Music News

A bit of sad news today…

Veteran Detroit soul/rock artist Nathaniel Mayer died Saturday (Nov. 1) in his hometown after a series of strokes. He was 64.

Mayer is best known for the 1962 hit “Village of Love,” which he recorded for local label Fortune Records. But he vanished from the music scene in the late 1960s, and save for a one-off 1980 single, did not return to active duty until 2002, when he began performing again.

In 2004, Mayer released “I Just Want To Be Held” via Fat Possum Records. Another new album, “Why Don’t You Give It To Me,” appeared in 2007 via Alive Records, with assistance from members of the Black Keys, Dirtbombs, the Sights and Outrageous Cherry.

Here’s Woody’s review of Nathaniel Mayer’s Why Don’t You Give It To Me from last year.

Nathaniel Mayer - Lonely Man

They decided not to change anything, for better or for worse…till death do us part. How anti-climactic.

Columbia Records and Bob Dylan are offering the song “Mississippi,” as a free download for a limited time exclusively on Amazon.  The track will also be available on October 7 as part of Bob Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs - The Bootleg Series Vol. 8.

More from the press release:

Originally recorded for the Grammy Award-winning Time Out of Mind album in 1997, a drastically different rendering of “Mississippi” finally made its appearance on 2001’s Love and Theft.  The version found on Tell Tale Signs, likely one of the first takes of the song recorded, can be described as stripped-down and soulful, and features producer Daniel Lanois on electric guitar.

“Mississippi” is my personal fav from Love and Theft and this is a nice down-tempo, bluesy version that I’m enjoying more than the final album cut.

Okay, okay. Just go get it here.

Warning: The Following Article May Contain Small Amounts of Freaking Out

So it’s been nearly a full decade since Ben Folds Five disbanded after their last release, The Unofficial Biography of Reinhold Messner.  Since then, titular musician Ben Folds has gone on to even more massive success, especially among the college and MySpace crowds, releasing several albums since the Five disbanded.  Drummer Darren Jessee has played primarily with Hotel Lights, as both their writers and vocalist, and bassist Robert Sledge played briefly with International Orange.  Yet despite their busy schedules and ten long years of separation, Ben Folds Five is back again.

OK, so seriously now that I got that first paragraph of real information and facts out of the way, I can spend another one absolutely freaking about this occurrence.  I may have hinted at my Ben Folds Five obsession several times here at HearYa, but it honestly probably never was fully expressed or understood.  I listened to  Ben Folds Five, and nothing but Ben Folds Five from 11 until 17 and they can still be found regularly in my iTunes playlist.  Simply put, they are the Genesis of my musical life.  Sure sure sure, everyone has that one thing that sets them down their path, but damnit, this is my one thing, and damnit, if Whatever and Ever Amen didn’t change my life, then nothing has.  Phew, I’m sorry.

Regardless, Ben Folds Five, yes, the full lineup of Ben Folds Five, will be playing one show, September 18th, in their hometown of Chapel Hill, NC.  The aforementioned Reinhold Messner (which is easily my favorite) will be played “Front to Back” according to their website.  Whether this turns into a tour, which we can only hope for, or not, this one show will certainly be one for the ages.

For those interested in attending (myself included), tickets will go on sale the 8th on etix.com.  And also, for those Ben Folds solo fans out their, his newest album, Way To Normal is due on the 30th of this month which he’ll be promoting heavily through tours as well.  Whether the Five will be there as well, remains to be seen.

Website | MySpace

Ben Folds Five - Narcolepsy

Ben Folds Five - Song For the Dumped (Live)

Ben Folds Five - Underground

Maybe I’m a little late to the party on this news, but I just heard about it tonight and it made my ears moist. As reported here and here, the three are currently recording an album together. Release date is unknown, but we’ll keep you posted.

While I’m not a huge Conor Oberst fan, I’m a big Jimmy James and M. Ward fan and can’t think of two guys I’d rather see put something out together (unfortunately I missed their “Monsters of Folk” tour of 2004, but here’s a full set from our friends at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends. Does anyone think these three read my post about fantasy supergroup, The Cockslingers, and decided to strike while the iron is hot?

Also worth noting, Jim James is going to be releasing a solo album as an Asian Country Star alter-ego named Sec Walkin. Sounds incredible. Also of note, I was in a band in high school called The Chinese Cowboys. I was ahead of my time.

Here’s a live version of Wonderful (The Way I Feel) rumored to be on the new James/Ward/Oberst album (Oz posted this song from Aquarium Drunkard a little a week or two ago, but it’s worth hearing again).

Jim James and M. Ward - Wonderful (The Way I Feel)

And here are some pretty cool videos:

Jim James & M. Ward – Rollercoaster & Chinese Translation (SXSW 2008)

M. Ward & Conor Oberst – O’Brien’s Nocturne

I just heard this news. Will Hoge is in critical condition after getting in a scooter accident in Nashville on Wednesday. According to my grapevine (Mike Winger), Hoge broke both collar bones, his femur, his knee and his ribs. Luckily no internal damage or head injury. We wish him a full recovery.

Probably not an appropriate video for the occasion, but “Highway’s Home” is one of my favorite Hoge songs.

Will Hoge - Highway’s Home

Will Hoge - What Can I Afford To Lose

A day after Digital Music News reported that RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) top execs earned about $1.5 million a year, VentureBeat reported that RIAA shut down Muxtape (online music mixtapes).  You may remember one of those executives from her days chasing down illegal file sharers, one pesky villain at a time.

The quote from RIAA:

For the past several months, we have communicated our legal concerns with the site and repeatedly tried to work with them to have illegal content taken down. Muxtape was hosting copies of copyrighted sound recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making these recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners. Muxtape has not obtained authorization from our member companies to host or stream copies of their sound recordings.

Not a good week of news for music technology companies that stream music (see Pandora post).

I’d like to start this post in the same voice I use for my newborn at home. Pandora go bye-bye. I don’t mean to be insensitive, but watching the music industry implode is getting comical.

I saw Pandora CEO Tim Westergren (pictured above) speak at Stanford University last year and I’ve always loved their application. If I was cool enough to own an iPhone, I’m sure I’d love the Pandora iPhone app even more.  Tim and his crew have been dealt what appears to be a lethal blow. The Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the royalties paid by web radio providers from 0.0008 to 0.0019 per song, per listener.  Pandora currently has 1 million listeners daily and the rate hike will raise their costs too high to operate a sustainable business.

Westergren has a few comments in the Washington Post article. He’s been a fighter over these issues in the past, but he now seems to be changing his tune (no pun intended) and is accepting defeat:

“We’re funded by venture capital,” he said. “They’re not going to chase a company whose business model has been broken. So if it doesn’t feel like its headed towards a solution, we’re done.”

Sound Exchange, the organization that represents performers and record companies, claims that artists [see record companies] deserve a bigger cut of internet radio profits. My perspective is different. The benefit of Pandora is not in playing the Top 40 of mainstream music. It allows users to enter mainstream bands and then Pandora powers music discovery, pointing to similar and often unknown bands that wouldn’t have otherwise been on the radio.

I’d understand this move by the Copyright Royalty Board if Pandora simply copied the FM radio model for web.  Maybe if they played Radiohead all day and acquired legions of their fans as users, then  Radiohead might deserve more of the profits. But Pandora serves up an infinite long tail of bands and serves as a vehicle for those artists to get attention and exposure from fans that have a predisposed interest in their sound. It’s a new model and shouldn’t be compared to FM radio, where the basket of musicians available to listeners is limited to a select few. I feel bad for Pandora, their employees and their charasmatic CEO.

I can say this with near-certainty. The performers are not demanding an increase in royalties. It must be someone else…

It’s AC/DC’s first album since 2000 and they’ve decided to distribute those circular shiny artifacts in their eco-unfriendly plastic cases, exclusively through Sam Walton’s chain of discount stores. Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

I don’t get it. AC/DC has a huge fan base and they are a household name. Why not do like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and sell digital albums direct to us consumers from their website? They seem to have much more to gain by cutting out all retailers.

Angus - So you’re saying our only option is to drive to the store, fight for a parking spot, battle the crowd inside, and then stand in line to buy your compact disc? Even if someone credible tells me it’s the best album of the year and the liner notes include a spread of the top 10 AC/DC groupies, I still won’t pick up a copy unless it’s somehow misplaced and left near the baby formula and ass wipes.

Thanks for making it so difficult to pay money for your music.

Idolator has a more comprehensive write up.