eBay and the future of music

Online auction site eBay is the epitome of free market economics. A transparent public space where traders buy and sell and the market decides the price. Of course, anyone that “owns” a free market just can’t resist tampering with it and eBay has committed the all-too-obvious sin of imposing Paypal (which it owns) as the preferred payment system for Australian traders. Fuck them for their arrogance.

The market forces that drive eBay have also driven down the price of recorded music. That’s a good thing on the surface for buyers, but not so hot if you think rock and roll shouldn’t just be a commodity. Food for thought about that and a few other issues in the London Review here.

Shock rock invokes only mock shock

The Pistols are on the cover of Mojo magazine this month and that's the cue for this thoughtful Guardian article on why rock and roll no longer shocks.

Davis, Kramer & Thompson kick 'em out again

You'd never know from the website but DKT/MC5 is back on the road in the UK, with some US dates rumoured. If you can't wait, you can grab a 2004 show here.

The World's Most Hated Band calls it a day

Toto, of course.

I don't care and I'm sure you don't, but if you know someone who does make them cry by sending them here. It's all too fucking Spinal Tap for me.

Is that a Buzzock in your pocket or you just happy to see me?

Nice interview with The Buzzocks' Pete Shelley here that indicates they'll be back in Australia soonish. Just burn your Genesis records before they land.

The Stems meet The Clash (sort of)

Informed word at the Dom Mariani newsgroup is that the Stems guy is planning to re-start DM3 and take them to the USA. More immediately, however, he's playing with ex-Cortinas/last gasp Clash member Nick Sheppard in a band called DomNick. Sheppard re-located to Perth a few years ago and the project is heading to the studio.

Stooges Got a Right

Interesting news. The re-born Stooges have taken it upon themselves to play songs from their Raw Power era. Informed comment from reliable sources was that those songs were verboten, on account of the Asheton brothers (Ron, to be precise) having been excluded from the songwriting process in 1972 when James Williamson was sole guitarist.

So, peruse this set list from a recent gig (7 June) in Belgium:

01. Loose
02. 1969
03. I Wanna Be Your Dog
04. TV Eye
05. Dirt
06. Real Cool Time
07. No Fun
08. Band Intros
09. 1970
10. Funhouse
11. Skull Ring
12. My Idea Of Fun
13. Search And Destroy
14. I Got a Right
15. Little Electric Chair

And only one song from the missed opportunity that was the "comeback" album "The Weirdness". Now THAT is no surprise around these parts.

Bastard of a beer

Click to read the fine print.

Soggy

There's a ripple of retrospective excitement in various places like the Goner Records message board about this long-lost French band Soggy and their vinyl LP. They existed from 1978-82 and were Stooges-obsessed, for sure. Here's a clip on YouTube to show just how obsessed. Judge for yourself.

Buy it here.

Vale Bo Diddley

Look at the picture, save 1000 words

I’m Not There

Saw this much-lauded Dylan study on DVD at the weekend. It must be the first biopic of any note not to use the subject's name but still clearly identify him.

Director Todd Haynes (of "Velvet Goldmine" Bowie hearts Iggy infamy) explores a different facet of Dylan's character through different actors, at one stage casting the young Bob as a 10-year-old African-American freight train hobo. This one was probably a metaphor for some of the stories the songwriter used to tell about his background when he was starting out.

Haynes' interspersing of these vignettes throughout each other makes for a confusing ride. If I was blunt I'd say the movie's all over the place like a mad woman's shit but I'm not so I won't. And the Richard Gere one that pits "Dylan" into a "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid" theme park where giraffes and ostriches run wild is a waste of celluloid or whatever they shoot this shit on.

Why Haynes has to project his own gay proclivities into Dylan and/or his fans (like, if you're a bloke have you ever checked out His Bobness' wedding tackle when you've seen him watering the horses?) is beyond me.

Australia's Own Cate B. played strong, done fine as Bobby D circa 1965 but Haynes left her fingernails and wedding ring in place (probably deliberately.) Strange to see Dylan Just Like a Woman but this was obviously playing up his female side.

I know it's arty so it was never meant to be a straight-up rendering of the story but I paid my $6.50 to hire it so I'm entitled to evaluate it as pretentious. Two stars out of five.