Author: bella.king

The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist

1. Burning Down the House -Talking Heads

2. Jaigantic – Tora

3. Get Around It – One Night Only

4. Pot, Kettle, Black – Panda Su

5. World Spins Madly On – The Weepies

6. Maybe Later – Miracle Fortress

7. Pretty Boy – Young Galaxy

8. Toska – Broken Records

9. Drag – Day Wave

10. Waves – Gosh Pith

11. Danish Longball – Wyldest

12. Landed on Mars – Atlas Bound

13. Surface – Shallou

14. Inside Your Mind – Nick Leng

15. Fox Tales – Koloto

16. Tools – Yellerkin

17. Tuolumne – Incan Abraham

18. Desperation – Body Parts

19. Fever – Night Panther

20. Souvenir – Swimm

Buzz Osborne says Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck is “90% bullshit”

Frontman of the Melvins, Buzz Osborne, is giving shade to Brett Morgen’s recent documentary, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, and declared that 90% of the film is “total bullshit.”

In his recent op-ed for The Talkhouse, the frontman questioned the facts behind the film, and claimed that most of what was said from Courtney Love was not completely consistent with what Cobain has told him personally. Osborne was a mentor and friend of Cobain’s during his early years and the pair attended high school together as well.

Including the issues that Love’s story had, Osborne also argued against other stories that were put in the film as facts. He claims that Cobain did not have any issues with his stomach saying, “[Cobain] made it up for sympathy and so he could use it as an excuse” in order to use heroin.

He also contested a story about how Cobain tried to sleep with a mentally handicapped female fellow student in high school. “I know the whole ‘I tried to fuck a fat retard’ story is complete bullshit. Not even an inkling of truth. That’s too good a story to have gone this long without me hearing about it, especially if, as he suggests, the girl’s father freaked out about it at the high school,” said Osborne, also adding, “In that small-town shit-hole, exciting news of that nature would have been common knowledge before the sun set. It never happened.”

Osborne added: “[Cobain] was a master of jerking your chain.”

Read the entire op-ed at Talkhouse and watch the Montage of Heck below.

Paul Westerberg says the Replacements just played their final show

During The Replacements’ performance at Primavera Sound today, Paul Westerberg announced that this would be he final time band would play together. After saying that the band stayed at the hotel instead of going for sound check, it has also said “lazy bastards to the end” and smashed his guitar.
During the band’s reunion tour over the pat two months, Weaterberg has worn a t-shirt every night with spray-painted letters on the front and back, spelling out two sentences on both sides. Fans who have been following the tour have pieced together the sentences on the Facebook page, Paul’s Shirt, and according to it, the message says: “I have always loved you. Now I must whore my past.”
Billboard reported last month that the reunited band has made seven or eight songs over the course of two recording sessions. “It’s just a question of what the band wants to ultimately do with them,” Darren Hill, the band’s co-manager said. 

In a more recent article from Billboard, a source is cited that their reunion could be short-lived and the band announced that they were canceling two make-up shows that were planned for next month. 

Stephen Colbert chooses Jon Batiste as Late Show band leader

As the first promo video gets out of the way, Stephen Colbert has checked off a second item off of his checklist. The host of CBS’s Late Show has chosen Jonathan Batiste as the new bandleader.

As a native to Louisiana and a graduate of Julliard, Batiste is a big name in the world of jazz and blues music. He is a prolific solo artist on his own terms but he has also worked with artists such as Prince, Wynton Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, and Dr. John over the years. He has an immensely charismatic personality, which can be seen on-stage with his rowdy live performances and off-stage in his acting such as his roles on HBO’s Treme and Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer.

Colbert has also shared a new promo video introducing Batiste which can be seen here.

Colbert said in a statement: “His music makes the audience feel so good, we may have to install a ‘Do Not Make Love’ sign.”

Late Show with Stephen Colbert will premiere on September 8th.

Soundcloud may introduce paid subscription plans for users soon

There have been signs that are pointing to SoundCloud that it will eventually become a pay service for a while. Major labels and copyright owners have been taking down music from all over the website. Without any reliable stream of audio, fans will stop clicking. To ensure the flow will continue, SoundCloud would have to meet labels’ interests, and then begin to monetize their services. Ads have already been a part of the music-hosting website’s model, and now a leaked contract between SoundCloud and the National Music Publishers’ Association has showed more details on the subscription packages.

The contract, which consists of 19 pages and can be seen below, and is the takeaway that SoundCloud is working on a three-tier system. At the bottom is the free, ad-based service that will allow users to have limited access to the catalog on the sight. Next would an “Additional Services” level, which would remove ads and add more of the catalog, but not all of it. In order to have full access to SoundCloud’s audio, you would need to get the “Full Catalog Subscription Service”.

For how this will mean in terms of money for the labels, TechCrunch says that the companies will be owed 10.5% of all revenue from subscriptions and ads, or almost 22% of what would be earned through any recording rights that are owned by SoundCloud, whichever will be higher. There is a clause that states that the labels could take $0.18 from each Additional Services user and/or $.80 from Full Catalog Subscription Service subscriber if that would get the labels more than the  10.5% or 22% payouts.

“Most Favored Nation” clause as well that would make sure hat independent labels get equal compensation to deal cuts with larger labels after market shares are accounted for. SoundCloud also has offered an advance of  $350,000 to every independent label and publisher.

The contract is currently unsigned, so it is unknown if this is the actual deal NMPA agreed to last month. It is obvious that if listeners want to continue using SoundCloud’s full potential, they will have to start paying up the money.

Jack White’s Third Man Records expands to Detroit

Over the last five years, Jack White and his record label, Third Man Records have been based in Nashville. Now, however, White will go back home in Detroit with plans to expand the label’s operations in the city’s Cass Corridor.

Partnering with Tom Kartsotis, the founder of Shinola, a Detroit-based company that specializes in  watches, bicycles, shoe polish, and various other leather goods, White has purchased the building that is currently home to the Shinola Flagship store at 441 W. Canfield.

The building will serve as office and retail space for Third Man, and is set to open in time for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on November 27th. The label promises “many special surprises in store.”

Cass Corridor is where The White Stripes’ played its very first show, in the place of White’s high school, and a part of the city that White refers to as “always been the most inspiring area of Detroit for me as an artist and as a Detroiter.”

Also in the statement, he added He adds, “From the great visual artists like Gordon Newton to the music of the Gories, and the birth of the Detroit garage rock scene, the Corridor has nurtured Detroit’s soul and inventiveness for decades. That spirit pushes forward with Shinola’s passion and will come full circle for the artists of the Corridor that work with Third Man Records to plant a new foundation there to help keep that creative spirit alive for decades to come.”

Richard Linklater to release “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused

20 years before winning awards fo Boyhood, director Richard Linklater became known for his cult stoner classic, Dazed and Confused. After years of rumors about a “spiritual sequel” to the original film, it has finally come alive.

Test screenings for the film, which is now named Everybody Wants Some, not That’s What I’m Talking About as previously announced, are currently going on according to The Film Stage. The soundtrack will apparently have a big role in the film, besides from taking its name from a Van Halen song, the film will feature songs from Talking Heads, Devo, and Blondie.

The synopsis of the film is as goes: “A spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused and set in the world of 1980 college life, Everybody Wants Some is a comedy that follows a group of friends as they navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Get ready for the best weekend ever.”

Members of the cast include Tyler Hoechlin from Road to Perdition and 7th Heaven, Wyatt Russell from 22 Jump Street, Ryan Guzman from Step Up, Will Brittain from The Doo Dah Man, Glen Powell from Sex Ed, and Zoey Deutch from Ringer and Vampire Academy.

Providing more context on a talk with Marc Maron earlier this year, Linklater said: “You show up at college and you’re listening to Van Halen, but you go to discos to chase women, but then you end up at a punk club or a country bar because Urban Cowboy was big at that time. All that stuff was on the table, so it’s an interesting cultural moment because they go to an art party and they’re listening to Talking Heads, so it’s a cultural moment where I’m like, ‘Who am I?’ Am I punk? Am I new wave? Am I heavy metal?”

Everybody Wants Some will be released through Paramount Theaters this fall.

The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist

1. Eyes of the Muse – King Tuff

2. I Remember – Devandra Banhart

3. Depreston – Courtney Barnett

4. Turn Around – Mikal Cronin

5. Mr. Adams – White Fence

6. Goshen ’97 – Strand of Oaks

7. Mercury Dime – Death Vessel

8. I’ll Never Be Able to Love – Shamir

9. I Wish I Wish – Sam Amidon

10. Put You to Sleep – Dolorean

11. Eventually – Travel By Sea

12. The Place I Left Behind – The Deep Dark Woods

13. To Ohio – The Low Anthem

14. Darkness of the Dream – The Tallest Man on Earth

15. Ends of the Earth – Lord Huron

16. The Ballad of Mr. Steak – Kishi Bashi

17. This Head I Hold – Electric Guest

18. Ramona Reborn – Delicate Steve

19. Hillside Song – My Morning Jacket

20. The Mates of Soul – Taylor John Williams

Hear three new songs from Odd Future’s Hodgy Beats

During all of the back-and-forth from its primary members on whether the collective is still together, one member of Odd Future, Hodgy Beats, is still putting new music out there. The workhorse MC, who has released The Dena Tape 2 earlier this year, has already released new material on his SoundCloud to be a sort of trial for various ideas. The three new songs are the piano-led “NOHOOK”, the header “THANKKSGIVING” and the grippy “Choppedd”, the other two are likely to be produced by OFer (and Hodgy collaborator) Left Brain. Listen to the three songs here.

NXNE cancels free Action Bronson show in response to petition

North by Northeast music festival has decided to cancel the free, all-ages Action Bronson concert set initially to happen in Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square after a week of controversy.

The free concert, which was scheduled for June 21st, was subject to an online petition, which was started by Erica Shiner, who sought towards getting the concert cancelled. In the text of the petition, Shiner says Bronson “glorifies gang-raping and murdering women” in his music, especially in his song “Consensual Rape” and the video for “Brunch”. The petition, which argues that letting the show happen would be similar to turning a “blind eye to rape culture and violence against women,” has 37,832 signatures in just three days.

John Tory, Toronto Mayor, spoke publicly about the show as well. Even though story said it was not “place to decide sort of what is art and what is music,” he thought that “this kind of performance to take place certainly in a public space was not consistent with our policies.” The mayor went on to say that Bronson’s lyrics were “astonishing and very disturbing. Again, it’s not my place to decide what music is, but I certainly registered with [the petitioners] that we just can’t have that sort of thing happening in public spaces.”

Organizers of NXNE had originally come to the defense of Bronson, saying that they believe “each and every one of these artists have the right to express their views through music, but those views belong to them and them alone.” Organizers wrote that Bronson was in a similar show in the same venue in 2012 with  Killer Mike, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon also on the bill. After the “significant number of Torontonians” who advocated their opposition of the show, NXNE have decided after all to cancel the gig.

The festival still hopes that Action Bronson will still perform there in a ticketed venue and shared a level of uneasiness about stopping the Yonge-Dundas Square performance. “We remain fundamentally committed to presenting this artist on a Toronto stage,” NXNE said in a statement. “We are not moving the Action show because we believe in censoring him or any other artists. In fact, we find the limiting of artistic expression distasteful. When artistic expression is limited, freedom and the evolution of ideas is often the casualty.”

Organizers of the event continued with “We hope that this series of events does not foster some type of artistic chill in Toronto and its public spaces. Yonge-Dundas Square must remain a dynamic place where many viewpoints are expressed not just culturally but also at political events and rallies staged there.”

The full NXNE statement is below:

“We at Northby Northeast (NXNE) are very proud of our 20 plus years relationship with the people of the City of Toronto. And for almost ten years we’ve shared Yonge-Dundas Square with you to present free, all ages shows open to the public. YDS is the city’s space and as such we are obliged to listen to how the city and community want it used. A significant number of Torontonians have indicated their desire to have Action Bronson not perform at the Square. As annual guests in this space we feel we must accede to the strong wishes of the community and honour their input.

As a result, we will not be presenting Action Bronson at Yonge-Dundas Square but, hopefully we will still be presenting Action Bronson as part of Northby. We remain fundamentally committed to presenting this artist on a Toronto stage. We are not moving the Action show because we believe in censoring him or any other artists. In fact, we find the limiting of artistic expression distasteful. When artistic expression is limited, freedom and the evolution of ideas is often the casualty.

Hopefully, Action Bronson will accept our invitation to play at another, ticketed venue in the city so the public can decide for themselves if his work has merit. We booked Bronson, in part, because of his latest excellent disc, Mr. Wonderful.

We hope that this series of events does not foster some type of artistic chill in Toronto and its public spaces. Yonge-Dundas Square must remain a dynamic place where many viewpoints are expressed not just culturally but also at political events and rallies staged there.

We are heartened by the community engagement that has been taking place around this YDS show. This debate continues an important conversation about violence against women and its depiction in art and culture that is long overdue. We salute all of those who fight this battle and we would encourage everyone who has signed the petition or been engaged by this conversation to commit themselves personally to continuing the fight against violence against women. We at Northby pledge to continue being part of this discussion with the intent to help act as agents of change.

Sincerely,

The Directors of North by Northeast”