The awesome musical team of Thievery Corporation have reunited with an old collaborator Mr. Lif for “Unified Tribes,” a new single inspired by the Occupy movement.

“Occupiers have come together in an attempt to bring about better conditions for the many as opposed to the few,” says Mr. Lif. “This song, ‘Unified Tribes’ is our attempt to offer inspiration, energy and hopefully a morale boost to the movement as it will take persistence and resilience to bring about change to the collective consciousness of our culture.”

The track is available in the iTunes store now, but you can download it for free here.

According to the Roots drummer, Questlove, NBC now requires clearance of all songs the band plays on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, after the band Tweeted about the song they played when guest Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on the show. The song was Fishbone’s “Lyin Ass Bitch.”

When NBC discovered the thinly veiled insult, it apologized to Bachmann, as did Fallon. Now, The Roots must clear the titles and meaning of songs they play with NBC executives before the show.

Questlove told the Associated Press. “It was kind of wrong for me to throw [NBC] under the bus without telling them what it was, so I understand from a business standpoint.”

The full article can be read here in the new edition of Rolling Stone. A brief video clip appears below.

News sources are reporting that numerous Grammy-award winning performers, including Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Usher and 50 Cent, earned millions of dollars from the Qaddafi family in the last several years by playing at private parties in St. Barts, Venice, and other exotic locations. For example, Carey was allegedly paid $1 million to play a private concert for Muatassim Qaddafi on the island of St. Barts in 2008.

Music critics and political activists are now calling for that money to be donated to humanitarian causes, particularly ones that might benefit Libyan people displaced or harmed by Qadddafi’s violent suppression of political protest in that country. Agents of the various artists have so far refused comment, but as international pressure builds to isolate the Qaddafi family and oust them from power, these artists will surely have to answer to fans and critics alike whether they have accepted money now tainted with the blood of Libyans.

fuck you, scalpers. terminal 5 shows added.

holy shit
this here is just to say that we were more than taken aback and surprised about the speed of ticket sales for the april 2nd msg gig, as well as the effectiveness of scalper pieces of fucking shit at getting their hands on said tickets before fans could, and it’s knocked us on our asses.
no—we didn’t have a smart paperless ticketing system in place, and no—we didn’t have the pre-sale worked out very well, but this is simply because we’ve never sold anything out so quickly in our lives, and certainly never sold out anything as big as msg. i personally thought i was being bold in suggesting to our manager that we might sell it out “in 10 days”. that was my bold claim. everyone laughed at me. it’s us and liquid liquid. that’s it. we had meetings and meetings about the “other band” we needed to “fill the place”, as we were definitely considered to be nowhere near big enough (most of these bands were, like, way bigger than us, by the way).
we didn’t sell out hollywood bowl, and that was with both hot chip and sleigh bells. there was, i repeat, no expectation of our selling this out either. my main concerns at the time were things like ticketmaster charges—how they were going to make the tickets ridiculously costly… we never dreamed some shitbags would try to get thousands for our show. it’s insane.
but it happened. we all looked at each other in horror and sat there. i mean, aren’t you supposed to be psyched? your band sold out madison square garden! i live in nyc, and that’s the place. i saw the jackson’s victory tour there when i was a kid.
but there it was—the shit was gone, and people—not just people, but fucking proper fans—were pissed. nancy from the band tried to buy tickets. failed. i tried. failed. our best friends—not wanting to hassle us for guestlist spots tried—failed. i bought 2 tickets to my own show for 3 times the value like an idiot to see if real tickets showed up. my family got burned.
it was, to say the least, weird.
we tried getting another day at msg. i’d mentioned this before and most everyone kind of rolled their eyes at me. “2 madison square garden shows, dude? really?” i thought, well, just in case, you know? maybe some people would fly from other places or something. but msg, being one of the most popular venues on the planet, was unsurprisingly booked. (for the record: just because it doesn’t look booked on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s available. just saying.)
we tried calling our lawyer about the ticket scalping. “it’s legal”. no joke. it’s fucking legal. i tramped around with friends and band getting insane. i wanted to buy some expensive tickets and then track the seller down to beat him. i acted stupid. i did some classic, shakespearean vain “fist shaking”, etc. i made angry tweets. (i’m wondering now what on earth could be less effective and more of a first-world spoiled idiotic move than “angry tweets”? jesus.) i read conspiracy theories about how this was some cash-grab i orchestrated. i read that there are 50,000 seats at msg (i think our show will have 13k). i read that people had already bought flights, hotels. wanted to bring their kids. waited in the cold. i read that some people thought this was one of the reasons we were calling it quits (check). i read that this was a media stunt we planned. i read very funny comments from my friend aziz, one of which was taken seriously (that msg had given me 30,000 tickets personally for guest list). i read that i was giving all the tickets to my “new celebrity friends” (aziz is about the closest thing i have to a “celebrity friend”, and we met at terminal 5 watching hot chip when we were, well, not very “celebrated”). i read that we should cancel the show and put the tickets up on sale in a better fashion. i read that we should not do that, for fuck’s sake. i read that we should go fuck ourselves.
i read a lot of stuff, waiting to hear if we could get another night at msg, which seemed like the only option. but it failed. then i kind of sat in my house, trying not to worry for 20 minutes, and made a very, very good coffee.
i don’t know what people think about us, really. i’d love to say i don’t care, but i do. these people in my band—they are my very good friends. i love them very much. i love this band very much. everything about it. i’m very proud of it—of us, and i get defensive when people talk shit about us. i feel like we’ve been able to do something sort of special for 9 years: making music we like the way we like it. going on tour and playing, no computers or bullshit. no in-ears. a bunch of weird substitute teachers just trying to play something like the bands we loved growing up. whenever anyone said shit about us being sellouts or something, it stung, because i consider this entire thing—the band, everything—to be a communication between us and whoever is listening, and not just a thing unto itself. i remember being a fan and seeing bands, thinking “this is us. this is you playing and me/us watching” and how real that connection was, and i always wanted to honor that strange relationship with our band. so when someone felt wronged or hurt or outraged, it stung. it stung because, on some level, regardless of the “you can’t please everyone” stuff that gets rationally said to you when this shit happens, it meant that i’d failed. i’d failed to communicate. on the other hand, i’ve had my world turned upside down by a lot of amazing things people have said about us, or to us. i’ve met fans and made friends, and felt very strongly how that relationship actually works—and how we brought ourselves, each other, finally here, to where we play our last show—and biggest show ever—together, at this amazing place.
and then, this fucking ticket thing happened.
so to the point. you can’t make everyone happy, and i’m sure this will wind someone up somewhere (“but i paid $600 for one seat at msg!!!) or seem like some shitty “plan” to someone else (“they were gonna do it all along!!! it’s all a big retirement money plan to bilk the fans!!!”) or something else that someone who theoretically likes our band thinks (why are you trying to buy a ticket?? how could you even listen to a band that you think is capable of some of this shit!??) but we’ve come up with the best solution i can think of, as quickly as possible so as to deflate the market for those scalping scumfucks.
we’re going to play 4 shows at terminal 5 in nyc leading up to the msg show, and they will include most if not all of the songs we play at msg. the farewell run-up to the last dance. it’ll be the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st of march. obviously we’re going to look seriously at the way we sell these tickets. not “paperless, (i’ve been advised that the “paperless” thing is apparently now illegal in ny… seriously—don’t ask me) but there are some ideas floating around that could be just as effective (though it’ll take a minute to get folks in the door.)
we’ll announce the shows officially early in the week, and tickets will be on sale soon after. we’re announcing all the shows at once, and if they don’t sell out, i don’t care. i just want to give people who actually want to see us a chance to see us. for a reasonable ticket price. and i want to drop the price of the msg tickets being sold by piece of shit scalpers.
oh—and a small thing to scalpers: “it’s legal” is what people say when they don’t have ethics. the law is there to set the limit of what is punishable (aka where the state needs to intervene) but we are supposed to have ethics, and that should be the primary guiding force in our actions, you fucking fuck.
and to everyone else: thank you. you rule. don’t let the shitbags win.
i feel like conan o’brien.
james

The LA Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission may be backing out of support for the Electric Daisy Carnival Festival, a giant rave and carnival that has been held every year at the Coliseum since 1998.

Even though EDC is one of the biggest sources of revenue for the Coliseum, last year’s crowd of 185,000 over two days led to traffic jams, gate crashing, 120 drug and alcohol related injuries, and one death. As a result of these problems LA officials vowed to prohibit the promoter, Insomniac Inc. from hosting future raves at this venue.

However, the real problem now is disclosure by the Times recently that an official of the Coliseum Commission was also on the payroll of the promoter, raising the specter that there is a conflict of interest because administrator Todd DeStefano apparently was collecting two paychecks from the venue and the promoter.

EDC is now in real danger of being canceled because the perception that the commission’s decision making process has been tampered with. In the background, a closely contested political election over City District 8, where the Coliseum is located, pits the incumbent Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks against an anti-rave, pro-temperance challenger who believes that all raves should be canceled at the Coliseum until promoters can ensure that no illegal drugs will find their way into the venue. Good luck. In that case, all college and professional sports events should be canceled as well, not to mention the hundreds of concerts that take place throughout LA every year.

The politics of the rave has always been subject to the vagaries of America’s longest and most stupid war, the “war on drugs.” Forty years after this war was officially launched by Nixon during the Vietnam War, America is still fighting this lost cause because of unrealistic expectations about the role of government in straightening the “crooked timber of humanity.” Instead of fighting a lost cause, LA officials have the opportunity to do something better:  Contain the problem by focusing it, throwing huge raves in public venues where thousands of people can congregate peacefully and enjoy the music. Otherwise, they risk forcing the rave back underground where there is little or no accountability for promoters to throw safe and secure parties.

Let them rave!

After forming a band in New York, fusing punk and dance into an electronic schmorgasboard of highly danceable beats, James Murphy,  the crooning, erstwhile-fratboy-cum-poet of the band is calling it quits. LCD Soundsystem has announced its last show, scheduled for its home turf of New York City at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 2011. This time the show has a theme, and it’s black and white. How nostalgic.

LCD’s accomplishments include three albums of critical acclaim (LCD Soundsystem, Sounds of Silver, This is Happening), the most recent one reaching America’s Top 40 Billboard, creating a sensational buzz that led to major performances at Coachella 2010 and the Hollywood Bowl last fall, as well as a dozen memorable singles, including “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” “All My Friends,” “Losing My Edge,” and, of course, the unstoppable sonic force that is “Someone Great.” The new album also features some great tracks like “Dance Yrself Clean” and the alarmingly nostalgic but uber-catchy “I Can Change.”

I was at the Hollywood Bowl performance where Hot Chip opened by getting the crowd hot, and then LCD finished by destroying the place. If the Bowl had a roof, LCD would have blown it off as they turned 10,000 drunken fans into dance machines for the duration of the night. Check this recent article my Spin honoring LCD with “Artist of the Year.” I also once caught Jamed Murphy’s opening DJ set for Tiga at Avalon in LA a few years ago. It was memorably disco, a little dirty, and Murphy himself was real drunk. Good times.

I may have to catch this special farewell performance at the Garden, before Murphy moves on to other projects. LCD at the Bowl was a concert not to be missed, and one to be remembered. Let’s see if they can do it one more time….

Groove Armada, Superstylin’ (Live Video)

Performed March 21, 2010 at the Henry Fonda Music Box, Hollywood CA.

Here is a great review piece in the new Rolling Stone about the rise (and fall) of Jack White and The White Stripes. Coverage includes many past pieces, interviews, and photos from the Stone’s coverage of this awesome band.

I never got the chance to see the White Stripes, but I did catch Jack White’s most recent reincarnation band, the Dead Weather. Jamming good guitar work, that guy!

 

Exactly 1 week after announcing its line-up (one of the earliest announcements in recent memory), Coachella 2011 has sold out. Click here for the Huffington Post story.

A story in Rolling Stone claims that the cause of this record sell out can be traced to the popularity of the bands as well as the strength of the bill, but goes further in asserting:

“That said, the artists on the festival bill may not be as big of a draw as the festival itself. Over the past decade Coachella has built its reputation to the point that many music fans plan on attending no matter who is booked. Also, Coachella is simply very convenient to fans in the southwestern United States, an area of the country that is generally under-served by major tours. When put up against the option of making numerous treks to Los Angeles and other large cities in the region, spending a single weekend in the desert with dozens of bands is an attractive alternative.”

Nowhere does this investigate piece of journalism discuss the controversies of ticket sales and secondary markets associated with monolithic promoters such as Goldenvoice and Ticketmaster, and the stranglehold they pose on fair access. Fans of Coachella will be sad to learn, if they truly care about music for the masses, that secondary promoters and online ticket clearinghouses buy up tickets electronically to resell them later for exorbitant prices. The attractiveness of this particular festival for this kind of electronic scalping has simply grown with the popularity of the festival. A friend from Berkeley already reports tickets online fo

r sale going for over $1000. So sad.

The festival has become a mainstream revenue generator for Goldenvoice, the country’s largest music and concert promoter, but fans are suffering at the hands of intermediate actors profiting from their great musical tradition. Fans who attend this year’s event can expect great music but even larger crowds most of whom paid way too much for the 3-day pass to scalpers, promoters, and other profiteers who benefit from the hype. Coachella fans have been bummed since the promoter decided to stop selling day passes in 2010, citing the 3-day pass is better for true fans. Yea, whatever you greedy fucks.

Good luck fans! Coachella is a great event, and I have been several times, but I’m not going back any time soon. How’s that for brand loyalty?

Read the article at LA Times:

USC President Opposed to Music and Community

In an unsolicited email to students USC President C.L. Max Nikias urged students against attending “raves,” citing the health risks of taking ecstasy in relation to recent events at the Coliseum and Sports Arena in which 17 people were hospitalized for drug-related illness.

There are health risks with taking the drug ecstasy and going to large public music events, but most of these risks are related to improper hydration and mixing drugs and alcohol. There are also benefits to taking ecstasy that the email does not mention. Why do you think they call it “ecstasy”?

What is most disturbing about Nikias’s unsolicited paternalism on this subject is the striking contrast it makes to the juggernaut football program at USC, and the thousands drunken fans who support this corrupt institution. No offense to USC or its football fans but that program has a history of being corrupt, so much so that the NCAA effectively banned it from the playoffs and attending any bowl games during the championships. What does corruption have to do with the USC president’s advice to stay away from raves?

If USC was receiving a slice of the ticket sales from these raves Nikias would be silent about the matter, just as he has been silent about the health risks associated with attending USC football games and other large sports events where fans get riotously drunk and assault other fans.

Watch video clips at LA Times:

USC Football Brawl Leads to Double Stabbing

The bottom line is that there are inherent risks to attending large public events whether for music or sports. People can be smart and people can be dumb. A recent “rave” that he cited as an example of this danger, the “Together as One” NYE Event held at the Coliseum, was attended by 45,000 people. There were 17 hospital visits, not all of them clearly related to drug overdoses, so 1 of every 2,647 attendees was taken to the hospital—most of them for observation while they sobered up. Those are staggering statistics and they certainly don’t represent the grave risks that Nikias suggests.

Large music “raves” at public venues should be managed properly and usually are thanks to severe restrictions in the city and county of LA, including adequate security, on sight ambulance care, and provisions for public health such as access to water. They provide an opportunity for large numbers of people to come together in unity from all walks of life, and this has an important democratic consequences. This is in striking contrast to Nikias’s rank paternalism encouraging the view that America’s public attitude toward drugs, as well as the drug war supported by it, is the proper ethical perspective for formulating policy. It is not. America’s longest running war not only places more people in harms way than alternative polices, it also creates more economic, social, and political costs than it purports to solve.

Nikias should stay away from the “politics of rave” and attend to his proper presidential duties, including making USC millions in revenue from drunken fans who descend on its sporting events and then drive off into the night under the influence of America’s favorite drug:  alcohol. No offense to sports fans but I prefer the rave.