From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V7 #108 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, April 16 2001 Volume 07 : Number 108 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] introducing La Mar Enfortuna - cd release show [Michael Curry ] oh yeah... [meredith ] Unemployed ["Kimberly Oliver" ] New suvome website [Neile Graham ] Re: RIP Splashdown [Andrew Fries ] Whatever [tenthvictim@mindspring.com] Re: Boa [DanStark ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 03:00:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ************************ T-Bone (no Email address) ************************ *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- T-Bone Wed April 15 1992 happy cat Jeff Hanson Sat April 16 1966 Aries Michael Klouda Mon April 17 1967 Aries Harry Foster Sat April 21 1956 NiceGuy Kjetil Torgrim Homme Thu April 23 1970 Taurus Jeff Burka Thu April 24 1969 GoFlyAKite Christine Waite Tue April 25 1972 Taurus Matt Adams Thu April 26 1962 Taurus Brad Hutchinson Tue April 28 1964 What sign? Geoff Parks Sun April 30 1961 Taurus Marty Lash Sat May 01 1948 Taurus Barney Parker Fri May 02 1986 happy cat Gray Abbott Tue May 03 1955 Suprised Tamar Boursalian Tue May 03 1966 Taurus Richard A. Holmes May 07 Taurus Steve Ito Fri May 08 1970 DA Bull... Brian Gregory Thu May 09 1963 Eclectic Heidi Maier Wed May 10 1978 Taurus Patrick Varker Wed May 12 1954 Torius Philip David Morgan Sat May 12 1962 Chinese Tiger in Bull Clothing Steve Fagg Tue May 13 1958 Nightwol Karel Zuiderveld Fri May 13 1960 Stier - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 13:23:40 -0400 From: Michael Curry Subject: introducing La Mar Enfortuna - cd release show Of interest to Elysian Fields fans.... >From: Ashersand@aol.com >Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 12:54:57 EDT >Subject: introducing La Mar Enfortuna - cd release show > >Oren Bloedow and Jennifer Charles's new Sephardic CD, "La Mar Enfortuna" >is now available on John Zorn's Tzadik records. This record is devoted >to ancient Ladino and Judeo-Arabic songs, performed in an Elysian Fields >style. > >The music will be given its live premiere at Makor, Thursday, April >19th. > >The band will be: >Jennifer Charles, Voice >Oren Bloedow, Guitar, Voice >Ted Reichman, Accordion, Piano >Doug Wieselman, Clarinets, Guitar >Jonathan Maron, Bass >George Javori, Drums > > Showtime is 10:00, tickets are $15.00 > >The Makor Cultural Center (35 W.67th St.,N.Y., N.Y. tel 212 601-1000) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 14:03:34 EDT From: Dracovixen@aol.com Subject: Boa Ok, I have a question. Are there two bands called Boa? I have several mp3s from a female singer called Boa...some of them are very very poppy, and some of those are in Korean, and I have some of the english versions...then there is a few in english that are not at all poppy...is this all the same Boa? Or is there a poppy Boa who does both english and Korean lyrics, and then another Boa who is not at all poppy? If they are separate, I am looking for the non-poppy Boa. :) Black Dove ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 15:56:56 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: veda hille in berkeley Hi, Jeffy wondered: >Ooh! ooh! The question is, can I convince the boyfriend to go to *three* >shows on our trip (I'm hoping we'll also go to Phil's thing, in addition >to EFW). If you can't, you must question whether he's really the boy for you. >Can't really help too much with this. We're staying in downtown SF, >where we booked around for ~170/night for the 7 nights we'll be >there. Not quite a cheap place to stay, but we did well enough on >our flight ($247 round trip from BWI!) that it didn't seem *too* bad. That's not bad at all, for downtown!! (woj and I got $215 from Hartford -- it pays to book early!) >Anyway, we'll be in the bay area from the 6th-13th, should there be >any plans in the works. This brings up something I've been thinking of for a little while. With everyone's schedules, I'm not sure if it'll work -- but since so many people seem to be staying in SF for at least part of the time, it's worth a shot. There's a massively cool thing that leaves from Fisherman's Wharf called Adventure Cat. It's a 52-foot catamaran that takes groups of up to 48 people around the Bay for about an hour and a half. woj and I did this when we were there last fall, and even though the fog rolled in half an hour before we left, it was still an amazing experience. The sail takes you down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and back around Alcatraz and almost to the Bay Bridge before coming back, passing the sea lions each way :). They do a "sunset cruise" that is apparently even better. I was thinking it would be fun to get a bunch of the ectophiles who are going to be in town for EFW together one evening for a sunset cruise. The cost is $30 per person, but there is a $5 per person group discount for groups of 10 or more people. Either way, it's well worth it. So ... if anyone is interested in doing this sometime in the week between 6/6 - 6/13, drop me a line. If there's a date that works for a bunch of people I can go ahead and make a reservation. ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:05:17 -0400 From: meredith Subject: oh yeah... Hi again, Following up on my last post, I forgot to include the URL of Adventure Cat, so y'all can learn more for yourselves. It's (surprise!) . ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:37:55 -0400 From: "Kimberly Oliver" Subject: Unemployed I guess really it's just a honesty thing i myself have absolutely no idea but that is a really good point hmm I mean me myself would take it on being honest . That's just my point on it . anyway hope some of you guys come :-) Best of Wishes, Kimberly ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 14:54:18 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: New suvome website Info for anyone interested in checking this Australian band out. - --Neile >Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 03:46:30 -0500 (EST) >Reply-to: "Mark Scruby" >From: "Mark Scruby" >To: ectoguide@smoe.org >Subject: Ectophiles' Guide - Correction > >Name: Mark Scruby >Email: modernr@camtech.net.au >Topic: Correction > >Hi > >We noticed that you refer to us - suvome - in reference to one of the >bands you have reviewed - Cooldown - but that the link to suvome states >that inclusion of further details is slated for the future. We have just >brought our website online at www.suvome.com and thought you might like to >have a look. > >Cheers >Mark - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:04:53 +1000 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: RIP Splashdown On Sun, 15 Apr 2001, dmw wrote: > First, the record companies as institutions may be evil, but their > *people* generally aren't. If you're in a band being courted, your ears > are being filled with all the good things the record company is gonna do > for you, and why you are going to be the exception, getting the support > without which the other acts die. The big catch is that the people > telling you this are probably being sincere, BUT they don't have the > business power to follow-through on their promises (and in many cases they > will have been fired before your record comes out -- turnover in the A&R > field is high). > > Second, if you're in a band and you want to give in excess of say, fifty > thousand people a chance to hear your music -- and there's every reason > Splashdown should have judged their appeal to be broader than that -- > picking one of the majors is virtually your only option. There are > exceptions -- ani difranco, sure, million seller with no major label, Dave > Matthews, a couple of the hip-hop artists -- but that's pretty much > through the tour-your-ass-off model, and is not necessarily suitable for > all artists. This might be a good time to quote that old chestnut again: Albini's rant (supposedly posted by Steve Albini himself) has been doing the rounds since 98', and I apologise to those already familiar with it but I think it bears repeating now and then, for the benefit of any newcomers - some of whom might even be thinking about getting into the music industry :) - ------------------------------ The Problem With Music by Steve Albini Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says, 'Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim it again, please. Backstroke.' And he does, of course. I. A&R Scouts Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an AR& rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for 'Artist and Repertoire', because historically, the A&R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young (about the same age as the bands being wooed), and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang, and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well. There are several reasons A&R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be 'hip' to the current musical 'Scene.' A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who, speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences. The A&R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than a idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company? Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it. When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him, and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in 85? Didn't we have a blast. By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody 'Baby.' After meeting 'their' A&R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, 'He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us.' And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired. These A&R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or 'deal memo,' which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on. The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little 'memo,' is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document. That is, once the band sign it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength. These letters never have any term of expiry, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another label or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed. One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young 'he's not like a label guy at all' A&R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises (something he did with similar effect to another well-known band), and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A&R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it. The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity. II. There's This Band There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized 'independent' label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label. They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security, you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus: nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work. To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyway, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. Fifteen percent of nothing isn't much! One day an A&R scout calls them, says he's 'been following them for a while now,' and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just 'clicked.' Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time. They meet the guy, and y'know what! He's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude. They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot. The A&R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question: he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe: cost you 5 or 10 grand) and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about. Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself. Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children, without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties. Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer, one who says he's experienced in entertainment law, and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be getting a great royalty: 13% (less a 10% packaging deduction). Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever. The old label only wants 50 grand, and no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter-million, just for being in a rock band! Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contact over too. Hell, it's free money. Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody in the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands (like Therapy' and Sloan and Stereolab) use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better. The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on T-shirt sales! Ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe. They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picks them up in a limo. They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old 'vintage' microphones. Boy, were they 'warm.' He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very 'punchy,' yet 'warm.' All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies! Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are: (These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. Income is boldfaced, expenses are in normal type, comments are in italics.) Advance: $250,000 Manager's cut: $37,500 Legal fees: $10,000 Recording Budget: $150,000 Producer's advance: $50,000 Studio fee: $52,500 Drum, Amp, Mic and Phase 'Doctors': $3,000 Recording tape: $8,000 Equipment rental: $5,000 Cartage and Transportation: $5,000 Lodgings while in studio: $10,000 Catering $3,000 Mastering: $10,000 Tape copies, reference CD's, shipping tapes, misc expenses: $2,000 Album artwork: $5,000 Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $2,000 Video budget: $30,000 Cameras: $8,000 Crew: $5,000 Processing and transfers: $3,000 Offline: $2,000 Online editing $3,000 Catering: $1,000 Stage and construction: $3,000 Copies, couriers, transportation: $2,000 Director's fee: $3,000 Band fund: $15,000 New fancy professional drum kit: $5,000 New fancy professional guitars (2): $3,000 New fancy professional guitar amp rigs (2): $4,000 New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $1,000 New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $1,000 Rehearsal space rental: $500 Big blowout party for their friends: $500 Tour gross income: $50,000 Tour expense (5 weeks): $50,875 Bus: $25,000 Crew (3): $7,500 Food and per diems: $7,875 Fuel: $3,000 Consumable supplies: $3,500 Wardrobe: $1,000 Promotion: $3,000 Agent's cut: $7,500 Manager's cut. $7,500 Merchandising advance: $20,000 Manager's cut $3,000 Lawyer's fee: $1,000 Publishing advance: $20,000 Manager's cut: $3,000 Lawyer's fee: $1,000 Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000 gross retail revenue Royalty (13% of 90% of retail): $351,000 less advance: $250,000 Producer's points: (3% less $50,000 advance) $40,000 Promotional budget: $25,000 Recoupable buyout from previous label: $50,000 Net royalty: (-$14,000) Record company income: Record wholesale price $6.50 x 250,000 = $l,625,000 gross income Artist Royalties: $351,000 Deficit from royalties: $14,000 Manufacturing, packaging and distribution @ $2.20 per record: $550,000 Gross profit: $710,000 THE BALANCE SHEET: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game. Record company: $710,000 Producer: $90,000 Manager: $51,000 Studio: $52,500 Previous label: $50,000 Agent: $7,500 Lawyer: $12,000 Band member net income each: $4,531.25 The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month. The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never 'recouped,' the band will have no leverage, and will oblige. The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys. Some of your friends are probably already this fucked. - ------------------------------------------------------ They will do whatever we let them get away with. - -- Joseph Heller - ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 21:05:42 -0500 From: tenthvictim@mindspring.com Subject: Whatever Hello, Ectos, I was tooling around town just before the sun went down, with no direction, just trying to kill time and avoid construction on one of the major roads. I went by the cemetery and noticed four or five twenty-year-olds wandering among the tombstones. Yes, it was a band looking for an impressive tombstone to get a publicity photo in front of. Or perhaps the dusk-dark portrait will be on the cover of their CD. They didn't look too scary, so it must not have been a heavy metal group. I hope they wander over to one of the tall angels I occasionally glimpse out of the corner of my eye. If the universe is tilted at the right angle, "O Lost" will be chiseled into the stone. At an Easter meal today at my friend's house I listened to the stories of my friend's in-laws. According to them, brother (or uncle, depending on the generation) Larry jumped up on stage with George Jones at a Lubbock night spot one time. He was uninvited and no one told how it turned out. Assuming this was the right time period, George probably wasn't in much better condition than the uncle. Perhaps they duetted together and parted friends. Freda said she had been invited on the stage by Moe Bandy one time to sing "Got My Mojo Workin." He told her as she was leaving the stage he would have his people call her people (of course she didn't have any people). She also said she had gotten on stage with Elvis when she was sixteen. Elvis was driving a pink Cadillac and was not yet a star. He signed her arm. Freda's son told her she should have gotten down to a tattoo parlor to have the signature etched in. I was thinking, "you could lose a little arm skin for the King." Freda says she used to let Waylon Jennings sing with her when she was a kid in Littlefield, Texas. She wasn't too impressed by him. I believe they sang on the local radio station together. Just thought you might enjoy the stories. Bye, Lyle n.p. Absolutely nothing ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:32:34 -0400 From: DanStark Subject: Re: Boa The English Boa is a 5-piece band fronted by Jasmine and Steve Rodgers, who are the son and daughter of well-know classic rock singer Paul Rodgers (Bad Company, Free, The Firm w/ Jimmy Page). Paul's wife is Japanese, so of course Jasmine and Steve are half-Japanese but I believe they were raised in England. They released their first CDs on a Japanese label, and their song "Duvet" is used in a Japanese Anime series but I believe all their music is in English, not Korean or Japanese. Jasmine has a beautiful voice, and I find the Twilight album pretty addictive. It's pretty much all melodic pop-rock, not unlike something you might hear from Natalie Merchant, Dido or Imogen Heap. I don't know anything about another band named Boa, but it's a not exactly a unique name so I wouldn't be surprised if one exists. Dan - --- Black Dove wrote: > >Ok, I have a question. Are there two bands called Boa? I have several mp3s >from a female singer called Boa...some of them are very very poppy, and some >of those are in Korean, and I have some of the english versions...then there >is a few in english that are not at all poppy...is this all the same Boa? Or >is there a poppy Boa who does both english and Korean lyrics, and then >another Boa who is not at all poppy? If they are separate, I am looking for >the non-poppy Boa. :) ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V7 #108 **************************