So it Goes on Wqfs: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Radio Show 2/29/08

Friday, February 22, 2008

Radio show 2/22/08

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Cd review

Ben Berkowitz 2/20/2008

Viva la Revolution?

October 1^st 2007 the beginning of the end of the record label. With several simple words written on there official website, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead shocked the music industry. It simple read, “Well the new album is done and it is coming out in 10 days. We have decided to call it In Rainbows, Love Jonny.” On Radiohead’s web blog there was a link they lead you to www.inrainbows.com. From that site you could download the album beginning on October 10^th 2007. The revolutionary aspect to this is the buyer could name there own price for the download after a dollar transaction fee. Also available was an 80 dollar special edition of the album, which contained the album plus an eight track bonus disc of leftovers, two heavy weight vinyl’s of both discs of the album, and a 64 page book of artwork made for the album, and it had free shipping too. If I had the money I would have ordered it, but for even the casual fan, it was very much worth it.

Radiohead has been one of the best selling artist's for EMI since the breakthrough album 1997’s “Ok Computer”. Radiohead formed in the 1980’s in Oxford, England. The band still consists of the same five members, Thom Yorke on vocals, Ed O’Brien on Rhythm Guitar, Phil Steinway on drums, Jonny Greenwood on lead guitar, and Colin Greenwood on bass. Radiohead had long been in dispute with there former label EMI since there 6 record deal contract ended in 2003. Radiohead would have stayed at EMI but the record label wouldn’t give Radiohead control in how there work was used by the label. They felt that element was a deal break thus leaving the label. Radiohead’s logic behind releasing the album through the web had a lot to do with pirating. As you may know there is a war brewing on the internet over illegal downloading.

A lot of albums are leaked in full before an official cd is out in stores, thus ruining the sales of the album. Some artists are angry over this, but it is the record company that feels it most of all. The element most frustrating for the artist is having something they labored over for so long, arriving before it is due in shops. Radiohead figured if the album will leaked well before hand why should they waste there time promoting it for month’s on end. They should just leak it there selves and that is exactly what they did.

In the ten days from that faithful announcement Radiohead caught a lot of slack from artist, in one interview Lily Allen said, “It devalues music. It isn’t a good precedent for young artist who are emerging.” The two problems with her statement are these. Numbero Uno, I think Lily Allen’s song “Smile” devalues music more than being artistic and even being a pioneer by making music affordable for fans. Also, Lily Allen is a product of myspace.com which helps break a lot of artists, granted her music on her site isn’t free, but with technology it isn’t too hard to save it to one’s hard drive.

Gene Simmons of Kiss called it a “poor business model.” Now, on a normal day I could careless about what that man thinks, however this quote proves my point about certain artist in the business. Gene Simmons has a ton of money, more than I will ever have. Musicians like him need to realize it isn’t always about the money, if you an artist who plays music on the streets or at local coffee shops you deserves whatever comes your way, but then again those types of musicians aren’t in for the money, they truly love music, and if they didn’t think they had talent they probably would be at home. When you reach the level of success Simmon’s as achieved, they you honestly should not concern yourself over money if you are breaking new ground. As Jonny Greenwood said in Rolling Stone, “It is fun to make people think about what music is worth.”

October 10^th 2007 could not come soon enough. I was like a child waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. I have never been so anxious to hear an album before it in my life. I get easily excited about music, but I would not stop talking about this album, I still haven’t. The date of October 10^th was perfect for me because I had a show on WQFS that very morning from 8am – 10am. I woke up at 5am to download the album and burn it to cd. I never wake up at 5am but I was so anxious I could not sleep. I honestly dreamt about the album for ten days all I did was think about that album.

Radiohead has never disappointed me, they are among my all time favorite bands, but I was so anxious for the album I was afraid I would be let down. But not only did Radiohead change the way music can be brought, they made the finest album of there career. Not one day has gone by without me listening to that album from beginning to end. The album consisted of 10 tracks and had a running time of 43 minutes. Each track is a highlight and work perfectly as a whole.

“15 steps” is the first track on “In Rainbows”. It begins with thunderous claps, a thumping bass line, synthesizers, pounding drums, and fierce lyrics; it is like a reimagined “Idoiteque”, from Radiohead’s 2000 album “Kid A”. The momentum continues on the next track BodySnatchers. A pulsating rocker, one that Radiohead doesn’t done since OK Computer’s Electioneering. “BodySnatchers” contains one of Thom Yorke’s bluntest lyrics, “Your mouth only moves when someone’s hand is up your ass.” Track three is the one many Radiohead fans have been waiting to hear for over a decade.

“Nude” was originally heard in the 1998 documentary film “Meeting People is Easy” which followed Radiohead on the seemingly endless 1997-1998 tour. While the song had been performed live before it was never officially released on an album or a b-side. It was the track many Radiohead fans have been dreaming to hear. “Nude” does not disappoint those who have been eagerly waiting its release. This is finest track on this album, everything about it is perfect, and Thom truly delivers on the vocals, definitely worth numerous listens.

Up next is “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” Phil Steinway’s drumming is the highlight on this track. It is a beautiful composition that was debut in 2005 at the Ether Festival. While is not a joyful tune, the topic is one rarely explored in music. This song is about Thom’s fear of being eaten by worms when he is six feet underground. (I told you it is a topic rarely sung about.) One of “In Rainbows” many gems, “All I Need, displays some of the most heartbreaking lyrics and music ever composed by Radiohead. It is a dark and depressing tune in which Thom sings about a love gone wrong. In the song he seems to be pleading to a former love to let him back into her life. The song’s climaxing lyrics of “it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s wrong” are easily relatable to anyone who has been in such a transition of a love lost.

“Faust Arp” is the shortest and quietest song on the album, with just Thom and Jonny performing on it. However Thom’s word play in this song it fantastic, at two minutes it doesn’t over stay it’s welcome but it leaves the audience wanting to explore the song more. “Reckoner” was a slight let down for me at first. There had been a live recording of “Reckoner” around the internet for years. It is was thresh, nasty rock song, one that goes back to the “Pablo Honey” or “The Bends” ages. However, the first time I listened to the song, it was given a complete face lift; the one thing that remained the same was the title. I was disappointed with the track at first until my friend David said given it another try, which I did and what I learned was a beautiful and melodic song. This is a reminder to never judge a book by its cover.

“House of Cards” opens up with some of the most intimate lyrics ever sung by Thom, “I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover.” Once again the theme on this track is a love, but not of love lost. This song seems to be a plea for an affair or perhaps even a divorce, with lyrics reflecting back upon wife swapping, “throw your keys in the bowl and kiss your husband good night” and the chorus of “forget about your house of cards, and I’ll do mine” add up to one of the sauciest songs even performed by the band. The album goes back into rock mood with the next track, “Jigsaw Falling into Place”, the first single released off the album. Originally called “Open Pick” during its demo phase, this song has not evolved much. The guitar work displayed on this song is menacing, especially towards the end of the song. It’s starts of slowly but works its way up to full swing around the 2 minute mark, it is easy to see why the band decided for this to be the first single.

“Videotape” closes the album. It is hard to describe the sheer beauty of this song. It’s a soft ballad with just Thom playing the piano and Phil Steinway adding drums after the one minute mark. The song can be read in many different ways, some can see it has a break up letter or even a suicide note. Moving lyrics like, “this is my way of saying goodbye, because I can’t do it face to face. I’m talking to you before….” And the song final lyrics simply say, “I know today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen.” The song goes on with Steinway’s drumming and Thom playing the piano, with everything fading out perfectly.

Disc two isn’t as good as disc one, but it isn’t suppose to be. Radiohead albums rarely contained throwaway tracks, however disc two of “In Rainbows” contains two dull tracks titled “MK 1 and 2”. “MK1” starts off the second disc; it is a quick one minute instrumental piece, which sounds like an extension of “Videotape” to act as a continuation of “Videotape.” From that the album kicks off with “Down is the New Up”, one of Thom’s favorite songs and one that was highly thought to make it on the album. But as Thom stated in Mojo Magazine, “the song didn’t fit properly on the album” and while that is an accurate statement, it is a shame this song got demoted to b-side status. “Go Slowly” is next, a slow and sad ballad, but it is understandable to see why it did not make the cut, it’s a lesser “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”, despite the beautiful use of strings, the song doesn’t go anywhere lyrically.

“MK2” is next, thankfully it’s only 50 seconds in length, it appears to be an instrument piece left off of “Nude” and for good reason. I will say this thou, “MK 1 and 2” do act as nice transitions between songs. Originally entitled “Cogs”, “Last Flowers to the Hospital” is the one I wanted to make the album. It has been around since 2004 and has been performed numerous times live; it could easily replace “Faust Arp”, on the album. But the studio version is wonderful; it is other beautiful piano ballad from the group, a touching song that is easily worth the eighty dollars to obtain it on disc. Another old demo makes the cut on this disc, “Up on the Ladder’, has been around since the release of the 2001 album “Amnesiac”. It’s good song, relatively in the same condition as it has been, it is once again easily to see why it didn’t make the cut. There was no place for it to go. Shame it’s a b-side it might have fit nicely on another album, but once again it is nice to have an official studio recording of this lost gem.

“Bangers and Mash” was another song that was thought to be a shoe in for “In Rainbows”. It has been performed all throughout Radiohead’s 2006 tour and it was a fan favorite. Once again it is a song that recalls the early days of Radiohead, with trashy guitar rocking sound, is perhaps the very reason why the band left it off the album. Aside from “BodySnatchers” and “Jigsaw Falling into Place” the album is devoid of any rock songs, the tone of “Bangers and Mash” doesn’t fit with the rest of the album, but it fits perfectly on the second disc. Last but not least is, “4 minute warning” a song about a nuclear holocaust, containing vivid lyrics like, “this is just a nightmare and soon I am going to wake up” and “running from the bombers”. Only Radiohead could sing about mankind’s destruction this calmly. The only reason I can see why this was not on the album, is because it is a perfect album closer. There is nowhere to go after this song is finished. “Videotape” was a group favorite and I honestly believe when push came to shove “4 minute warning got pushed aside. It is a tragic lost, but once again, if you could afford the special edition set, you got your money’s worth.

I gave Radiohead 30 dollars for this album. I gave 10 to download it, I brought my girlfriend a copy for 5, I brought the official CD release for 8, and I got one copy for my friend’s birthday for 14, half of which I split with my roommate Grant. I didn’t mind one bit either. I did fail to mention that Radiohead did sign a one off contract with XL records and ATO records to dispute the album officially. Radiohead had intended to do that all along though because not everyone in the world has access to a computer. Thom made that very clear back in 2006 when asked about internet only distribution of the album, so in no way is he a hypocrite.

And as for Gene Simmon’s statement about it being a poor business model, I bet he is eating his own words now. According to certain sources more than 1 million people got the album via www.inrainbows.com and Thom recently claimed the average amount paid for the album was 4 pounds, 8 American dollars. So that is 8 million Radiohead made, split five ways. And let’s not forget about the special edition set, some claim for each one sold they made a 30 dollar profit. The members have stated an official amount of how many were sold but the number given by four members of the group averages out to about 70,000, making them a profit of 2,100,000.

I called this article Viva La Revolution? Mainly because who knows what can happen next in the music industry. EMI is slowly going downhill: recently the new chairman claimed he wants to allow corporate sponsorship for musicians, not only did Radiohead jump ship but so did Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and groups like Coldplay and The Verve are considering withholding there albums. Radiohead set a new standard in the way music can be brought by the fans. Hopefully many more artist will follow suit. Viva La Revolution!

mix tape

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Introduction

Greetings. My name is Ben Berkowitz and I have been a dj on Wqfs for the last four years. This blog is the beginning of an experiment, hopefully a successful one. My show is every Friday from 2-4pm, what i plan to do with this blog is to not only post my weekly set lists but post a mp3 of each song played throughout the show, some mp3's will be posted in real time but most will probably be posted on here sometime during the course of the day. I thank you for taking time to check out this page. Later in the evening I will make a playlist of my favorite songs of you to burn on a cd, a mixtape from me to you. Stay tuned.

So it Goes on Wqfs