With full-length artist releases proving few and far-between in the much maligned circles of ‘minimal techno’, an album release by veteran producer Mike Shannon on the venerable Plus 8 imprint (arguably the label which drew attention most strongly to uber-star, Richie Hawtin’s Plastikman output) was bound to raise a few eyebrows. Particularly from those ‘chin strokers’ amongst us, wrestling with the inherent contrivances and contradictions of the album ‘concept’, per se, in a hyper-contracting , diffracted market. Now that the fascination with all things ‘minimal’ has subsided, does an album offering even translate, as unified concept, into a listening environment – far removed from club context?
Rather than attempt to explore the fringes of more ‘domestic’ listening, Shannon’s “Memory Tree” reads, at first, as a compendium of steady dance-floor fodder – albeit “deeper”, in classic techno-terms, than what might be expected by those keenly eyeing the Shannon’s chart presence on portals like beatport. Nudging, rather than slamming into focus, Memory Tree might well be edits from a live-set, and perhaps is best experienced with this context in mind. Unifying this package is a refreshing melodic sensibility – equal parts Detroit-techno convention and occasional “water-colour” inflection (think brush-strokes, flecks, splashes from Lawrence, Lucine…) An uncertain few tracks (the ‘warmup’ of this imagined live-set?) come to gratifying head with track 4, “Enero” – a summation of what this album achieves best – Shannon’s house-inflected swing and bump paying knowing homage to a history of great house music, pure and simple. Little is rushed, forced or contrived, and an unapologetic embrace of counterpoint melody and 808 boom-chick cover a multitude of sins. String-machine pads, FM bass, house-stabs and lilting mid-tempo movement. There’s little doubt that Shannon’s credentials are well established as a stalwart of the scene, and from here on in, cuts like The Love Fry do provide confident summation of this legacy. Unhurried, uncluttered, hard-working edits. A return, a recognition of a formula refined through direct experience rather than assumption.
Where many dance-albums are guilty of ludicrous self-indulgence of contextual irrelevance, Memory Tree manages to straddle an uncertain middle-ground. For those of us with an agenda invested in sticky dance-floors, there’s enough to engage on repeated listens here. The production is as it should be; engineered for sound-system culture, yet warm and yielding throughout. For those on the fringes of instrumental techno and house, a pure listening experience may prove vexatious – this is most clearly music to dance to, first and foremost, underwritten by a socialist adherence to tried and true convention. A lack of radio-friendly hooks ensure that this album will remain firmly entrenched in a club context. For my money, I’m quietly happy for this to remain the case – there’s a depth of experience to be minded ‘between the lines’ here, best experienced at 5am in the sweaty back-room of a dingy club.
Whilst most of Shannon’s recent 12” output has focused on a more ‘cerebral’ take on eclectic house, Memory Tree reads as a deft series of simple, elegant notes on deep electronic fundamentals. Not as instantly engaging as the rest of his catalogue – yet somehow, I can’t help but feel that this is central to its effective “point”. Well worth repeated listens.
18/12/08 Let the Experimentation Begin: EMI Music Splashes EMI.com
18/12/08 Let the Experimentation Begin: EMI Music Splashes EMI.com
EMI Music is now unwrapping a revamped EMI.com, an experimental destination designed to deliver content, foster discovery, and tighten fan relationships. The beta-stage site features content from a range of EMI artists, both past and present. Typical artist collateral includes track clips, videos, biographies, discographies, and images. "EMI.com is designed to be a learning lab," explained Alex Haar, vice president of Digital Special Projects at EMI Music. "It will help us gain even more knowledge about consumer preferences and choices."
The site architecture is pretty straightforward, at least in its initial iteration. The broader roadmap is a bit difficult to decipher at this stage, EMI.com Screenshotthough the label pointed to continued upgrades ahead. That includes widgeting functionality, ecommerce components, and exclusive content. "This is the beginning of a longer-term experiment," Haar continued. "In the coming months, we will continue to add content and features to the site."
The testbed fits into a newer attitude at EMI Music, one that includes digitally-focused approaches from executives like Douglas Merrill (Google) and Cory Odrejka (Second Life). Both are strong proponents of data-driven decision-making, an approach that takes advantage of unprecedented levels of fan information and tracking. But whether a label-branded destination is the best place to understand the fan EMI.com Screenshotremains questionable, especially given the branding backseat that major labels assume.
On a deeper level, the new executive set faces an incredibly difficult challenge. After all, understanding fans is one thing; getting them to buy stuff is quite another. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking loudly, thanks to an accelerating nosedive in the core CD. That is putting the pressure on executives like Merrill to create Google-like moments, quickly.
EMI Music has been reshaping its executive cast, though outsiders appear to be playing a heavy hand in EMI.com. According to the label, EMI.com was designed and implemented by Shamsa Rana, managing director of Imdad Capital Ltd. On its website, Imdad describes itself as a "strategic advisory and turnaround" firm, one focused on privately-owned media companies. "Imdad prefers to work with the portfolio companies of private equity houses and/or those companies that are privately owned," the company describes. "Private companies on the whole have a stronger appetite to drive through change."
Imdad appears to be a one-woman show, based on website information, though digital media firm Perform is credited with building the site.
18/12/08 Breaking: Verizon Wireless Pushing Major HD2 Advertising Campaign
18/12/08 Breaking: Verizon Wireless Pushing Major HD2 Advertising Campaign
Verizon Wireless is now joining forces with Clear Channel Radio on a nationwide, multicast digital radio advertising campaign, according to information shared with Digital Music News on Tuesday. The US-based wireless giant will push advertisements across HD2 stations, essentially sub-channels delivered across the same frequency as the main broadcast.
In total, the campaign traverses 21 multicast stations, as well as online equivalents. Most American cities are covered by the arrangement, including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, San Diego, and Washington, DC.
The music-focused campaign will feature songs and interviews from upcoming artists, and drive fans towards premium, V Cast packages. Clear Channel is a founding member of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, a group dedicated to advancing deployment of digital stations within the United States.
18/12/08 Wall Street Bounce Buoys AAPL, WMG, LYV, TKTM...
18/12/08 Wall Street Bounce Buoys AAPL, WMG, LYV, TKTM...
A major market bounce buoyed a number of music-related stocks on Tuesday, including Apple, Warner Music Group, Live Nation, and Ticketmaster. At the bell, the broader Dow jumped 359.61 points, or 4.2 percent, to land at 8,924.14. A number of factors generated optimism, including a surprise rate cut by the Federal Reserve, as well as continued indications that the government will pursue an aggressive stimulus strategy.
Apple (AAPL), struggling with its own retail demons, lifted a mild 68 cents, or 0.72 percent to $95.43. The mild uptick follows a downgrade by Goldman Sachs on fears of softening demand for items like MacBooks and iPods.
Elsewhere, a distressed lot move upward. Warner Music Group (WMG) jumped 24 cents, or 8.86 percent, to $2.95; Ticketmaster (TKTM) gained 53 cents, or 9.48 percent, to $6.12; Live Nation (LYV) improved 15 cents, or 4.11 percent, to $3.80; SanDisk (SNDK) added 16 cents, or 1.77 percent, to $9.18; and Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) improved nearly a penny to 15 cents, a 6.23 percent increase.
The Orchard (ORCD) lost 23 cents, or 10.27 percent, to $2.01; and Source Interlink Companies (SORC) dropped a penny, or 5.88 percent, to 16 cents.
17/12/08 Harvard v. The RIAA: Faceoff Moves to January...
17/12/08 Harvard v. The RIAA: Faceoff Moves to January...
A mounting battle between Harvard University and the RIAA will have to wait until January, thanks to a procedural decision issued this week. Just recently, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson offered to defend accused file-swapper Joel Tenenbaum, a graduate of Boston University. The first hearing was initially scheduled for Monday, though Nesson is apparently not legally permitted to argue in a Rhode Island court.
That pushes the hearing to January 6th, according to information shared by Harvard Law School. "This just further underscores how deeply unfair it is to pit the powerful Goliath RIAA legal infrastructure against the small David, or Joel, defendants," Nesson said.
The Rhode Island venue creates some complications, and the Nesson team is now trying to find a local lawyer. "The goal, before Jan 6th, is to get an attorney licensed to practice in Rhode Island to argue on our behalf," student Debbie Rosenbaum told Digital Music News. In the meantime, the RIAA will have access to a Tenenbaum household computer, an early victory for the trade group.
17/12/08 Chinese Democracy: This Story Keeps Getting Worse...
17/12/08 Chinese Democracy: This Story Keeps Getting Worse...
Without an unauthorized leak, Guns N' Roses may have never released Chinese Democracy. But despite a major, Best Buy exclusive, sales were far lower than expectations. In fact, a closer look reveals that Best Buy is now saddled with roughly one million purchased and nonreturnable discs.
According to a report surfacing Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy paid millions in advance for a stock of 1.3 million discs. So far, Chinese Democracy has sold just over 300,000 after a sharp, second-week dip. That compares unfavorably to AC/DC's Black Ice, a Wal-Mart exclusive that has quickly crossed platinum.
The disparity obviously represents a serious disappointment for Best Buy, a company now dialing down forecasts amidst slower consumer spending. The company recently reported double-digit declines across CDs and DVDs over the past few months.
Mike Shannon
|
'0' comment(s) have been made.
