A large leak...kind of...

It has been a big couple of weeks for leaks.  Radiohead and Weezer both experienced song leaks last weeks with varied results.  Radiohead’s song, “These Are My Twisted Words”, was a very good song reminiscent of Kid A, which is my favorite Radiohead album by far.  Weezer’s leak a few weeks ago was less successful musically.  “The Girl Got Hot” was just more run of the mill Weezer from the Green Album rather than brilliant Weezer from Pinkerton (will we ever see that Weezer again?).

More telling than the quality of the songs, though, was the reaction to the leaks or the almost non-reaction.  Leaks have become almost commonplace these days.  Its the price of doing business in these modern times.  And both bands seem to have come to terms with that.

It would be understandable for a band to want to control the material that is released by them.  A release of a track that hasn’t been polished or is unrepresentative of the album they are about to release could damage them.  And if their best work is released before the entire album is complete, it could take some of the shine away from the album when it comes time for it to be reviewed.

Don't blame the fans! Blame Bono!

But you can’t blame the fans of a particular band for wanting to hear everything that is released.  A few years ago, my brother and I were debating this very issue.  One of his then favorite bands’ message board moderators had begun kicking people out who shared leaks of the band’s upcoming album.  My brother was one of those kicked out, but he was taking it in stride.  I was arguing with him that the fans, such as those who frequent a message board devoted to a band, should be the last people you punish for trading leaks with other fans.  The word fan comes from fanatic, which means that you are going to show such devotion to the band’s music that you don’t really care about the rules.  It may be only Rock ‘N Roll, but we like it, damnit.

The better way to approach the problem is to do like Weezer and Radiohead just did.  Both bands have always been more enlightened when it comes to their material so their reaction to a leak is not surprising. Weezer has always had extra material floating around that is sometimes better than the albums themselves.  Radiohead has found great success by giving their songs away and letting their fans pay what they want for them.  When their songs leaked,Weezer just accepted it and moved on.  They released a different and better song (thankfully) as the first single for their new album, Raditude.  Radiohead has embraced and started to offer the leaked song as a high quality, free download on their site.  They have embraced it so much that most believe that they are the ones behind the leak.

If that’s true, then Radiohead has finally discovered how a properly motivated fanbase, and a well placed leak can do for your work.  Even if its just a publicity stunt, its one that worked:  It got people talking about Radiohead during a summer with no new Radiohead release.

Here’s the source for the first photo done by Matthew Bowden! And here’s the source for the second photo!

  Artist: Street Sweeper Social Club
  Album: Street Sweeper Social Club
  Label: Warner
  Release Date: June 16th, 2009
  Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…You’ll enjoy it, but go download the singles first!
  Favorite Tunes: “100 Little Curses”

1. The Background

Belle says,

Street Sweeper Social Club is Tom Morello and Boots Riley.  There is a great video on youtube of both of them describing the origins of the band. Boots Riley says that these songs are, “anthems for the revolution.”  Morello says that they both, “go to a lot of rallies.”  Both musicians agree that they are tired of boring, peaceful protest songs.  Also, they were wanting to create choruses that people can latch onto easily.

They are “outspoken policial activists” (via wikipedia) to put it mildly.  Morello formed the organization “Axis of Justice” to bring people together for social justice. I thought the organization’s website was very informative; what better way to directly address issues of social justice.  You can hear Boots Riley’s perspective on different issues during an episode of Politically Incorrect on Youtube. So, upon investigation via the internet, Morello and Riley are actually very articulately bringing together social justice and catchy music.

and Renato adds,

As has been said by Belle, Boots Riley and Tom Morello are the primary members of Street Sweeper Social Club.  Boots Riley, member of The Coup and outspoken political activist (but who isn’t this day and age?) teamed up with Morello to form a side project that just about sounds like Rage Against the  Machine.

2. The Substance

Belle says,

When I first started listening to this album, I was driving by myself in the car.  It’s embarrassing, but I felt like a badass listening to the catchy songs.  The overall quality of the album is great.  I think anyone who remotely listened to Rage Against the Machine is really going to enjoy it. After listening for a while, I noticed how aggressive the lyrics are.  I’m not necessarily against that; I think it is great for anyone to have an outlet for any aggression that is non-violent.  But it got me wondering…. who are these m—-f—ers that they keep talking about?  Who exactly are the songs for or against?

Renato counters with,

Morello, with his fortissimo guitar riffs and very ascertainable sound is shared with Riley’s sharp and irascible lyrics.  Although Riley’s lyrics were aggressive, I did not find them to be aggressive enough.  In fact, with the sound that they were going for, the fact that they conveniently sounded a little bit too much like RATM, I felt that Riley sounded more like a banal type of Zack de la Rocha rather than his own style of aggressive-activist-hip hop.

3. The Decision

Belle says,

I really enjoy listening to this album, I think they did a great job.  My favorite song is the second one on the album, “100 little curses.”  I got a big smile on my face when I first started listening to it.  The combination of driving rhythms, great guitar hooks, and enticing lyrics make the album fantastic.  What can I say, you should go out and listen to it yourself.

but Renato thinks,

All this being said, there were songs that I did like, despite my criticisms above; the familiar RATM sound is welcome.  Their single, 100 little Curses, is a good catchy tune with a sing-along chorus.  In fact a couple of their songs have a few catchy lines such as “may your pinot be sour” which can be cute.  All in all this is more of a “download” album.  Not all of the songs are going to be enjoyable, so really its best to just download the ones you like and keep those for your mp3 player or protest mix tape, whatever floats your boat.

Well, there you have it! Looks like Belle and Renato agreed that there are some good songs, but they both gave varying levels of praise. Looks like the album deserves a “3/5 Mediocre” score, which means you should check out the album, but maybe not buy the whole thing. Let us know if you agree or disagree with Belle or Renato in the comments!

Artist: Marnie Stern
Album: This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Release Date: October 7th, 2008
Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…After a While
Favorite Tunes: “Prime”, “Ruler”

1. The Background

Whoa, this album will wake you up! New York City musician Marnie Stern has released her 2nd album on Kill Rock Stars (a while back mind you, I’m a bit late) and she definitely has my attention. Trying to disregard the extremely long name of this album, I sat down and listened to these 12 short tracks for about a month before thinking about writing a review for it. A note of interest: Marnie Stern did all the guitar tracks for this. Amazing!

2. The Substance

I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been to actually mix this record. It’s already very well produced with what seems to be 2 – 4 guitar tracks at some points and the most hyper drummer I have ever heard on a recording, so it’s amazing that the producer was able to make sense of all the noise that is generated by these tracks. There is definitely no “space” on this album. Every little bit of emptiness is filled in by extremely fast (and accurate) guitar work, and when the guitar calms down, the drums are there to keep the songs full. Ms Stern’s voice isn’t mixed as well as it seemed it could be though. The drum and guitar tracks are very loud and audible, and, most of the time, the clearly different parts are identifiable; however, it sometimes is difficult to hear the lyrics being sung during these always busy songs. It’s especially frustrating on “Ruler”, which is track 4 of this album. It’s one of my favorite songs, and it has some very sweet sounding vocals sung at a high pitch and some nice backing vox stuff, but I really wish some of it came out clearer because I enjoyed her voice so much. With the ability to showcase great guitar work and drum beats, it would’ve been great to also showcase Marnie Stern’s vocals. Edit: Oh, and supposedly they did some bass tracks for this album? Where the Hell were they? I’m sure I didn’t hear any and it would’ve been interesting to clearly hear how they mixed those in.

3. The Decision

3/5 Mediocre…After a While. I really enjoyed half of this album, but after 5 or 6 tracks of this very busy and energetic music, I found myself wanting her to slow down a bit and throw in some variety. Ms Stern is clearly very good at what she does, and she is an amazing guitarist and songwriter; however, we’re still dealing with an album here, and, though the point may be to rake in as much cash as possible, I still feel it necessary to create a piece of work that is interesting throughout. I don’t think I was able to sit still and listen to this album end to end more than once. But I do suggest you pick up this album, or at least purchase the first 4 tracks of it. The first four songs are extremely fun and give you this kind of cutesy, metally, rocky, weird feeling of energy to start off or end your day. Ms Stern has a wonderful voice, though I wish I could’ve heard it more clearly, and the lyrics are fun and the guitars are loud and the drums are fast and accurate, but it’s just too much. In a society in which singles are more important, there are definitely some tracks you should pick up (”Ruler” is my favorite), but as for picking up the full album, do it with caution, but if you’ve got some extra dollars lying around, definitely do it. ]]> http://www.meandthestereo.com/2008/11/26/album-reviews-marnie-stern-%e2%80%9cthis-is-it/feed/ 0