Friday, February 27, 2009
A Suomi-Räp Legend Then & Now / Finnish Rap Classic. Priceless!
MC Nikke T AKA Chyde RULES!
1992 was a good year in the Finnish Rap Game. Thank God Chyde is still keepin' it real in 2008. Deep in the game!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Virgins and the Rich Girls
You know the feeling when you hear a song and you instantly realize that you have to play it all over again, 'cos it just rocks. This happened to me today, when I downloaded the Virgins' album. You tv addicts must have heard their music all over Gossip Girl - I hadn't so they struck like a lighting. Actually I should thank Alppila for pointing them out to me. He described the Virgins as something between the Strokes and the Cars. Can't go wrong with that.
So click the vid above the hear "Rich Girls".
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Free Spotify Invites
Got no friends? From whom you'd get invites to the currently officially hottest online invite-only music service? No worries. You can get them from here. For realskies, yay!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Beenie Man is coming to town
Good news for all reggae fans! Beenie Man is planning to come to play at the Ilosaarirock-festival on the 18th or 19th of July. He is mos def "the doctor" and "king of the dancehall"!
It's great to see him once again, 'cos he's had a looong career from 1981 single "Too Fancy" (he was 8 at the time). He's actually became a grandpa in december once his 17 year old daughter had a baby... But I guess he still can put on a good show.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Future Of Music Industry Pt. II
Here's an interesting article from the Mediapost's Online Spin Newsletter this morning by Cory Treffiletti (what a weird surname, in finnish that means something like a "Date-Hairdo")
The Future of the Music Industry Is Now
In case you missed it -- and you very well may have missed it, because it happened awfully quickly -- the Web has finally become a legitimate channel for the promotion and distribution of music, and the music industry is finally embracing this fact. Of course, this can be debated, since the Web also pretty much killed the record industry at the very same time.
This struck me while watching the Grammys this year. The award for Best Rap Album went to Lil Wayne. Wayne had the top-selling album of 2008, selling 2.88 million copies of "Tha Carter III," followed by Coldplay with 2.15 million. This is amazing in two distinct ways; first, because Lil Wayne built his reputation by giving away hundreds of hours of music through mix tapes and other online methods in order to establish a fan base, and followed it up with a whimsical array of beats and rhymes on a legitimate label release, netting the biggest, most ubiquitous album of the year. It's also amazing that for the very first time since tracking album sales started under the current model in 1991, the number-one album didn't clear 3 million copies.
The biggest single first week album sales record goes to 'N Sync (don't laugh), as they sold 2.4 million copies of "No Strings Attached" during its first week in 2000, but since then the numbers have fallen across the board. All that being said, way back in 2000 the music business was just plain different. When you bought an album, you were more than likely buying it for one single song -- or maybe a couple -- and the rest was filler. Nowadays, with iTunes leading the way for digital downloads, most artists are happy enough to sell singles. Artists like Smashing Pumpkins have been releasing single songs rather than albums, and in some cases they're giving them away (much like Hyundai's recent giveaway of the Smashing Pumpkins song in its TV spot during the Super Bowl).
What has finally happened is that some artists, if not their labels, are waking up to the idea that the Web can be used to hone their craft, build a fan base and promote their music. Lil Wayne gave away hours and hours of material for free, proving his own prolific status as a maniacal musician and allowing anyone who wanted to hear him to get a taste of his style. In doing so, he also perfected his craft and became a better artist by weeding through the process in public and inviting his fans to come along for the ride! By the time he was ready to put out another proper release, he'd become the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" -- a title than can certainly be argued, but at least he makes a case for it.
Other artists focus on standard Web sites like MySpace music or their own official sites to get out their music. If you're established enough, you can do it, but it takes time and it takes effort and it takes a lot of arguing with the suits that still represent the labels. Artists like Pearl Jam (I couldn't go an entire article on music without mentioning them) are talking about emulating Radiohead and releasing their own music through their own sites. These levels of artists don't need a label anymore. The fan base is large and they have the wherewithal to get it done, so why not go this route?
This leaves the labels and the industry itself flailing a bit and testing out every new model under the sun (which is a good thing). They are testing paid downloads, subscription services, ad-supported streaming, ad-supported and ad-integrated P2P download services -- and in so doing, they're rewriting the rules for the future.
The rules for the future of the music industry are astonishingly simple:
• Rule #1: Make good music and leave the filler at home.
• Rule #2: Invite fans into the experience and build a stronger relationship with them.
• Rule #3: Utilize multiple revenue streams; it's not only about selling albums anymore.
• Rule #4: Have we mentioned make good music, and leave the filler at home?
• Rule #5: Shape your artists, or let them shape themselves publicly (Pearl Jam, U2 and Coldplay are just three examples of artists that took time to develop and are now some of the biggest acts in the world).
The Future of the Music Industry Is Now
In case you missed it -- and you very well may have missed it, because it happened awfully quickly -- the Web has finally become a legitimate channel for the promotion and distribution of music, and the music industry is finally embracing this fact. Of course, this can be debated, since the Web also pretty much killed the record industry at the very same time.
This struck me while watching the Grammys this year. The award for Best Rap Album went to Lil Wayne. Wayne had the top-selling album of 2008, selling 2.88 million copies of "Tha Carter III," followed by Coldplay with 2.15 million. This is amazing in two distinct ways; first, because Lil Wayne built his reputation by giving away hundreds of hours of music through mix tapes and other online methods in order to establish a fan base, and followed it up with a whimsical array of beats and rhymes on a legitimate label release, netting the biggest, most ubiquitous album of the year. It's also amazing that for the very first time since tracking album sales started under the current model in 1991, the number-one album didn't clear 3 million copies.
The biggest single first week album sales record goes to 'N Sync (don't laugh), as they sold 2.4 million copies of "No Strings Attached" during its first week in 2000, but since then the numbers have fallen across the board. All that being said, way back in 2000 the music business was just plain different. When you bought an album, you were more than likely buying it for one single song -- or maybe a couple -- and the rest was filler. Nowadays, with iTunes leading the way for digital downloads, most artists are happy enough to sell singles. Artists like Smashing Pumpkins have been releasing single songs rather than albums, and in some cases they're giving them away (much like Hyundai's recent giveaway of the Smashing Pumpkins song in its TV spot during the Super Bowl).
What has finally happened is that some artists, if not their labels, are waking up to the idea that the Web can be used to hone their craft, build a fan base and promote their music. Lil Wayne gave away hours and hours of material for free, proving his own prolific status as a maniacal musician and allowing anyone who wanted to hear him to get a taste of his style. In doing so, he also perfected his craft and became a better artist by weeding through the process in public and inviting his fans to come along for the ride! By the time he was ready to put out another proper release, he'd become the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" -- a title than can certainly be argued, but at least he makes a case for it.
Other artists focus on standard Web sites like MySpace music or their own official sites to get out their music. If you're established enough, you can do it, but it takes time and it takes effort and it takes a lot of arguing with the suits that still represent the labels. Artists like Pearl Jam (I couldn't go an entire article on music without mentioning them) are talking about emulating Radiohead and releasing their own music through their own sites. These levels of artists don't need a label anymore. The fan base is large and they have the wherewithal to get it done, so why not go this route?
This leaves the labels and the industry itself flailing a bit and testing out every new model under the sun (which is a good thing). They are testing paid downloads, subscription services, ad-supported streaming, ad-supported and ad-integrated P2P download services -- and in so doing, they're rewriting the rules for the future.
The rules for the future of the music industry are astonishingly simple:
• Rule #1: Make good music and leave the filler at home.
• Rule #2: Invite fans into the experience and build a stronger relationship with them.
• Rule #3: Utilize multiple revenue streams; it's not only about selling albums anymore.
• Rule #4: Have we mentioned make good music, and leave the filler at home?
• Rule #5: Shape your artists, or let them shape themselves publicly (Pearl Jam, U2 and Coldplay are just three examples of artists that took time to develop and are now some of the biggest acts in the world).
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A loser bike thief
Here's some rules to all you young peeps wanting to become good at their chosen profession
1) Get the proper tools
2) Learn to use your tools
3) Don't rehearse in front of a crowd
Friday, February 06, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
I have seen the future of rock & rap: Lil Wayne
I must admit I hated when Weezy picked up the guitar last year I saw him playing live. I mean he was on a cocaine-filled Prince-wannabe trip and really tried to play that twanger and he sucked at it.
But his mission to make rock music continues... The song "Prom queen" is pretty amazing: weird drum sounds, a wack guitar lick and too much autotune and Lil Wayne's weird mixture of singing and talking (or rapping?). But it has a killer chorus that makes me wanna listen to this over and over again. Especially those neat pop-influenced vocal harmonies in the end. I guess this is what happens when a rapper starts doing rock. Well, it's a lot better than what happens when a rocker starts to rap.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Collie Come Around!
As a god fearing salaryman I have always wished that Reggae Sundays could be Saturdays of Fridays, 'cos clubbing ain't my normal sabbatical activity. But in March the Kriton posse will be @ Redrum, 'cos so will mr. Buddz.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Benny Hill Won't Climb Up Any Hill
All those who grew up in the 70's and 80's remember Benny Hill (RIP) and his Benny Hill Show-tv series. Ben Elton once denounced him as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls" - which is not pretty far from the truth. But I liked the guy besides this or maybe because of it.
What we all remember particularly clearly is the closing scene when people used to chase Benny after he's done something stupid and this wack carneval/ circus music started playing. And now Elephant Man among others have recycled this thingy in a riddim called.... well hmmm, Benny Hill, what else? The Energy God is (as usual) acting hyper hyper active on his "No Ticcle".
And here's another mix on the same subject
Reggae outta....Netherlands?
I used to be a classic orthodox purist who thought that reggae could only come from Jamaica, period. But slowly I have warmed up to a lot of artists outside JA making killer tunes. For instance Alborosie (from Italy) and Collie Buddz (New Orleans/Bermuda) have blown my mind the last few years. Actually Collie's debut album is one of the best reggae albums to come out in five years.
I also have started to like the more adapted form of reggae that's also lyrically fully localized. I mean Jukka Poika, SCB, Nopsajalka & Raappana here in Finland are worth mentioning of course.
The latest one drop / roots influenced foreign artist that caught my attention is Ziggi (no, not an offspring of any of the Marleys). Ziggi was born in the Netherlands, which is is the Jamaica of the Europe, in some aspects like the tolerance for usage of soft drugs at least. Actually I guess Netherlands is more tolerant than any country in the world when it comes to the recreational use of sativa, but that's another story.
Ziggi has done Blaze it which uses Collie's Come Around riddim, the hotta redrum-anthem with Goodellas called Cry Murdah but I think that this song is the best reggae song for the moment:
Shackels And Chains
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