Feist, meet the Cookie Monster

When I first heard the news that Leslie Fiest was reworking her hit “1234″ – already an iTunes-branded smash (which followed the Verizon-branded hit “My Moon, My Man”) – for Sesame Street, it came as no surprise. When I first heard the song, I latched onto its childish melody immediately, thinking how strange it was [...]

Smart Money is on Brooklyn

Whatever you think of the Knitting Factory – has it declined since becoming more receptive to pop/rock bands? improved? has your little scene been excluded from bookings? you were denied entry? – it is one of the longest lasting clubs in New York City, and next to CBGBs, which lost relevance ages before its celebrated [...]

Marnie Stern, Shredder-For-Sale

The inimitable Marnie Stern – she of the golden locks, furious fret board tapping, and iPod band – is, according to Pitchfork, for auction on eBay.
Her record label, Kill Rock Stars, is auctioning off a guitar lesson with Ms. Stern, presumably in her upper east side apartment where you can meet her dog! Learn how [...]

Lanois/Eno Record U2 Masterpiece?

I’ve really got to quit writing about mega-bands. But first, this:
Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois have been busy working on the new record by U2. Having long ago lost interest in U2 (after the embarrassing Rattle and Hum) and the move to pandering stadium-shakers like Mysterious Ways (though One remains a great tune, brought to [...]

Nutty is the New Gnarly

OK, so I wrote recently about the Rick Rubin-guided new Metallica record, to be called Death Magnetic. Lars Ulrich spoke at a press conference a while back, and it turns out that the new record (with some songs clocking in at ’seven-minute, eight-minute, nine-minute’ according to Lars) takes Metallica in a new artistic direction that [...]

Artists Will Lose, Again!

The most recent Billboard FOB editorial – this one written by a Philadelphia-based lawyer – proposes an across-the-board class action suit against the ISPs that are allowing users to spread and share copyrighted files on the Internet. Also scattered through the latest issue of Billboard are different mentions of ‘bundling’ (adding music subscription services to [...]

Obsessive Song Research: St. James Infirmary

I’m very glad there are people like Rob Walker out there. Not only is he one of the finest of the NY Times’ Magazine columnists – writing the always sharp Consumed page, which turned me on to the amazing lastexittonowhere – but I only recently found his No Notes Web site, Walker’s obsessive guide to [...]