by David Burn | Feb 14, 2008 | Music
Cortney Harding of Billboard writes in the Feb. 9 print issue about digital-only EPs becoming something of a trend as labels seek answers to the album sales riddle.
Last week Lil Wayne’s “The Leak,” Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black B-Sides” and Taylor Swift’s “Live form Soho” all appeared in the top 10 of the Top Digital Albums chart.
Cameo Carlson of Universal says, “We all know the album model has changed, but there is still fear about the single-track model. These digital-only EPs are a middle-ground and really a win for everybody.”
Given many EPs cost under five bucks, I’m extremely open to sampling new-to-me artists via this format. In fact, I’ve been collecting EPs ever since giving my credit card information to Apple. Just today, I picked up two more, “The Battle” by Caitlin Cary and “Live at Sirius Studios” by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.
In the case of Potter, I liked what I heard so much, I went back to purchase the band’s 2007 release, “This is Somehwere.”
by David Burn | Feb 12, 2008 | Music
Sub Pop recroding artist, The Helio Sequence, is out with a new album.
Here’s how the label describes Brandon Summers’ and Benjamin Weikel’s new effort:
Keep Your Eyes Ahead marries the Portland duo’s signature layered keyboards and impossibly big guitars with crisp songwriting and a newfound appreciation for minimalism. The finger picking on “Shed Your Love” is backed by exquisite strings and ambient noise, but Brandon’s serene, self-assured delivery remains front and center. While songs from the band’ early releases spanned up to 7 minutes, even the longest, lushest, catchiest track on Keep Your Eyes Ahead (fiery anthem “Hallelujah”) clocks in at 4 and a half minutes, evidence of just how refined their craft has become.
David Sessions at Patrol says, “for most of Keep Your Eyes Ahead, the duo sticks to its lofty roots, resulting in an impressive, if not groundbreaking, chin-out dare to bands like the Explosions in the Sky and Band of Horses to stack the sound any higher.”
Sessions adds, “The fantastic title track marries jumping bass with a steady-four dance ryhymn, much like the pseudo-disco modus operandi of the latest VHS or Beta record.”
TITLE TRACK: “Lately”
by David Burn | Feb 9, 2008 | Food & Beverage, Lowcountry, Place
Port Royal is a charming community tucked into the marsh between Paris Island and Beaufort. It has an historic downtown like Beaufort, Bluffton and Savannah. Hilton Head doesn’t offer this, and it’s a flaw in their carefully-crafted design, in my opinion.
See more Port Royal on Flickr
One of our favorite restaurants in the area, Bateaux, recently relocated to historic Port Royal from Lady’s Island. Today, we ventured over to try Old Towne Coffehaus and McPhearson’s Serious BBQ, both of which were excellent.
We walked around a bit and saw lots of For Sale signs on homes and business properties. We also saw a new development going in, and evidence of others. Port Royal, like Bluffton, is being discovered. Marshfront living is alluring, there’s no doubt about that.
Before heading back to this side of the Broad we motored up to Boundary Street to find Higher Ground in its new location. Of course, my shoe radar went off and it brought me in direct contact with a pair of Keen’s in my size at 50% off retail. Who can resist a bargain?
Interestingly, there’s a new microbrewery in town in the next retail bay over from Higher Ground. Brewer’s Brewing Co. is a 7 bbl, 90 seat brewpub and claims to be a green operator. I ordered a Brickyard IPA and was impressed with the intense hop profile. Brewer’s says it’s one “for all you hop heads out there” and it is.
p.s. While drinking iced espresso at the Coffeehaus, I picked up the front page of today’s Charleston Post & Courier and smiled when I saw my friend Phil Sellers there. The paper is interested in his CityTrex startup, as well they should be.
by David Burn | Feb 8, 2008 | Place, Politics
This map shows that the population of New York City is equal to the population of four western states and Maine.
[via very small array]
[UPDATE] I also like these maps of Manhattan neighborhoods.
by David Burn | Feb 6, 2008 | Politics
With both candidates claiming victory, I had to click through several sources today to get a sense for last night’s winner on the Democrat side. Finally, I found this MSNBC report which says, “it looks like Obama, by the narrowest of margins, won last night’s delegate hunt. By our estimates, he picked up 840 to 849 delegates versus 829-838 for Clinton; the Obama camp projects winning by nine delegates (845-836). He also won more states (13 to Clinton’s eight; New Mexico is still outstanding), although she won the most populous ones (California and New York).”
Yet, Clinton maintains a slight delegate lead going in to the next round of primaries.
2025 delegates are needed to be nominated.
[UPDATE] The troubling thing about the race being this close is the fact that Democratic Party super-delegates will likely decide the nominee. Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation says the Democratic Party uses an antiquated and anti-democratic nominating system that includes 842 “super-delegates†– un-pledged party leaders not chosen by the voters, free to support the candidate of their choice, and who comprise more than forty percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination.
In a clear attempt to protect the party establishment, this undemocratic infrastructure was created following George McGovern’s landslide defeat in 1972. It was designed to prevent a nominee who was “out of sync with the rest of the party,†Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer told MSNBC.
by David Burn | Feb 5, 2008 | Music
Grateful Dead have fallen under Obama’s spell.
The famously apolitical band played a get out the vote concert in support of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama last night at The Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.
Mickey, Phil, Billy and Bobby were joined on stage by Jackie Greene, John Molo, and Steve Molitz in The Dead’s first show together since 2004. According to Reuters:
The concert started with a short video from Obama, filmed on an airplane, thanking the band. A thick cloud of marijuana smoke wafted through the air then and throughout the concert, and some fans engaged in free-style dance as though magically transported from 1968.
“Every few generations a guy like this comes along,” drummer Mickey Hart told a news conference a day before California’s primary, in which Obama, a senator from Illinois, faces New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. “It seems like desperate times and we’re desperate people.”
by David Burn | Jan 31, 2008 | Music
Idiosyncratic indie rockers, Les Savy Fav (pronounced lay-SAH-vee-FAHV), came our with a new album last fall, their first in six years. I don’t know that they’ll be cashing in on it, but it’s an interesting tease.
According to Wikipedia, the band is known for angular, abrasive guitar and bass melodies, complemented by singer Tim Harrington’s educated, poetic lyrics sung or shouted over the instruments. Harrington’s lyrics make broad-ranging references to such disparate topics as Stockholm syndrome, the architects of Carthage, and even palimpsests.
Members of the group met at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), which may explain the wit and intelligence in their music and their marketing.
Track 05 from Let’s Stay Friends: “What Would Wolves Do?
by David Burn | Jan 27, 2008 | Lowcountry, Media, Politics
Fall Saturdays in South Carolina are known for big hits and rough play. But not in January. January is more genteel. Except for yesterday. Yesterday, as the votes were counted in the Presidential primary, all the sporting analogies came out.
John O’Connor at The State got in on the action with a racing allusion.
Barack Obama left the Democratic field in his red clay dust Saturday, easily winning South Carolina’s first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary.
Second place finisher, Hillary Clinton jetted off to Nashville, wanting to put South Carolina behind her, quick like. Despite his third place finish in the state he won four years ago, John Edwards pledged to continue to fight for those with no health insurance, the poor and those worried about their jobs.
“Your voice will be heard in America and it will be heard in this campaign,†Edwards said.
Obama supporters, such as former Gov. Jim Hodges, said the margin of victory bodes well for later states. Obama’s win, he said, cannot be written off as Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 S.C. caucus victories were. Sadly, for Bill Clinton, he did suggest just that yesterday afternoon, mid-route.
“It was a first round knockout,†Hodges said. “(Jackson) didn’t win like this. Nobody’s won like this.â€
BONUS CLICK: Obama’s victory speech from Columbia, SC.
by David Burn | Jan 25, 2008 | Politics
Tomorrow is the South Carolina Democrat primary. I have the opportunity, along with many other citizens, to vote for the Palmetto State’s native son, John Edwards. His daddy worked in the mill. You might have heard.
It certainly does not appear that he’ll be elected President, but Edwards would make a great VP or Attorney General, in my opinion. So, a vote for Edwards tomorrow is a vote to keep him in the race, where he can win delegates and wield some bargaining power as the field heads to the nominating convention.
I like Obama too, but I don’t buy that he’s a real change agent. I see him as more of a player, a careerist, willing to say and do what needs to be done to get ahead. In other words, he’s like the Clintons.
Of course, I’d prefer to cast my ballot for Cleveland’s radical dreamer, Dennis Kucinich, but sadly he withdrew from the race the other day.
by David Burn | Jan 22, 2008 | Literature
