The Big Lebowski

I just finished reading the great article in Rolling Stone about the making of The Big Lebowski and it put me in the mood to watch it again...the article references that the movie was trashed in the episode of Siskel & Ebert with Siskel famously saying that Kingpin was a better movie about bowling.  Ebert half-heatedly endorses the movie but I don't really think either of them knew what they had in front of them.  

Bob Dylan -- The Man In Me

From the Big Lebowski soundtrack and also the Dylan album New Morning.

Shrinkage

Rolling Stone jumps into a cold pool:

Some packages like the curvaceous old Coke bottle become so iconic that they are recognizable at 30 paces. So it is with Rolling Stone, whose large format has stood out on magazine racks for more than three decades. It won’t for much longer, however. With the Oct. 30 issue, which will go on sale Oct. 17, Rolling Stone, published by Wenner Media, will adopt the standard size used by all but a few magazines.

In an interview in his office, Jann Wenner, founder, publisher, editor and general guiding force behind the nation’s biggest music magazine, was characteristically brash about the change. Leaning back in his chair, one leg slung over the side of it, he said, “All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia.”

Interestingly, further down in the article it says that the average age of the readership of Rolling Stone is in their early 30's...I would have guessed older although I'm 29 and I subscribe.

P.S. Rollingstone.com has a great archive of all the covers they've ever printed...

Kansas, Not the State

From the current issue of Rolling Stone there is an interesting Letter to the Editor written by Steve Walsh, the lead singer of the great group and my future place of residence, Kansas. He is writing in about the previous issue in which Rolling Stone determined the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time and Kansas was not included.

"RS has always hated the band I sing for. Still, two key songs were omitted: "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry On Wayward Son."

--Steve Walsh, Kansas frontman Via the Internet

Kansas -- Dust in the Wind

Kansas -- Carry On Wayward Son
Both tracks are from The Best Of collection.

The Black Keys

I've never been in a band but if I was I would imagine that I would hate it if my band was always compared to another no matter what we put out. In every review inevitably the same comparison would appear...I don't know if I could stand it.

This must be the way The Black Keys feel. They have a new album out, Attack and Release, and in each review there always seem to be a comparison to The White Stripes in there somewhere. For example, this is from the Rolling Stone review in which they received 3 1/2 stars:

"That's great for the Keys, who are often obscured by the shadow of fellow Midwestern drums-and-guitar duo the White Stripes. Sure, minimalist stompers like "I Got Mine" and "Remember When (Side B)," all raw rock riffs and cymbal sizzles, echo early Jack 'n' Meg. But "Psychotic Girl" is something else, with its banjo opening and spook-house choir. Ditto the Memphis soul of "Lies" and "Oceans and Streams," which show vocalist Dan Auerbach as a first-rate updater of old-school tradition."

From the very first line of the Pitchfork review:

"The Black Keys seemed doomed to linger in the long, black-and-red shadow of the White Stripes."

From the Spin review [also 3 1/2 stars]:

"All blues-punk duos, the Black Keys included, start with a reverence for the source material and the thrill of ruled composition. They get ragged for a while (in the Keys' case, for four albums), eventually establishing bona fides. Then comes the futzing around (see the thick thrum of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army")."

The Black Keys -- Strange Times
The first single from Attack and Release.

The Black Keys -- My Mind Is Ramblin'
From the Chulahoma EP.

The Black Keys -- Give Your Heart Away
From the Magic Potion album.

The Black Keys -- Hurt Like Mine
From the Thickfreakness album.

New Silverchair

Silverchair have a new album out that is getting great reviews (4 stars from Rolling Stone). This is a long way from "Freak" and "Tomorrow" and I really enjoy it.

Silverchair -- Straight Lines

Buy all the Silverchair albums here.

Prince & The New Cash Gener-erators

So what is all the hullabaloo about Prince "giving" away his new CD with a newspaper all about? Well the easy answer is money. The better answer is Prince is trying something different...again.

Remember, this isn't the first time Prince has done something "new" with CD sales. Rolling Stone considered Prince's 2004 tour to be the top earner of the year. Every ticket for those concerts had a $10 fee built into the cost which gave the concertgoers a copy of his then-new album Musicology if they wanted one or not.

(By the way, the source of rage from music shop owners is strong because new CDs in England typically go for about 16.99 pounds which translates into $34.49 in America. HMV is selling Planet Earth at 8.99 pounds ($18.25) on their website currently. A price American's would rightfully laugh at.)

The same principle is now in play now on a smaller and less expensive scale. Whether you want it or not, you get a Prince CD with The Daily Mail on Sunday. This will allow Prince to reach a much larger audience than he could ever expect through "normal" CD purchase. And I would imagine, with the assumption that the new album is good, that his back catalogue might see a health jump. In the long run, this experiment may proof profitable by generating new CD sales and alerting the music media in America that there is a new Prince album coming, which in turn could lead to more record sales. We did enjoy his Super Bowl half time performance after all.

And please don't mention Prince's name being a musical philanthropist. It reminds me of a line from The Simpson's Mr. Burns, "I trade it all for just a little more."