Don't have a favorite solo because I like whole songs, but I'very always enjoyed Neil Young's early-to-mid-period solos. Jimmy Page always stands out. Joe Walsh gets overlooked. And, the solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" comes to mind.
"Why deny the Obvious Child?" in this scenario. Since it's a Mustang, let's go with the flange-y chorus-y swimmingly unique Cobain solo on "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kurt loved Strats, Jags and Mustangs. Go Evergreen 'Stangs!
Thurston, I wanna make music with you at some point, but... leave the verbosity to Freshman English students. And, don't front for online PACs, unless you've examined the topics at-hand with intense scrutiny and have a thorough understanding of regional history and the present. What you're arguing for is essentially no security at U.S. Airports or any live event you play. Courtney Love learned the hard way what it's like to get caught in the middle of a lose-lose scenario.
How do you pick a favorite? "Going to California," "Immigrant Song," "Rain Song," "The Battle of Evermore," Kashmir," "Whole Lotta Love," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "Dazed and Confused," "Stairway to Heaven,"...
Too eloquent for such a stupid chorus/refrain. C'mon Mike, you're a smart and talented guy, why write Foo Fighters' songs? Soccer moms, retarded rappers and reality VD stars lay out the "mofos" plenty thick these days. It don't make you ruff, tuff or The Hard.
Steve's decidedly geeky here and very much wrong. He also hasn't recorded any interesting music since the '90s (those cat videos sucked Steve), when Touch and Go and Quarterstick put out great records recorded with care on analog tape. The amount of cockblocking going on with tech companies and music is hyper-corporate and a worse situation than with many of the most egregious record labels. Music culture has become decidedly dumber in all respects and decidedly more centralized. Who's paying Steve Albini today? Where does his paycheck come from? His studio rate should be reduced to nil. That's what musician's get today from the process of recording and in most cases touring today, unless they play those lame Festival Package Tours. The result of the live stream of an endless sea of digi-crap is that music has been devalued through the process of recording it, distributing it and consuming it. The process is less social, less physical and less human. Audio expression has been reduced to a steady stream of McRibz. Defending this devaluation process isn't democratizing or liberating. It just means we all get to participate in the erection of a virtual Dollar Store for all digital media, where everyone who engages the process knows it sucks, but the set of vampire novelty teeth sure were cheap.
Nah, record label execs used to want to be cool, have cool bands and foster talent. They promoted A&R and boutique labels as a way of banking on the future. Big Star made three albums. The Replacements made a healthy career, seven albums and several EPs on Twin Tone and then Sire (a Warner Bros subsidiary). These bands were able to operate in the margins for a short while and influence tons of other bands and people because there was adequate financing to get them on the road and on College Radio. There was also terrestrial support for local bands in the form of local radio, local news, local TV, local record stores, local clubes, etc. The Tech Cloud model is a strange multiverse, which only rewards click-through volume. To get that click-through volume, people pull dumb stunts to gain instant attention and release quasi-musical output with seductive visual content. The music is suffering because there's no money for bands and the money that does exist out there isn't wielded by savvy tastemakers.
Now that Dave Grohl has become Foo Fighters (The Celebrity Formerly Known as Nirvana Drummer), he can ham it up and watch the Benjys roll in. Problem is, the Punk and Indie rock world that used to be a healthy margin for vital touring bands has dried up because there's no way to stay on the road playing clubs for a real band. You either need to get BLOWN UP the size of Dave Grohl's Wembley Ego or you get lost in the shuffle of digital detritus. The only way any quality band today stands a chance is if they have a massive marketing budget and a SAG card. The club circuit doesn't allow bands to get on the road, get established, maintain and move forward. The business model is broken. Artists always get the raw end of the deal--just like Kurt Cobain did. Technologists are skimming 7- to 10-figure profits off ads, venture capital and other revenue streams pumped in generously, but the people who actually create the value--artists and musicians--are forced to act like beggars at the banquet, entering through the side door and getting scraps as the house is foreclosed or the rent goes unpaid. Guys like Dave Grohl just don't get it.
This is probably a bargaining ploy to generate publicity for Swift and whatever platform her label has an exclusive agreement with. I wish someone with the pop clout that Swift does cared enough about the medium of audio recording and distribution to assure that artists in general benefit from emergent business models. But, like U2 and Thom Yorke, she's probably only looking out for herself, a big payout and some hype.
Sanitized Mega Biz pop stars do quite well in a monopoly economy with .001 cents per play. The people who suffer in this bogus new music model are real musicians making interesting and challenging music. This type of band/musician can no longer afford to press LPs because there's no capital upfront for them to do so. You're displaying a great amount of ignorance related to the devaluation of digital content and creation.
Bizarre. I like CSN&Y, but to be honest they're just a live performance franchise at this point. They haven't made music together in a very long time. Given David Crosby's checkered past, it's somewhat surprising he's taking that sort of false high ground approach. Neil and Pegi Young's marriage and divorce is their own business.
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