MUSIC: Gaye family lawsuit ruling - an ironic title? Blurred Lines

so how's everyone feeling about the outcome of Williams, Thicke, Harris vs. Bridgeport Music, Gaye et al, or as i like to call it, "aka the case of today's music mediocrity, late legends, and myopia"?

...and by myopic, i mean having zero perspective and lack of historical awareness.

today's judgment is the outcome of just the latest in a series of music industry copyright cases that may or may not change the landscape of songwriting, recordings and all the things we hold dear to the artistic process.

what IS music, art, creativity and/or an original idea, anyway? part of what bewilders me about this case is the way Robin Thicke denies accountability and excused himself from the songwriting process by blaming drugs and then claiming he was physically absent while the song took shape in the studio. despite this, dude still supposedly earned millions of dollars off the song.

of course, there's a part of me that wonders: what exactly about art / music is/was truly able to be conveyed to non-musician jurors in a courtroom, as evidence? to what extent is Marvin Gaye's estate truly concerned with Marvin's intellectual property and best interest, if they're trying to halt sales of "Blurred Lines"?

From Randall Roberts' opinion-editorial in Los Angeles Times, 6 March 2015:

Producer Brian Eno, responsible for seminal work with artists including U2, David Bowie, Coldplay, Devo and others, told me a few years ago that this new openness marks a vital shift. He noticed that during recent recording sessions artists often referenced old recordings as part of the creative process. We suddenly refer to music a lot in a way that never used to happen. 

"When you went into the studio in the past, you went to a space that was actually, deliberately sealed off from music, because the only music you were supposed to be hearing in there was yours," he said. "And this sudden thought that the whole library of recorded music is there and available to you as reference material, really, I think that's changed the way people work a lot. So as a composer, I think it makes a really big difference, because it sort of erases history in a way."

yeah, pretty much. i want to blame technology, complacency, hubris, and a grip of other things. i also want to enter law school now more than ever maybe.

but god i hope it's not true.

who was playing at Truetone Music in Santa Monica...

...Friday night, at their newly opened CLUB FENDER annex?  i watched from the street with a handful of other people, through the glass of the storefront.  holy wow, they were amazing.

here's a video of the last song they played last night, recorded by Don Was:
they were JACKSHIT, featuring guitar player VAL McCALLUM from Jackson Browne's band and two guys from Elvis Costello's Attractions and Impostors, respectively drummer PETE THOMAS and  bassist DAVEY FARRAGHER.

9/10/11 an hour past 12 in an electric sportscar.

AlSto and i spent the day with BriKa driving in the 2011 Southern California Tesla Rally. Tesla owners/VIPs came from as far away as San Diego and Arizona to participate in the third annual drive. it had the largest turnout yet, with about 40 all-electic powered vehicles and roadsters!

we began at the Hawthorne Design Centre, where the prototype of the new S-model Tesla is rumoured to be stored.

i had the privilege of riding co-driver in car #125 AND #77 this year. more short videos are on youtube, including some confusing topsy-turvy footage as we embarked with the help of Hawthorne's finest(?, below).

not bad for a Saturday!???

KCET is no longer channel 28, at least on Time-Warner cable

late last night, i was confused when i saw a black, empty screen on channel 28, which, since childhood (at least in Orange County), was usually the former Los Angeles PBS station KCET. i thought it was a TiVO mixup, but today, even worse fears were confirmed, as stated in this press release (or programming alert?) issued by Time Warner cable:

"Beginning on or about January 17, 2011, KCET, which is currently made available to customers in an analog (or both analog and digital) format will be made available in a digital format only. KCET will remain on the Broadcast service level. Viewing on certain television sets may require additional equipment that can be provided by Time Warner Cable or that may be available for purchase from retail stores in certain locations. "

as we all know, KCET no longer carried PBS as of the first of the 2011 year. i was surprised to see just one other analogue cable 'dinosaur' on a local Los Angeles Yahoo! forum was noticing, let alone complaining, this recent development, that 'TWC drops analog KCET (ch.6)'.

what's worse is, even if we HAD digital KCET in Orange County, we would be forced to accept KCET's 24/7 Kids and Family channel, rather than their so-called "new" independent programming...which i was kinda digging, what with all the cool cooking shows (YOUR JAPANESE KITCHEN, RICK BAYLESS, ERIC RIPERT etc.), plus H.R. PUFNSTUF and LIDSVILLE!!?!

what Ninja Tune XX meant, and what Ninja Tune means to me

there was a time when labels meant something, when they were synonymous with a certain aesthetic, roster of artists and calibre of quality and musicianship (and for these reasons, i still love Relativity, SST, 4AD, Wax Trax, Moonshine, Planet Dog etc. etc.); and Ninja Tune was, and still remains, a label you can count on...

Gary Numan is headlining two nights at the El Rey next week. favourites from my 20s have reunited and toured again recently. hell, even the Chemical Brothers are still actively making music and touring. for all the shows we could have gone to but didn't go to, either because we couldn't afford the $ or the energy it would take to attend, there were two shows i was absolutely not going to miss, two shows this near 40-yr old was looking forward to since summer: KRUDER & DORFMEISTER and NINJA TUNE XX.


musically speaking, in the early 1990s, i was still making my way between the remnants of alt-goth clubs and the burdgeoning Los Angeles rave scene. i was in college, futilely still pursuing a career in the music business, interning the 2-6am shift at radio station MARS-FM. just a few years later, i fell in love with my husband, and all our friends and we were falling in love with Kruder and Dorfmeister, Fila Brazillia, Quango Records, and all things downtempo (yes, thanks largely in part to Jason Bentley, his show Metropolis and KCRW). i think ENIT was still in effect, via Lollapalooza. at about this time, there happened to be an extraordinary UK label which had already been releasing great music for several years, called Ninja Tune.

i think i have loved the Herbaliser and Coldcut and Cinematic Orchestra and DJ Food and DJ Vadim and Mixmaster Morris and all Ninja Tune artists for the simple fact that they've always made my head nod and my ears listen...in that order. most everyone knows the Mr. Scruff song "Get a Move On" that was in the 2005 advert for Lincoln cars. see? i know you remember the song, even if you don't remember the commercial. and NO, it wasn't Moby.

really, one shouldn't need to know much about keyboards, turntables, editing software and samplers to enjoy music. maybe, sometimes, it helps, cos then you see someone get on stage and pull off everything live, like ESKMO did last night...and you're blown away.

i feel lucky to live in L.A., where Ninja Tune XX happened to touch down on one special evening. i think i was worried there would be too much competition in town: 'twas the Saturday of Hallowe'en weekend; Of Montreal was playing at the Palladium; HARD L.A. was up the street near usc (and there was a [an?] usc game on campus, i later learned). i was so happy to see the line was already around the corner, 30 minutes after doors had officially opened. of course, all the people waiting outside meant there were very few people inside to watch the opening acts... we only saw one song of Cut Chemist, who was in a hurry to get down to KCRW's Hallowe'en bash (oh, that was yet another thing going on on the same night). and GHOSTBEARD played a good, solid abstract set upstairs, and man, the sound was awesome.

one of my biggest complaints is when a music-based event fails to make their audio a priority, but NOT Ninja Tune! they made sure the audio was sounding excellent and trouble-free in every way. every piece was in place, with the possible exception of KID KOALA's crossfader fail...which was not truly a fail. that's because he deftly replaced the fader on the spot with true Kid Koala showmanship. He talked us through the process, stopping himself short of describing in geeky detail the part that had malfunctioned, although i would have loved to hear about it, and joking about his hopes that his sponsorship from Rane mixers wasn't dropped...even though the mixer had already lasted for a purported 400 previous shows! what a charming guy!! and THEN, Kid Koala proceeded with the show, enthusiastically standing on top of the monitors as he played the 'only song [his] two year-old daughter likes of [his] entire record collection', kinda like this:


...and many more. Amon Tobin played a gut-rattling dubstep-inspired set, while upstairs, DK and DJ Food brought out an all-Ninja-Tune-and-Big-Dada set, spinning their way through the recorded history of the label. freaking fantastic! unfortunately, :(( we were unable to stay for DJ KENTARO, who i am sure blew minds away with his turntablism and skill!!

the term 'ninja' is so apt in describing the artists working their magic on Ninja Tune's music. we were all really lucky to have been at the Echoplex last night, in the presence of some of our music superheroes! looking through their commemorative book, Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats & Pieces (which was painstakingly put together to be released as an accompaniment to the limited edition, and now sold-out, four-CD boxset), one may notice how all the gents have a little more grey in their hair and maybe a little more weight on their bodies, or at least just wedding bands on their fingers.

Panasonic officially announced they were ceasing production of their analogue turntables last week, but they hadn't heard the news at Ninja Tune's birthday party last night. the most incredible thing was to be at a place where the love of music was clearly so apparent and palpable. you could touch it in on the face of every artist; you could hear it in every molecule of the air; and you could see it in every bobbing head, both onstage and off.

BTW a huge thank you to LysWo, JuBla and CaiVe of THIRD SIDE MUSIC and TiJo of TERRORBIRD MEDIA!!!

Detour Festival in Downtown Los Angeles

Each year, for three years, AlSto and i have made it downtown to the LA Weekly-sponsored Detour Festival. This year, despite the lack of any majour acts we wanted to see, i ran in to some friends i haven't seen in a while, met some new people, and saw some bands that were unexpectedly good.

As we walked from our car, we passed by the longest line of valet parking attendants i've ever seen, outside a restaurant. Outside the main gate, people were rushing around all over for ATMs because you couldn't use anything but cash to buy tickets. This little fact was buried in the FAQs section of the Detour Myspace page, but was not stated anywhere on the actual website. What was worse was that you couldn't use any credit cards or cash to buy food or drink...you had to take the extra step to purchase an EVENT CARD:

"No more hassling with food tickets… go cashless! It’s the "Event Card!" Similar to an ATM/Debit card, fans can buy dollar amounts on the card for the purchase of food, beverage, and Official Merchandise at the event. All unused money left on the card will be refunded when you leave… it’s that easy.To improve efficiency, Event Cards will be available each at locations throughout the venue. Save yourself some time inside and get an Event Card while you are waiting for the gates to open. The main refund booth will be directly inside the front gate. If you have any questions on The Event Card system, feel free contact us at eventcards@yahoo.com."

Strangely enough, their website had no further information about this new system. Luckily, at the end of the night, you could get your money refunded if you didn't use all the cash. i wonder if some people went hungry/thirsty/merchless cos they didn't want to wait in line to buy/recharge their event card. Wonder if Bill Silva or Goldenvoice will be adopting it soon....? NOT.

Soju took over the beer gardens and that was a big disappointment ...although we did manage to find Dewars's 12-year on the rocks for $5. Meh.

Oh yeah, and there was music. Datarock rocked it. Hercules & Love Affair were interesting, and Gogol Bordello really put on a great live show. Two of the highlights for me were Para One and Surkin, who were in the dance/DJ area. Surkin's final hour or so was filled with old-school rave gems from 808 State, Prodigy, etc. and as i was dancing my ass off, i felt like such a granny. Fantastic!

And a note about ADA compliance:
In the past, they had scheduled the dance area in a church down the street (which had the worst acoustics for amplified electronic music) the first year, and a pavilion area off to the side of the main strip (which is actually Main Street), but this year, the music was up a flight of stairs to a main building of City Hall.

Not very physical disability-friendly or wheelchair-compliant, is it?

It sounded pretty good, tho, and if you looked up, there were engraved quotes from Abraham Lincoln displayed across the face of the building above the stage where the DJs stood. Imagine a bunch of people dancing in here:

Both photos taken by Floyd B. Bariscale.