Question: What Does A BAD RELIGION Reference and Dick Vitale Have In Common? Column by Jordan A. Baker
Answer: They're both included in this column.
Land of Competition
Is American Online the company that is taking independent music to the next frontier of mainstream visibility? Ever since AOL Music launched its Listening Parties, featuring full-length streams of new album releases, independent label artists have been placed on prominent display, positioned next to albums from the majors. Granted, nearly every independent release included (if not all), is distributed by a major label owned company, usually either RED or ADA, but that’s a topic of discussion for a different day. This week, artists such as THE LAWRENCE ARMS, THE KILLING MOON, SO THEY SAY, MOGWAI, NEKO CASE, and EXENE CEVERNKA AND THE ORIGINAL SINNERS are all taking part in the Listening Parties, and a couple of weeks ago, a tribute to the SMASHING PUMPKINS on Reignition Records was included as well.
AOL’s presence with its Listening Parties ads immeasurable credibility to the belief that allowing the customer to hear a release in its entirety before purchase does not cannibalize sales of strong albums. But perhaps more importantly, AOL’s movement into the free digital streaming terrain does something better – it forces its digital competitors to compete even harder, and this is especially key for niche sites like pureVOLUME and MySpace (though calling a site with 60 million registered accounts ‘niche’ seems odd), as well as other destination sites like Absolutepunk.net and Mammothpress.com, where full-length album streams have also become part of their regular attractions. When AOL competes with a social-networking site like MySpace, the users of both sites win – it’s the essence of competition, and the endgame is that the user is always offered something more than what they were previously receiving. Whatever party decides to join the fray next knows that it is going to have to deliver something of even more value to potential users or else it will be ignored (and these days, virtually stoned by bloggers). Survival is not enough – innovation is required.
In a time where punk rock has been handily packaged into a commercial for Chips Ahoy, it’s easy to question its relevance in a society that largely thinks of it as nothing more than a cartoonish youth phase. But music created by artists on independent labels is nothing to sneeze at, and every further placement in the retail word, whether online, or brick-and-mortar is an advancement of the spirit that has stoked the creation of independent music in the first place – the need to be heard. While AOL Music’s interest in promoting youth-oriented music may be rooted in its efforts to increase its advertising base as it continues to shift its model towards a content based portal, its interest in independent music is a reflection that increasingly, so much of the lifeless music originating from the majors is having less and less of an impact across the board.
It’s a Farce, Baby!
As I’m writing this, March Madness lurks right around the corner (though I would argue that for any fan of ACC college basketball, the Madness truly begins in January). One thing that has driven me up a wall over the course of the past few seasons is commentator Dick Vitale’s assessment of Duke students when announcing games at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium for ESPN. Now just to get this out of the way, I am University of Maryland alum (Class of 2002) and a rabid Terps fan when it comes to basketball, but I believe that my thoughts on the following topic are not clouded by any kind of anti-Duke bias.
In virtually every game that Vitale calls he makes a point to refer to Duke’s fanbase, the Cameron Crazies, as full of “future doctors, lawyers, and CEOs.” As far as I can tell, Vitale does not say this about students from other schools whenever he’s broadcasting a game at another University’s home venue. What bothers me here is that in every institute of higher education that Vitale visits, the student section will include plenty of “future doctors, lawyers, and CEOs,” but you’ll never hear about them from Vitale.
I know Vitale’s shtick is that he’s a blabberin’ loudmouth is loves everything about the college basketball and the college basketball campus environment. That’s fine… he’s been doing it seemingly forever, and he’s particularly entertaining in a close game between two highly regarded teams (where he can actually discuss the game and not everything else under the sun). But his perpetuation, inadvertent or not, of Duke being some kind of magical enclave for future professionals, to the exclusion of other academic institutions (particularly in the ACC) with thousands of future professionals of their own is an unfortunate, myopic viewpoint that should be handled with more balance in his broadcasts.
Music Musings
After whining for the past few years about the genre of melodic hardcore taking a bath while metalcore and screamo bands flourished in the wake of striking various commercial success stories, it appears that finally, the pendulum is swinging back enough so that a new crop of melodic hardcore bands can lay down their influence on another generation of kids. In just the first quarter of 2006, releases from BIGWIG, NO TRIGGER, and CRIME IN STEREO have the done the genre well, while upcoming albums from RYAN’S HOPE, and of course, NOFX (and with any shred of luck, STRIKE ANYWHERE by the end of the year), should keep things rolling along. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have reissues on hand this year from LIFETIME and AVAIL, two extremely important bands who were able to break new ground in combining melody and hardcore. Additionally, while not quite in the same direction of the aforementioned, new releases from IGNITE, SICK OF IT ALL, and THE DISTANCE (all on Abacus, oddly enough), and THIS IS HELL should provide a serious jolt of energy into a “brutality” obsessed scene. Melodic hardcore once again is on the up-and-up!
Band DVDs are generally something I have a hard time getting into, mostly because I have the attention span of a gnat. When I read that ZAO was putting out a six hour DVD I couldn’t even imagine myself sitting through the entire thing. But three music-based DVDs have in fact earned my acceptance (and repeat viewings), and those are the brand new ones from KID DYNAMITE (Four Years In One Gulp) and BAD RELIGION (Live At The Palladium) and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE (Set This World Ablaze). While the former was assembled in the documentary format, the latter two are basically centered on live concert footage, and by far, the BAD RELIGION DVD has the most amazing looking footage that I have ever seen. The exhausting collection of BAD RELIGION songs yields one classic after another, and a few oddballs like “Struck A Nerve” and “Along the Way.” If you’re a fan, it’s 110% essential.
Do you have a Pastepunk story? Did you discover a favorite new band by reading this site? If you did, and are willing to share information about that, please send me an email (jordan@pastepunk.com). In the coming weeks I will be putting together a “History of Pastepunk” feature for the site that will discuss our existence since 1998 and some of the interesting things that have happened along the way. I would be thrilled to have reader comments included in the piece, so if there’s anything you would like to share, that would be greatly appreciated.
Playlist:
1. THE SAINTE CATHERINES - Dancing For Decadence
2. NO TRIGGER - Canyoneer
3. AFI - Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes
4. HARAM - S/T
5. SNAPCASE - Designs in Automotion
