Are You Reading This?

I don’t know if I would be.

In 2009, how does one offer an over-saturated musical blogosphere another column worth reading? How does one differentiate themselves from the legions of blogs offering the same imitated or emulated musical opinions as the next? Can we expect a Darwinian effect that will see the demise of websites and blogs that have no sustainable reason for their existence? Or can we expect a continued influx of under-qualified and over-spoken neophytes wanting their own site on Wordpress? I voiced my online-existential anxieties to Stuart Berman (of Pitchfork Media and Eye Weekly) a few months ago. “Where is there left to go? What’s left to offer when there’s already a Pitchfork, already a Rolling Stone, already a BBC, etc.?” I asked, knowing full well the impossibility of actually addressing such inquiry in a casual discussion. He was unbothered. “Honestly, good writing is good writing. At the end of the day, that is the stuff that will make it.” Touché, Stuart. Cynical Me wanted to say, “Well, easier for you to say when a part of wildly reputable organization with a cult-like following.” Reasonable Me stops Cynical Me from actually saying it.

I talk to Derek about this.

mcranston: How does a music blog sustain itself?
derek: realistically, or theoretically?
mcranston: both …
derek: theoretically, it’s through ads and sponsorships, etc
derek: but realistically, it’s traffic
mcranston: isn’t that more realistically?
mcranston: theoretically, i think blogs sustain themselves through constant updates, contemporary relevance, and expositions of new bands.
mcranston: realistically, it’s obviously just about money.
mcranston: and site traffic is intrinsically linked to money.
derek: yeah, i agree
derek: ultimately good content will bring people in
derek: or i should say, keep them there
derek: but honestly, that’s not so true
derek: it’s really about luring them in
mcranston: Exactly.
mcranston: and that’s the question I’m trying to ask.
derek: it can also mean a big exclusive story or MP3
mcranston: okay …
derek: the first site to post an Animal Collective MP3 is going to get a ton of traffic, so it’s a game a little bit. bit then a pfork or fader they have a built in audience, so they can kind of expose new people and not worry about whether they have enough “big” content on their site.

We don’t get very far and my queries subsist. How does any music blog sustain itself? Berman’s right: patience, trust in quality writing, patience, a unique voice, patience and some sort of cohesive/organized body. Granting these elusive qualities, what then is the ultimate aspiration of the Music Blog? Perhaps to present a mode of thinking that allows the reader of any genre to appreciate a sound or style to which he or she may not commonly gravitate (I guess?). Successfully articulating why an artist is worth listening is no easy task. Most websites don’t accomplish this feat, and few writers come close. Besides, this presupposes the reader is willing to read past the rating.

Being Jaded Is Easy

The torrent of information has already flooded and we’re bored and stagnant. The stories on Stereogum take two minutes to read. Pitchfork’s precise numerical grading system renders a careful reading of the actual review completely extraneous (i.e. an 8.1> is worth getting when you have time, an 8.8> should be downloaded within the day). Hipster Runoff is the absolute pinnacle of a frighteningly self-aware (and self-referential) media that has come to realize the ridiculousness of its environment. It’s like a fish being aware he swims in a fish tank. William Bowers, under the Puritan Blister pseudonym, recently explored Twitter’s insidious effect on the written word. To synthesis his article (though his distinctive prose should encourage a close reading): Bowers worries about the ADD of today’s technological culture and its affect on aesthetic taste (and cerebral development). Is the 140-character limit Twitter all we have to say? Whereas Bowers worries about the macro state of reading and writing, I worry about being read at all. Sure, I post the occasional link on my Facebook page when an album is really fucking good, but familial support via social networking sites only goes so far.

It’s tough not to worry I’m the journalistic equivalent of a Pitchfork echo. What am I to offer other than further confirmation that Animal Collective reign over indie-rock, or that TV on the Radio are the celebrated post-Dubya era band, or that Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay? Hell, even further, how do I strive to not become a Pitchfork-related derivative while simultaneously lauding Deerhunter, Fucked Up or Okkervil River?

Attracting Readers

I’ve given great thought how to attract more readers to The Tripwire, particularly in the vein of new sections. But most of my suggestions were predicated on sensationalist or dumbed down journalism: giving a ranking system to our album reviews, offering 250-word controversial opinions that would at least “get people talking” or just writing trivial details on our favorite bands (you know, like, who Sufjan’s dating). Inevitably, the question comes down to site credibility and reputation. Do we want to be the Perez Hilton of music journalism? After all, Hipster Runoff is as nauseating as it is funny. Actually no, the question comes down to attracting a large and consistent reader-base. How do I get you to read our site more? Is it a matter of venerability?

mcranston: okay, so with the sites that don’t necessarily have the fortune of a “built-in audience,” how do they establish one?
derek: that’s the “game.” one is persistence. doing something well and doing it over time. the other, which is easier for sites that specifically post news (like us and Daily Swarm) is SEO-friendly titles and the kind I like to consider “yellow journalism” that help lure people in
derek: but yes, also having a unique angle like hipsterunoff
derek: oh, and social networing assets, but that’s a whole other conversation

I can only hope it’s venerability. After all, my blog created this past summer, In The Gnar, joined the landfills after just one entry (but what an entry it was).

Effable Solipsism

Can I talk my shit again?

I suppose it takes the most vain (and dubious) of solipsists to open a column with self-referential concerns. It’s very Klosteran-esque to be reviewing oneself in the first place, let alone with such scrutiny. But my considerations are not ill founded. I honestly don’t know if you’re reading his. I don’t receive feedback. I don’t know how many of you there even are.

mcranston: Puritan Blister by William Bowers of Pitchfork is one of the best columns I’ve read on a music website
mcranston: he’s wildly erudite. his prose is unique. he’s complicated. a very fascinating read,
mcranston: so why do you think his column isn’t a staple among p4k readers?
derek: you just answered it
derek: he’s wildly erudite. his prose is unique. he’s complicated.
derek: people want simple and easy to understand
derek: Filet Mignon is amazing, but more people eat MacDonalds
derek: I guess what I’m getting at is it’s so broad and generalized (his topic that is) that people don’t really understand what Puritan Blister is until you delve into it
derek: which is why it’s so great
mcranston: Yes.
mcranston: so with that in mind, what lessons do we take for this column here
mcranston: – simple idea?
derek: I think the answer is talking to these people who’s opinions we take as “experts”
derek: because that allows you/us to delve into these very broad and expansive topics under the veil of a very simple concept

Or maybe I need a change of scenery. Writing in Starbucks is too cliché, too rom-com-esque, too “You’ve Got Mail”-ish. I need to start smoking, and get a type-writer, and probably grow a better beard. I bet that’s how Pitchfork does it.

Yusuf Islam (nee Cat Stevens) played the El Rey in Los Angeles Monday for an acoustic, invite-only show. Most of the tracks played live were off his new full-length Roadsinger, the singer’s second release in thirty years.

According to Yahoo, a May 3 date in New York was dashed before Islam took the stage in L.A. earlier this week. The NY show cancellation was credited to an undisclosed work visa issue. Islam converted to being Muslim 32 years ago and was placed on the U.S. suspected terrorist list in 2004, prompting his deportation and accusations that he was funneling money into groups that supported terrorist acts. His last show in NY in 2006 was a rarity as well.

Islam’s set list included “Peace Train”, “Where Do The Children Play?” and “Father And Son”. No word if he played “Foreigner Suite”, which Islam is suing British band Coldplay for plagiarism. Coldplay’s song “Viva La Vida” — as we’re sure everyone and their mother is aware of — is also under scrutiny from Joe Satriani in terms of stealing guitar riffs and shit, like the line “I used to rule the world.” Very valuable.

Islam quit music at the end of the 1970s to focus on his faith and family before returning to live performances several years ago.

Coldplay has said enough is enough with all the copy-catting banter that has been circulating around their song “Viva La Vida”. As we previously reported, both Cat Stevens and Joe Satriani have accused the pop-rock musicians of ripping off their music. The band has adamantly denied the accusations and now Will Champion, the band’s drummer, has a message for them both: “there are only eight notes in an octave and no one owns them.”

In an interview with Hamptonroads.com, Champion was insistent that Coldplay was innocent, and had no intention of having “Viva La Vida” sound anything like either Satriani or Stevens’ songs. He also added that pop song writing is relative, and it is undeniable that some songs are going to use some of the same chord progressions as others. (Thank you Champion for reiterating our point.)

In a statement Champion said: “It’s tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn’t. We accept that it’s part of the territory and know it is only for some reason the successful songs that seem to be the ones that are accused of being stolen. So you go figure it out. There are elements of our music that I’ve heard in other people’s music, but a very difficult thing to define. There are only eight notes in an octave and no-one owns them. There are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression. I think it [plagiarism] lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would. It’s unfortunate but it’s the way people are. That’s that. We’re confident we haven’t done anything wrong.”

Chris Martin and co. seem to have mastered the art of the generic pop-rock song when they wrote the title track for their last album Viva La Vida. Why else would the British alt-rockers keep finding themselves under scrutiny from other musicians accusing Coldplay of ripping them off? First it was Joe Satriani, claiming the foursome stole the melody for “Viva la Vida” from his song “If I Could Fly”, but now Cat Stevens has joined in on the drama, claiming the band actually ripped off the melody from his song, “Foreigner Suite”.

Unlike Satriani, Stevens has not said he will take legal action against the group, but the musician told The Sun that he is the real inspiration behind Coldplay’s music. Though this claim might seem a bit more plausible than the Satriani case, (can’t you envision Chris Martin rocking out to Cat Stevens over Joe Satriani any day?) we have to say, it is probably one more instance in pop song writing, where a generic melody takes the shape and sound of some other melody that was already written. It is the risk you run when in pursuit of writing a three-chord hit, too bad Coldplay just found a bit more success than their accusers while doing so.

This is not the first time Stevens has been a victim of song writing copy cats. In 2003, Stevens and The Flaming Lips agreed to split the royalties from the Lips’ song, “Fight Test” after it was said to be too similar to Stevens’ 1970 song, “Father and Son”. Even though Stevens doesn’t seem interested in pushing legal action against Coldplay, let this be a note to Chris Martin while in the studio: Just let Jon Hopkins and Brian Eno write all of your songs.

They announced their formation barely a month ago and their debut album doesn’t come out for another five weeks, but apparently the buzz around “supergroup” Chickenfoot is so great that they’ve managed to sell out all nine road-test shows they had planned for the month of May.

Maybe it’s a fascination with that weird name, maybe it’s faith in the group members’ collective history (Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, suing Coldplay) or maybe it’s just the desire to fork over large sums of money to see bands whose music you’ve never even heard. We can’t really be sure. All we know is that from Seattle to Toronto to Philly, Chickenfoot tickets were a hot commodity.

In fact, tickets for the shows were in such high demand that the band has laid down a strict anti-scalping policy, requiring each ticket to be presented with ID at the door of each show. Apparently members of the band’s fan club were even shut out. (Fan club? Based on what? We know.)

Their debut album comes out June 9, and they’re promising fans they’ll be back on the road at bigger venues in August and September for a major North American tour. You can also check out a very informative introductory video here.

Sold-out Chickenfoot dates
05.14.09 – Seattle, Wash. (El Corazon)
05.15.09 – Vancouver, BC (Commodore Ballroom)
05.17.09 – San Francisco, Calif. (The Fillmore)
05.19.09 – West Hollywood, Calif. (The Roxy Theatre)
05.22.09 – Chicago, Ill. (Park West)
05.24.09 – Toronto, ON (The Mod Club Theatre)
05.26.09 – Cambridge, Mass. (Middle East Upstairs)
05.28.09 – New York, NY (The Fillmore)
05.29.09 – Philadelphia, Penn. (TLA)

They denied it to their fans, they denied it to the press and now they’re denying it to the judge — Coldplay went on the record in federal court with their stance that no part of “Viva La Vida” was copied or borrowed from guitarist Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.”

In a response filed in Los Angeles on Monday, attorneys for the band argued that any similarities between the two songs “weren’t enough to warrant damages.”

The response states that Satriani’s song “lacks originality” and should not receive copyright protection. Satriani’s lawyer, Howard E. King, said that the Coldplay response was fairly standard for a copyright infringement case, and that he thought the matter could have been resolved outside of court.

In the shadows of the recently formed Tinted Windows, yet another supergroup is taking form, featuring members of Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mr. Joe Satriani. 

The new group is going by the name of Chickenfoot (yeah we don’t get it either. Maybe they were stuck since Bumblefoot was already taken), is comprised of Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and sue-happy Satriani. Chickenfoot will release their self-titled debut LP on June 5, and will be doing a promotional tour this summer. According to NME the debut album is going to have a “heat sensitive” sleeve that will reveal the artwork when touched (big ups to everyone who remembers Hyper Colors!).

Chickenfoot formed accidentally at Hagar’s club Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where the musicians had a series of “jams” together. With the new album out in early June, we’re interested to see how it will compare to Tinted Windows new release, which will be out at the end of April. 

Chickenfoot track list
01. Avenida Revolution
02. Soap On A Rope
03. Sexy Little Thing
04. Oh Yeah
05. Runnin’ Out
06. Get It Up
07. Down the Drain
08. My Kinda Girl
09. Learning To Fall
10. Turnin’ Left
11. Future In The Past

Dedicated to those songs that I can’t stop playing, humming, or thinking about; the 4+ minutes you fall head-over-heels in love with. Past instances have included The Cure’s “Untitled,” Radiohead’s “Optimistic,” and M.I.A’s “Paper Planes.”

After the White Stripes‘ beautiful performance on the final episode of Late Night With Conan O’Brien, I had an email discussion with fan of Tripwire and my good friend Chris Vander Wal. It all started with his email giving me a link to the video, summing everything up with “I assume you don’t take requests, but as songs that are Great At This Moment go, this one’s pretty damn sweet.”

Rather than get into a whole messy editing process where I trim out my lame parts while making his insights look like my own, I’ve decided to print the discussion in its (near) entirety. Footnotes have been added for clarification and dramatic effect.

And now… our emails….

PM: I’ve been okay with that song, historically, and when this started, I was a little discombobulated at its variation. But then when they both sing together in that big wail, it hit me that they’re the best band of the last 10 years. So great.

Five minutes later…

PM Again: Okay, I’m playing it again.

This song feels like those Joe Cocker versions of Beatles songs, where it’s like “You enjoy the original song? Good. Here’s an even harder rocking version.”

The big thing this version does is that — due to the limitations of having only 2 band members — you get many of the pluses of doing a “classic rawk” version of the song, while retaining the intimacy.

That song felt like sitting in on a White Stripes pre-concert warm up.

Did you ever see them when they were the “exclusive” band for Conan a few years back? It was when Elephant came out.

I haven’t played that album enough lately.

A Little Later…

PM: If it actually does turn out to be an article, you can probably expect to see a lot of this stuff we’re talking about get re-worked and ripped off.

CVW” Well, so far you’re the one talking, so you’re ripping yourself off, I guess?

I read somewhere that the arrangement of that version is from a “lullaby” that was on Conan’s show. Sort of a nice goodbye present for him, I guess. I like his heartfelt appreciation to them at the end, too.

I have nothing to add to the smart comments you’ve already made. Curiously, I found myself thinking of the WS show we went to in Chicago, and the 4 minute man-crush I had on Jack White during “Black Math”. This is obviously a much different type of performance, but I totally got reminded that he is a capital ‘R’ Rock Star. He’s just got it. And I love the quirkiness that Meg has, how it contrasts and complements his vibe. Together, and in particular on this song, there’s a great sweetness and sadness that comes through their pairing. That song could’ve come off us annoyingly earnest and trite, but it’s not- there’s legitimate power and magnetism there.

I interject here…

PM: Yeah. That part near the end, when he gets real quiet almost gave me chills. Not literally, but I leaned in close because I thought I could feel the tension in the audience.

CVW: Also, and this is totally obvious, this performance is great precisely because everybody knows they really can rock hard. The choice to play it kinda low key (the intimacy you talked about) but not do an acoustic performance is, like you said, so great.

In an e-mail the next night, Chris continues…

CVW: Y’know what I love about that performance (you can later edit out the fact that I’m HAMMERED on all the red wine brought to our home tonight for the Oscars)… it’s mournful. It’s all the great rock star stuff you’ve mentioned — the emotion, worked out by the physical push to the mic, the willingness to really shout out when it’s necessary — but with the feeling of a dirge, like Jack and Meg are kinda mourning the passing of an era. It’s a song about becoming friends, so nicely and notably used in Napoleon Dynamite, but from that eighth grade perspective: we were friends, and I hope to God we stay friends, but maybe that’s changing now. And if it does, I want you to know how much I love you. What you are might be diminished, but not stolen. And if it is diminished, then I still know how great you are, and I’ll remember.

Like you said, only Conan’s (temporary) house band could do that song — beloved by him — that way. Take the familiar, and not simply mine it,but find something new within it. I’ve seen some negative talk on the performance, primarily at the AV Club comment thread, and even that is a sign of something great — the audience does not get what they expect. Cliched love is about taking the form that is expected; true love is love by whatever honest means necessary. Do Anything to make it work. Jack and Meg made it heartfelt for Conan, and who cares what any one else thinks, even on national television.

Now I should drink some water. I sincerely hope [you] find something usable in there, ’cause I did try.

PM: There is much useful there.

I’ve been curious to find more negative reactions, because the only other person* I’ve spoken to who has seen it commented on Meg’s guitar playing. “Stick to barely playing the drums” was the lasting thought.

And I think that’s bullshit because if the White Stripes have proved anything in their work, it’s that skill and proficiency are overrated as well as secondary to the song itself.

That version of “We Are Gonna…” doesn’t need a super-skilled guitar player. It needs those “chuck-a” sounds, so it only requires someone to provide those “chuck-a” sounds. To keep the beat. The guitar is a rhythm instrument, and Meg’s the rhythm expert of the band. It makes sense. If you got Joe Satriani (who I pick on a lot, by the way) to play that part, it would be a waste of his abilities and annoying. He’d have to look down on the song, and he would lower himself to play it.

Meg, on the other hand, must raise herself up to the level of playing a new instrument (assuming she’s never played before, which I doubt) for the purposes of the song. I once wrote a song with Mike and he had just bought an accordion, so we thought it would be cool to throw in an accordion solo. He wasn’t great, but it added something. It was really just four notes, but they were the right four notes.

Limitations like these allow for more honest expressions of feelings and emotions; things that skill and proficency work to conceal.

I hate making Beatles references, but I must: I always laugh when people scoff at Ringo’s abilities. While he wasn’t the greatest drummer in the world, if he wasn’t there, then they wouldn’t be the Beatles. Everything would sound different. That’s the way that band’s chemistry worked to create art greater than the sum of the contributing parts. “Greater than the sum of their parts” is what the White Stripes are all about.

From here we went on debating whether Sean Penn won his Best Actor Oscar outright or with the backlash of Prop 8 power behind him, though we never got to deep into whether Heath Ledger “deserved” his Oscar — or whether his performance in The Dark Knight would have as much power — if he hadn’t died. Eventually we got back on track…

CVW: I agree with you on this, even if it took me many teeenage years to understand it: imperfect technique to create the right feeling is always better than perfect technique to create an adequate feeling. “Greater than the sum of their parts,” indeed. People whining about Meg’s guitar or Jack’s anguished singing are missing the point. A perfect performance (and I am a Joe Satriani fan) might have nothing to do with stimulating the right emotion. Tell me that Meg and Jack weren’t playing their hearts out that night, that there wasn’t something arcing that night; structure and technique is appropriate, but heart and honesty is transcendent. Some viewers may not honor Meg and Jack, but they’ll remember what happened. Even in criticism, the naysayers will keep that welding spark alive.

Also, isn’t that the beauty of a “Greatest Song At This Moment?” Sure, maybe we might criticize Meg’s playing, but for this tiny second the song is perfect. Who cares? If someone needs to find a fault 24 hours after performance, then I’m sure they’re chastising a lover for mistakes or looking to hurt an external entity for what is lacking. Right now, there is beauty in front of you; don’t focus on the death of the flower, but that fleeting bloom right now while it lives. Such hating drives me a little nuts.

End of email conversation. And yes, we really do talk like this.

Three quick notes on the way out: I’m not simply reprinting the emails because I’m lazy, but because some parts are said so well that I’d either have to continually sight or quote my way into a bibliography, and that’s no fun. So I guess it’s a whole other level of lazy we’re talking about here.

Secondly, *The only other person I’d spoken to about the performance at the time of the writing is a musician friend of mine. He writes music and plays bass. I’ve been good friends with three great bass players and none of them liked the White Stripes, thereby fulfilling the truest point: bassists hate the White Stripes.

Kudos to The Daily Swarm for keeping track of Fox News for us. We tend to shy away from their brand of muckraking because we like to think of our tastes as a bit more couth and less sensationalistic. But we couldn’t pass up on another bit of news surrounding the whole Joe Satriani Vs. Coldplay fiasco.

As you should already know by now, Coldplay has been accused of ripping the melody for “Viva La Vida” (for the second time) from Satriani’s “If I Could Fly”.

Well, according to Fox, Satriani and his lawyers have been trying to bring the case to court, but claim that Coldplay has dodged being served. And where, when and how do his lawyers propose to catch the rascally band? To quote: “The Grammys are the easiest forum at which to strike while the iron is hot.”

While Satriani has stood by his claim that Coldplay lifted his 2004 instrumental, the band has vehemently disputed this, issuing a rebuke on their website. But that hasn’t stopped Satriani or his attorney Howard King of King Paterno et al. King has promised “a fleet of process servers lined up to dog the band everywhere they go this weekend in the hopes of serving them” and also warned Coldplay’s British lawyers that they with have camera crews roaming around with the process servers to get the whole thing on tape.

Finally, something exciting to look forward to at this year’s Grammys.

With no rhyme or reason, our editorial staff chooses the top 10 biggest music-related news stories of 2008. Coming in at #4: Coldplay Accused Of Ripping Off “Viva La Vida”.

Ironically, on the same day “Viva la Vida” lands on our top singles list, this seemingly never-ending saga about Coldplay’s “inspirations” behind the song lands them on our biggest news stories list. Accused twice of plagiarizing the song, the latter of which actually resulted in rock guitarist Joe Satriani suing. Satriani’s copyright infringement suit, filed in L.A. federal court, alleges that “Viva La Vida” features “substantial original portions” of his 2004 instrumental track “If I Could Fly”.

Read the full story and compare the two songs here.

40 Year Old Virgin called them gay and the BBC said they induce narcolepsy, but Coldplay’s triumphant “Viva la Vida” is a current testament to their monstrous fame. From the insistent string section that opens the track to the anthemic “wo-ho-ah-ho!” harmonies that end it, “Viva la Vida” refuses to let go of our attention for even a second. Chris Martin sings loud and firm, better than ever before, telling a story of royalty that might well be his own: “I used to rule the world,” but like all royalty, his Kingdom fell. Not about rebuilding it, the song is about moving away from it. Say what you will about Coldplay or their perpetual mediocre albums, but to deny this song’s prowess is to deny deserving music based on foolish preconceived notions of what is cool, and what isn’t. Oh, and they didn’t steal it from Joe Satriani.

Coldplay – “Viva la Vida”