bohemiana's Last.fm Journal

Massive Attack are back. Again

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:25:14 +0000

Thu 17 Sept, 2009
Fri 18 Sept, 2009

I think I preferred the show on the 17th to the one on the 18th, though this may be because of Damon Albarn's performance, and for that alone. The shows themeselves were pretty even. I preferred Teardrop on the first night, and Karmacoma on the second

First of all, a confession: I know nothing of Martina Topley-Bird except that in which she is credited - wrongly - as "Martine"; so this was a nice introduction to her stuff. I enjoyed her performance. She is engaging to watch, and Black Steel being performed with Shlomo was a definite highlight, as was watching her amazingly talented percussionist, Fergus.

Second of all, a minor negative remark: After the awesomeness of Bulletproof Love, I thought Heartcliff Star was a bit of - not a poor opener - but maybe not engaging? But hey people with way more knowledge of these things thought it was a good choice, so I'll just shut up. It's tainted my view of the track maybe. But I'm excited to hear it on the record, as I think I'll probably really like it.

Third, some controversy: I liked the new Teardrop mix. I also liked Martina singing it. I preferred the performance on night one, but I did genuinely enjoy it - including the backing video.

Fourth, a stark truth: As fans, we want Massive Attack to keep producing new material. The more new material they produce, the less and less of Mezzanine will be aired live. This means everyone's gonna have to get used to the fact that the Mezzanine-heavy shows of yore are probably over. Deal.

16 Seater is an awesome track, as is Dobro, and I am glad both have survived; especially as my current thinking has 16 Seater as my favourite Horace Andy collaboration. Martina's voice lends itself rather well to Dobro, and it's set me to wondering if she's there as a "live vocalist" or if she is now the recording vocalist for the track on LP5.
The new Marrakesh is a poor cousin of the one played at the Meltdown shows, and needs to morph back, now please - that's my only sore point of the whole night, both nights. Probably because of how truly I love that particular track. It was probably my highlight of the Meltdown shows - from the opening bars, it became a firm favourite of mine.
Psyche was enjoyable, but I definitely prefer the mix on the EP. The sheer urgency of the track is missing in the live mix, though it's still beautiful. And here's another small controversy: I like Splitting the Atom. I liked it from my first couple of back-to-back listens and I like it even more live.

Horace was on top bloody form both nights, all night. Angel was a total success and Angelo was on fucking fire. Seriously, it's hard to say which one that song belongs to. It's a marriage.
Martina, as a guest vocalist, I couldn't be happier with. She has a superb vocal range...and vocal style. I not only really enjoyed listening to her, but actually watching her perform, as well. I'm so glad she has (however temporarily) moved into the MA camp.
Deborah did a fantastic job, as you'd expect, but Safe From Harm kicked Unfinished Sympathy right off the stage, for me. God, it is so good live. They all did an awesome job on it - including (and I'm not being facetious) D's dancing during the climactic instrumental finale. Unbelievable.

Inertia Creeps was probably the second biggest crowd-pleaser of the night (after Angel), and it's normally my Mezzanine highlight, though Risingson totally took it for me on these shows.

Damon Albarn's guest appearance was brilliant. I loved his interjection during Splitting the Atom, and really enjoyed Saturday comes Slow. It's a great new track and one I hope is on LP5 when it emerges.

D, both nights, was tight. He looked to be having a good time and was being incredibly expressive to all he was sharing a stage with. It felt good just watching him and how he was receiving his fellows. That kinda interaction is infectious and it feels amazing just to see it in action. G seemed comfortable and was on form, again being quite a part of the whole. The vocals of both were there and totally what you'd hope for.

Karmacoma was saved by the comedy pause, which has been getting longer and longer these past years. Watch-check indeed. There alone is the evidence that they are both, together.

Verdict in First RIAA File-Sharing Jury Trial: Guilty

Fri, 5 Oct 2007 16:26:45 +0000

Jammie Thomas, 32, from Minnesota, was the first person accused of illegal file-sharing who decided to go to court and fight the case. About 26,000 lawsuits have been filed against alleged file-sharers, but most defendants settle privately; paying damages amounting to a few thousand dollars. Contesting the charge and losing will now cost Jammie Thomas almost a quarter of a million dollars.

The jury ordered Jammie to pay $222,000 for offering to share 24 specific songs from six different record companies online - a cost of $9,250 per song

I am curious as to the specific "24 songs" and how the hell her sharing them equated to nearly 10 grand a piece. I guess she's lucky they didn't do her for the alleged total of 1,702 songs.

Who on God's earth was sitting on that jury? Each year, millions of households illegally share music files, so either no one on that jury has ever downloaded "illegally", nor have their kids, or that jury was full of hypocrites.

John Kennedy, chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries, which represents record labels, said they were "reluctant litigators". Are they hell. Record labels and those who represent them have got to be some of the MOST litigious people alive. How is legal action against nearly 30,000 people in 4 years, "not litigious"? And that's only on one front; that's not counting the thousands upon thousands of other legal suits they file.

A spokesman for the record companies said he hoped people would understand the verdict. I understand that she was "guilty" of sharing files. I don't understand the money put on it, and I sure as hell DO NOT understand the jury. She's a single mother, living pay-check to pay-check and the Jury were instructed that for every song she was found on, they could award damages as low as $750. Instead they awarded $9,250. What did the prosecution do - equate file sharing with baby-eating?

BBC article
Tim Worstall articlel
DMW Media news

I think that bands like Radiohead and Underworld, (and many others, beside) have the right idea, by offering their music online, cutting out record companies and giving fans a fair price. Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, also came out again recently and blasted the record companies, their pricing and their tactics, interrupting a gig so he could vent
A transcript can be found here

This was not how I wanted the test case to turn out. Now all I need is for the banks to win their test case against the claimants of unfair bank charges, and I'll be sure everyone has taken complete leave of their senses.

The Contino Sessions

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 22:48:37 +0000

I thought I'd be a good girl today, so when taking a break from work earlier, I decided I would start to sort through my books, earmarking those which I should give to the big Oxfam second-hand bookstore in town. While going through them, I found a CD I had not seen in a long while: The 1999 The Contino Sessions.

I was introduced to this album in 2004 by my then boyfriend. I'd not really ever heard anything like it before - It seemed to borrow from and meld a plethora of different musical styles, at some points working perfectly, and at others, slightly awkwardly as it sat astride rock n roll, blues, jazz, and dance elements.

This album also introduced me to the "Chemical Sister", Dot Allison, of One Dove fame, (and who has worked with/toured with Massive Attack), as she provides guest vocals on the opening track. That track, Dirge, has always haunted me since, and is entirely responsible for me investigating Dot's other music. Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain) and The London Community Gospel Choir also lend their vocals to certain tracks, but they are all completely outdone, and even outshone by Iggy Pop, who makes a masterful appearance on Aisha. It's a great track and one I will never get tired of.

Many late nights were spent just getting lost in the lazy beats offered throughout this album. It's a completely hypnotic experience. It brought back quite a few nice memories this evening as I listened to it. If you're out there anywhere, Alex, Cheers!