I think what surprises me most about the life of Jay Bennnett isn’t how much he was liked…but how much he was disliked. Here are some excerpts from the comments on itunes about his album, The Magnificent Defeat:

“it’s like listening to nails on a chalkboard,” “quite painful,” “inadequate song writing”

These are comments I would expect of someone reviewing a teenager’s 4-track garage demo. Not of someone who has an immensely beautiful voice. It is unfortunate that Jay will never be truly recognized for his musical offerings during his lifetime. Even his wikipedia page is barely filled to half-mast. It’s a shame that a guy with 5 solo discs to his name that used to be a major songwriting force in one of the most respected bands of the 00s, cant even get a discography page in his wikipedia profile.

I know much of the animosity toward Jay stems from the Tweedy blow-out…but that shouldn’t tarnish his music. What’s most surprising about the split, is that though Bennett and Tweedy thought they were heading in two opposite musical directions, their post-break-up releases have surprising simularities. After Jay left Wilco, Tweedy released the experimental A Ghost Is Born…while Jay released the experimental Magnificent Defeat. Wilco followed it up with the mellow and basic Sky Blue Sky while Jay released the mellow and basic Whatever Happened I Apologize. I think they had more in common than they thought.

Jay’s most recent album, Whatever Happened I Apologize, is available for free download from his record label, rockproper.com. There has been a push to get the album released on vinyl. A Kickstarter page has been started for donations. Best part about it, if you donate as little as a dollar…you get your name in the liner notes. How cool is that?

It seems that Jay struggled all his life to find his proper place. Musically, he tried everything from playing, to singing, to producing. At the time, it appeared he was searching to find his niche. Never happy with just doing one thing. But in retrospect, it was Jay’s ambition to do it all that made him as superbly talented as he was. Hopefully, in death people may give Jay’s music a second chance and find out what an amazing artist he was in his own right. He will be missed.

Here are the 11 Best Jay Bennett Songs:

1. The Engines Are Idle (Whatever Happened I Apologize)
2. Replace You (Magnificent Defeat)
3. Talk To Me (The Palace at 4AM)
4. Thank You (Magnificent Defeat)
5. C.T.M. (The Palace at 4AM)
6. Hank (Whatever Happened I Apologize)
7. God’s Coffee (Bigger Than Blue)
8. 5th Grade (Magnificent Defeat)
9. My Wicked Little One (Bigger Than Blue)
10. Puzzle Heart (The Palace at 4AM)
11. Pretty Good Year (The Beloved Enemy)

Buy Jay’s releases now. I recommend The Palace at 4AM or the new album, Whatever Happened I Apologize (which is free).

 

This past week in the NBA playoffs, it has been all about the super stars.  Carmelo for Denver, Kobe for the Lakers, Dwight Howard for Orlando, and LeBron for Cleveland.  In past few games, the players have been bigger than the teams themselves.  These players have strapped their teams on their backs and hauled them over the finish line.  Literally like LeBron did at the end of game two.  Though a team can’t win without the strength and unity of all its working parts, it needs a true leader to ever make a lasting impact.

 

This past week saw Grandaddy frontman, Jason Lytle release his first solo album, Your Truly The Commuter.  How will he fair on his own without his team?

 

 

1.  El Caminos in the West (Sumday)

2.  The Crystal Lake (The Sophtware Slump)

3.  The Group Who Couldn’t Say (Sumday)

4.  Summer Here Kids (Under The Wester Freeway)

5.  Summer…It’s Gone (Just Like the Famibly Cat)

6.  Miner at the Dial-A-View (The Sophtware Slump)

7.  Now It’s On (Sumday)

8.  Goodbye? (Excerpts From The Diary of Todd Zilla)

9.  Revolution (I Am Sam Soundtrack)

10.  Pull The Curtains (Excerpts From The Diary of Todd Zilla)

11.  Hewlett’s Daughter  (The Sophtware Slump)

 

Buy Jason Lytle’s new solo album, Yours Truly the Commuter, now!!

Iron & Wine has made a career out making some very unique lo-fi freak-folk. Going to show that you don’t need to have an operatic voice to make great music. Sometimes just being human and vulernable is enough to make you special. And sometimes, less is more.

This week they released a 2-disc collection of B-sides, covers, and rare tracks, called Around the Well.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by Iron & Wine:

1. Jezebel (Woman King EP)
2. Cinder and Smoke (Our Endless Numbered Days)
3. The Trapeze Swinger (In Good Company)
4. Woman King (Woman King EP)
5. Resurrection Fern (The Shepard’s Dog)
6. Upward Over the Mountain (The Creek Drank The Cradle)
7. Free Until They Cut Me Down (Our Endless Numbered Days)
8. Boy With A Coin (The Shepard’s Dog)
9. Promising Light (The Creek Drank The Cradle)
10. Such Great Heights (Garden State)
11. Swans & the Swimming (Our Endless Numbered Days Bonus Track)

Buy Iron & Wine’s new rarities collection (Around The Well) now!!!

Finally it’s time to re-visit the American Idol discussion. (Read my other arguments here) First off, I want to say I have no ill will toward any of the AI artists. In fact, I’m happy for them. Breaking into the music industry is impossible. If you make it by winning a game show…then all the power to you. My issue is with the show itself and how it has hurt the music industry.

One comment a couple days back claimed that without American Idol, the music industry would be really hurting. I think the feeling from this comment is that when you see a few artists at the top doing very well…it’s the illusion that American Idol is actually a positive influence. But it’s only that…just an illusion. Since Idol premiered in 2002, there have been 84 finalists. Of the finalists, 41 have released an album, accounting for 68 total album releases. There have been 11 million-selling albums by 7 of the contestants. There have been 9 albums to sell over 500K by 8 other artists. (Technically, there have been 13 platinum albums…but platinum status is awarded for albums shipped and not sales. And this discussion is about sales.)

That means only 20% of the contestants with albums will go platinum, while 37% will at least go gold. That seems great. A modest rate of success. But the truth is…with the amount of exposure these artists are getting…this is more a failure than anything. 30 million people watch the show. For the contestants that are 3rd runner-ups, who end up with 500K in sales, that means less than 2% of the viewing audience is going out and buying your album. These aren’t just artists who are getting one song. One shot. The 3rd runner-up is getting to perform for weeks, even months on end to an audience of millions. They should be doing better. Part of the problem is the 8-month wait for a proper album to come out…but there’s also something bigger going on…maybe the contestant just isn’t that good to deserve that much exposure. Or maybe it’s the fact that people don’t take these contestants seriously as artists since this is really just a GAME SHOW!!!

So of the 41 contestants to release albums, 15 at the top have at least gone gold. What about the 15 at the bottom? Well, if you combine all 18 releases by the bottom 15 contestants, it would only add up to 300K units sold. That’s an average of 20K per release. That’s not good. Especially when you get to showcase your talents to 30 million people! And to boot, there are over 44 contestants, who have never released an album at all.

One of the biggest problems with the show is something that is addressed in Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail. It’s something called niche marketing. Anderson attributed up to 25% of sales from places like Netflix and Amazon are products that apply to niche markets that are not found in the main stream. Albums, movies, and books that are not ever listed in sales charts account for one quarter of overall sales. When American Idol promotes 1-2, maybe 3 contestants, they are ignoring a giant chunk of sales potential. At least 75%…maybe even more.

So…with a couple more points to make in wrap-up…I’ll push this one more day.

These are the best Eminem solo songs…before you start screaming about all the Dr. Dre songs…duets will be tomorrow…so chill out. (Yes, Business is in there…but Dre piping in for a couple of “Hell Yeahs” does not constitute a duet)

Well…the recession has finally hit the indie world. Paste Magazine is hurting. Apparently advertisers don’t have the money they once had. So in an attempt to save the magazine, if you donote money, you’ll be treated to 75+ rare songs from some of Paste’s most love artists. Songs include advanced tracks from the likes of Patterson Hood, The Jayhawks, and the Cowboy Junkies; live tracks from the Decembrists, Gomez, and Matthew Caws of Nada Surf; B-sides from She & Him, The Cary Brothers, and Bob Mould; acoustic tracks by the Indigo Girls, Of Montreal, and Matt Nathanson;and totally unreleased tracks from Samantha Crain, John Doe, Liam Finn, Robin Hitchcock, and The Watson Twins.

Paste Magazine has been one of the best music mags that I’ve read in a long time. When most music magazines are more concerned by what’s hip…Paste has always been concerned with what’s good. It would be a shame to see this magazine go away. They have honestly turned me onto dozens of bands I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. And every month you get a 20 song sampler CD with some of the mag’s favorite new tracks…and every once inawhile, it includes a rare track or two.

Please donote. It’s worth it for the free tracks.

1. The Decembrists – Echos (Live 13-minute Pink Floyd cover)

2. She & Him – Lotta Love (7″ B-side)

3. Of Montreal – For Our Elegant Caste (Live @ Radio K)

4. The Cary Brothers – Love Song (B-side)

5. Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) – Blizzard of ’77 (Live)

6. Islands – ethics + molars (unreleased)

7. John Doe – The Big Blue House (unreleased)

8. The Watson Twins – Better Go On Home (Unreleased)

9. Liam Finn – Come Home Sam (Unreleased)

10. Over the Rhine – Love Hurts (live)

11. The Morning after Girls – Shadows Evolve (import track)

Now since it would be wrong to post any of the rare tracks…I’ve included a couple of the rare tracks featured on a sampler CD.

A. Death Cab For Cutie – Lightness (live)

B. Bright Eyes – Coat Check Song (live)