Music

“Free” Music

Posted on March 15, 2011March 15, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music, Travel

I wasn’t previously aware of this. Music is completely free in China. Not just “easy to pirate with no consequences due to a lack of intellectual property rights legislation” free. Completely legally free. On Google. There’s actually a little link between the ‘News’ and ‘Shopping’ sections labeled ‘Music’: Once you click it, you can search for any artist, song, or album, and then easily download a high quality mp3 file from the Google page right to your hard drive, with no restrictions: Apparently Google earns advertising revenue on this, and gives the major record labels a cut. They’ve agreed to it because something is better than nothing. Can I take this music home? I looked at the ads.

Yer Blues

Posted on March 12, 2011March 9, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

This is pretty amazing. The Dirty Mac, with John Lennon and Eric Clapton on guitar, Keith Richards on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums, playing Yer Blues for a Rolling Stones TV special in 1968:

Bright Eyes

Posted on March 10, 2011January 15, 2018 by Sam Kornstein in Music

I couldn’t make tonight’s Bright Eyes show at the House of Blues. Here’s what my friend, who is at the show, just texted me: “God came down with a symphony of angels and landed on Conor Oberest’s shoulder and quietly whispered ‘play son’ into his ear. And the crowd took a knee and gently wept from the beauty.” I’m not yet a huge fan of the new album, but now I regret my decision not to go.

Wasted and Ready

Posted on March 9, 2011March 9, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

Ben Kweller put on a great show at the House of Blues last night. It was just him, his acoustic guitar hooked up to a distortion pedal, and a piano. And he wasn’t shy with the acoustic distortion. Here’s a clip I shot of the encore: I first saw Ben soon after Sha Sha came out in 2002 at the long-gone Axis club on Lansdowne. I’ve seen him four times since, and have never been let down. Especially after he added a pedal steel player for his Changing Horses tour. He says he’s got a new album coming out in a few months.

Come Pick Me Up

Posted on March 8, 2011October 19, 2013 by Sam Kornstein in General, Music, Uncategorized

I’ve been listening to too much Ryan Adams lately: Listen to that pedal steel.

More On Hollywood Tans

Posted on February 24, 2011February 24, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

Correction: It turns out Hollywood Tans has a very active facebook page in lieu of a myspace page. Check it out to hear more songs. Update: Wayne just sent me a picture of the new Hollywood Tans t-shirt. For anyone who’s unsure, it’s Elvis with lots of blood:

Hollywood Tans

Posted on February 23, 2011February 23, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

My good friend, Wayne Pritzker, is in a band out in Portland Oregon called Hollywood Tans. They’ve just been written up for the first time. From the Willamette Week: “[SWEATY JUMP AROUND] Hollywood Tans plays guitar rock that revives its worn format (guitar, synthesizer, bass, drums, beards) with a near-lethal infusion of enthusiasm. Stylistically, I’d lump the band in the same category with Swim Swam Swum, though whereas the latter Portland guitar-rock institution distinguishes itself with technical ability, Hollywood Tans attains its uniqueness through a healthy regimen of mania. As I write this I am listening to the quartet’s cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” for the fourth time straight. Hollywood Tans puts such love into that

The Death of the Music Industry

Posted on February 22, 2011February 22, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

The Understatement has a great post on how, and how not, to evaluate recent trends in recorded music sales, and what they might mean for the industry. The post includes many interesting charts, and an explanation as to why Bain’s recent report on the topic is deeply flawed and misleading. But the most relevant chart is this: When measured by inflation adjusted sales per capita, “the music industry is down 64% from its peak” and “45% from where it was in 1973” at the peak of vinyl. There are quite a few ways to view this. Many blame music piracy, which certainly has contributed to the decline. Or you could take a more optimistic view, and claim a cyclical pattern.

Premiere

Posted on February 20, 2011April 13, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Music

Back in high school, you know, around 1998 or so, I played the guitar in a rock band with a bunch of close friends. We named ourselves Premiere, after a long gone vhs rental shop in Framingham Center (long story). We practiced every week, and played a good mix of rock/blues covers and original music we had written. We played all the high school music events, and eventually got to the point where we had weekly gigs at local bars around town. It was a lot of fun. Right before we all went off to college, the band saved up some money and recorded an album at a studio in Rhode Island. We sold a few hundred copies, and the

King of Limbs

Posted on February 19, 2011February 19, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Music

It’s out. That was quick. And Thom Yorke’s got some moves: I’m on my third listen through the album. Like all Radiohead records, at least for me, it sounds weird and monotonous the first time through, I’m intrigued by the second listen, and it’s brilliant each time thereafter.