Culture Blues

Clef Notes: The “This Is No Longer Funny” Edition

Every Friday, or at least until his spectacular rock star flameout, Giovanny will be dropping a week’s worth of music knowledge on you with Clef Notes, proof positive that he’s a one man music magazine.

News:

Holy Fucking Shit!

That Isn't The Sky Falling: In last week’s Clef Notes I wrote a semi-humorous piece (comedy is not my strong suit) about the alarming rate by which stages are collapsing at outdoor festivals around the world. I covered the Cheap Trick incident, The Flaming Lips circumstance, made jokes about God preferring more intimate venues, and even included a picture of the Monty Python incarnation of said deity, complete with snarky little caption. Well, there were two more stage collapses since the last Clef Notes, and people have lost their lives... so what I am saying is, this is not at all funny anymore.

This past Saturday a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair; five people lost their lives in this tragedy, and dozens of other concertgoers were injured. CNN reports that, shortly after singer Sara Bareilles left the stage, a sudden wind sent scaffolding and speakers crashing into the crowd before the entire stage and lighting rig (according to one festival attendee) “snapped like a toothpick”. In the wake of this awful event state law enforcement officials, and even Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, have all been quick to deem this a “freak circumstance of weather,” even a “fluke,” assuring both the general public and the grieving families that all proper safety measures were taken, and that nothing could have prevented this calamity.

On the other hand, Mike Smith, senior Vice President of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, is adamant that Fair officials had sufficient advance warning to prevent the tragedy. AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions issued a 60 MPH wind weather warning at 8:23PM, while the national weather service issued a warning 16 minutes later; the stage at the Indiana State Fair did not collapse till 8:49. "Everyone keeps saying that this was a fluke – that it couldn't have been foreseen," states Smith, adding "It was quite foreseeable. The State Fair should have had someone making a call that if a weather warning was issued, the area would have been evacuated immediately."

This was a stage once.

Then there’s yesterday’s incident at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium, where a stage collapsed during a set by Smith Westerns and killed three festival-goers, while injuring sixty. According to witnesses, the sky grew dark during the indie band’s performance, and it began to hail before the wind picked up violently. What happens next is, at this point, still a bit unclear but it resulted in trees crashing onto, and through, the stage, before the stage itself actually collapsed. The Pukkelpop festival is one of Belgium's biggest summer events, and this disaster happened on the opening day of the festival, which was to feature performances by the likes of Eminem and the Foo Fighters. As of now the show's remaining dates have been cancelled.

So what can one make of all of this? Well, obviously concert promoters and stage building companies need to take more precautions, and reevaluate their practices when it comes to outdoor events. U2’s production and technical manager, Jake Berry, had this to say in an interview just days before the Indiana tragedy - "We're really proud of the way we react to safety and situations, and how much we all put into it. For the amount of stage construction, how many miles you cover, how many people go on [the stage], you don't read about many really bad tragedies." To which I reply "Well, we have heard of two in a week." Berry goes on to state that it is impossible to build a stage that could withstand freak bursts of weather while still being practical for the rigors of touring, which is a point that the aforementioned Mike Smith agrees with. Smith goes on to say this: "It's not practical to design a stage to withstand 70-mile-per-hour winds – that may be true. But the solution to that is, you get people out of there before the high winds occur. This is going to happen again and again until people start taking weather-risk mitigation seriously." I could not agree more with Smith, and I will certainly be checking the weather whenever I build up the nerve to attend an outdoor concert again. I suggest you do the same.

I Was Never Really Into Law & Order: There was quite a bit of legal drama in the music industry this week, and surprisingly none of it involved drugs, domestic abuse, or public indecency! Here is a brief look at some of the more high profile cases:

Face it... We are all pulling for this dude to make more money.

Classic Artists Vs. The Record Industry: This one has all the makings of a knockdown, drag-out battle, as an obscure legal provision may be the catalyst for a landmark ruling on the nature of copyright ownership. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Tom Waits and Bryan Adams may all soon be able to regain ownership of some of their most beloved material. Apparently, when copyright laws were revised in the '70s, artists were granted “termination rights” which would give them the opportunity to reclaim control of their work after 35 years, as long as they had applied for it two years in advance (I know, I know, legalese is absurd). This is fantastic news for artists who have been receiving only a small cut of the profits from their work for years, and could be cataclysmic for a record industry that has been suffering all millennium. All four major labels (Universal, EMI, Warner, and Sony BMG) have made it clear that they do not intend to give back any of the material, and are preparing for a major legal battle. Their contention is that the termination right doesn't apply to most sound recordings, and that master recordings were made on a strictly “work for hire” basis. Stay tuned kids, I bet this one will get really ugly before it’s over.

Legal Briefings: YouTube has reached a settlement with over 3,000 independent music labels, ending a four year legal battle over royalties. This settlement will ensure that the artists whose music you steal will be able to get a miniscule amount of ad revenue for all of their videos on the streaming service, including your hideous acoustic cover of their latest hit.

Vampire Weekend and their record label XL Records have come to an agreement with the model whose picture they used as the album cover for their latest release, Contra, without her prior consent. It turns out that Kirsten Kennis was wronged by the band, but also by the photographer, Tod Brody, who shot her in the '80s and allegedly forged her name on the model release. The terms of the settlement are undisclosed, but I hope they made Ezra Koenig sad.

Lastly, Ghostface Killah is currently suing Universal Music regarding (what he claims are) unpaid Wu-Tang Clan royalties. His suit claims that the label is only entitled to a 25% stake in the group’s songs, and not the 50% which they have been receiving. This is the second time Ghostface has filed suit over Wu-Tang royalties; back in 2005, he sued the RZA and Wu-Tang Productions over similar issues. So, basically, stay away from Ghostface’s money or he will get all litigious on your ass.

Reviews:

Within and Without - Washed Out

Within and Without is a brief nine track record that takes you on a journey aboard a shimmering breeze of phased out samples, sensuous grooves, and blissed out vocals. As the album’s cover subtly implies, this is a great record to get gross with your partner to while you both forget that the world is falling apart outside... [Full Review]

If Not Now, When? - Incubus

I must have thought that this band used to be another band, because I expected at least a little aggression, or rock, from this record. Instead I got lazy California drenched tunes that sound like what Jack Johnson would be like if he was in a traditional band and not such a pussy. If I had to choose one word to describe If Not Now, When? it would be “sigh.”... [Full Review]

16th Notes:

Win Butler: Shoots hoops, and writes hits.

Radiohead has uploaded their most recent From The Basement onto the ole’ You Tube. Even if you don’t appreciate their new material, I assure you it is always an honor, and a treat, to see these men work... Jay-Z and Kanye West have added more dates to the Watch The Throne tour. I desperately want to get my hands on the rider for this thing, I bet it is beyond ridiculous... Win Butler will be playing in a charity basketball game in Toronto on September 10th, with current and former NBA players. I would only pay to see such a thing if Butler busts out an acoustic guitar as a half-time show... A super group comprised of Feist, Colin Greenwood, Nicolas Godin, Nigel Godrich and other assorted musicians joined forces to record a cover of the Nico-featured Velvet Underground classic, Femme Fatale. It sounds fine, but if we are being honest, it is nowhere near as good as the original, and didn’t really need to be made... Fucked Up have released the second video from their tremendous punk-opera David Comes To Life. This one is for the fantastic track The Other Shoe, and is more in step with the album’s narrative, showing us our first glimpses of both David and Veronica!!!... Kurt Vile will be touring with Bright Eyes, Woods, Warpaint, and The Flaming Lips for the rest of the year. Vile is doing his best to destroy that whole “stoners are lazy” myth... ATP Asbury Park has recently added Public Enemy to their lineup, and the legendary rap group will be performing the seminal record Fear Of A Black Planet. Now an entire generation can learn what Flavor Flav did before reality TV... Bjork has unveiled the album cover for her upcoming multi-media extravaganza, Biophilia. It looks just as awesome as everything else that has been linked to this project so far... Sigur Ros has posted a teaser video for an upcoming live film and double album on their website, and it looks great. Between Bjork and Sigur Ros, Iceland is totally killing it in 2011... Coldplay has revealed the name of their upcoming record and it’s Mylo Xyloto. No one knows what the title means, and I specifically don’t care...

Top Ten List:

This past Tuesday was the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. As you would imagine, the Internet was full of tributes and retrospectives to the greatest son of Tupelo, Mississippi and I spent some time listening to a few of his records in order to build a greater appreciation for him. I know this sounds insane, especially because the man stole a lot of his music, but I kind of think he is underrated in some bizarre way (yes, I am aware that he is called the King, but only by your grandparents). Nevertheless, here is a list of the ten best Elvis songs.

10) It’s Now Or Never
9) Can’t Help Falling In Love
8) In The Ghetto
7) That’s All Right Mama
6) All Shook Up
5) Don’t Be Cruel
4) Hound Dog
3) Jailhouse Rock
2) Suspicious Minds
1) Heartbreak Hotel

Remixes Of The Week:

As most of you know by now, Radiohead will be dropping a record comprised of the numerous remixes from The King Of Limbs which have been released as 12”s throughout the summer. The record has been dubbed TKOL RMX 1234567, and will be a two disc release featuring 19 remixes from some of the world's most cutting edge producers and knob twisters. Here are a couple of the best cuts I have heard thus far.

Little By Little by Caribou, Separator by Four Tet, and Lotus Flower by Jacques Greene: I hope these remixes lead you to an inspired weekend everyone, and don’t forget to check the weather!