Like many people I enjoy the music of Kraftwerk and think that their reputation as musical pioneers is entirely justified. Indeed I would choose to listen to Trans Europe Express or The Man Machine over anything by The Beatles any day. Come to think of it, I’d listen to their 2003 album about riding bicycles over anything by The Beatles any day, but that’s another matter. I enjoy their dry humour, their minimalist, retro-futurist aesthetic, their decades-long dedication to pretending they are robots… and of course, their music.

And yet, there is a problem. And if you know Kraftwerk then you will know its name: [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music, technology by Daniel Kalder
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One of the loose collective of my friends — The Defeatist-Malcontent-Anarchist Slacker Collective and Bait Shop — a Vet who’s trying to get his band going in upstate New York doing kind of boogie rock with metal overtones, spends time he should spend doing something like picking up bottles for the return fee on a Marshall Amp blog, and one of the folks on it posted something about a piece of software that my pal had not heard of. He tossed it out to the collective, and one of the guys explained that it is really kind of an auto-cad system that enables engineers, architechts, and marketing types to overlay everything and walk the customer through the whole bloody thing. He then commented that if he wanted to go back to working for somebody else, he’s take some classes…and then realized what he just said. Commented that he hated his life, and went off to drink copiously in the pine woods of Maine. [Read more →]

Tags: damned lies, music by Mike Farrell
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I was watching Paul McCartney in concert on TV the other day. He was playing to a festival crowd — maybe eighty-thousand strong. (It was at the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Lucy or something like that.) As he got the end of “Hey Jude,” the crowd, many of whom had been years away from being born when “Hey Jude” was written, joined in, singing the “Na-naaa-na-nanana-naaaah,” part and it occurred to me that success is a bizarre thing. [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo, music by Chris Matarazzo
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If it weren’t for Lady Gaga, many of the points I have tried to make in this column would have been so hard to illustrate. She consistently delivers. She constantly examplifies the things that, in my opinion, are the unnecessary and even damaging trappings of art, from the element that I have called “artistic weirdness” to plain-old insincerity. At the recent MTV video awards, dressed up and acting like a dude, as “Jo Calderone,” Gaga physically illustrated the pitfalls of insincerity in art — the problems that are caused when “show” overshadows art. [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo, music by Chris Matarazzo
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In my time on Earth I’ve had some silly, stupid encounters with rock stars.

Backstage at a Triumph concert in the 1980s, I witnessed Yngwie Malmsteen stick his tongue down the throat of an appreciative female fan.* During that same backstage experience, Triumph’s Mike Levine shooed me away as I tried to get an autograph.

I got to attend several of these events because the dad of my best friend worked for a local concert promoter. For a few nights each year, half-deaf pal Jesse G and I rocked out at the Brown County Arena. Denim and leather.

Lovin’ every minute of it.

[Read more →]

Tags: Michael Cade's audio files by Michael Cade
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I’ve been going back in time. As I have said before, I’m a real believer in the potential of pop music, though I’m a lover of modern orchestral music and classical. I think pop is the music with the most creative potential, even if it is the area in which the least creative potential is realized, as things stand. Anyway, I have been going back in time to check out the the particular tunes of the pop greats that we don’t usually hear.

My latest purchase is Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection. (It’s really, really good. But this isn’t a music review. I hate music reviews.) [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo, music by Chris Matarazzo
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I have been waiting for this week for months. On Thursday, my friend John L. and I will be traveling to New York City and meeting my buddy Johnny to see Buffalo Tom play at the Bowery Ballroom. Then on Friday I will be seeing them in Philly with my buddy Dennis Doc. This is my favorite band of all time and I will be seeing them twice with some of my closest friends. The nostalgia is kicking in so hard that I might not bring my cell phone and bring a disposable camera to get a genuine 90’s feel. And to kick things off, last night Cailin and I ordered take-out food from the Colonial Diner – which was the ultimate late night after party destination in South Jersey for me from 1992-2007. [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, music by Marty O'Connor
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One of my favorite songs of the past decade or so is “Star Witness” by Neko Case.

And you know what one of the most overlooked qualities of this great, amazing song is?

The drums.

John Convertino from Calexico bring its. Nothing showy but he’s got the right touch — warm, understated cymbals. Deft use of bundle sticks, a tasteful command of the kick drum. The works!

(Click image below for the YouTube version.)

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Tags: Michael Cade's audio files by Michael Cade
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The below video of North Korean kids playing guitar is making the rounds, just in case you weren’t feeling worthless and lazy enough today. The kids sure can play. In the comments section over at YouTube, there’s plenty of speculation about just what the kind and benevolent Democratic People’s Republic of Korea does to motivate these children to achieve such excellence.

After enjoying the performance, you might want to visit the official webpage of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where you can buy DPRK merchandise, including such riveting drama as Kim Jong Il’s Leadership for Successful Building of a Great Prosperous and Powerful Nation(ENG). I hear the special effects are amazing.

You can also purchase a set of five postcards (with his printed signature!):

Hat tip to Bobbie Margolit for the video.

Tags: music by Scott Stein
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I cannot stop watching Katy Perry‘s “California Gurls” video. It’s addictive. The production values are sky-high. Gleaming.

See, as time rolls on, I find myself really liking vapid mall pop.  The more insipid the lyrics, the better. The more it feels like I’m in a department store, the better.

I call this genre “Impressive Tripe.”

Snoop Dogg‘s appearance in the Perry song/video is a stroke of genius. You’ve gotta admit that Snoop makes selling out look like the greatest thing ever — a commendable, ennobling act. Purposeful, wise.

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Tags: Michael Cade's audio files by Michael Cade
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