In a broad keynote at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed took MP3s to task, and had some words of advice to those artists looking for a deal. Yet the Thursday morning Q&A session, moderated by music producer Hal Willner, was more a showcase for Reed's dry sarcasm than it was a look into a legendary musician's perspective on an ever-evolving music business.
"Technology is taking us backward," Reed said, referring to the poor sound quality of MP3 files. "It's making it easier to make things worse. ... I don't know what the answer is. People [have] to demand a higher standard. Or the other view is to say you're being elitist, and only the people who can afford [high-quality stereo equipment] can get it."
While the SXSW keynote speech rarely presses an artist with tough questions, Willner strayed from asking any follow-ups, and instead relied largely on questions submitted by fans via the SXSW website. But even Willner looked slightly embarrassed to be asking Reed what instrument he's always wanted to play but never learned (the sax, for those wondering).
As approximately 1,500 artists descended upon SXSW, the vast majority are relying on an MP3 or MySpace stream to garner some sort of attention. Indeed, even as the sound quality may have declined, it has created an atmosphere in which artists such as preppie indie-rockers Vampire Weekend are arriving in town not amid a bevy of hype, but instead a top-20 album. Such a feat for an indie band would have been nearly unheard of as recently as five years ago, and what access to such tools could have meant to Reed's career weren't suggested.
"Here's a movie the size of a postage stamp," Reed said. "Here's a song that sounds like a pin drop. ... The trade-off is that you have a lot available, but it sounds bad." Yet Reed still had a sense of humor about the topic at hand, noting that those who are interested in preserving sound quality are starting to look more like "zoo animals."
The majority of the conversation focused on Reed's recently released Julian Schnabel-directed concert film "Berlin," documenting five New York performances of the experimental record. Reed, who noted that "The Bourne Ultimatitum" is one of his favorite films, took the crowd to task for not showing up at the SXSW premiere the day before, and dryly noted that the "Berlin" concerts did not visit "music biz town" Los Angeles. Yet it was not asked if this was due to Reed's inability to find a venue or a promoter willing to stage it, or simply a decision not to tour the U.S.
But Reed seemed to be having fun playing with a crowd. When a cellphone apparently went off near the stage, Reed said, "What does turn off your cellphone mean in Texas? Howdy? Shove it up your cow?"
Talking about the beginnings of the Velvet Underground, Reed urged artists not to overplay. He noted that the Velvet Underground had a "fine system," in which no member was allowed to play blues or R&B licks since it wasn't true to the band's roots.
"This is going to be city," Reed said of the Velvet Underground's mission. "This is going to be pure."
Reed also cautioned artists against ever giving up their publishing rights, should they still be interested in signing to a label in today's climate. Reed said he was involved in an 11-year lawsuit to get control of his publishing rights, and "Berlin" was used as evidence against him, a symbol that he is not equipped to manage his own career.
"Suppose you do want to be on a label," Reed said, "be it for distribution, to be seen, to be separate, whatever it is -- they're always going to say they want the publishing. You always say no. ... But people want to sign, so they say yes. If they don't want you without the publishing, don't sign."
The South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, got underway Wednesday -- the same day it was announced that Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor brought in more than $1.6 million via orders/downloads. The annual four-day event is the time for artists and labels to shop for deals, and for those who already have them to try and hype new releases.
Reznor's claim, however, shades the fest in a new light. While few artists are of the stature to reap the kind of rewards that Reznor did by going it completely alone, it points to a time when the taste-making filters provided by independent and major labels are going by the wayside.
Perhaps that had something to do with why there wasn't a must-see, overly-talked-about act heading into SXSW. Late in the day a buzz started to swirl around Atlanta's Dead Confederate, but one got the sense that was largely due to the band's fortuitous opening slot for R.E.M.
So with about 30 acts circled to try to catch Wednesday night, here's some thoughts on the ones I did, and the ones I remember:
Discovery of the night: This belongs to Louisville, Ky.-based band Wax Fang. Believing that most of those in Austin would be trying to get into R.E.M., I was feeling overly ambitious about getting into other venues, and had pegged three artists to catch between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Along with Wax Fang, I had been curious about jazzy hip-hop act Kidz in the Hall and the bluesy Americana of Saint Bernadette.
Wax Fang, however, tore those plans to shreds.
The three-piece possessed a Who-like grandeur and psychedelic bent, and kept me parked in one venue for the hour. Wax Fang is epic guitar rock, with melodic solos breaking free from hypnotic loops. The band's "The Doctor Will See You Now" rode a rattlesnake rhythm and a pummeling drum break, which hooks the listener by sputtering and starting. Yet the song's full payoff isn't revealed until more than halfway in, when a playfully electronic bridge cuts through the seriousness of the band's guitar force. It was the best song I heard all day, and it came from a band I didn't know existed until last week. Someday, somehow, more people must be awakened to this band: Scotland's Sons & Daughters. The act's recent album, "This Gift," is a killer rock record, and with vocalist Adele Bethel drenched in the glitter, she looked the part of the star she should become. Taking its cues from American folk and country, Sons & Daughters have a timeless swing, and the songs' hooks come from a driving melodic tension that stops just short of recklessness, resulting in sing-along choruses that slyly tease. Check "The Nest," with its scalding bass line that slinks around Bethel's vocals, or the lurching guitar notes of "Rama Lama," a song with so much space that the snapping of Bethel's fingers becomes a damning punch.
Does the world need more '80s-inspired dance-rock? The answer is yes, if judging by the attention surrounding Does It Offend You, Yeah? But if solely judging the band, the jury is still out. The band is raising plenty of eyebrows overseas, and will see its debut released in the U.S. on April 15 via the Sony-affiliated Almost Gold, the label home to Peter Bjorn & John. While taking notes on the band Wednesday afternoon, I noticed Almost Gold founder Isaac Green was standing to my right. He noted that after the act's Coachella date, Does It Offend You, Yeah? will head out on the Warped Tour.
There were moments in which the band shows it has the power to control the floor, namely on "With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)," where hand claps and a ferocious guitar and disco grooves are smashed together with all sorts of rickety electronic noise, and somehow all the heavily manipulated instrumentation makes sense. But other times, such as single "Let's Make Out," where a beer bottle was turned into a rhythm instrument, a gimmicky lyrical refrain couldn't mask that this was electro-punk that lacked nuance.
Another Almost Gold act, Wild Light, its exquisitely crafted keyboard-laced pop, lacked the flash, but was more impressive. Especially on "New Year's Eve," with its slow build and intertwining vocals.
Closing out: The evening's first big band faceoff came at 1 a.m., when dance act Simian Mobile Disco was timed against blues duo the Black Keys. In a last-minute impulse decision I went with the latter, based solely on the strength of the new songs from the Black Keys' upcoming "Attack and Release," and the hope that I'll catch Simian later in the week. After a Captain Beefheart cover ("Here I Am Always I Am"), the Ohio duo brought on new cut "Strange Times," a song based less on blues riffage and more tight and curt guitar notes. Elsewhere in the set, the Black Keys brought out a keyboard, and toyed with the sound until it became difficult to tell if the keys were mimicking guitars or the band was using guitar loops.
And now with the clock approaching 5 a.m., and festivities getting underway at 10:30 a.m., this blog is calling it a night.
(Wax Fang photo courtesy of MySpace Jessie Kriech / Chris Higdon)
Each year, amidst the hundreds and hundreds of unknown and up-and-coming artists playing the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, are a handful of critically-adored veteran artists. Wednesday night brought showcases from such music biz powerhouses as R.E.M. and Van Morrison. The latter was playing an early 7 p.m. set to showcase his upcoming album, "Keep It Simple."
Morrison had a special request:
Yet in a 40-minute set that focused solely on more recent material -- the slow-moving jazz and country-tinted songs of "Magic Time" and "There Stands the Glass" -- Morrison should have at least allowed the barkeeps to serve coffee.
With somewhere around 20,000 people descending upon Austin, Texas, on Wednesday for the annual South by Southwest Music Conference (SXSW), most of the hot day parties and promising panels won't happen until later in the week.
Wednesday night, however, promises marquee showcases from the likes of the bluesy Black Keys and veteran rockers R.E.M., the latter of whom will be covered by The Times' Ann Powers on Soundboard. There's plenty on this writer's schedule this evening, only a fraction of which will likely be able to be covered.
Yet one of the hottest tickets this afternoon was the first day of the four-day Fader party, in which the likes of electro-blues duo the Kills performed, as well as pop act the Ruby Suns. At times, the wait to get in was more than an hour, marked by this Disneyland-styled sign post:
Admittedly, this writer and his companions cheated and called in some favors to get in, where we arrived just in time to catch the Kills.
The band showed off some cuts from the recently released "Midnight Boom" on Domino, and though I confess to having lost track of the Kills over the years, songs such as "U.R.A. Fever" shined in the afternoon sun, thanks to some bump-n-grind rhythms and some razor-sharp guitar moves. Led by vocalist Alison Mosshart, she swung and strutted through should-be anthems like "Pull A U," a groovy, rock 'n' roll strip tease.
Earlier, the Raveonettes performed at Emo's, and greeted the 70-plus degree temps in all black. Older songs, such as "Love In a Trashcan," brought a county via Halloween stomp, while tunes from its recently released "Lust Lust Lust" showed off the band's ability to write distortion-fueled anthem.
As our friends over on Web Scout noted, attendees to the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, are greeted with a 5- to 10-pound bag of swag. Those attending the music portion of the fest are gifted with the most freebies. After dumping and sorting through the bag late last night, here's a shot of the mix of magazines, snacks, fliers and CD compilations that SXSW attendees are given:
It should be noted that none of the above will be making the trip back to Los Angeles.
However, this little guy will be:
Sgt. Solo! For those who can't make out my poorly shot Blackberry photo, Sgt. Solo is holding a guitar. The fine print (not pictured), notes that "Your limo is a Humvee and your ride is a Blackhawk." At first, this being a rock 'n' roll event (youthful rebellion, all that), I thought Sgt. Solo was some sort of "guitars not guns" statement. But the nifty little toy is actually an advertisement for Armed Forces Entertainment.
Outside barbecue joint Stubb's late Tuesday night, a gentleman was trying to sell attendees on a band playing the South by Southwest Music Conference (SXSW) this weekend with this catchphrase:
"They're like the Arcade Fire mixed with 'The Brady Bunch.' "*
Electronic artist Moby said he's had high hopes to expand his Moby Gratis site, which makes largely original music freely available to independent and non-commercial filmmakers, but has had trouble persuading other artists to join in. Moby, speaking at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, said he's uploaded about 70 pieces of music on his site since announcing its launch last year.
The site is pitched to independent and student filmmakers, and should a license bring in revenue, Moby said the money is donated to the Humane Society. Thus far, Moby said the site has directly resulted in 4,000 uses of his music in various film projects. He said he has hopes to further develop the project, but doesn't know which way it will go.
"Maybe at some point, [I'd] get some other musicians to contribute, but it's hard," Moby said. "I'm a little bit surprised by people's unwillingness to give stuff away for free. I have approached some other musicians, and they don't seem as enthusiastic about giving their music away for free."
It was then pointed out to the artist that most musicians are perhaps not in the financial state that Moby is in, and the artist said he has had some regrets about accepting projects just for the money. He cited his past willingness to DJ at corporate events as the most egregious of his capitalistic moves.
No stranger to licensing, Moby's breakthrough album "Play" is notable in part for having each of its 18 tracks used in either a film, television or commercial project. "I've licensed music to my corporations, and my idea behind that, as odd as it may sound, is that it actually seemed funny in a Robin Hood-kind of way to take money from a corporation rather than give money to a corporation," Moby said. "Maybe that's flawed."
More recently, Moby composed the score to Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" follow-up, the poorly received "Southland Tales." Moby said he forced his friends to sit through the original 3.5-hour director's cut of the film.
"My friends were so unhappy with me," Moby said. "But of all things I've worked on, it's the thing I'm most proud of because it's so unique."
The 1 hour and 15 minute conversation with Moby, which was the final panel of SXSW's film events, was moderated by BMI's Doreen Ringer-Ross. The panel strayed heavily from talking about film and licensing, beginning with this Ringer-Ross question: "Does it depress you that you were born on 9/11?"
It set the mood for an opening 30 minutes that tried to delve into Moby's philosophical and political views. When it was suggested the two start discussing the topic at hand, Moby joked, "You don't want to be talking about solving the welfare state?"
Moby hinted that perhaps he's been too open in his beliefs in the past. "I want to take a class from a cool musician on how to be vague and esoteric," Moby said, referencing the mystery that surrounds Radiohead's Thom Yorke.
The panel only briefly touched on his forthcoming album, "Last Night," due April 1, for which Moby will stage a release party on Friday night in Austin. Yet Moby said it was unlikely that the full album would be played.
Moby will also perform with his rock band, the Little Death, on Wednesday night. Asked to describe the band, Moby said, "It's Led Zeppelin meets John Lee Hooker meets Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill."
Some other noteworthy moments of the conversation:
-- Moby on his least successful and most harshly reviewed album, the much-underrated punk-influenced "Animal Rights:" "We went on tour for that, and no one showed up," Moby said. But he noted that at least three people have professed a love of the record to him: Terence Trent D'Arby, Axl Rose and Bono, who Moby said told him he "liked it as much as the Clash's first album."
-- Moby will be DJ-ing at a closing night event for the SXSW's film festivities, and a fan asked how to sneak in. Moby told a story of when he was 15 years old and unable to get into a punk rock show. Moby and his friends then called the club from a nearby pay phone and said there was a bomb inside the venue. When everyone was forced outside, Moby and his peers stood in the crowd and were able to follow the crowd back into the venue.
The past two years, I've waited 20 to 30 minutes for a cab at the Austin, Texas, airport when arriving mid-afternoon for the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. So I thought I scored this year when there was no line at the cabbie stall.
But after pulling out of the airport, I was informed of some bad news.
"My cab is sick," said the driver.
While I was immediately reminded of an ex who used to personify her car by giving it a name, the news soon got worse.
"My cab is sick, and I hope it doesn't die on the way downtown."
I asked what made the car ill.
"You don't hear that noise?"
No, I did not hear any noise, and that seemed to end the conversation.
Then five minutes later: "You still don't hear that noise?"
I still didn't hear it.
"Oh, you heard it," he said.
He asked me what I did, and I said I was a journalist, to which he replied: "You write about music, but you can't hear that noise?"
We eventually arrived safely at the hotel, and I asked if I could get a picture of the sick cab. I was told no photos.
The music portion of South by Southwest (SXSW) is only days away, and updates from Austin, Texas, will be posted here beginning Wednesday, March 12. In the meantime, here's some storylines worth keeping an eye on. -- Is there an Amy Winehouse-type break-out star? While there's certainly no artist with the tabloid backstory of Winehouse this year, her SXSW performance in 2007 fueled a hype that led to her five Grammy wins this February. But perhaps there's a best new artist nomination hiding somewhere among the SXSW 2008 crop. Keep an eye on Kanye West-approved rapper Kid Sister, the grimy electro-hip-hop of Santogold, the '60s-inspired soul of budding U.K. star Duffy, or the sly, danceable rock ofthe Virgins, among many, many others.
-- Will R.E.M. return to relevancy? The three-time Grammy winners R.E.M. have a new album, "Accelerate," due April 1, which sees the band bringing the guitars back to the front. Early reviews have been strong, and the crunchy riffs of first single "Supernatural Superserious" are a positive sign, as the song alone is better than anything off of the tepid, keyboard-heavy "Around the Sun." The band performs Wednesday night.
-- Now Perez. Gifting suites ahead? Celeb blogger, and perhaps future record label mogulPerez Hilton will be staging a major invite-only party at SXSW at a not-yet-disclosed location. He's keeping the acts performing a secret, but told Billboard he booked 8 artists. For the past few years, official SXSW showcases have had to withstand an increasing number of VIP parties and exclusive events. With Perez on board, will SXSW, once a bastion of indie-cool, be officially taken over by the Hollywood crowd? And will Perez's party offer insight into the kind of acts he would sign to his own label?
-- What new business model will be hyped? Expect much debate/deliberation on the much-ballyhooed "360 deal," which sees a label taking a cut of all aspects of a band's career (touring, merch, etc). The merits of such a model is up for discussion at a Saturday afternoon panel, but not before Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty takes the stage for a Q&A on Friday, perhaps addressing the concert promoter as label (a la Madonna's deal with Live Nation), and why the company couldn't keep Hannah Montana tix out of the hands of scalpers.
-- Might this be the start of something big? Early word on "Attack & Release," the forthcoming album from blues-rock duo the Black Keys, is nothing but positive. The album was produced by Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley), and he seems to have taken a largely hands-off approach (check the light, brief psychedelic excursion in "Strange Times" ). Originally meant to be recorded with the late Ike Turner, "Attack & Release" could very well be the album that sees the band graduating from cult status, or at least gets them a best contemporary blues album Grammy nomination.
Columbia Pictures' "21," a tale of MIT students who stage a Las Vegas heist, is coming complete with a critics-approved soundtrack, featuring acclaimed dance-rockers LCD Soundsystem, rock band of the moment MGMT and last year's darling's, Peter Bjorn & John, among others. Likewise, the film will court the music geeks with a premiere and party at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, next month.
Leading off the soundtrack will be a remix of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" from Soulwax, but the centerpiece of the score will surely be "Big Ideas," a new track from LCD Soundsystem, said to be composed specifically for the film, according to the press release, meaning it is, at the very least, eligible for voting in the best Oscar song category.
The rest of the soundtrack features a number of previously released dance/rock tunes, including Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive" and Mark Ronson's "LSF," featuring long-forgotten British rockers Kasabian.
Tracklist below, but since the LCD Soundsystem cut isn't online to preview yet, here's the trailer, which courts the music-informed crowd itself, thanks to use of Spoon's "My Mathematical Mind." The film, starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey opens March 28, and the soundtrack is out on the 18th.
1. "You Can't Always Get What You Want," The Rolling Stones (Soulwax Remix) 2. "Time To Pretend," MGMT 3. "Big Ideas," LCD Soundsystem 4. "Giant," D. Sardy featuring Liela Moss 5. "Always," Amon Tobin 6. "Young Folks," Peter Bjorn and John 7. "Mad Pursuit," Junkie XL featuring Electrocute 8. "Sister Self Doubt," Get Shakes 9. "I Am Unknown," The Aliens 10. "Shut Up and Drive," Rihanna 11. "Alright," Knivez Out 12. "Tropical Moonlight," Domino 13. "Hold My Hand," UNKLE 14. "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)," Mark Ronson featuring Kasabian 15. "Tender Buttons," Broadcast
In a broad keynote at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed took MP3s to task, and had some words of advice to those artists looking for a deal. Yet the Thursday morning Q&A session, moderated by music producer Hal Willner, was more a showcase for Reed's dry sarcasm than it was a look into a legendary musician's perspective on an ever-evolving music business.
Discovery of the night: This belongs to Louisville, Ky.-based band 
