While Uncle Joe is best known as one of America's top Classic Rock historians, throughout his 39-year career he's always been acutely aware of current trends in the music industry. Indeed, Classic Rock itself was the finest new music of its day, composed and performed by artists at their creative peak. For a scholarly insight into today's trends, J.B. presents Rave's Raves.
Rave's Raves are composed by Bruce Ravid, a veteran of Capitol Record's A&R Department and in no way reflect the official viewpoint of Uncle Joe, his staff or management. They are written from Rave's industry viewpoint, originally for friends within the music business, but now shared with the world. New editions appear in April/May, August/September, and December with occasional updates in between. Enjoy!
July 2008
***RAVE'S RAVES #32.1***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air since early May)
Elbow, The Fratellis, Cut Copy, Scars on Broadway, Katy Perry, Black Kids, Pigeon Detectives, Young Knives.
Elbow's last album "Leaders Of the Free World" got the strongest reaction during my two-plus years of Go Deep broadcasts. This effort is just about as good. See the live review below. The Fratellis sophomore disc is also highly worthy. It is a bit less fun and spontaneous, but shows musical growth and contains several strong songs. Cut Copy still haven't captured their live energy in the studio, but there are a number of stellar tracks. Scars on Broadway have an appealing, harder mainstream alternative/active rock song, while Black Kids, Pigeon Detectives, and Young Knives are energetic U.K. bands gaining some stateside exposure.
LIVE
What new can be said about Iron Maiden? They continue to do everything with consistency, quality and integrity. The current tour's set is mostly from their 1985 show. In L.A. alone, three concerts this year have drawn 42,000 including two sold-out shows at the Verizon Amphitheater. Several of their European gigs have drawn that many in one night. Their DVD's are high quality, and their merch lines continue to be longer than the beer lines. Elbow sold out the Avalon and delivered another winner. Singer Guy Garvey will never be confused with Bono, but he's fully in control up there. The sound of this show was as clean as I've heard in a long time. Ladytron played a solid show at the Henry Fonda but Datarock's set didn't work as well as it did at Coachella. Datarock effectively move between genres on their album but the songs tend to have the same approach live. Rock Steady Freddy's vocals were too loud, which didn't help as it seemed he couldn't hear his monitors. Beirut brought an 8-piece mini-orchestra to the enthusiastic Wiltern crowd. Leader Zach Condon is a real talent and this was a fine show, although a little lower-key than I would have liked. The Brunettes from New Zealand also played. They're fun but can use some seasoning. The Sweet have been put back together by bass player Steve Priest. Their third show was at the Canyon Club, and indications are that their summer shows will go quite well. The set is loaded with their iconic tunes, and games like Guitar Hero support the timing of their return.
...and...
As Chrysler announces that 2009 cars will feature an onboard broadband option, the long-term prospects for internet radio look better and better. I don't know many radio people who are extolling the virtues of HD, even though they'll be better off if it takes hold. The advice I'm hearing is that people shouldn't be paying hundreds of dollars for HD in the new cars... I'll be back to you in late August. Please check out Go Deep playlists and the shows themselves. Let me hear from you in the meantime. I answer all e-mails so please make sure you put "raves" in the subject line. Have a good couple of months, and always remember to...
RAVE ON!!!
May 2008
***RAVE'S RAVES #32***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air in the U.S.)
Skybombers (various), Nine Inch Nails, Hot Chip (various), Flogging Molly, Switches, Vampire Weekend (various), MGMT (various), Death Cab, Ting Tings (various), Black Keys, Coconut Records, Last Shadow Puppets (various).
Rave's Faves are always singles unless otherwise noted. I've mentioned Skybombers before and their full-length is finally dropping in May. They play an intense, punk-influenced brand of rock with melody, and airplay is beginning to spread. They're a top live band as well. See their Musexpo mention below. There is nothing shocking in the NIN track, but it's right in their sweet spot. Coconut Records is actually Jason Schwartzman. The Last Shadow Puppets are the collaboration between the Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane. They're heavy on strings and romantic lyrics, but what I've heard so far tells me they actually pulled this off in a very cool way.
COACHELLA
Prince reportedly received $4.8M for his Coachella appearance. I don't know if he was worth that much, but there's no doubt he gave the crowd their money's worth. Morris Day and band percussionist Shiela E. sang their Eighties hits, Prince attacked many of his own, and the band found plenty of time to jam as well. He was amped from the very beginning and had no problem exceeding curfew. The true festival highlight for many of us was Kraftwerk. The electronic godfathers were nothing short of phenomenal with a precise set, perfect sound, and brilliant videos covering their greatest hits. Their shows have actually become warm over the decades. While Prince was a must-see who came through, the Kraftwerk crowd had the sense they were witnessing something truly special. Love and Rockets have resurrected themselves in mid-season form. The Verve set was a success with Richard Ashcroft in fine voice. Two favorite first-night moments came from individual song performances, with The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" before a huge, cheering crowd under the clear desert skies; and also The Swell Seasons' Glenn and Marketa singing their beautiful "Falling Slowly" from their film "Once". Portishead are back together and seemed to please their fans, although they're not my cup of tea.
No bands had a career-defining moment as we normally see once or twice at Coachella. Hot Chip drew a huge, dancing crowd this time around. It's been fun watching them grow over the past year, when their 2007 Coachella set basically put them on the U.S. map. The current Flogging Molly album has elevated them beyond St. Patrick's Day cult status to a band that actually gets played on the radio. Their recent Leno appearance didn't come close to matching their live energy. Crowd response would have been amazing, even if people hadn't been in the hot sun all day. They came as close as anyone to having a breakout moment. A surprise was the Greek gypsy-punk Gogol Bordello, whose late Sunday afternoon main stage set was a festival highlight. Zero 7's Sia proved her mettle as a solo performer with a surprisingly upbeat performance. Sia also did a great job of engaging the crowd.
Of other bands I hadn't seen before, Datarock were tops with a high-energy set that was almost aerobic, and they had the tent following their moves. Buzz group Does It Offend You, Yeah? were quite good. Architecture in Helsinki were joyously animated in their own way, and did pretty well with their outdoor crowd at the second stage. Battles are very intense with their prog rock. The Goldfrapp set may have been tops of the first day for people who like her new direction, although she fortunately did throw in some of her top dance tunes from prior albums. I caught a few Islands songs and want to get more into this group. Calvin Harris was fun, engaging and competent. VHS or Beta and the Cold War Kids both showed they can handle a main festival stage and I enjoyed Carbon Silicon (Mick Jones of The Clash and Tony James of Generation X). Fans of The Raconteurs, Swell Season, Vampire Weekend, Stars and Cut Copy were all happy. In the case of Vampire and CC, they don't yet have the command to effectively reach people further away from the stage so get up close if you'll be seeing them this summer. MGMT were highly-anticipated by a huge throng, but they didn't quite seize the opportunity with their softer down-tempo style. Turning up the volume and reworking the set list would help. The guys were able to hold the crowd and they are good live, but this could have been truly special. Kate Nash has an album that is quite intense and musical, but it lacks something when played live. Pendulum were strong in the drum and bass genre. Stephen Malkmus also seemed to do well, although I didn't see much of his set.
OTHER "NORMAL" SHOWS IN L.A.
Switches invaded L.A.'s Roxy for their CD release party on their drop date of March 18th. As noted in my SXSW review, these guys are a compelling live band that should do quite well once radio catches up with the press these guys are receiving. Vampire Weekend played two nights later, at L.A.'s sold-out El Rey. The idea of Vampire's 'feeding' off of their own crowd, worked big-time for the boys, as they were greatly improved over their SNL and Letterman appearances, as well as their SXSW gig that I saw. Backlash or no backlash, I'm now convinced that these guys will be fine. Metal band Black Tide stormed the sold-out Key Club in West Hollywood with their Eighties'-influenced sound that sounds completely fresh in 2008. Austin's Ghostland Observatory were a huge disappointment for me. They had so much live promise two years ago and they certainly drew far more people to the Henry Fonda this time around; but they have veered away somewhat from upbeat indie dance, and much of their show was a darkened drone.
'80s COLLEAGUES
During any given year, Iron Maiden leads the unofficial t-shirt derby at SXSW. We all know that if someone wears a band shirt in Austin during that week, they're sending a message on how they wish to be perceived. Thomas Dolby is releasing a fine live CD/DVD called "The Sole Inhabitant." All the songs are from his past and I'm excited to hear his new music, which hopefully is coming soon. Duran Duran, The Knack and The Motels are all out touring in addition to Maiden's extensive North American journey. I've not been in touch with Kraftwerk since I worked with them. They aren't the kind of guys who hang around label people much, and I understand they're only seen when one of them rides his bike to the offices to deliver an album. I have a late-Seventies collector's item t-shirt that reads "Kraftwerk have taken the perspiration out of drumming."
...and...
The Musexpo conference was another success, with 750 artists, managers, and label types from all over the world. Showcase highlights for me included Skybombers (Australia), Scissors For Lefty (San Francisco), Miss Li (Sweden), Grand Avenue (Denmark), Justin Hawkins (Sweden) and Big Linda (U.K.). A long-time biz icon was on hand and told Skybombers management he hasn't been this excited about a new band in 30 years! Congrats to A&R Worldwide heads Sat Bisla and Bob Bisla for putting on another fine event... My Go Deep webcast has passed the two year mark and my next WSUM "Rave-athon" will be Thursday, May 22nd from 1pm - 8pm Central time. Various station D.J.'s will play guest sets, and a couple of bands just might call in as well... That'll do it until the next Rave's Raves in late June. Let me hear from you, and please put "Raves" in the subject line so I know who it's from. Until then...