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Zorn List Digest     Thursday, September 20 2001     Volume 03 : Number 573



In this issue:
-
       Magazine suggestions
       Nono and the Necks
       RE: Magazine suggestions
       The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)
       Re: Clear Channel (ot)
       Evan Parker Recommendation
       Re: Clear Channel (ot)
       Re: 150 songs not to play
       RE: Clear Channel (ot)
       Re: The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)
       Re: The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 13:19:57 -0700
From: "Joeseph Simon" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Magazine suggestions

I've been reading Zorn listings for a couple years now as I am a big fan of
Zorn and the styles of music that he encompasses.  At the top of the year I
want to make payments for whatever I can for a year in advance.  This would
include magazines in the form of subscriptions.  So, I was curious as to
what magazines would this list offer for suggestions to subscribe to to keep
happy with?

Thank-you,
Joeseph Simon






- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 01:55:17 -0400
From: "Steve Smith" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Nono and the Necks

Hi there:

Just got word of a pretty remarkable new music-type event happening here in
New York pretty soon, and wanted to share.  (Non-New Yorkers, I beg your
indulgence.)

A Trail on the Water: Abbado-Nono-Pollini
John C. Borden Auditorium, Manhattan School of Music
Thursday, Oct. 4, 6pm. FREE
Carnegie Hall and the Manhattan School of Music present the American
premiere of Bettina Ehrhardt's documentary film, which explores the
friendship of three extraordinary artists: conductor Claudio Abbado, the
late composer Luigi Nono and pianist Maurizio Pollini. Ehrhardt, Abbado,
Pollini and Nono's widow, Nuria Schoenberg Nono, will take part in a panel
discussion following the film. Free tickets, required, are available in
advance at the MSM box office.

It's my understanding that the film is 59 minutes long and got great reviews
following its debut at the Salzburg Festival.  I can't go to the actual
event, alas, but the nice people at the Manhattan School sent me a videotape
and I'll tell you about it soon, I promise.

Also, for Jon and anyone else interested, the upcoming New York date by the
Necks is at the BAM Cafe on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 9pm, assuming that
international flights aren't all screwed up (and I say that because a LOT of
cool events, like the NY dates of Klangforum Wien, have been cancelled for
that very reason).

Steve Smith
[e-mail]
NP - Mario Pavone, "Sharpeville," 'Sharpville' (Playscape)


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 01:59:13 -0400
From: "Steve Smith" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: Magazine suggestions

And the increasingly fine Signal to Noise, about which you'll learn more at
http://www.signaltonoisemagazine.org/

Steve Smith
[e-mail]
NP - Mario Pavone, "Chimera," 'Sharpeville' (Playscape)
NR - Poems of the Elder Edda

- -----Original Message-----
From: [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]]On Behalf Of Ken Waxman
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 6:05 PM
To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Magazine suggestions


Coda
Cadence
The Wire


- --- Joeseph Simon <[e-mail]> wrote:
  > I was curious as to
> what magazines would this list offer for suggestions
> to subscribe to to keep
> happy with?
>
> Thank-you,
> Joeseph Simon
>


_______________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca





- -


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:33:10 +0200
From: patRice <[e-mail]>
Subject: The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)

[e-mail] wrote:

> The evil corporate overlords at radio behemoth Clear Channel (see http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/05/30/clear_channel_employees/index.html and http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/2001/08/08/antitrust/index.html) has given its stations a list of 150 songs to avoid.  The most obvious one (The Cure's "Killing an Arab") is missing

Totally disagree that The Cure's "Killing An Arab" is the most obvious one!

Maybe for once the people behind this 150 songs-not-to-play-list did make their homework.

The lyrics of "Killing An Arab" have got nothing to do with racism or anti-Islamism - it's based on the novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.

The only reason which maybe, maybe, maybe would justify its ban is the title...

patRice

np: Mr. Bungle, California
nr: Nick Hornby, How To Be Good



- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 00:34:44 -0700
From: red shorty <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Clear Channel (ot)

here is a URL for some stories about the Clear Channel corporation:

http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/index.html

- --G C


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 01:04:40 -0700
From: "serge dautricourt" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Evan Parker Recommendation

Hi
Can someone recommend an Evan Parker album for starters?  Thanks

Serge

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 02:18:59 -0700
From: Skip Heller <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Clear Channel (ot)

> here is a URL for some stories about the Clear Channel corporation:
>
> http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/index.html
>
> --G C
>
>
> -
>
Gee, a conglom that owns about a dozen bands and all the commercial
airspace.  And people are wondering why sales of everything but that dozen
bands is down.

Clear Channel recently purchased Mega 92, the most listenable commercial
station in LA (all old school funk with a Chicano focus, and a great
playlist largely devoid of weak music).  Shortly after this buy-out, the
station changed, and, as the Arbitron ratings tell us, not to any kind of
audience satisfaction.  Their only successful show (besides Art Laboe, who
is the mmost highly-rated dj in the Southwest) was Smokey Robinson.  Aside
from those two -- and Laboe self-produces -- they're really losing ground
with the most wide-reaching market in LA, except with the only two shows
they have that whose playlists are entirely phone-in dedication requests.

Radio and record sales are finally at cross-purposes.  The traditional way
of commerce in the music business was, for along damn time, that you use
your catalog sales as your bedrock money.  This way, if your boy band
stiffs, something like your Van Morrison catalog will still bring in large
dollars, especially around Christmas.

Now, however, most catalog albums -- many considered classic -- have been
wiped out of radio life.  The average classic rock station used to have
roughly a 750 song playlist, with about 250 of those titles in measurable
rotation.  Now, it's a 250 song playlist with about 60 in heavy rotation.
On-site focus groups are tested, and the playlist is regulated by their
responses.

(You need a 6 share to be allowed airplay.  What generates a 6 share? In
oldies radio, the Beatles, Supremes, and "Brown Eyed Girl" are about the
only guaranteed 6's across the board.)

When people can't hear your catalog, they don't buy it.  When they don't buy
it, the store sends it back.  The label has to pay for the returned
merchandise.  Meanwhile, Best Buys is willing to take a loss on CD revenues,
figuring that, if consumers come in to buy a CD, they'll buy something else
and the store will make its money there.

(This works.  It's called a "traffic-builder".)

Meanwhile, record stores -- not Sam Goody, but retailers whose stock is a
little deeper -- are in trouble, because people aren't buying there.  Any
non-obvious catalog title is an alost automatic return, and the new stuff s
cheaper at best Buys.  Tower is in bad enough shape that they've had to
renegotiate terms with nearly every distributor (at least one major has
granted them one year terms -- which means a yr to pay, and at least one
notable indie has granted them six month terms).  And Tower needs space.
While the amount of in-print titles has expanded exponentially, the amount
of floorspace has remained the same.  Jazz and blues departments have been
hit hard, since their stock is 95% catalog of dead (and therefore
non-touring) artists, with classical not at all healthy (Leonard bernstein
doesn't tour much lately).  Save for something like a Ken Burns or some
other major PBS styled presentation, you're not seeing sizable orders for
those titles.

The little guys -- which at thhis point means anyone not moving mega-numbers
- -- are in trouble.  Before, they didn;t sell big, but you could at least
buy, say, an Ellery Eskelin record.  Now, there's not an Ellery eskelin
divider card in the store.

(And the Mom and Pops are getting trounced just as well.)

Clear Channel is the biggest Evil Giant, doing for music appreciation what
Jimmy Swaggart has done for theology -- homogenzing it to the point of total
stupidity.

If there is a solution, it is in the hands of the consumer of less-obvious
goods.  If he can just consume anough and bark at enough radio stations,
magazines, and websites, he'll actually be seen and dealt with as a viable
consumer, part of a group whose dollar is as good as the next guy's.  But
how that can be accomplished remains to be seen.  Internet Radio, as a
measurable marketplace force, is still nebulous.  And none of us seem to be
buying our records at chain stores where the numbers actually count for the
Eskelins, Feldmans, and Binneys of the world can get a fair shake in the
larger marketplace.  As now, we're trapped in the crosshairs of a giant
screwgun, and it is unfortunately not the Tim Berne kind.  We are, at least
for now, non-persons.

skip heller
np: mark feldman, music for violin alone





- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:49:53 +0200 (MET DST)
From: [e-mail] (Stephen Fruitman)
Subject: Re: 150 songs not to play

>The evil corporate overlords at radio behemoth Clear Channel.....has given
>its >stations a list of 150 songs to avoid.  The most obvious one (The
>Cure's >"Killing an Arab") is missing

It _is_ often the _titles_ the censors often look at. There was an
interesting article in a theme issue of _Index on Censorship_ a year or so
ago about such; during the Gulf War, one authority issued a ban on ABBA=B4s
"Waterloo" (!).

Stephen Fruitman
Dept of Historical Studies
Ume=E5 University
SE-901 87 Ume=E5 Sweden



- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:16:13 -0400
From: "Sean Westergaard" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: Clear Channel (ot)

Skip just laid it out perfectly (Thanks!)  I worked record retail for about
10 years in Ann Arbor, a place where a good indie store can really do well.
Althought there was certainly some mismanagement on the part of the owner,
the scenario Skip described is right on the money.  not to mention the fact
that clear channel also owns SFX entertainment, the nation's largest
national booking agency, which really completes the vicious circle; only the
mega bands getting the mega-airplay (as dictated by clear channel) get
booked into the decent venues, which are booked by sfx.  talk about
homogenization.  Even Tower looks like it's going to fold, because, in large
part, catalog sales are no longer viewed as viable.  I see it as analagous
to the big hit film industry (not that this list seems like consumers of big
hit films) where all the advertising is super front-loaded to generate hype,
because they know that since the movie sucks, it won't have any legs at the
box office. it's all about milking the moment; art is not a part of the
equation.  Publishing is being dictated in much the same way by the major
chains; they need huge initial runs in order to make their giant towers of
books for the two-week promotion of said book, then they  all get returned
and ultimately sold as remainders.  and since they're not making any money
on their big runs, they're "playing it safe" by not even taking chances on
smaller runs.  it's an ugly scene all the way around.

Wtih regard to PatRice's post about the Cure song, where the title COULD be
misconstrued, what about even more ridiculous inclusions, like Imagine by
John Lennon.  Do they want to limit any possible mention of tolerance and
possible peace-mongering?  What a bunch of clowns.  Let's be thankful there
are still a handful of community radio stations where no such orders from on
high are issued.  if there isn't one in your area, both WFMU.ORG and
WCBN.ORG stream on the web.  Both are freeform stations, although FMU is
slightly more geared towrds "rock freeform" from what i understand. (full
disclosure: i dj at wcbn) LONG LIVE FREEFORM RADIO


- -----Original Message-----
From: [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]]On Behalf Of Skip Heller
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 5:19 AM
To: red shorty; [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Clear Channel (ot)




> here is a URL for some stories about the Clear Channel corporation:
>
> http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/index.html
>
> --G C
>
>
> -
>
Gee, a conglom that owns about a dozen bands and all the commercial
airspace.  And people are wondering why sales of everything but that dozen
bands is down.

Clear Channel recently purchased Mega 92, the most listenable commercial
station in LA (all old school funk with a Chicano focus, and a great
playlist largely devoid of weak music).  Shortly after this buy-out, the
station changed, and, as the Arbitron ratings tell us, not to any kind of
audience satisfaction.  Their only successful show (besides Art Laboe, who
is the mmost highly-rated dj in the Southwest) was Smokey Robinson.  Aside
from those two -- and Laboe self-produces -- they're really losing ground
with the most wide-reaching market in LA, except with the only two shows
they have that whose playlists are entirely phone-in dedication requests.

Radio and record sales are finally at cross-purposes.  The traditional way
of commerce in the music business was, for along damn time, that you use
your catalog sales as your bedrock money.  This way, if your boy band
stiffs, something like your Van Morrison catalog will still bring in large
dollars, especially around Christmas.

Now, however, most catalog albums -- many considered classic -- have been
wiped out of radio life.  The average classic rock station used to have
roughly a 750 song playlist, with about 250 of those titles in measurable
rotation.  Now, it's a 250 song playlist with about 60 in heavy rotation.
On-site focus groups are tested, and the playlist is regulated by their
responses.

(You need a 6 share to be allowed airplay.  What generates a 6 share? In
oldies radio, the Beatles, Supremes, and "Brown Eyed Girl" are about the
only guaranteed 6's across the board.)

When people can't hear your catalog, they don't buy it.  When they don't buy
it, the store sends it back.  The label has to pay for the returned
merchandise.  Meanwhile, Best Buys is willing to take a loss on CD revenues,
figuring that, if consumers come in to buy a CD, they'll buy something else
and the store will make its money there.

(This works.  It's called a "traffic-builder".)

Meanwhile, record stores -- not Sam Goody, but retailers whose stock is a
little deeper -- are in trouble, because people aren't buying there.  Any
non-obvious catalog title is an alost automatic return, and the new stuff s
cheaper at best Buys.  Tower is in bad enough shape that they've had to
renegotiate terms with nearly every distributor (at least one major has
granted them one year terms -- which means a yr to pay, and at least one
notable indie has granted them six month terms).  And Tower needs space.
While the amount of in-print titles has expanded exponentially, the amount
of floorspace has remained the same.  Jazz and blues departments have been
hit hard, since their stock is 95% catalog of dead (and therefore
non-touring) artists, with classical not at all healthy (Leonard bernstein
doesn't tour much lately).  Save for something like a Ken Burns or some
other major PBS styled presentation, you're not seeing sizable orders for
those titles.

The little guys -- which at thhis point means anyone not moving mega-numbers
- -- are in trouble.  Before, they didn;t sell big, but you could at least
buy, say, an Ellery Eskelin record.  Now, there's not an Ellery eskelin
divider card in the store.

(And the Mom and Pops are getting trounced just as well.)

Clear Channel is the biggest Evil Giant, doing for music appreciation what
Jimmy Swaggart has done for theology -- homogenzing it to the point of total
stupidity.

If there is a solution, it is in the hands of the consumer of less-obvious
goods.  If he can just consume anough and bark at enough radio stations,
magazines, and websites, he'll actually be seen and dealt with as a viable
consumer, part of a group whose dollar is as good as the next guy's.  But
how that can be accomplished remains to be seen.  Internet Radio, as a
measurable marketplace force, is still nebulous.  And none of us seem to be
buying our records at chain stores where the numbers actually count for the
Eskelins, Feldmans, and Binneys of the world can get a fair shake in the
larger marketplace.  As now, we're trapped in the crosshairs of a giant
screwgun, and it is unfortunately not the Tim Berne kind.  We are, at least
for now, non-persons.

skip heller
np: mark feldman, music for violin alone





- -



- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:04:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ken Waxman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)

Hold on

I think you guys are missing the point here.

The question is *not* which songs are more or less
appropriate to ban in this present climate.

Censoring *anything* for for silly reasons -- or for
any reason at all, but that's another discussion -- is
wrong.

Ken Waxman


- --- patRice <[e-mail]> wrote:

> [e-mail] wrote:
>
> > The evil corporate overlords at radio behemoth
> Clear Channel (see
>
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/05/30/clear_channel_employees/index.html
> and
>
http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/2001/08/08/antitrust/index.html)
> has given its stations a list of 150 songs to avoid.
>  The most obvious one (The Cure's "Killing an Arab")
> is missing
>
> Totally disagree that The Cure's "Killing An Arab"
> is the most obvious one!
>
> Maybe for once the people behind this 150
> songs-not-to-play-list did make their homework.
>
> The lyrics of "Killing An Arab" have got nothing to
> do with racism or anti-Islamism - it's based on the
> novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.
>
> The only reason which maybe, maybe, maybe would
> justify its ban is the title...


_______________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 16:25:34 +0200
From: patRice <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Cure (was: Re: 150 songs not to play)

Ken - you're right of course.

I just tried to defend The Cure, who've "suffered" a lot in the past because of
the "Killing An Arab" song, not really thinking much further...

As far as "silly reasons for censorship" are concerned: where does "silly" start
& where does it end?
I'm sure there are lots of different opinions on this.

Take the photo of the naked girl ("Taboo & Exile" CD), e.g.: most people on this
list, I guess (!), don't think there's anything much wrong with it, but I'm sure
there's lots and lots of people out there who would *totally* disapprove of it.
So: whose opinion counts?

patRice

np: Fantomas, The Director's Cut
nr: Nick Hornby, How To Be Good



Ken Waxman wrote:

> Hold on
>
> I think you guys are missing the point here.
>
> The question is *not* which songs are more or less
> appropriate to ban in this present climate.
>
> Censoring *anything* for for silly reasons -- or for
> any reason at all, but that's another discussion -- is
> wrong.
>
> Ken Waxman


- -

------------------------------

End of Zorn List Digest V3 #573
*******************************


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