While Uncle Joe is best known as one of America's top Classic Rock historians, throughout his 39-year career he's always been acutely aware of current trends in the music industry. Indeed, Classic Rock itself was the finest new music of its day, composed and performed by artists at their creative peak. For a scholarly insight into today's trends, J.B. presents Rave's Raves.
Rave's Raves are composed by Bruce Ravid, a veteran of Capitol Record's A&R Department and in no way reflect the official viewpoint of Uncle Joe, his staff or management. They are written from Rave's industry viewpoint, originally for friends within the music business, but now shared with the world. New editions appear in April/May, August/September, and December with occasional updates in between. Enjoy!
June 2007
***RAVE'S RAVES #29.1***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air)
Chemical Brothers/Klaxons ("All Rights Reserved"), White Stripes (various), Fujiya & Miyagi (various), Queens Of The Stone Age (various), Art Brut (various), Maximo Park ("Girls" and "Velocity"), Blonde Redhead ("23"), u.n.k.l.e. ("Restless")
This Chemical Brothers/Klaxon track is on the new Chems' album and really stands out to me. The White Stripes are back to having fun as Jack says he's happier than he's ever been. They have a "mariachi metal" song called "Conquest." It is so unique that I squeezed it into my Go Deep show even though the album was just coming out and I had another artist in mind for that particular spot. The U.K.'s Fujiya & Miyagi are very melodically and instrumentally orientated within the indie dance genre. QOTSA have come back with one of their strongest albums. It is good to hear that Art Brut's humor is still intact but it's strange that this new album would be mixed in a way that Eddie's essential vocals are much harder to hear. Maximo Park have had several standout tracks on each of their first couple of albums. Blonde Redhead has been a grower for me and title tune "23" has caught my ears. Electro/dance fans know u.n.k.l.e. — their "Restless" track features a lead vocal by QOTSA's Josh Homme. I continue to hope that Merge will release Arcade Fire's "Intervention" as a single. It's begging for major exposure.
LIVE
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played a successful show in early May at L.A.'s Wiltern Theatre. These guys continue to be one of the more unique and compelling groups out there. While their new album rocks harder than their prior release, the album and live show continue to be filled with lots of mid-tempo songs. What seems to work best for this band is the faster stuff. Otherwise I'm afraid that BRMC will remain at the same level of popularity. After being blown away by Arcade Fire at Coachella, I was excited to see them at the Greek Theatre where I could be closer to the stage. The band again delivered, much to the delight of the enthusiastic full house. For whatever reason, they seem to be going for a tinnier sound, as I got similar reports from people who saw them in Chicago and San Francisco. As much as everybody loved the show, it would have been even more effective if there had been more bottom-end in the mix. I was able to catch CSS at Mezzanine in San Francisco. Similar to their Coachella gig, they played great with lots of energy, and they also got the crowd off. The reports I got from their L.A. show at the Henry Fonda the following night were that it was more of the same, except possibly even more intense. They're a great party band and in case you haven't heard, their Portuguese name translates into "tired of being sexy".
80's COLLEAGUES
The Knack's lead singer, Doug Fieger, has completely flabbergasted his doctors by going into remission from his highly publicized bout with cancer. Doug has beaten incredible odds to get to this point. It goes to exhibit the importance of attitude when combating life's greatest challenges. The Knack will play various U.S. cities this summer, and they'll be touring Australia in August as part of a "Countdown" reunion tour. The Motels' Martha Davis will also be on the bill. Iron Maiden is headlining European festivals this month. Original manager Rod Smallwood continues to work with the band. Rod was beloved at Capitol and has deserved every bit of his success. One might have expected him to only handle Maiden and to try and lay lower. However, his Bullet For My Valentine has done quite well for a new band, and now The Gallows are beginning their assault. This hot punk/metal band was signed amidst lots of label interest. They've been getting great press in the U.K. and are about to invade the U.S. for the Warped Tour.
LET'S GET OUT OF THE GUTTER
All of the recent Paris Hilton coverage has turned a lot of our stomachs. This is actually systematic of what is wrong with the music business right now. Besides downloading, the fact of the matter is that the entire machine is f----d up and is mostly about lower common denominator product (like Paris Hilton). So many label and media resources are placed with predictable, pre-processed, sterile types of simple artists that fit certain formulas. There isn't enough bandwidth for truly deserving indie artists, or for deserving people in other genres. Lower-common denominator stuff suffocates higher quality artists. Sure this American Idol stuff sells and some of it is okay, but it's no way to get more fans inspired enough to purchase more music than what's being bought now. It can certainly be documented that the more sterile most corporate radio has become, the more that young musical tastemakers have defected.
...and...
My monthly Go Deep webcast continues to chug along. I've been truly gratified by continued responses from fans and industry pros alike. Check it out if you haven't heard it lately, as I play less familiar songs by artists who are known to most listeners. The show plugs that huge gap between the college and mainstream alternative formats. Playlists are posted on the front page of my site. Input is always welcome. Have a great July and August, and I'll write again in two months. Until then...
RAVE ON!!!
May 2007
***RAVE'S RAVES #29***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air)
Arctic Monkeys (various), NIN (various), Arcade Fire (various), The Fratellis (various), Mika, Amy Winehouse (various), Bloc Party (various), Spoon, Tim Armstrong, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Muse (various), LCD Soundsystem, Klaxons, Feist (various).
Songs are the singles unless otherwise noted. The new Arctics CD may lack a bit of that youthful spark, but it evolves nicely from where the last album left off. The new NIN CD is darker and more electronic and is being well received. Arcade Fire have unlimited potential (see Coachella review below). Based on live reaction to "Chelsea Dagger," I believe this is the song with the best chance of breaking The Fratellis in the States. Tim Armstrong, the lead singer of Rancid, is getting top requests on L.A.'s KROQ and Indie 103.1. BRMC are back to rocking on their fourth album, and it should be their most successful to date. If you like what you may be hearing of Klaxons on the air, you'll be glad to know the entire disc is consistent and their live show rocks (see below). Feist is a Canadian singer in the electronic vein. People are already speculating about Amy being a major candidate for Album of the Year, and I expect Arcade Fire will merit consideration as well.
COACHELLA
My top three Coachella bands were Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, and Klaxons in that order. This may have been the show that elevates Arcade Fire to the level of a major touring band for a long time. Upcoming albums will dictate whether they attain superstar status, but they have that potential. The Arctics awesome set was greeting by a crowd that was into them but not extremely vocal about it. It was also a breakout show for Klaxons. These guys aren't well known yet and opened their set to a half-full tent. But their intensity won everyone over and has had people buzzing all week. Hot Chip also may have had a breakout show, as their crowd and reaction gradually grew. By the time they closed with their "Over and Over" hit, their tent was just plane loud. CSS (fun!) and the Teddybears also had great dance/rock gigs on the final day. The New Pornographers and The Decemberists more than held their own. Other good shows worth noting were by The Fratellis, Of Montreal, Faithless, Jarvis Cocker, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, and !!!. As much as I like Peaches and Of Montreal, I'd rather see both of them in smaller venues. Silversun Pickups were one ascending indie band that played with surprising power and will be a formidable festival entity. I didn't see much of Amy Winehouse or Bjork, but there were lots of great reports on both. It's worth noting that Kaiser Chiefs got virtually no reaction at their early evening show.
Aside from the major rock headliners such as Rage (good show, bad sound problems) and the Chili Peppers (didn't see them), most of the crowd energy was with the dance artists. Mid-afternoon sets in the heat are usually tough for rock bands, but people will still respond to a dancy act in a stifling tent. It will be interesting to see if this is a trend, or whether this is specific to Coachella.
OTHER "NORMAL" LIVE SHOWS
Bob Seger sold out The Forum in L.A. on March 1. How fulfilling to see Bob doing it again with so much energy! There were no enhanced production values, and Bob is probably about 80% of what he was. But that was good enough for this joyous, sold-out crowd. Back at The Forum in April, Muse filled the house for their biggest U.S. headlining gig to date. As one of music's best live bands, Muse once again didn't disappoint.
...and...
Sat Bisla and his company A & R Worldwide put on a great Musexpo conference this week. The tone of the event is heavily international as attendees come to get a leg up on the US market. Informative panels were filled with passionate, positive-thinking industry VIP's from around the world, and most showcases were worthwhile. For me, the highlight was the unsigned Melbourne band Skybombers. There were strong reports on The Teddybears' late Monday night set. As I saw them at Coachella, I agree they're a band to definitely catch... Thanks to Randy B. of WSUM for the co-hosting opportunity on his WSUM show on Friday 4/20. I had a great time... Let me hear from you with any input, and please put "Raves" in the subject line of any email that you send. I'll be back at the end of June and until then...