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Software serves record co stasis quo Who is taking over whom? And who cares?
Film
By Simon Gordon Demme, who directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia,
was at the helm of the Talking Heads concert film Stop
Making Sense, and has made music clips for The Pretenders
and Bruce Springsteen.
Neil Young covers Into the lion's den Tony Byrne & Simon Dodd By Simon Gordon The following is an interview Simon Gordon conducted with musicians Tony Byrne and Simon Dodd after their performance of Neil Young classics, prior to the premiere of the new concert film, Neil Young: Heart of Gold. SG: What’s your favourite Neil Young album? TB: Well, it’s got to be “Harvest”
for me because if I’m brutally honest, I’ve never had a lot
to do with Neil Young until this opportunity to perform some of his music
came up. So even though I’ve been playing music for many, many years,
as much as I’ve always admired his music, I’m only just now
really tuning into it because of the job at hand. But I mean, I’m
a baritone, so I’ve never found his music particularly easy to sing.
Being a musician, I guess you can’t help but align yourself with
similar types of music. So as a result of this, I’ve been listening
to it. So “Harvest” has to be my favourite because it’s
about the only one I’m really familiar with. Jazz Reprise again Album: Miles Davis: the Cellar Door Sessions 1970 By Peter Kelleher I must be getting old. I can’t believe it is 15 years since Miles Davis died. It’s almost as if his career is continuing and that he is as unpredictable and changeable as he ever was. It’s almost as if his music, or at least what we have taken to be his music, is going in always new directions. About three years ago, the release of the complete series
of his appearances at the Montreux jazz festival, recorded over a space
of 18 years, caused a big rethink about his post-1970s music, the era
when pop had seemed to overwhelm the older Miles and his trumpet soloing
was eclipsed by noodling of no particular sort on keyboard. But the live
recordings showed what anyone who had been to a concert of the Resurrection
Period knew: that Miles’ creativity was far from dried up; and that,
whatever misgivings you might have about the direction he was embarked
on, you were in good company in that many before you had already been
just as nonplussed and even angered at some of his earlier career changes
of direction. Alt. blues/country Dynamic duo Matt Walker & Ashley Davies By Simon Gordon
Matt Walker and Ashley Davies’ sound is amazingly full, given their stripped-back drums-and-guitar lineup. The duo’s tasty recipe of soulful blues, indie rock and alternative country blends contemporary and traditional sounds, while always remaining heartfelt and honest. As they weave their way through varied musical landscapes, Matt and Ash create a sound undeniably their own. Film music retrospective Music hath charms Film: King Kong (1933) By Gene Denham
The recent release of Peter (Lord of the Rings) Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic "King Kong" gives us an opportunity to reflect on one of the most fascinating periods in film music history. In order to understand the significance of this classic film's soundtrack a little background is necessary. Silent films were not usually silent. They were almost always accompanied
by music, and not just that provided by the solo piano player of popular
myth. Any reasonably-sized silent picture theatre employed an orchestra,
some of them quite large. Thirty-piece orchestras were not uncommon in
Melbourne theatres and in regional centres such as Ballarat. (An indication
of the number of musicians involved can be gauged from the fact that the
Melbourne Branch of the Musicians' Union had 1500 financial members before
"talkies" were introduced in 1929 and just over 300 after!)
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Joe
Geia: Sometimes
our national living treasures are a bit too well hidden..
He's a living legend in the Australian music scene. He has written
what many consider to be a contender for Australia's "real"
national anthem (no, we're not talking "Matilda"!) Only the
basis of a single classic album, he has built an international career
spanning decades. PH: You've been in the business for a fair while. How long do you reckon you've been playing for? JG: I think I actually started off when No Fixed Address invited me into the band in 1982. I sort of felt [then] that I was in a professional situation. PH: What did you play in No Fixed Address? JG: I just played a bit of percussion and didgeridoo…backup vocals PH: You weren't a founding member, so how did you
get involved with the band?
Alt. folk By Leonie Gall
With a mixed musical background, Matt started learning guitar at around 16, playing along with records in his bedroom. It didn’t take him long to find his way to the stage, where he enjoyed playing covers in pubs and clubs with his brother. Alt. Blues/Country By Simon Gordon
SG: What’s been happening over the past 12 months for the duo? AD: Well, I reckon it was about 12 months ago that we
actually released the new CD. Just before we released [it], me and Matt
went over to Europe, we played in Cognac, France and then we went to Holland
and did a few shows. That was really good because for us, we want to try
to have a base over there as well as here in Australia. I mean, we just
went to Sydney and back, you know, and you do a thousand kilometres and
over there [Europe] you can get through two, three or four countries.
So, it’s great in Australia but we also have to look a little bit
outside, just because… Send us your email, notes, memos, random thoughts, trenchant complaints. Tell us about your adventures, strugggles, disasters, disappointments and successes as a musician. Love your work - mostly Hi Just like to say that I really enjoy your ezine - keep up the good work. I like the range of stuff covered. One thing, though - you seem to have a focus in reviews on indie rock and metal. This seems odd, because its not like you are a metal or grunge-specific publication. How about some more reviews of other genres. Andrew (via email) Dear Andrew Thanks for your note - it's always nice to get encouragement! On the other matter you mention, our reviews tend to reflect the interests of our reviewers. There are a lot of indie pop and metal gigs in Melbourne, and a faithful readership for those genres, but we are hoping to expand our range over time. Note the jazz, film and alt. folk reviews in this issue! In fact, I'm always interested to hear from potetial reviewers amongst our readers! Ed. We give preference to letters of 200 words or less, but try your luck anyway. We may edit your letters for reasons of space, or possibly because we're just a bunch of interfering bastards. Despite that, we welcome your feedback, comments and observations. You can use a pseudonym if you wish, but please include your real name, suburb/town and, if you are writing from outside Victoria, your state/country. Email us at musosunion@aol.com.
Got a problem or question
relating to the music biz? Ask Uncle Terry. Email Uncle Terry on musosunion@aol.com. Please provide your name and suburb (& state/country, if you're not a local yokel...) Global discipline G'day Uncle Terry In regard to G-Forces' letter [Uncle Terry in The Dues Issue 9] on independent muso friendly record companies, you could do no better than to point him/her to Discipline Global Mobile, Robert Fripps' excellent muso friendly label. At no time should any writer/composer sign away their royalty rights & strictly speaking they should garner the lions share in say, a 70/30 deal & not as is normally the case, the other way around. [...] BJ Dear BJ, Thanks for the words of wisdom. I couldn't agree more about the percentages. I suggest that readers also look at the section of DGM's website that chronicles very openly the difficulties they have had in trying to be an a commercially viable, ethical record company. Uncle Terry
Por Queue Pine and Ling, acupuncturists. We really stick it to the man. 9811 3511
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*** Cork & Butte Stockbrokers, a really cool outfit,
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Copyright and the musician In this issue's Intelligence, there is a brief snippet concerning performer's copyright for US musicians. We already have that copyright protection here, but it is toothless because it is assignable - if you want to work for a record company, you will almost certainly have to sign it away. This is another blow in the ongoing war against musicians owning their own work. I have a covert sympathy for all those who place copyleft and copynone items of music up for public consumption on the internet. It comes almost as a relief to see musicians give up the unequal battle and let this insubstantial piece of art, culture or whatever you call it, this little piece of intellectual property float around free in the digital world, clonging itself endlessly as apparently nature intended it to. And there's famous precedent. A portion of George Michael's
not-inconsiderable catalogue is now apparently free to the world. Disclaimer:
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Gray on Browne
II: In Australia, to be a fan is to stand around trying not to look like one. You have to strike just the right pose: one that says, on the surface, that you are merely another respectably-dressed and fully functioning member of the great casual Australian middle class, and that you just happen to be standing around outside the stage-door of a major city concert venue at 11.45pm on a cold night, rubbing shoulders in a not-too-friendly fashion with a couple of dozen fellow-fans because at this point in life, well, there's not really anything better to do.
To be a fan is also knowing when to stop hanging around on what might be a 50 per cent chance -- or 40, or 75 -- that the star of the show will eventually emerge and, like those Scriptural pearls before swine, distribute the rewards of personal contact -- a handshake, or an autograph -- on those sufficiently loyal enough to wait so long. Ant power in the USA By Theo Schulsospekz The US senate is considering a bill to amend the US copyright act. If passed the amendments will give performers a fair market price for the communication of their recordings to the public by any medium, traditional or digital. Recent Oz legislation amendments gave performers the same rights on all platforms too. The trouble is, Oz performers' royalties can be signed away to record companies. And usually are, since ants can't negotiate with elephants.
The bitter side Reviewer: By Caroline Peasbungle
"It’s not often that a gig and a former US president collide
but last month I saw a weird concert and I’ve had John F. Kennedy
in my head ever since. Because it was him who said: ‘If art is to
nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to
follow his vision wherever it takes him.’" The purple prose of Gill Wills Reviewer: By Victoria Regina On reading Gillian Wills’s review of a recent concert by the Queensland Orchestra, your Dues reviewer was reminded of the occasionally heard recommendation to conductors (frequently provoked by a particularly egregious specific episode) that they should each be forced to stand alone in the corner of an empty room with nothing but a baton and discover exactly how much music they can produced unaccompanied. Whether or not this remedy is just, one is forced to admit that there is, at the least, a drop of value in this proposal. Conductors conduct. The transitive verb form presupposes an object, in this case an orchestra. Whatever the relationship between subject and object, nothing can be produced by the former in the absence of the latter. HARMONY
Part 10 in
a series by Welcome back or, if this is your first visit welcome! First visitors are advised to check out previous “Harmony for the Compleat Idiot” columns. (There is a harmony column in each of the nine previous issues of The Dues). Your homework from last time was to work out the notes in all 12 of the
minor seventh chords. Let's look at them in both letter name form and
in musical notation (if the term "musical notation" causes confusion
or anxiety, check the last few issues). How to get a properly-paid gig Part
VII in a series by I suggest newcomers go back to the last six issues of The Dues so they can catch up. I suggest newcomers go back to the last six issues of "The Dues"
so they can catch up. Previous issues can be found by clicking the "Archives"
link at the top of this page.
How to prepare for a recording First in a two-part series By The Songsmith In twenty years as a recording engineer, producer and arranger, I have seen one or two musicians undergo the recording process. Situated as I am at the entry/mid-level of the recording market, I often talk to or see musicians inexperienced in recording. There are several errors, misunderstandings and types of bad practice that I see over and over again. These affect both the quality of the outcome and the cost of the recording. All these mistakes are avoidable with proper planning and knowledge. Many of them arise from inappropriately applying common practices at the "top" level of the recording industry to the "bottom" level. |
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Can
software predict the next hit? Are record companies the new gummy shark
- toothless and endangered?
Filmmaker
Jonathan Demme’s new concert film, an intimate portrait of legendary
musician Neil Young, premiered at Nova cinemas to a packed audience of
Young devotees. 
When
you meet Matt Barwick, it’s hard to imagine this quiet singer/songwriter
crooning classical songs and arias, but it wasn’t so long ago the
folk/rock devotee was training his pipes for a classical career at the
Melba Conservatorium of Music.
Guitar/drums
duo Matt Walker and Ashley Davies hardly qualify as rising stars. Their
star has already risen substantially, with European tours and an increasing
following in their native Australia. Simon Gordon talks
with Ashley Davies, drummer.
This
is a pretty good piece. It solves the problems inherent in talking about
music by not talking about music at all. Nor does it give any background
to the artist. Despite all this, it works.