I’m so going to hell for this one… But like laughing at retarded people, sometimes you just can’t help it. I’ve been hearing about original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s ‘performance’ on the new season of Celebrity Rehab…I finally got around to hitting YouTube, and you know what… It’s not really that funny. It’s sad. The obvious question had crossed my mind: Is it worth some commentary on Antiquiet? And, well, by itself, no it isn’t. But there’s been so much talk about it- maybe not on music sites, but around the nation’s water coolers, and on the radio- yet, Steven Adler was not the biggest human spectacle this week. At least not in my opinion. Check out these two competing disasters, and tell us what you think. Full Article »

Jack Conte hit my radar a few months ago when I stumbled on a “videosong” combining his own renditions of Radiohead’s Exit Music For A Film and a prelude by Chopin, Op. 28 No. 4. The mix was somehow strangely perfect, but it wasn’t the song so much as the new approach to the recording process and the passion involved that inspired me to dig a little deeper. What I discovered was a creative sparkplug, a one-man-band in every sense of the word; Conte plays every instrument and does multi-layered harmonies with himself, naturally with the help of Pro Tools. He pours himself completely and unabashedly into every song, with a disarming sense of commitment to his craft.Propelled by the popularity of his videosongs, buzz is starting to build around both Conte and his new EP, Nightmares And Daydreams, a handful of brilliant electro-pop tunes, showing both his songwriting prowess and versatility as an artist.

We sat down with Jack to get to the bottom of this videosong business, and to study the angles of another independent musician who’s kicking ass without compromise. Full Article »

To date, Joe Purdy has sold more than half a million single paid downloads, and his song Can’t Get It Right Today has likely been all over your TV in Kia ads and Grey’s Anatomy.

The reception has been huge, and the labels are foaming at the mouth to cash in on this would-be-could-be superstar, but Joe’s flatly turned down every offer that’s been made. He releases the records only the way he wants to, and has lucked out like a Vegas champion in the press. But the days of blind luck in the music industry and are dead and gone, and now more than ever, people have all the tools they need to uncover the bullshit gristle before they’re tricked into parting with their money. To move the numbers Purdy does, the music’s got to be good, or at least meticulously designed for a particular demographic. Full Article »