Music News and New Music For December 8th, 2014

So of course, when running your own blog it can be tough to keep up with the s**tload of stuff that comes across our ears over a weekend!  Some good, some bad, some not even worth mentioning.  I guess that's how I use AFGM in general.  These articles that I go through everyday from various sites (Blabbermouth, CBC, National Post, AV Club, Google, Wired, Exclaim, Music News, Rolling Stone, etc.) and sort of "filter" some of the nonsense news such as the latest fashion design, who's got beef with who and who ISN'T doing music...still.

These articles brought forth are for a few different reasons:

1. It is relevant music information that pertains to you as a reader, no matter the level of intent or the genre.

2. They are relevant to the music I would be currently listening to or a genre I have put some attention and focus on.

3. I am rather patriotic about my Canadian music, so that always comes as a first for me.  I enjoy music from all parts of the world respectively, but I still have to promote local if I can.  Canadian music rocks!

4. Because it's humorous and we can always use a good laugh.  Rarely will it be at someone's expense...but then again I am just the guy talking about it.  They're the ones causing the comments.

So in closing, I trust you all will not read EVERY single article posted here.  But I hope you find something of use here and keep the conversation going by forwarding it onto someone else.  Click on each article heading for redirection to the full article.  Cheers!

The DRC (Desktop Record Cutter) - a future for vinyl cutting:

"By supporting this project, you will be helping to bring a physical music medium back to the mainstream. I foresee a [high resolution] digital music player in our pockets (or implanted in our teeth), along with an analogue, vinyl centric system at home.

By funding this project, you will be purchasing infrastructure to enhance the feature set and bring the final cost down. 100% of pledges will be used to expand infrastructure and expand The DRC."


Beyonce Is the Most Grammy-Nominated Woman Ever:

"In terms of most Grammy-nominated artist overall, she's currently tied with producer David Foster for seventh place. But the 2015 Grammy nominees haven't been revealed in full yet -- with one more nom, she'll move past him, too.

As for wins, Beyonce has won 17 so far. But given the quality of Beyonce, don't be surprised if that total changes at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards."


We want to love 'luxury' hi-fi music streaming. But there are problems:

"Consumers aren’t flowing so quickly toward higher-cost streaming options. YouTube may be moving into paid, ad-free subscriptions, but right now most listeners still sit through ads to see music videos. The biggest target market for streaming services is the demographic that would rather download music illegally than purchase it, and those people aren’t looking to pay a pretty penny; they’ll take what they can get for cheap – or, preferably, free.

New services, meanwhile, continue to flood the market. Each tends to be remarkably similar – universal access to millions of songs for about $10 a month – with only nuanced differences, like the availability of certain artists’ catalogs."


NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2014:

"Out of the thousands of albums we listened to in 2014, many of the ones that made this list seemed to satisfy a particular need. Some of them are aggressive; some of them are soothing. Sometimes we wanted them to ask hard questions — about rising oceans, global inequality, alienation and systemic injustice — that reflected the events around us. Sometimes we just needed them to show us something new. Exceptions abound, of course: There is lightness and melodrama, confidence and expertise, music composed decades ago and music that could have been beamed in from the future. Old needs surface in the midst of heavier times, too. We like to dance."


Beck, Beyonce, Pharrell Nominated for Grammy Album of the Year:

"The daylong event to announce the nominees for the 57th Annual Grammys wrapped up Friday night with A Very Grammy Christmas, where the five nominees up for the Grammy's biggest award, Album of the Year, were finally announced. Pharrell Williams and Sam Smith were among the performers on the holiday special, and both walked away with a Grammy gift: Williams' Girl and Smith's In the Lonely Hour each picked up Album of the Year nods, along with Beyoncé's Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran's X and, most surprisingly, Beck's Morning Phase."


Black Keys, Jack White, Paramore Nominated for Best Rock Song Grammys:

Nominations for Best Rock Song are:

Paramore, "Ain't It Fun"
Beck, "Blue Moon"
The Black Keys, "Fever"
Ryan Adams, "Gimme Something Good"
Jack White, "Lazaretto"


The Gaslight Anthem Announce 2015 North American Tour:

02/27 Providence, RI - Lupo's  #

02/28 New York, NY - Terminal 5  #

03/02 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live  #

03/03 Richmond, VA - The National  #

03/04 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre  #

03/06 Charleston, SC - Music Farm  #

03/09 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall  #

03/11 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues  #

03/12 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater  #

03/13 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue  #

03/14 Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre *

03/16 Edmonton, AB - Union Hall *

03/17 Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall *

03/19 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom *

03/20 Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market *

03/21 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *

03/23 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot *

03/24 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre *

03/26 St. Louis, MO - The Ready Room *

03/27 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room - Old National Centre *

03/28 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall *



# with Northcote, The Scandals

* with Northcote, Sammy Kay


Steam’s New Broadcasting Service Could Make You the Next YouTube Star:

"Once someone has put in a request, the system automatically sets up the broadcast and a chat room so viewers can talk while they watch you. As the player, you can ignore this entirely and close the streaming overlay, just going about your business, or you can use the overlay to engage with anyone watching.

It’s unlikely that any Twitch regulars will switch over to Steam—there aren’t any built-in methods for monetization or building up a following. But for us casual players who don’t want to deal with building a zealous fan base, this is a perfect way to let some friends watch you play."


We Came As Romans Streaming Acoustic Version Of “Hope”:

The Best Music to Have Sex to Has Been Declared:

"The fact that Dirty Dancing has come top on the list of the best tracks to play during sex for both men and women is due to the fact that most people have a good knowledge of songs that represent romance, and these tend to be from cultural references such as film.  People use this music to not only communicate their intentions in a romantic situation but to directly alter the mood during an encounter." -Dr. Daniel Müllensiefen


John Coltrane Documentary in the Works From 'John Lennon' Director:

"He was an artist whose work resonated with fans from all walks of life -- the architect Frank Gehry, Clint Eastwood, Bono, Philip Glass, Alicia Keys, Bill Clinton -- and that fascinated me: What is it about this music that touches people so deeply?

Most of the books attempt to analyze his music.  We'll make the film different by showing the impact the music made. He's like the Beatles in that he never repeated himself; he found what worked and moved on. He had a restless creativity, and that, to me, is quite admirable." -John Scheinfeld


OnAir Box Private Music Cloud And Streaming System:

“Connect the OnAir Box to your existing stereo or TV to Wi-Fi enable them. You can then use the OnAir Player app on your phone, tablet or computer to control your music and stream it to your stereo or TV.

OnAir Box comes with two USB ports that allow you to connect external storage devices such as USB drives or external hard drives. Once connected, OnAir Box will scan these devices for music and add everything it finds into your personal music library within the OnAir Player app. All your music will be available on all your devices, even when you’re on the go. That’s what we call “your private music cloud.  No more syncing music between devices or uploading to the cloud! Access all your music from all your devices instantly, wherever you are. Grab your phone or tablet while out in the park and access your library of thousands of songs stored at home. Sitting at work, open the OnAir Player web app to stream the music through your browser."


Apple's hottest product this Christmas is the one you can't buy any more:

"It was once considered bulky and too primitive to compete with slim touch screen music players and smartphones that could play videos at the same time. 

But just three months after Apple discontinued the iPod classic in favour of more advanced models, demand for the music player with the traditional click wheel has risen, causing prices to soar. 

The latest versions of the classic with the maximum storage of 160GB - more than any other portable music player - are currently selling on eBay for more than £550 as music fans clamour to get hold of the latest models before they are all disappear."


Stores play less Christmas music — finally:

"Even retailers that aren't springing for special customized playlists are toning it down, largely in response to the love-it-or-hate-it relationship most people have with seasonal tunes. Sun Diego marketing director Pete Censoplano said the Carlsbad-based surf chain asks its store managers to mix in some Christmas music, but not to load up the playlist with it.

Adventure 16 president John Mead subscribes to Mood Media's in-store radio service and makes sure to pick stations for his stores that blend holiday music with other genres."


Nightwish To Release 'Élan' Single In February:

"'Oh, while I live to be the ruler of life, Not a slave. To meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.' This beautiful quote from my hero Uncle Walt [Walt Whitman] was the starting point for writing 'Élan'.

The underlying theme of the song is nothing less than the meaning of life, which can be something different for all of us.  It's important to surrender yourself to the occasional 'free fall' and not to fear the path less travelled by.

'Élan' is a wonderful teaser for the full-length album, giving out a little taste, but revealing very little of the actual Journey of Grandeur to come…" -Tuomas Holopainen


Apple announces iTunes Best of 2014 - apps, music, movies, TV shows and books:

"Apple has announced its favorite apps, music, movies, TV shows and books of the year, with Elevate – Brain Training declared iPhone App of the Year while number puzzle game Threes! won iPhone Game of the Year.

For music, Beyoncé (who set a new iTunes sales record last year) took best artist, with Sam Smith best new artist. Taylor Swift grabbed best album with 1989, and Iggy Azalea best song with Fancy."


Asking Alexandria Partners With BitTorrent Bundle To Release 'Live From Brixton And Beyond':

"Sumerian Records is excited to team up with BitTorrent Bundle to allow all the content available on the Asking Alexandria physical DVD to be packaged digitally online, where other outlets were unavailable to offer the same service.  More importantly, BitTorrent taking positive steps to help both musicians and labels monetize their art in such a turbulent time in the music biz is both admirable and exciting. They take a small fee for their services and are very favorable to those on the creative side. I'm excited to see what the future holds for Sumerian and BitTorrent Bundle." -Ash Avildsen


Palisades, Neck Deep, Etc. Set For 2015 ‘Vans Warped Tour’:

Neck Deep, Palisades, Front Porch Step, Handguns, and Kosha Dillz announced thus far.  More to be announced!

06/19 Pomona, CA – Pomona Fairplex
06/20 Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Ampitheatre
06/21 Ventura, CA – Seaside Park – Ventura County Fairgrounds
06/23 Mesa, AZ – Quail Run Park
06/24 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
06/25 Oklahoma City, OK – Remington Park
06/26 Houston, TX – Reliant Park
06/27 Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavillion
06/28 San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
07/01 Nashville, TN – Tennessee State Fair Grounds
07/02 Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre
07/03 St.Petersburg, FL – Vinoy Park
07/04 West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre
07/05 Orlando, FL – Tinker Field
07/07 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
07/08 Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live
07/09 Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
07/10 Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
07/11 Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
07/12 Hartford, CT – Xfinity Theatre
07/14 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
07/15 Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
07/16 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
07/17 Toronto, ON – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
07/18 Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
07/19 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
07/21 Scranton, PA – Toyota Pavilion
07/23 Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
07/24 Detroit, MI – The Palace Of Auburn Hills
07/25 Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
07/26 Shakopee, MN – Canerbury Park
07/27 St. Louis, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
07/28 Milwaukee, WI – Marcus Amphitheater
07/29 Indianapolis, IN – Klipsch Music Center
07/30 Bonner Springs, KS – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
08/01 Salt Lake City, UT – Utah State Fairpark
08/02 Denver, CO – The Pepsi Center
08/05 San Diego, CA – Qualcomm Stadium
08/07 Portland, OR – Portland Expo Center
08/08 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheater


Soundgarden Seeking Fan Submissions For Upcoming Documentary:

“It’s happening – the Soundgarden story will soon be the subject of a feature documentary film. And you can help. As we dig deep into our vaults, we ask that you, the fans, dig into yours.

Personal photographs, bootleg video and audio, collected concert posters – your rare piece of music history could be the missing piece we need.

If you want a chance for your memento to become a permanent part of Soundgarden history, send a description of what you’ve got to info@bangerfilms.com with the subject “Soundgarden Fan Submission”.

The Soundgarden film is being produced by Banger Films, makers of the essential heavy metal documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey (2006), SXSW Audience Award and Juno-winning Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (2009), Grammy-nominated and Tribeca Audience Award-winning Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage (2010), the “doc opera” Super Duper Alice Cooper (2014), as well as the biggest-ever TV series on metal and hard rock, Metal Evolution (2011).”


Kristen May Talks Backlash After Becoming New Singer:

"I had a feeling there would be some backlash because I'm a different singer than [former FLYLEAF singer] Lacey [Sturm].  I don't scream — I'm more pop-oriented, more melodic. That's important to me in my songwriting. But what I realized is that it wasn't so much about me or what I was doing — it was that they connected so much with Lacey that it didn't matter who came in. The band could've hired Beyonce and people still wouldn't have been happy. So when I put myself in the shoes of someone who's been a fan of a band for eight years and then having someone else come in, I'm sure I would feel taken aback, too. Now, would I go on the Internet and be mean? I wouldn't, but that's just not my style. There were a couple of times when I responded to people, but nothing ugly. I didn't tell anyone they should also die." -May


Dino Cazares Discusses Ibanez Signature Guitar:

Random Music Quotes: Auerbach

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." -Berthold Auerbach

We Got This: An Interview with Aaron Tangkengko

So I know this blog is dedicated to music for 99% of the time.  We add a dash of technology here and there, maybe some films, but it always tends to directly (or indirectly) come back to music.  So if you remember a few weeks ago I posted an article discussing the new Band Aid 30 showcasing the new music video and the philanthropy it goes towards.  While that article and song was enjoyed by many readers I have, it also ruffled a few feathers of those who believe this kind of outreach does not help anyone.

Yes, this has turned into a political article.  A good friend of mine Aaron has been involved with my music projects for well over a decade (and has been a good friend of mine since we enrolled in Kindergarten together).  In our high school post-secondary days, he was my band's photographer, writer, and concert reviewer.  His efforts are now more useful as he completes his degree in English/journalism at a nearby university and as such, we got into a lengthy debate behind Band Aid 30.  I wanted to share our conversation with you all in hopes you might have some thoughts and wisdom to share as well.

Granted some of my comments were probably taken out of context and spoken out of emotions/individual perception rather than research and delivery, but still makes for a great conversation nonetheless.  Here is the original article this debate stemmed from.

**Please note that this conversation took place in an online chat, so the grammar and spelling errors has been corrected to best of our ability.  Send me an email if you notice something we did not.**

AFGM: "When it was announced last week that, in response to Ebola, Geldof was planning to record a song he thinks is terrible for the fourth time, there was an eruption of criticism from Africans on Twitter and elsewhere."

Even though I am sure you have a rebuttal to this point, but I didn't realize that humans who are suffering from Ebola, famine, war, and poverty were able to tweet their issues with the philanthropy.

Second opening thought.

"Though the original song was recorded to raise money for Ethiopia, African critics say the stigma its simplistic message left behind affected not only that country, but a continent of 54 hugely-varied nations."

The original Live Aid raised over £8 million alone from the UK, not to mention the amount of funds coming from other countries.

Aaron: The Twitter issue is a fact of life.  Twitter doesn't mean wealth.  It means the country has been invested in and has the necessary infrastructure, and the people found a way to use it.  Simply because we have a "standard" for what it means to be poor from doesn't mean that standard is somehow universal let alone silencing of their critique.  We spend most of our days thinking Africa is this simple picture of broken nations, but we've leveled them to being only victims.  But the most decisive thing all these individuals have addressed is how charity hinders the actual long-term economic development pursued by 54 different nations.  And charity isn't sustainable, nor is foreign aid.

One of the key points raised by the article is that charities give a false sense of humanitarian and internationalist outlooks.  They trend for the moment, consider an issue, but then stop while feeding the need to help entirely.  The problem here is that these countries aren't needing charity.  The situations they're in only pile up to the point of needing bursts of financial backing because of varying problems originating in unfair market practices, foreign aid that becomes more exploitative, and generally issues concerning global power structures.  No one discusses these things because they're too damn busy figuring out ways to help "Africans" with pop songs so much that they disregard their opinions about their own societies. what would have been better for Kenya in the early 90s?

$50 million in charity money, or their president being able to invest national revenue into long-term infrastructure like schools and farming subsidies instead of having the IMF tell him he needs to put it away into an emergency fund, do nothing with it, or they'll pull the loan?  Economic determination promoted by a vocal population of the west that could equal the force we spend on Band Aid is what Africans want.  That will do more for Kenya than a a hundred Band Aid Concerts.

As for Ebola, one of the major social stigmas that helped spread Ebola is the idea that Westerners can't be trusted and that they bring more harm than good.  I'm sure if we stopped for a minute instead of trying to act upon every impulse to help, there's a strong chance we can actually do significant good by backing off and allowing West Africa to deal with this the way West Africa wants to deal with this instead of telling them how its going to be.  Moreover, the "white man's burden" and the "savior complex" are all concepts that have been far more destructive to Africa as an entire continent than famine, AIDS, civil war and genocide.  In Uganda, Christian missionaries looking to provide aid and infrastructure also brought with them messages and texts expressing the word of the Lord and a right wing stance on homosexuality and sexual equality.  Under the belief that "Africans should know God too", they fan already homophobic tendencies backed by old colonial laws, and turned Uganda into one of the world's most dangerous place to be gay, where last Christmas their parliament signed in a bill that set forth life imprisonment for homosexual displays and 2 year prison time for people who so much as know them.

We need to look past the money we give them and pat ourselves on the back with for having "done" something to "help" and consider other avenues. Throwing money at Ebola doesn't get to the root cause.  I mean, you realize that the number one sources for the initial spread of Ebola comes from a black market trend in the sale of unregulated or uncertified bush meat?  So ask yourself, why would a society turn to a means of economic subsistence that proves catastrophic?  Maybe it means that when a financial analyst from Ethiopia talks about how the ideas conjured up by western charity proves detrimental for other projects like tourist industry development and long-term foreign investment, that financial analyst may not be acting like a cynic, but rather as a pragmatic individual talking about a real problem more permanent than Ebola and makes it possible for such crisis situations to occur.

AFGM: Abdullahi Halakhe, Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dawit Gebreselassie, Hadiyya Mwapachu, Chitra Nagarajan, and Patrick Bond have all spoken about how they are taking the lyrical content of the song, but fail to implement or even give a spark of interest into how they would raise £8 million [in 1985] to offset the donations Geldof's "the worst songs in history".  This goes back to my old philosophy of, unless you plan to contribute to the solution, then f**k off with your cynicism of someone else.

Aaron: All of them have precisely told you how to deal with the problem.  They are concerned with the problem and finding a solution, Band Aid and its supporters are looking to throw some money at it.  There have been numerous Ebola outbreaks in the past to which have all been dealt with.  The problems with infrastructure will not be addressed or largely affected by charity.  In the 1980s, what ended the Ethiopian famine was politics and policy management, not charitable donation.  It's not cynicism at all.  It's a matter of seeing it as an economic problem or a logistical funding issue.  All the people in this article have articulated that Ebola, among all other things, originates from economic problems that are heavily concerned with global ideas about Africa and power structures that maintain international relations and the market.  Band Aid approaches this problem as it has all problems, as a matter of sudden burst of project funding. short-term charitable investment.

So when Abdullahi Halakhe, 33, policy analyst, says:  "I think the fundamental problem with the 'saving' Africa posture is that it is predicated on the notion that Africa/Africans are agency-less, which for me is problematic because it is the continuation of never-ending paternalistic tendencies towards Africa"

Instead of telling to f**k off because he's not contributing the way we want him to, maybe we should consider that these paternalistic attitudes are ones taken by global financial institutions that tell Kenya to save money and don't invest in the things mentioned in the previous repel or risk having IMF loans pulled.

Instead of f**k off to Robtel Neajai Pailey, we should figure out what she's saying with: "We got this, Geldof, so back off."  If you really want to help, buy a gazillion CDs of the two songs and send them to your friends as stocking stuffers with a note that says: "African solutions to African problems".  Instead of trying to remain relevant, Geldof and co. would do well to acknowledge the ingenuity of local artists and stop trying to steal the limelight!

Maybe instead of buying more music from artists we know there should be significant corporate venture into the development of musical talent and expansion of the music industry for continental Africa, which probably is affected by western markets presuming there nothing in these countries but war and poverty and that something like music and Twitter can't possibly exist for the general population. Take note, that this Band Aid shit will become the mainstream view of music dedicated to this Ebola crisis, so yes, she has a point when she says her nation's artists will be relegated to the margins and have their realistic and experienced music pushed off to the side where these superstars can benefit spouting their imaginary drivel.  Because remember, the margin they push African artists to means less industry for the nations that make them.

What of Hadiyya Mwapachu who says, "Western complicity within global relations of power is also unmentioned. There is a movement underway in Guinea that uses popular culture, traditional art forms and the radio to deconstruct stigma and raise awareness about Ebola. There are similar projects in Liberia and Nigeria. These efforts are the transformative ones."

That rather than piling more money, we should reevaluate our culture and politics before committing to anymore action.  That maybe we should use our western democracies to analyze the authoritarian use of power and control we have in our relations with these weaker nations and we need to take a long hard look in the mirror as a country and see how we profit off of the disadvantages that inadvertently made this outbreak of Ebola unmanageable.

Patrick Bond serves up the same set of solutions claiming:

"The political problem with these celebrity bashes, including the most recent legacy of Live 8 and its Make Poverty History allies just over nine years ago, is that dazzling, back-slapping performances resulted in lost focus when it came to structural power.  Because the emphasis on charity doesn't address economic injustice and neoliberalism, the celebs' superficiality allowed a dubious "Africa Rising" narrative to emerge in fast-growing West Africa, especially Liberia and Sierra Leone.  GDP growth through extraction makes these countries poorer in terms of not only broadly measured wealth, but also the society's ability to contend with health and welfare crises."

These people aren't cynics. They're educated local experts expressing the day-to-day struggles they have in trying to implement long term development and real change. If they say Band Aid will do more harm then good, so be it..

AFGM: Please name an African artist who would be willing to donate their time and money and who are responsible for selling multi-platinum albums such as the artists listed in the songs?  I think people have to remember that this song (and remakes) were created for 'Westerners' to listen to and donate, hence the need for artists who would be easily recognizable.

If people want African artists, then give a call to Salif Keita, Youssou N’dour, Angélique Kidjo, Bank W, Innocent Ujah Idibia, or Koffi Olomide and have them prove us wrong.  I don't believe anyone was knocking their musical skills when they gave Bono a call, but I have to be honest that most of those names listed above were not known to me until I did some research.

Aaron: That's another problem with the power structures of global market. Music is largely controlled by western standards and tastes which leads to the immediate promotion of Americanization, which recently has faced its backlashes, as well as Eurocentric value placements that deny expansion of a powerful industry into other markets for talent if that talent doesn't serve to the tastes of Western cultures. You won't name a single African artist who can be as relevant to us as Chris Martin from Coldplay because our markets don't give us much access to famous Liberian rappers.

We are a culturally incestuous market and Band Aid proves it because rather than the real art produced by those who suffered it, consumers would rather by what they know.  But is it better to sell a quarter of the album to charity while promoting the growth and expansion of a cultural industry by introducing a market with powerful purchasing power to new artists, or is it better to sell millions upon millions of albums, send a portion of the proceeds to Ebola charities, and have almost zero long-term gains?  It matters on what kind of "help" you actually want to contribute to.

AFGM: Music is not controlled by western standards as most music did not derive from North America but more of the places where they originally colonized from.  Drum beats originated from historic Africa, strings evolved from ancient Mesopotamia, symphonies originated in 11th-15th century Europe, etc.

Forward to modern day marketing and global activity, the music industry is equally successful in many other countries around the world that give not influence or critique to Americanization.  Black metal is doing just fine on its own in Norway, or the China Philharmonic Orchestra touring around the world (including North America) without any support, influence, or marketing from Western investors, etc.

Unless I am missing the point here, music is a universal language that has been used for war AND peace.  So what if Geldof, Bono, and the rest of the clan want to record a song and donate the proceeds to a worthy cause?  It's not like they just fly to Africa and hand a cheque to a local villager and say "here, we did this for you".  They will take necessary funds to purchase goods and services such as vaccines and medicine to administer to people in need of said materials.

I understand that North America (coughamericacough) plays a great deal as world police and governing the world according to their standards, but global aid is a completely separate issue.  We [as the general public] help those at home just as much as we do overseas.  People want to criticize government implementation and action then by all means go ahead.  But when the average Joe doesn't read into history of world politics such as you (and even myself on a minor extent), they see a cause worthy of a few bucks possibly to help feed, nourish, and aid someone else less fortunate than them.  This isn't a hierarchy system.  This is even a messiah complex here, this amounts to basic philosophical principals of helping your fellow man.

Musical artists that I listed above BTW have a great reputation and following in their home countries who have been very successful as artists.  Should we start pulling someone like Akon out of the picture because he is a Western successful artist?

"Instead of telling to fuck off because he's not contributing the way we want him to" was not the point I was trying to make here.  Much like the article, it was taken out of context for a better case.  We are quick (as a human race) to criticize versus provide a better solution.  This is sociology playing a part here.  The fact that I could not see where is criticism ended and his solution began was possibly my fault.  I did not see a solution that would raise funds as quickly or in the same amounts.

I assume people that use Twitter can in fact come from impoverished nations and that wasn't the point here. "You won't name a single African artist who can be as relevant to us as Chris Martin from Coldplay because our markets don't give us much access to famous Liberian rappers."
Welcome to the golden age of the internet where you can discover ANY artist at ANY time.

If you want to refer to the millions of Americans who follow Miley Cyrus, Jay/Beyonce-Z, One Direction, or people that are 'all about that bass', then yes I agree that puts a stigma/stain on the pants of North American culture.  However, you should know that a majority of uneducated folks do not represent the entire population.  Let's put it this way, a fair amount of musicians I have spoken with in interviews who actually have a background in music theory and history do not condone or promote those artists previously stated.

Aaron: It's true, people do just fine.  But the question here isn't how music generates its own economic sustainability within their own borders.  Nigerians know Nigerian music, but Brazilians, Japanese, south Koreans all know Metallica.  They all know the Beatles.  Elton John has a pocket in the mainstream there.  In regards to the mainstream, the how many Brazilian acts do we know? Sepultura? If any aspect of the music industry has been serious about the alleviation of poverty in Africa its been the factors that have tried to help independent cultural industries to give African nations more access to western consumers.  It is unchallenged the the G8 nations constitute some of the largest purchasing power in their general populations and any real attempt to help an economic situation through the arts is to open up that market.  Which very few have done.  It's not a matter of pulling this artist or that one from the airwaves, but the most powerful companies and institutions are from the Europe and the US.  Band Aid is just the products of those European and American institutions displaying their power (ability to make profits, marketing, audience share).

As for charity being a separate issue from governing the world and world policing, all things are interconnected.  And as much as, from the perspective of the average person who doesn't spend all their free time reading, helping your fellow man isn't wrong on paper, but how it plays out into the movements people support, the logistical problems with what they inadvertently empower needs to be something they're wary of.  Like my previous examples with Uganda, many of the organizations linked to the rise of anti-gay violence in Uganda function off the same idea of helping people.  But even the key speakers who promoted those ideals in Uganda have admitted to not foreseeing the coming violence.

AFGM: This might be speaking out of turn but I hope the author of this article, Barry Malone, donated any potential profits from this article to any of the numerous causes in Africa.  Because it would appear to be trafficking in human misery/cynicism if he didn't.  Were still talking about perception right?

Aaron: Is it an act of profit mongering to give people an avenue to express their opinions to an audience that rarely hears them to a point where the first cultural presumption is that since they use Twitter they aren't the real voices of African people?  That they should go and give money to Ebola patients right away instead of living it rich on their phones?  If the BBC reports on the striking of textile workers for better wage in Cambodia, is the author of that report contributing to a cause by letting it be known, or is the author profit-mongering off of the misery of textile workers?  If CNN does a report on Russian sex traffic do they owe the profits from whatever stream of revenue they get from the article to women's shelter's across the world?  Or is that the role of the news, to let situations be known in full, and to put out the counter claim to potentially disastrous popular myths?

AFGM: Would that necessarily be a bad thing?  If you are reporting disasters and atrocities, wouldn't lead by example be there best solution?

Aaron: The only reason I focus on all of us to critically analyze the economic and political situation of our times is because in the past Ebola has struck.  But the most disastrous outbreak occurs in an environment where anti-western sentiments are on the rise, American political power is being questioned, and most importantly when economic inequality is expanding on a global scale.  There is zero economy in the global market that is stabilizing the growth of inequality within its general population. The Ebola outbreak was an economic and cultural problem before it was a medical crisis.  People will do more help contributing their ideas to that conversation and generating the movement to critique everything we've done economically than we will listening to music and making bob Geldof relive his past.

AFGM: So are we to blame countries who promote music on a higher level for having bigger access to the world?  Are we to assume to Metallica is known in other countries because we forced it down their throats rather than the fact they actually enjoyed the pioneers of a new genre?

Because countries such as Canada, US, Sweden, Norway, and Japan have a more stable economy that can focus it's efforts more on the arts than others, are we to assume that this is the reason why artists in Nigeria are not getting worldwide coverage?  Can we stop for a moment and think that the music styles and traditional cultural music they create just might not be something we are interested in listening to?

Sepultura has my respect, but their music is not my style.  Charlie Brown Jr is my take and is actually the one of the biggest selling artists in Brazil.  They have a very small percentage of the market in North America.

Aaron: We didn't force it down there throats more than we already had markets ready to accept the genre.  Metallica was a band following the market legacies opened by western music industry institutions, and there's no doubt in my mind that in certain aspects direct political domination.  The Philippines is among one of the largest consumers of American cultural goods in Asia along with South Korea and Japan, and all three have had a long history with American intervention, military conflict/occupation and have all translated into market participation.  The fact that heavy metal is a prominent form of subversion in Iran and Hong Kong is also indicative of North America's capacity to disseminate its brand of culture.

And coming from the guy who's musical tastes are as eclectic as Louisiana french creole zydeco, you have to wonder why even you were unaware of many popular African musicians. That's a symptom of the artistic limitations of our current market models for the proliferation of music, which as you pointed out, has a game changer in the internet to which I would say has not been tapped as well as it could be if artists wanting to be charitable were serious about changing Africa.  The real logistical problem of course is the fact that the native languages of these artists may force them to speak French, English, Portuguese, or Spanish in order to reach a broader audience.  Which brings me to the next part...

Becoming a significant industrial force in the culture industry requires more than just the power of the music industry and and so on to produce good products and the reason that goes unsaid coincides with the fact that the countries who push the most outward in the culture industry have had enormous political power.

There is no foreign equivalent to Disney, as there is none to McDonald's, as there is none to the British/American boy band.  The reason why is because the continents they went into already had open markets for the goods coming from imperial centers.  American movies do well in the Philippines and so do American books because the market was opened when the educational system became one designed off the American system and made English more prominent.  Am I saying we should learn Swahili?  Hell nah, what I'm saying is that in terms of culture industry we need a new model of opening markets to new music.  The internet can be that way, and has proven to be effective, the problem is the inherent cultural advantage of the west in cultivating the notion of what people are "interested" in.

In the end, what some of the notes on music breakdown to is the ability for African musical economies to compete with European or Canadian musical economies.  There was no collection of Middle-Eastern and Central American performers coming together and making an event for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and if there was we showed our appreciation by leaving them out of the coverage.  But the situation shows that the artistic playing field is as open and fair as the economic one, and since art generates wealth it's a continuation of the same barriers.  The power structures imply that African markets have been opened for western industries which at times profit from the purchasing power of local African nations, while at the same time the opposite is experienced.

Almost to zero degrees.

AFGM: "The real logistical problem of course is the fact that the native languages of these artists may force them to speak French, English, Portuguese, or Spanish in order to reach a broader audience."

Even though this is a fraction of the overall pie, Rammstein is one of the largest bands on the planet, and especially in North America.  They use one of the most difficult pronunciation (and by stigma, frowned upon culturally at times) languages on the planet, although I am not sure if their dialect is east or west German.

Aaron: East

AFGM: I am not negating the fact that North American culture has touched all points of the globe and with reason of a stable economy, profiting off the back of the misfortune (which I have a feel you were leaning towards) of others, and by shoving it down their throats thanks to propaganda and vast mediums of media (whether print, online, radio, visual, etc).  So would a better solution be to take profits from "Do They Know Its Christmas", and invest them into a broader music culture in hopes they can equally share in these philanthropy campaigns?

"There was no collection of Middle-Eastern and Central American performers coming together and making an event for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and if there was we showed our appreciation by leaving them out of the coverage"

Too many variables to answer that one properly.  And by that, I cannot say whether people didn't want to help, a result of a pompous country who didn't require intervention, or the fact that spin control of media would drive the consensus of Americans needing help from other countries who are potentially worse off than they are.  I am not sure.  Any light to shed?

I think as a continental whole, focusing on the lack of worldly African musicians is less of a cause then focusing on physiological needs of the people.  "You don't need vaccines, you need music!"

At a basic level of human needs, people need help.  Assuming an entire country doesn't need intervention because 'they got it' is as equivocal as me stating all Canadians like Nickelback because they are the biggest seller in our market.  I am not sure if that comparison translates to you but it works in my head here.  (haha)

I would hope and assume that if the tables were turned, I would be grateful for any help that comes my way, whether or not it was in the form of a recording song.

Aaron: The focus should be genuine aid.  We have a tendency to only give a damn when its a crisis.  But the worker strikes we never support about the shitty conditions are part of the same conditions that make the crisis management impossible locally.

If Bob Geldof wanted a real message from Band Aid, take the musicians put there music out there in a reversal of the tradition to commemorate the humanitarian ideal he's been striving for.  What a better show of African prosperity than African singing about their experiences through the backing of the Band Aid institution?  And the focus on African musicians isn't the entirety of the issue, but representative of the whole itself.  Vaccines are having a backlash movement in Africa because of the same anti-vaccine movements from North America are finding gullible markets in places with high Aids pandemics and giving local populations different solutions.

It's not a simple matter of helping your fellow man as equals, the problem they're focusing on is the fact that it is far from being equals.  From the markets, to the arts, to the economies, all boiling down to this central article of discussion, it has been more like an overbearing father to a grown formerly abused child.  We view it as charity and kindness, they view it as more of the same while expressing the problems with our behaviour we choose to ignore that has direct impact on their lives.

***

The kick of it all in the end is that it stemmed from a conversation from two friends.  I like to value to my articles on research, merit, and constructive criticism.  Most articles usually involve quick music facts, videos, etc.  That all consumes time editing and layout more than anything else.  This debate challenged my own perception about music, my history, knowledge, and made me feel like I learned something after it all.  I mean, you'd have to be a fool not to.

Music Video Round Up For December 4th, 2014

Going through my playlist at the end of a work week is like the toast to the weekend; especially when you have been gone away on vacation for the past week with no contact with the outside world.  YouTube playlists and subscriptions coming out my ears so sometimes it's rather hard to follow each upload unless doing a round up such as this.  I hope this will make the starting of your weekend energetic, whether you are going into work or escaping from it.

Apologies in advance for those who loathe my video articles but there are just too many great clips out there to ignore.  So if you do not have the bandwidth to watch this video, then too bad!  Hahaha just kidding.  We have a long list of artists today to focus on so take your time and click on their links for more information on album releases, singles, social media, and touring!

So for the slower connections just load the article, go for a coffee/glass of water, return, play and enjoy!  This will surely be one of my playlists for the end of the work day and hopefully doesn't keep your eyes glued to the screen for too long.  Cheers!

*NOTE: There are hyperlinks in each title in case you want to stream directly from YouTube*

Matty Mullins - See You In Everything:



"See You In Everything" is taken from Matty Mullins' debut self-titled album, which was released on September 23rd, 2014 via Rise Records.


Sixx:A.M. - Stars:



"Stars" is taken from Sixx:A.M.'s latest release "Modern Vintage", which was released on October 7th, 2014 via Eleven Seven Music.


Foo Fighters - In The Clear:



"In The Clear" is taken from Foo Fighters' latest release "Sonic Highways", which was released on November 10th, 2014 via Roswell/RCA Records.


Gary Clark Jr. - When My Train Pulls In:



"When My Train Pulls In" is taken from GCJ's latest release "Black and Blu", which was released on October 22nd, 2012 via Warner Bros Records.


At The Gates - Heroes and Tombs:



"Heroes and Tombs" is taken from At The Gates' latest release "At War With Reality", which was released on October 28th, 2014 via Century Media Records.


Silent Planet – firstwake:



"firstwake" is taken from Silent Planet's debut release "The Night God Slept", which was released on November 10th, 2014 via Solid State Records.


Finsterforst - Mach Dich Frei:



"Mach Dich Frei" is the titled track from Finsterforst's upcoming album "Mach Dich Frei", which will be released on February 10th, 2015 via Napalm Records.


The Word Alive - The Runaway:



"The Runaway" is taken from The Word Alive's debut release "Real", which was released on June 10th, 2014 via Fearless Records.


Pianos Become The Teeth - Repine (Performance):



"Repine" is taken from Pianos Become The Teeth's latest release "Keep You", which was released on October 27th, 2014 via Epitaph Records.


Gary Clark Jr. - Catfish Blues (Live):



Gary Clark, Jr.'s "Live" album was released on September 23rd, 2014 via Warner Bros Records.


Gary Clark Jr - When My Train Pulls In (Live):



Gary Clark, Jr.'s "Live" album was released on September 23rd, 2014 via Warner Bros Records.


Epica - Natural Corruption - The European Enigma Aftermovie:



"Natural Corruption" is taken from Epica's latest release "The Quantum Enigma", which was released on May 6th, 2014 via Nuclear Blast Records.


The Francesco Artusato Project - Our Dying Sun (Play Through):



Our Dying Sun is the title track from The Francesco Artusato Project latest release, "Our Dying Sun", which was released on October 7th, 2014 via Sumerian Records.


The Color Morale - Prey For Me (Play Through):



"Prey For Me" is taken from The Color Morale's latest release "Hold On Pain Ends", which was released on September 2nd, 2014 via Fearless Records


Fit For A King – Forever Unbroken (Lyric Video):



"Forever Unbroken" is taken from Fir For A King's latest release "Slave To Nothing", which was released on October 4th, 2014 via Solid State Records.


Job For A Cowboy - Encircled By Mirrors (Lyric Video):



"Encircled By Mirrors" is taken from JFAC's latest release "Sun Eater", which was released on November 11th, 2014 via Metal Blade Records.


Blind Guardian - Twilight Of The Gods (Lyric Video):



"Twilight of the Gods" is taken from Blind Guardian's upcoming album "Beyond The Red Mirror", which will be released on February 3rd, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records.


Slyosis - Leech (Audio):



"Leech" is taken from Sylosis's upcoming release "Dormant Heart", which will be released on January 15th, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records.


Enter Shikari - Never Let Go Of The Microscope (Audio):



"Never Let Go Of The Microscope" is taken from Enter Shikari's latest release "The Mindsweep", which will be released on January 19th, 2015 via Hopeless Records.

Cannibal Corpse Lyrics Banned In Russia? What Else Is New

So Cannibal Corpse's lyrical content is now banned in Russia according to multiple websites.  According to the news agency Ria.ru, a district court of UFA found that content of Cannibal Corpse can "damage children's development because they contain descriptions of scenes of violence, physical and mental violence against people and animals, murder, suicide with the application illustrations."

Mind you, this isn't the first time CC has ran into controversy for their imagery and content.  I remember working at my hometown CD store and wondering why Metal Blade Records would smack a parental advisory sticker on the cover that took up about 85% of the jewel case.  After I removed the sticker I could see why. haha

I think I wanted to bring this up because it's something on my mind of what is acceptable and what isn't when it comes to morals and ethics.  I have one friend on a regular basis refer to any band I listen to as "father killing, mother raping" kind of tunage.  I fail to see how distorting guitars automatically means aggression and violence.  Cannibal Corpse do however take the icing on the cake with their consistent "wow" factor they deliver.

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

I am not a fan of CC.  I have never been one.  I have listened to their music, seen them perform and music festivals but it's just not for me.  But as a logically minded person who is rather reasonable in accepting culture shock (being that I moved from a city of 42,000 to 5,000,000+), I don't feel threatened by anything these guys convey.  I think the fact that it is sooooo out there for shock value that we can easily pick apart their work.

I think the article from The Guardian summed it up pretty well:

"any ban on Cannibal Corpse’s recordings seems a little futile: as with most death metal bands, their lyrics are often indecipherable."

A few things I was asking myself while reading these pieces of information.

1. What lyrical content and imagery is considered to "damage children's development"?  Do other bands such as Slayer, Dying Fetus, Six Feet Under, and Morbid Angel fall under this category as well?

2. So it is OK to listen to CC in Russia, watch them play, but are banned from translating their lyrics?  How does this specific legislation plan to combat children's development when they themselves can watch/listen to them?

3. Cannibal Corpse has been performing in Russia on a regular basis dating back to 1993:

1993 (Dvorets Sporta Luzhniki, Moscow, Russia), 2004 (DK Gorbunova, Moscow, Russia), 2007 (Roks, Saint-Petersburg, Russia), 2010 (GlavClub, Saint-Petersburg, Russia), 2012 (Milk, Moscow, Russia), and 2014 (Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Samara, and Krasnodar).

Why all of a sudden does the government pose their lyrical content as a threat, when it was perfectly acceptable for the first 26 years of the band's existence?

Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter and how sometimes people can have a skewed sense of reality and what should be OK and what should not.  Now, excuse me while I go play Call of Duty and hope I don't act upon it.

-Andrew

***

I am a fan of Cannibal Corpse, and I can assure you I do not act upon what they say. But yet again I am 45 years old and grew up listening to bands that many parents believed were devil worshippers just because they spoke about the occult. And also listened to Iron Maiden back in the early days when everyone went crazy for their mascot "Eddie" and I remember the whole idiocy that metal music brainwashed kids into doing evil things, like in Toronto a kid killed his parents and he blamed it on "Eddie".

Needless to say I had a good laugh. But any parents reading this idiot's words really would believe that a bloody artist picture told someone to kill their parents, and then parents probably banning their kids from listening to Iron Maiden.  Now I am one that believes that kids do stupid shit either because they are kids or they really have no idea that it is wrong. Hence the parents factor into this. Music is something that got me through a lot of things growing up, and the bands I listened to from Sabbath to Deep Purple, I really thought the lyrics were cool, but I never actually took them to heart because of education.

I remember growing up in the age of Black Metal, when Venom came out with all their satanic stuff. Now I did have the old jean jacket, where I ripped off the arms, vest and put upside crosses and my favourite bands and a massive Sabbath patch on the back, but I never really believed in Satan and virgin sacrifices etc, I was educated to not always believe what you read until you figure it out yourself to be real. I was in the occult for a time and realized it first hand that satanism is just a state of mind and that there is not person with horns and a tail dancing around fire.

I was around when probably the first albums had the old parental advisory sticker on them and hearing about Dee Snider griping about the advisory stickers on albums, and I believed then that parents should just speak with their children about what is real and fantasy, and let them enjoy the music. No matter how violent the lyrics are, or how grotesque the album cover, take music at what it is, and don't really take heed on the lyrics. And as it was said Cannibal Corpse and other bands like them, you can't really hear what is being said, but you can read the lyrics. And the more you ban the more kids will go out and listen to the music. It is like drugs and alcohol, kids will want to go out and see what it is and how bad is it really. That is what kids do. They will do what your telling them not to do.

Educate, talk to them about what they are hearing and let them know it is just fantasy, like an author writing a book. Relax and enjoy the music, don't let it run your life. Stupid is what stupid does and you can't make excuses that "the devil made me do it" or "I did it because Ozzy told me to" If anyone believes that then your not a real fan because you don't get it. Understand what is being said and know the difference between reality and fantasy.

For what Russia is doing, I feel bad about Cannibal Corpse for being targeted. Other bands are just as bad in lyrics. But banning this won't save kids minds. Continue with the parental stickers, if you feel strongly about it. Kids will find ways to listen to the music you want to ban, so it is a waste of time.

- Craig

Music Releases For December 2nd, 2014

Quality trumps quantity this week folks with regards to music releases.  You will notice a shift in the holiday season where you'll get a few quick pushes in the early weeks of December.  Everyone needs a break during the holidays.  That includes bands, producers, distribution, album designers, tour managers, and even that roadie that yells "Check!" into the microphone.  So it makes sense that rock/metal/punk releases tend to die down until the new year.

So here are a few of those releases that die hard fans will scoop up either for themselves or for a Xmas present with the tag "you HAVE to listen to this!"  However you slice it, there are some good releases coming from the likes of Leonard Cohen, She & Him, Mary J Blige, Wu-Tang Clan, and of course AC/DC.

So be a doll and show some love to these artists by purchasing their work at your local record store, online retailer, or trusted digital source.  Cheers and happy Tuesday!

(Leonard Cohen - Live In Dublin)

Musically, the Canadian born Cohen combines blues, jazz and folk along with strains of European and gypsy styles for a unique, elegant and diverse mix that makes the perfect foundation for his words and presentation. He is also generous with the spotlight, giving extended time to his world class musicians (string instrument virtuoso Javier Mas is particularly impressive) longtime partner Sharon Robinson and the Webb sisters whose angelic voices mesh as one. The only non-Cohen composition is a closing cover of “Save the Last Dance for Me,” played with all the bittersweet melancholy often obscured in other versions. It caps off a remarkably vivacious and career encompassing evening that sets a new standard for capturing icons like Cohen who rely on restrained intricacies in texture and nuance to communicate their art. -American Songwriter

(She & Him - Classics)

She & Him aren’t trying to surprise anyone with these covers; there’s no off-the wall instrumental experimentation, no dramatic shift in lyrics. Instead, Classics is charming and sleepy in a '60s samba sort of way, filled with whispering percussion, light electric guitar solos, and string arrangements worthy of the silver screen.

Even though they're working with dated lyricism by 2014’s standards, saccharine lines like "When you’re strolling through the wherezis, you need a whozis to lean upon" don’t sound contrived or silly in She & Him's hands. "Funny, each time I fall in love," Deschanel sings on Bing Crosby’s hit, "It’s always you." If Classics proves anything, it’s that these songs stick around for a reason. -Pitchfork

(Mary J Blige - The London Sessions)

"The London Sessions" is best when Blige has room to be herself: surveying the damage and trying not just to cope, but to fight through. Her career is a chronicle of personal travail, and the catharsis of singing about it. Blige, unfiltered, has unmatched intensity. It's difficult to listen to "Whole Damn Year," co-written by Sande, and not flinch. "Spring punched me right in the stomach … summer came lookin' for blood... It took a whole damn year to repair my body," Blige sings as if reliving each psychic blow. -Chicago Tribune

(Wu Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow)

Yet as purely enjoyable as much of Tomorrow is, embracing a nostalgia for their glorious mid-'90s heyday comes at a cost. 8 Diagrams may have split opinions, but that's often the price of seeking to evolve and progress. Tomorrow feels engineered to please fans who remember those good old days, and the result is a low-risk finale for one of hip-hop's most daring crews. The outright bad tracks are few (mainly the Dusty Springfield-sampling Preacher's Daughter), but middling cuts like Felt and Keep Watch are staunchly mediocre by their own high standards.

Still, for many fans, hearing their heroes back in form may be enough. Stacked against Wu-Tang Clan's legacy, Tomorrow is a solid, if unspectacular, coda to their incredible career. -USA Today

(AC/DC - Rock Or Bust)

As a creative endeavour, ‘Rock Or Bust’ is ninety-nine per cent perspiration, nought per cent inspiration and one per cent raw chutzpah. It’s a testament to the often-derided power of formula: these guys have spent a lifetime figuring out where to turn the screws on a lick, where to swing the drumbeat. If there were ever a band-as-franchise model waiting to be adopted, it’s AC/DC. With Malcolm being permanently replaced by his nephew, and drummer Paul Rudd facing a possible seven years in prison if found guilty of threats to kill and drug possession charges, you sense that they could keep on pushing that perfect formula even after all the founders have passed on. -NME

Music News and New Music For December 1st, 2014

So of course, when running your own blog it can be tough to keep up with the s**tload of stuff that comes across our ears over a weekend!  Some good, some bad, some not even worth mentioning.  I guess that's how I use AFGM in general.  These articles that I go through everyday from various sites (Blabbermouth, CBC, National Post, AV Club, Google, Wired, Exclaim, Music News, Rolling Stone, etc.) and sort of "filter" some of the nonsense news such as the latest fashion design, who's got beef with who and who ISN'T doing music...still.

These articles brought forth are for a few different reasons:

1. It is relevant music information that pertains to you as a reader, no matter the level of intent or the genre.

2. They are relevant to the music I would be currently listening to or a genre I have put some attention and focus on.

3. I am rather patriotic about my Canadian music, so that always comes as a first for me.  I enjoy music from all parts of the world respectively, but I still have to promote local if I can.  Canadian music rocks!

4. Because it's humorous and we can always use a good laugh.  Rarely will it be at someone's expense...but then again I am just the guy talking about it.  They're the ones causing the comments.

So in closing, I trust you all will not read EVERY single article posted here.  But I hope you find something of use here and keep the conversation going by forwarding it onto someone else.  Click on each article heading for redirection to the full article.  Cheers!

Five Of The Best Jobs You Can Get In The Music Industry With A College Degree:

"What kind of career lies ahead in your future with a degree in music? You may think there aren’t many options, but there is plenty of variety offered in this field of study. Surprisingly, there are quite a few options for those who graduate with a degree in music. Here are five career paths that will have you living your dream within the industry."


A brief history of queer music in Toronto:

"It's obvious, however, that many missed the subtext behind lines like "we want freedom to love who we please," which was a reference to the infamous 1981 gay bathhouse raids that sparked Toronto's early gay rights protests. When McCain tried to use the song for a for a frozen pizza commercial, the band successfully sued to regain control of their material, although that wouldn't stop Canada's right wing from attempting to misappropriate the gay rights song during the 1999 United Alternative convention to bring together the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives."


Eddie Van Halen To Help Launch Smithsonian/Zocalo Initiative:

"The Smithsonian's National Museum Of American History and Los Angeles-based Ideas Exchange Zocalo Public Square are partnering to launch "What It Means To Be American", a collaborative three-year initiative aimed at engaging leading thinkers, public figures and Americans from all walks of life to explore how the United States became the nation it is today. The kick-off event January 14 will feature former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of the Girl Scouts Of The USA, at the Heard Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate in Phoenix. Music icon Eddie Van Halen will headline the next event at the National Museum Of American History in February."


Fears for music's 'toilet circuit': Small venues that nurtured big stars are increasingly at risk of closure:

"More than 30,000 music fans have signed an e-petition urging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure anyone who buys or rents a property within a set distance of a music venue should sign a waiver giving up the right to complain about noise."


The Chemical Brothers Promise New Album in 2015:

"The most important feature of the album is that it connects with us emotionally in some way.  We hope for finding a new way to make you feel. We dream of new sounds and different frames. We have worked with some guest singers but mostly the album is pure Chemical Brothers." -Tom Rowlands


Brian Eno wins Giga-Hertz Award for contribution to electronic music:

“Singing is among the best things in life.  In England, I’ve been singing in an a-cappella group for 16 years. We don’t do any concerts or take pictures - it’s about the fun of it.  I’m working on a song that you can enter … [With] 40 different speakers that [create] a walk-song-space." -Eno


Apploud Is Like An Instagram For Live Music Where Musicians Get Paid:

"Content is uploaded by fans who witness great live music and they can tag the twitter handles of the artists featured. Within 10 seconds a fan can help the artist make money by sharing their videos. Once the twitter handles are tagged, the app automatically adds links to tip the artist (or their favourite charity), buy tickets to their next show, or buy their music."


QUEENSRŸCHE On Chance For Fans To Own Piece Of Band: 'We Thought It Was A Great Idea':

"QUEENSRŸCHE is all about evolving; we're always evolving as a band. That being said, technology is always changing. We've been doing this a while, and we've seen the technology advances that have happened in the last 10-20 years, and we're embracing this new technology. It's PledgeMusic. It's a different avenue for bands to get what they want, because, let's face it, record companies aren't giving huge advances, and this gives them a chance to build upon their aspirations, their dreams, whether it's funding a record, or it's funding a book, or it's funding a gig, it's just a whole new technology that we're embracing." -Wilton


The Music Middle-Class Is Getting Squeezed:

"The truth is that touring is hardly a big moneymaker for many bands. It's expensive. It's viciously competitive. It's tiring. And not every band can command the $100 or $200 or $500 a ticket that acts like Beyoncé and Madonna can. As such, tour revenue has become more unevenly distributed among artists over time, exaggerating music’s superstar economy and contributing to the hollowing out its middle class. Per the Princeton economist Alan Krueger, the share of ticket revenue taken home by the top one percent of performers more than doubled between 1982 and 2003. In that last year, the top one percent took about 56 percent of all touring revenue, and the top 5 percent took nearly 90 percent."


Killer Mike Pens Op-Ed About Rap Music's Treatment in Courts:

"Earlier this year, for instance, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Vonte Skinner, who in 2008 was found guilty of attempted murder based largely on prosecutors' use of his violent rap lyrics as evidence. In their opinion, the justices wrote that Skinner's "highly prejudicial" lyrics should have been excluded because they "risked poisoning the jury".

In most other cases, however — including one heard by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2013 — the outcome is very different. Lyrics generally are permitted as evidence, regardless of their prejudicial impact."


Amazon's Prime Music Releases It's First Original Content - A Christmas Compilation:

"Clocking in at two and a half hours, Amazon’s compilation might be the only collection of Christmas and holiday-themed tunes you need this year. The company is promoting the extensive grouping with a small snowflake with a music note at the top of the page. It has no description or words connected to it, but the symbol is placed directly over the “Go” button, so whenever someone is about to search for something, they see it. The compilation was released just before both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so it has surely collected quite a number of clicks by now."


Willie Nelson to Receive Grammy Recognition for Humanitarian Efforts:

"Formerly called the Music Preservation Concert, the Grammy Foundation Legacy Concert combines live performances with video footage from the Grammy archives. February's show, dubbed "Lean On Me: A Celebration of Music and Philanthropy," will shine a light on some of the industry's leading humanitarians, including Nelson, education philanthropist Bryan Adams and gay rights activists Melissa Etheridge and Cyndi Lauper."


7 ways music boosts your well-being:

"Be it the weekend or the end of a stressful day, at some point you’ll probably relax to music or watch a film with a catchy soundtrack. There’s no doubt that jamming to your favourite tracks can instantly elevate a grouchy mood, but scientists are now discovering that music can do more for you than just uplift your spirits. Research shows it has a variety of health benefits. As compiled by Men’s Fitness magazine, healthline.com, apa.org and dailymail.co.uk, learn how tunes help you find mind-body harmony."


Spotify Predicts Armageddon, But Big Data Will Struggle To Find Pop Music's Next Breakout Hit:

"Fundamentally this question comes back to the inputs that big data has – the garbage in garbage out principle, if you will. When you are using ’popular music’ to find out what works in ’popular music’ you’re not going to find anything disruptive or innovative, you’re going to find more of the same, iterated into a pleasant sound that offends nobody."


Chamber Music for the Millennial Generation:

"The event, equal parts recital and party, was a Groupmuse, the product of a startup by the same name that hopes to bring millennial sensibilities to chamber-music concerts, winning the genre some new young fans in the process. According to its founders, combined attendance of all events to date is over 10,000 people since Groupmuse’s first event in January 2013. The vast majority of attendees are in their 20s."


Eagles Sue Concert Footage Archivist Over Bootleg Performances:

"Don Henley and Glenn Frey filed their lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court, seeking unspecified damages from Shelley and his company, Shelley Archives. They allege the Long Island resident used his collection of films to falsely “bolster his reputation as a purported music industry ‘insider’ with close connections and ties to many classic rock greats,” the New York Daily News reported, and accused him of becoming rich from the unauthorised use of their work."


Gifts for the music fan:

Concert tickets, Wireless Bluetooth Travel Headphones, Vinyl Turntable, Vintage Record Coaster Set, “What Would Keith Richards Do?", and more!


Choose Your Own Coldplay Adventure With 'Ink' Video:

"In the beautifully animated "Ink" video, Chris Martin and company have constructed 300 different scenarios to watch their video, with the viewer cued when to make their experience-altering decisions. It all starts with a traveler being washed up on shore, and from the opening chords, the viewer decides whether to pick up a pocket knife, a compass or a paintbrush, with each choice leading down a path of different results as the man seeks out his lost love."


Broke and Homeless Scott Stapp Crowdfunding $480,000 to Record New Album, Write Novel:

"Raising funds 4solo album #3. Using same team, Howard Bensen (Producer) & Chris Lord-Alge (Mix). At the same time, my first book in the fiction category. Need 2fund both projects"


Cramming For Exams? Classical Music Might Help:

"The beauty of classical music is that it induces a relaxed state even when you don’t pay attention to it. For example, a Russian study, published in Human Physiology, discovered that children who listened to classical music for an hour a day over a six-month time period exhibited brain changes that suggested higher states of relaxation, even when the test subjects were not asked to pay attention to the music."


VISION OF DISORDER Release NEW Album Update:

"The album will be out by the Summer. We have a producer in mind but it’s too early to announce anything yet. People will be psyched when they find out though." -Mike Fleischmann

Random Music Quotes: Bostaph

An artist doesn't want to paint the same picture every time. I mean, if you, as somebody who painted, painted a picture of an apple and it was everybody's favorite picture. They [all tell you], 'Man, that picture of that apple is my favorite picture.' So then the artist goes, 'Aha! I'm just gonna paint that picture of the apple every time.' Well, I mean, then there you go. You're looking at the same thing every time.

The bottom line is, as an artist, you have to please yourself.

I believe Slayer never wrote records… I believe a lot of bands don't write records to please who they think their listening audience is. I think that the good bands, the good songwriters write songs for themselves. And sometimes you're gonna hit a home run, sometimes you're gonna have that pinnacle record like 'Reign In Blood' or 'Seasons In The Abyss', 'South Of Heaven'… records like that. There are records they did with me that I really love.

The bottom line is…. You look at, say, Pink Floyd. I'll use this as an example, and I think it's classic. Pink Floyd writes 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', right? After 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', every record they came out with was just trashed by the critics and trashed by the fans. Why? Because 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' was such a landmark record, and you still hear those songs today, that everything else paled by comparison to the music they wrote on that record. And, you know, what was it? After how many years later… ten years or more… I don't remember how many years… I forget; I used to know. And they came out with 'The Wall'. All of a sudden, [people went], 'Oh my God! Pink Floyd's back.' Well, they never went away. If you listen to the album 'Animals', it's a great record.

(Photo courtesy of Paul Bostaph's Facebook Page)

A lot of people may not be Pink Floyd fans and they may not know what I'm talking about. But I guess what I'm talking about is… [Slayer's 1998 album] 'Diabolus in Musica', for example, people think that's a 'nu metal' record. There are some attempts to try something different on that record. I still think it's good myself. Not 'cause I played on it, but 'cause I do. But 'Bitter Peace' is a great song. I heard people say, 'Oh, that record…' Well, 'Bitter Peace' is one of my favorite songs Jeff [Hanneman, late Slayer guitarist] ever wrote.

So it's just kind of one of those things where you're never gonna… I mean, God, if you write a great record every time and people love you every time, you have an unprecedented career. And it's one of those things where… If it's true that you have to crawl before you walk, walk before you can run, and then, when you start running, every once in a while, you're gonna stumble and figure out how to gain your balance. Well, when a band stumbles, everyone wants to go, 'Okay, those guys are done.' Everybody wants that. You know what I mean? Some people don't; I can't say 'everybody.' But some people out there, they just wanna see it. You know what I mean?! But the bottom line is, those are the same people that, when they're on their cell phone or texting me, have tripped over a crack in a sidewalk when nobody was looking, and [they go], 'Good. Nobody was looking.' Unfortuantely, for us, people in bands, we do it when everybody's looking.

Basically, what you've gotta do is you've gotta write music for yourself and enjoy what you do. Because, look, I mean… I'm lucky enough to be playing music and going on tour with, in my opinion, a legendary heavy metal band. And I, actually, was lucky enough to do it with a couple [of others as well]: Exodus and Testament. So I consider myself lucky.

I love what I do and I love playing drums, so it's just kind of one of those things where I don't think I've ever done a record I hate. And I'm lucky to say that. -Paul Bostaph