Democracy”, is finished and the group’s frontman W. Axl Rose is negotiating for more money with his record label before he will release the masters.

The ever-shifting GUNS N’ ROSES lineup began working on “Chinese Democracy” sometime in the mid-’90s, and has reportedly spent $13 million recording the effort. Promised release dates in 2006 and 2007 did not materialize.

More money? Seriously? Fuck! Will the album mow my lawn and cook dinner for me? This album might be the second greatest piece of work stuck in production hell next to Duke Nukem Forever, and I mean greatest in it’s infamy and not in quality.

From Music-News.com:

According to a recent quote, Sean “Diddy” Combs may be planning to quit music to pursue a full-time career in acting. Diddy has scaled down his hip-hop projects in recent years, so he can work on projects that include a Broadway stint in “A Raisin in the Sun” and a role in the 2001 Oscar-winning movie Monster’s Ball.

Diddy recently revealed he would be reprising his Broadway role in a TV version of “A Raisin in the Sun” and he hopes it will help him make a move to acting full-time.

He says, “Right now I’m transitioning from a recording artist to acting. Having an opportunity to play this role, it really changed my life.”

Dear Mr Combs,

You are no longer relevant in the music industry as a recording artist. Please return to your producing and business roles. Thank you.

Sincerely,

-The Music Tank

P.S. Will you shit your pants in your TV adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun” to keep the feel authentic to your original performance?

AMY WINEHOUSE TOM FOOLERY

Well, first off, she won four Grammys Sunday night which is quite the achievement. But this article was never about the positives, was it?

From Music-News.com:

Amy Winehouse - who is being treated for drug addiction at a private London facility - has been invited by the Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter Kelly to stay in a guest cottage at the family’s Buckinghamshire mansion when she leaves rehab.

A source said: “Kelly has always been there for Amy, they are very close. When Amy went into rehab, it was Kelly who picked out clothes to take in from her London flat. The cottage is perfect. And there will be no temptations like there are in London. Also, the security around the house is already tight after a spate of break-ins so there is no chance of anyone being able to follow her.”

Kelly - who watched her father Ozzy struggle with his dependence on drugs and alcohol as a child - battled drug addiction when she was just 19. She checked into a rehab for abusing painkillers in 2004.

The source added: “Kelly is probably the most qualified of her friends to look after Amy. She is certainly a much better influence than some of the people she was hanging around with in London, like Pete Doherty.”

New reality show, anyone? But wait, we’re not done here. From 411mania:

The U.S. Embassy in London has rejected Amy Winehouse’s visa application, meaning she won’t be able to attend the Grammy Awards. She is nominated for six awards.

Winehouse’s publicist has released the following statement after the visa rejection:

“Amy Winehouse will not be performing at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony.

The singer has been invited to appear at the event on Sunday (February 10) after receiving an amazing 6 nominations for the prestigious awards.

Unfortunately, her application for a visa to enter the United States of America has been rejected at this time by the American Embassy in London.

Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on her recovery.

Amy has been treated well and fairly by the Embassy staff and thanks everyone for their support in trying to make this happen.

There will of course be other opportunities and she very much looks forward to visiting America in the near future.”

And finally, from 411mania once again:

Amy Winehouse was granted a visa to come to America for the Grammys after the US reversed their original decision, but Winehouse has decided to stay in London and perform on the show via satellite.

Her publicists have released the following statement:

“Unfortunately, due to the logistics involved and timing complications, Amy will not be traveling to the U.S. to perform at the Grammys in person.

Amy would like to thank all of those people, in particular the staff involved at the U.S. Embassy in London, who have all worked so hard to expedite her application. She is looking forward to being a part of the 50th Annual Grammy Awards with her Sunday night performance and to going back to the U.S. soon.”

Did anyone watch her Grammy performance? I swear she was gonna fall over when she was [attempting to] dance on stage.

LED ZEPPELIN TOM FOOLERY

In what may be the best typo of 2007, I pulled this from MTV.com:

It was perhaps one of the bigger music-press snafus in recent memory, and it began at midnight Wednesday, when the press release for this year’s Bonnaroo festival was distributed via e-mail to various members of the media. Along with news that KANYE WEST, PEARL JAM and METALLICA would be headlining the event, the announcement further boasted that New York’s all-femme ZEP tribute band, LEZ ZEPPELIN, had also been confirmed for the bill.

Months before the lineup went public, though, several unsubstantiated rumors had spread like wildfire, suggesting that other band, LED ZEPPELIN — who had recently reunited to play a gig in London — would be anchoring the festival’s bill, performing their first Stateside concert in well over two decades. As a result, a number of prominent publications — including the esteemed Associated Press and the Chicago Sun-Times — erroneously reported Wednesday morning that it would be LED ZEPPELIN, not LEZ ZEPPELIN, topping Bonnaroo’s roster.

I enjoyed that because I’m fairly sure I posted news that Led Zeppelin would be heading this show as well. Also, from Bravewords.com:

Led Zeppelin fans at YouChoose.net have launched an online petition urging the reunited band to embark on a full-scale tour. The petition has close to 10,000 signatures, and comments: “If you think that it is not fair that only people in the UK had a chance to see Led Zeppelin please sign this petition. I think Led Zep needs to go on a world tour. There are younger and even older fans that never got to see the great Led Zeppelin in concert. We want to be part of history. We want one of the greatest rock bands to tour.”

Younger and older fans that never got to see Led Zeppelin in concert? I’m torn about this statement. Part of me would love to see Zep in concert. Another part of me thinks that mayhaps that the boys from Zep like that a bunch of fans never saw them and that it adds to their legend.

METAL IS NOT ABOUT SAFETY

Let me take a quick to tell you about one of my new favorite metal bands, 3 Inches of Blood. While browsing other music sites, I heard their name flying about quite a bit and checked out their site. I was pretty impressed with the music and that they’re Canadian. So, imagine my suprise when I saw this up The PRP:

“Unfortunately we’ve had to drop off the remainder of tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, Hate Eternal, and Decrepit Birth. We will also be missing our Canadian dates, Feb 16-23, with Rammer. It was not an easy decision to make, but due to the rapidly declining weather in the remaining areas of the tour we have decided that it would be unsafe to continue touring in these conditions. We have had a great time with all of the bands on this tour, so it is especially disappointing to have to cancel our remaining appearances. We are committed to rescheduling our appearances in all the cities we will be missing, but when the weather is warmer and the roads less treacherous. Sorry to disappoint anybody, but we would rather stay safe and live to play another day.”

What? Canadian drivers not used to road conditions in the winter? Since when has metal been about safety? Queens of the Stone Age played a show 2300 feet underground in a salt mine in Germany and say what you want, but I can think of a few things that can go wrong in a underground salt mine. Even Josh Homme understood the risks, but justified it by saying “Rock and roll is not about safety.”

All in all, the “live to play another day” is a perfectly understandable reason. Just a frustrated fan that might have had plans to go see them play ranting, that’s all.

IT’S A SERIES OF TUBES

• The RIAA wants computer companies to start installing filters in microchips that would not allow the mp3 format to exist on a computer.
• A law in the United States has been passed requiring to block peer to peer programs on their network.

LOOSE ENDS

Well, the Grammys went half right for me. Slayer won a Grammy for “Best Metal Perfomance” but Queens of the Stone Age lost out to the Foo Fighters for the “Best Hard Rock Performance”.

Remember my Qtrax report? If not, go hit up the archives. I did some follow up on it and from the Wired Blog comes this:

Although the company is said to be negotiating with all four labels, and has at least one confirmed current major label deal (with EMI’s publishing division), Qtrax apparently lacks current deals with the major labels to offer song downloads.

“EMI Music had an initial agreement with Qtrax, essentially a license designed to help them experiment with this ad-supported model had licensed songs to Qtrax,” said an EMI spokeswoman. “Qtrax didn’t launch the service during the period of the agreement — I think we initially did this two years ago. We’re now in talks with the company about a possible new deal, but as of today, they don’t have a license with EMI Music.” Qtrax does have a deal with EMI Publishing, she said, but its license for offering EMI sound recording downloads has expired.

An agreement with Universal Music Group has also apparently expired, while a Warner Music Group spokeswoman flatly denied any deal with Qtrax: “Warner Music Group has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax’s recently announced service.” However, she confirmed that negotiations between Warner and Qtrax are ongoing.

A spokesman for Sony/BMG said the label had licensed Qtrax to offer tracks from its catalog on a limited play basis in April of 2007, so long as Qtrax included an option to purchase the track once the play limit had been reached. However, Qtrax’s new service offers unlimited playback, and so it is not covered by that agreement. The spokesman confirmed that Sony/BMG is also in talks with the company to forge a new deal.

Apparently, Qtrax, eager to make its announcement during the Midem conference, misrepresented ongoing negotiations and expired deals as official major label sign-off. The company certainly didn’t earn points with the media over this strategy — at least one major publication had to “stop the presses” over the weekend, according to one source.

The flub could hurt negotiations too. Now that Qtrax has promised major label catalogs to consumers, its bargaining position with the labels may have been weakened, although a spokesman said company executives “still feel they have the backing of the industry.”

And I can now safely uninstall Qtrax from my computer with that knowledge.

I’m gonna see if I can get a pointer e-mail address set up for myself and next STF I’ll annouce something I’d like to try.

Truth, sometimes, can be stranger than fiction.