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Emusic now has Nick Drake in the form of the recent Tsunami release Family Tree. As an Emusic subscriber and rabid Nick Drake fan my big question was how this new release of early recordings compared with the compilations I already had, the out-of-print Time of No Reply and the bootleg Tanworth-in-Arden. Naturally, the internet comes to the rescue:

Two of the best songs on Family Tree, “Been Smokin’ Too Long” and “Strange Meeting II,” were already included on the now out-of-print official release, Time of No Reply. The latter is presented here in a different and inferior version to the earlier version, but it is still an example of how truly original Nick Drake was as a songwriter. He almost always played his guitar with strange tunings, which makes his material extremely difficult to play or mimic. In addition, he is one of those folk guitarists, like Bert Jansch, whose obscenely agile playing makes the guitar sound like it is one of the easiest instruments to play. Just listen to these two tracks for clarification.

Some of the cover material is particularly strong on this release. Nick was influenced by the likes of folk icons Bert Jansch and Bob Dylan. His recording of the former’s “Strolling Down the Highway” is straightforward, but his playing is dead on and his rendition of Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time” is just about as strong as the original version. There are also a few demo versions of songs that would later make it onto his first and best album, Five Leaves Left. The beautiful “Way to Blue” is featured here in the form of just Nick and a piano, stripped of the lush string arrangement that was recorded for the album version. There is also a rather nice version of “Day is Done” as a working version.

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There are also a few songs missing that were on the Tanworth-in-Arden record. Namely, a cover of Bert Jansch’s “Courting Blues” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” His version of the Gershwin standard, “Summertime,” was also quite strong, but that too has been left off Family Tree. If you are a rabid Nick Drake fan, you will want to get yourself a copy of this release, but it is probably only reserved for fanatics who have to have everything. I actually prefer Tanworth-in-Arden to Family Tree, even though the sound quality is not as good. It has a better running order and does not feel disjointed with the addition of Molly Drake songs. If you are interested in that one though, you will have to dig around on Ebay or some other dealer of rarities to track it down.

There you have it. Of course, there’s not a lot of overlap with No Reply and it might be somewhat difficult to track down the Tanworth recordings, so picking up Family Tree might be pretty worthwhile. My brief preview listen to the tracks available on Emusic indicate the sound quality is WAY better than Tanworth, which was scratchy and poorly mastered.

Via Coudal Partners.

The New York Post has the story:

The former CEO of the leading supplier of body armor to U.S. soldiers in Iraq was charged yesterday with looting the company to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included a $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter.

In addition to the bat mitzvah - which included performances by Aerosmith, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Kenny G and the Eagles - prosecutors said David Brooks got the firm, DHB Industries, to pay for other goodies.

Among them were a face lift for his ex-wife; vitamins for his stable of 100 horses; pricey vacations; fancy jewels; an armored car; a $194,000 Bentley; and a $100,000 diamond-studded belt buckle.

The elaborate scheme exploded yesterday when federal prosecutors unsealed a 21-count indictment accusing Brooks, 53, of securities fraud, insider trading, tax evasion and obstruction of justice. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Sandra Hatfield, 54, the company’s former chief operating officer, was hit with similar charges.

Kenny G AND 50 Cent? I bet that was some green room.

I love this song, but I confess I’ve never noticed the lyrics are actually a variant of the Stagger Lee mythology. That’s kind of embarrassing, because they say the name right there in the song. Reading the lyrics, it’s pretty clear this is the familiar story of Stagger Lee, the man who shot his friend because he was playing keep-away with Stack’s hat.

Along with House of the Rising Sun, Stagger Lee is one of the most famous blues songs ever. It’s been recorded a gazillion times, and featured in countless news stories including one on NPR and this comprehensive story in The Guardian. In the Clash’s version (according to Wikipedia it’s actually a Rulers cover), Stagger is a working class hero, struggling for dignity and respect.

Stagger Lee throwed seven
Billy said that he throwed eight
So Billy said, hey Stagger! I’m gonna make my big attack
I’m gonna have to leave my knife in your back

Why do you try to cheat?
And trample people under your feet
Don’t you know it is wrong?
To cheat the trying man
Don’t you know it is wrong?
To cheat the trying man
So you better stop, it is the wrong ‘em boyo

You lie, steal, cheat and deceit
In such a small, small game
Don’t you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
Don’t you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
You’d better stop, it is the Wrong ‘Em Boyo

Billy Boy has been shot
And Stagger Lee’s come out on top
Don’t you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
Don’t you know it is wrong
To cheat Stagger man
You’d better stop
It is the Wrong ‘Em Boyo

In the more familiar versions by Lloyd Price and Mississippi John Hurt, Stagger Lee is a “bad man.” Here are the lyrics from Hurt’s version:

Billy DeLyon told Stagolee, “Please don’t take my life
I got two little babes and a darling, loving wife”
That bad man, oh cruel Stagolee

“What’d I care about your two little babes and darling, loving wife?
You done stole my Stetson hat, I’m bound to take your life.”
That bad man, oh cruel Stagolee

Boom boom, boom boom,
Went the forty-four.
Well when I spied Billy DeLyon
He’s lyin’ down on the floor.
That bad man, oh cruel Stagolee

Gentlemens of the Jury,
What you think of that?
Stagolee killed Billy DeLyon ’bout a five-dollar Stetson hat. That bad man, oh cruel Stagolee

Standin’ on the gallows, head way up high
At twelve o’clock, they killed him, they’s all glad to see him die
That bad man, oh cruel Stagolee

I’ll leave you with a more unorthodox “bad man” version from R.L. Burnside, which influenced the Samuel L. Jackson performance of the song in Black Snake Moan.

So I tried the new Amazon MP3 store this evening. My impressions:

• Unlike iTunes, which only sells DRM music from selected labels and artists, all music on Amazon is sold without DRM, at prices significantly cheaper than iTunes: 89 cents per track vs. 1.29 for DRM-free tracks iTunes. The lack of DRM is crucial if you want to play your music on a non-iPod player, or if you want to escape the limits on sharing and burning tracks.
• Pricing for albums, however, isn’t as predictable as you might expect. For example, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass is priced at $13.55 for 28 tracks (saving $16.72 versus the per-track price). But on iTunes, the same record (DRM-free!) is only $9.99, despite the higher per-track price of $1.29. But on normal sized records (i.e., non-double albums) Amazon can save you some money. Feist’s The Reminder is only 7.99 ($9.99 on iTunes). Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here is $4.45 ($7.99 on iTunes).
• The 256k MP3 bit rate is respectable. It’s equal to iTunes’s 256k ACC format. But I’d prefer the variable bit rate Emusic uses.
• Downloading music from Amazon is quick and painless. If you already have an account, you can use your existing user and payment info. And at just 607 kb, The Amazon downloader is a refreshingly lean piece of software. Much lighter than Emusic’s bloated new downloader. Once you’ve confirmed your account and payment info, you can download multiple records during the same session without going through that step again.
• Like the new Emusic download manager, the Amazon downloader will automatically add your music to iTunes or Windows Media Player. That doesn’t matter too much to me, since I use the sickeningly superior MediaMonkey player, which automatically finds new downloads.

Overall, I’m kinda impressed. I might use Amazon.com for things I can’t find on Emusic. But I wouldn’t get too carried away. Amazon’s better than iTunes, and there’s more options if you have to have DRM-free sound. But you still pay more than the 25 cents per track Emusic charges you (average price of a subscription). And I’d still like to see more social features from a music downloading site.

Today, Emusic releases their first Daytrotter sampler, a free, 7-track EP of live, in-studio jams from bands like Voxtrot, Of Montreal, Dr. Dog, and the National. If you’ve never heard of Daytrotter, Emusic reviewer J. Edward Keyes describes the site as a “stateside John Peel, capturing warm, inspired sessions from bands without artifice or pretense.” Suffice it to say, this first Emusic EP only scratches the surface of the Daytrotter collection. You’ll want to head over there to get more of their special goodness.

Emusic announcement: daytrotter! at 17 dots

By now you’ve probably read about Radiohead’s novel approach to selling its new record. After Hail to the Thief completed their obligation to Capitol, the band is releasing their new record on their own and giving fans a choice:

1. Pay whatever you want for a digital download of the record or
2. Pay 40₤ ($82) for a deluxe box set that will include both vinyl and CD versions of the disc plus extra tracks, artwork and photographs.

I thought Techdirt did a nice job summing up the appeal and common sense apparent in this approach:

Rather than just offering up the content, they’re also trying to give people a reason to actually buy something else. In this case, it’s a “discbox,” which will include the new album on both CD and vinyl, as well as an additional CD of seven extra songs and photos, artwork and lyrics. The whole thing will be packaged in a nice container. In other words, the band is following in the footsteps of folks like Trent Reznor, in realizing that the music is promotional for other stuff — and you can still sell stuff if you make it worthwhile. In this case, Radiohead isn’t really selling the “music.” After all, you can get that for free. They’re selling the full collection of stuff that comes with the music. Funny how it’s the musicians, and not the record labels, who seem to realize that adding value and getting people to pay for it is a business model that beats suing fans.

I didn’t bother blogging about it yesterday, since it was all over the net, but tonight I thought I’d share my buying process with you.

First, the ability to name your own price is great, but you have to sacrifice the comfort of buying through a trusted intermediary, such as Emusic, iTunes, or Amazon. Radiohead doesn’t make this much easier for you, because the actual transaction isn’t completed on their in rainbows site. Instead, you enter your financial information into secure.xurbiaendless.com. This site also appears to be a Radiohead site (see this official poster), but you still have to guess a bit. And adding the word “secure” to it doesn’t make it any more reassuring. For their part, Radiohead addresses security in a FAQ:

Is ordering from you on the Internet safe and secure?
Generally it is just as safe to order online as it is to pay using your credit or debit card in a shop. This site uses a Thawte Security Certificate, which guarantees that we are who we say we are.

My only other quibble was with the payment site’s CAPTCHA security measure, which didn’t work at all in Firefox. I had to use IE. It’s true that Radiohead have never made usability or obviousness a hallmark of their Web design, but it’s weird that a band so concerned with the effects of mass-market technology and groupthink would force me to use Microsoft.

Anyhow, once I used the evil browser, I was able to purchase my download for a measly 2₤ (about $5). And the Verified by Visa security (which normally annoys me) made me feel a bit better about the security.

So, how much would you pay?

17 dots is the (un)official Emusic.com employee blog. Over the past year, the blog’s readership seems to have grown a ton. Nowadays, a mention on 17dots can mean a ton of downloads (and $$$) for the lucky band that impresses its writers.

Today, Yancey Strickler writes:

In five years, the Octopus Project have gone from an Austin oddball instrumental trio to A Band With Buzz. The buzz was built on the back of their live show — which, damnit, I still have yet to see — and they’ve regularly become That Opening Band people end up liking more than the headliner, the festival-stealer, the one to watch. When their excellent first album, Identification Parade, dropped in 2002, such a growth seemed nigh on impossible, but the new one, Hello, Avalanche (10/9), makes continued success seems assured.

Octopus Project play rock-fused electronic music that’s somewhere between Tortoise, Trans Am, Midwest Product, Giorgio Moroder, Colleen and maybe even Eric Johnson. They like keyboards, Theremins and organs, and heavy 4/4 beats that don’t quite swing enough to warrant hip-hop or big beat sampling, but are close. Honestly, it can border on being clinical at times — pristine is their bag — so it will never be your favorite record and they’ll never be your favorite band, but it sounds good, and they don’t demand much more than that.

I really hope the this next record continues the onward and upward arc for my pals in the OP. I have got to get my hands on it.

hype: octopus project at 17 dots

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