That Seizure-Inducing Hip-Hop Music

Musicogenic epilepsy is basically seizures triggered by music - music of a certain type, usually music with strong neurologic reaction (ie. music you really like, for example). Joan of Arc would go into fits when she heard church bells, for example, and she’d see visions of angels and the voices of saints, etc. Some people speculate she was experiencing this affliction.

Well, now there’s a cure for those wingnut religious-themed visions!

Stacey Gayle has been cured through brain surgery and can now listen to her favourite hip-hop music once again!

Modern Science: Killing religious mystery and enabling people to listen to Sean Paul without traumatic neural episodes at the same time. Way to fucking go, Science. I guess you take the bad with the good.

I was linked to this essay about 5 years ago so I realize that some, maybe even most, people have already read this, but I think it’s valuable re-read, if only to re-hammer another nail into the coffin of corporatized music.

I say “music” because while Albini’s essay is about rock bands, this certainly applies to all young up-and-coming musicians of any style. I’m thinking particularly of the booming hip hop/r&b industry that’s gone so corporate it makes rock music look almost interesting by virtue of obscurity (I said “almost”). Hell, even fucking Timbaland is producing rock ballad white kids these days.

Not that this is news for rappers, either. Dr. Dre and Ice Cube both quit NWA around 1990 complaining that they were receiving little compensation, despite Straight Outta Compton selling over 3 million copies. Dr Dre quit, formed Death Row, and that didn’t get any better, as he left that label following claims of financial mismanagement and corruption.

The point is - music is big business, involves multiple millions of dollars and is administered by an old-boy’s club power structure that is almost laughably corrupt. It would seem the bigger the label is, the worse their practices are, but I could just be speculating. Anyway, without further ado:

The Problem With Music - Steve Albini

“Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.”

Just another reminder to young bands with talent (as they are many, in Toronto alone) to keep the stars out of their eyes, get educated on the business if you’re going to shop for labels, and get a lawyer you can trust. Or simply do not try to get signed, period.

Tafelmusik + Rock Plaza Central (this link is a direct link to an audio stream and will open some kind of musical player thing)

So back on December 8th, CBC Radio 2 aired a Fuse episode featuring a musical mashup of Toronto’s Rock Plaza Central and Tafelmusik (a baroque orchestra that plays worldwide and makes a home at Trinity-St. Pauls near Bloor and Spadina. The taping was a few weeks prior (I forget the date and don’t feel like checking) and admission was free. I went with a few friends and sat in the front row a few feet from the feet of Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik’s director. What followed was over an hour of amazing music and commentary taped live off the stage at Trinity-St. Pauls.

This stream will link you to the songs, minus the commentary from the orchestral and band members and CBC’s Amanda Putz. The show list goes like:

1. Concerto in A Minor For Violin and Orchestra

2. How Shall I Aspire To Heaven 

3. I am an Excellent Steel Horse

4. 15 Hands

5. Canon and Gigue in D Major

6. My Children, Be Joyful

7. When We Go, How We Go (Part 1)

8. St. Cecilia’s Dance

9. When I Am Laid In Earth / We’ve Got A Lot To Be Glad For

I can’t quite describe how awesome this was in person, with a 7-8 piece orchestra bathing you in acoustic sound on one side, and a folk-rock band on the other. Truly magnificent. This audio stream hopefully captures that. If you missed this show, well, this is all you got. And minus 10 cool points for your absence.

A belated 9+ minute Christmas message from your dead friends Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs.

9mb mp3 link (save target as)

I’m totally copping this from a friend’s blog, so all props belong to Hank and http://www.everythingathon.com/ and I’ll offer his description of this audio gift:

Two dead junkies offering us a glimpse of a different kind of Christmas…The one Norman Rockwell never painted…”

Enjoy!

Radiohead: Artists often screwed by digital downloads

In news that should surprise no one, big labels are signing artists to contracts that strip or severely limit their ability to earn money via digital downloads (those things that are changing the music marketplace). It’s often said that labels don’t understand the new digital market, but it appears they do. Maybe a little too well, as they negotiate deals where artists actually make even less money via digital copies than actual CDs (despite the relatively non-existent distribution costs (no packaging, shipping, printing, etc etc). Keep in mind that it’s become common wisdom that artists earn next to nothing per CD (approx 10-15% of the sticker price if they’re lucky).

I guess the money for their bloated salaries has to come from somewhere. As usual, the actual artist (content generator) takes it in the ass as corporate parasites rake in the billions. God bless America.