Blogcritics Author: Jason Meltzer Patterson

Thoughts About the Business Models of Radiohead, Oasis

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:37:16 EDT

Will pay-what-you-want work, or become a one-shot deal?
There was certainly a lot going on in music this past week, but a lot of the talk was about the new Radiohead album. The band announced, about ten days in advance, that its new album, In Rainbows, would be available as a pay-what-you-want download only. No more label getting in the way, because they no longer have one. So...you want to pay a penny?...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Book Review: The Slime That Men Do by "Humble" Howard Glassman

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:24:21 EST

One of the most inspired personalities in the history of Toronto radio has compiled a book of "slime" testimonials from women, with some of the proceeds going to breast cancer research. The book is titled The Slime That Men Do.So what exactly is this "slime" stuff anyway? "Humble" Howard Glassman, known to many fans as one half of the Humble and Fred show, explains: One of the stories that always sticks out in my mind is this guy threw his wife a big birthday party and all their friends were there... he pulls out all the stops... spares no expense... and then at a certain point in the evening he raises a glass and says what a great woman she is... then sort of pauses and says ... but... I want a divorce!The point I guess, really, is he couldn't do it to her directly... so he mustered up the courage to do it, and humiliate her, in front of all her friends...!Can it get any slimier than that? Apparently it can, as there is already a "slime" sequel in the works.The really interesting thing about this book and how it was written is that even though many of the stories are funny on their own, Humble has this way of putting in his own colorful interjections at precisely the right moment. Here's a "slime" sample, if you will, from The Slime That Men Do: First I want to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to get this off my chest. It feels so much better getting to share it with all of you!When I was expecting my second child and was actually in the delivery room in labor, my husband, as he was leafing through a magazine, sitting back in the nice comfy rocking chair, looks up at me and asks 'Is this going to take long?' NICE. As I sat there staring at him in disbelief at what he just asked me, he paused a moment then went back to reading his magazine.After the baby was born he asks me, 'Do you think the Doctor will let you stay in the hospital an extra night? I really want to go to my Christmas Party!' GREAT GUY-GREAT DAD. By this point I am just happy at the thought of not having to look at his face an extra night, so I arrange it. But the best part of this story is the morning the baby and I are being released I get a call 30 minutes before discharge time from my 'joy of a husband' to tell me that the receptionist at his work left the door open a bit on his car last night so his battery is dead. He is going to be a bit late. After waiting for another two hours I called my mom and dad to come and pick us up. Needless to say he has a well deserved EX in front of his title now! HE MAY BE YOUR EX BUT HE WILL ALWAYS QUALIFY FOR…THE SLIME MEN DO!Believe it or not, and I believe it, there are hundreds more of these stories. Many are just like the “slime” sample you just read, others are tales of bad first dates and broken hearts… all due to the slimy things men often do to women. (No wonder it’s so hard for a young guy to get a date these days!) Also, you can preview more slime samples.So what is Howard up to these days when he is not collecting slime? Humble and his long-time radio partner Fred Patterson will re-unite for a live stream/podcast of the 17th Annual Humble and Fred Christmas special, available over the world wide web at www.humbleandfred.com on December 22nd. In the past, performers have included The Cranberries, Corky and the Juice Pigs, and The Bare Naked Ladies. Don’t miss it!RELATED LINKS:“Humble” Howard Glassman is a former radio show morning host. He has worked in several radio markets in Canada, but for most of his radio career he worked at CFNY FM 102.1 The Edge, MIX 99.9, and AM 640. He is also the author of The Slime That Men Do. His website.Howard’s long time radio co-host, Fred Patterson, also blogs.

Review: Esthero's Wikkid Lil Grrls Finally Come Out to Play

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 11:33:12 EDT

Toronto's own Jenny Bea Englishman a.k.a. Esthero (as she is known to most) is quite critical of watered down talent on her latest album, Wikkid Lil Grrls, her second full length album which took roughly seven years to hit the shelves of music stores. We are in need of a musical revolution, the self professed pixie pirate declares on the title track. Esthero doesn't hold back either. She is quick to point out that an alleged rapist like R. Kelly can still sell records despite his actions. But why then does she find the need for all the male bashing and the perpetuation of "casual sex is not just okay, it's revenge" by suggesting in her lyrics that she breaks the hearts of many a young man for the broken hearted girls who pump her music on their stereos?Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty solid album that can't help but get one a least a tad aroused, but on the flip side one has to wonder if this is the musical revolution we need. Is this the cause we should gather together and revolt over? What exactly is the cause, anyway? Girl Power? Not very original there, I think I'll wait for the Spice Girls reunion. Also not original is some of the style you'll find here. The numbers done with Sean Lennon end up sounding like something off a Beatles album and the chants of "I miss you" on the song "Blanket Me In You" sound like Esthero is trying to mimic Bjork. But I refuse to say this album deserves any less than three stars because, despite the many instances of un-originality, for the most part this album is a very decent package of good songwriting. Which is still one step ahead of Britney, Ashanti, or Pink. edit:Aaman

Bono Calls Upon A-List Celebs to Fight AIDS and Poverty

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:29:21 EDT

U2 lead singer Bono is at it again. Doing good deeds, that is. The singer from Dublin, Ireland has asked for support from A-list celebrities including Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Penelope Cruz and Tom Hanks to help fight poverty and AIDS. These stars will apparently be featured in new public service ads in order to increase awareness for the fight against AIDS and poverty. "We're not just asking for people to put cash in the pot here," the U2 frontman said Wednesday at an event announcing the PSA's. "Americans are generous, we know they'll do that. We're not actually asking for their money, we're asking for their voice." People are often too quick to simply hand over a check for X amount of dollars. Look at what occured with the Tsumami release. People made charitable donations for the cause, but the awareness about the severity of the aftermath effects of the natural disaster seem to fade after several weeks of hearing about it. Because it is not happening right in front of us, or happening to us, the mass population tends to adopt an out of sight - out of mind approach. These problems aren't going to simply go away. We need to look out for each other, gloabally, as we are all part of a single human race.===========================================Info for this article made possible by http://www.getyouroj.com and 105.7 the Point - St. Louis' New Rock Alternative ===========================================More here.

Has Maynard Seen The Light?

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:43:01 EDT

Has Maynard seen the light? Postings on Tool's web site in early April seemingly indicate that Tool and A Perfect Circle lead singer Maynard James Keenan has found religion and has left Tool. Toronto's Edge.ca reports that over the past few days MTV's Kurt Loder e-mailed Keenan for confirmation and this is what Loder got back: "I did, in fact, find Jesus. More news to follow. God bless ya." Keenan also sent a letter to one of the Tool fan sites saying that "some recent events have led me to the rediscovery of Jesus [and that] Tool will need to take the back seat." Many fans assumed that the various website postings were merely April Fools Jokes, but there was no way to be sure. The management for Tool and A Perfect Circle were not successfully contacted for comment or confirmation on the matter. Many sites are still continuing to mislead fans, insisting this was no April Fools joke. However, the following was posted on Tool's offical website on April 7th:"Good news, April fools fans. The writing and recording is back under way. When approached for comment on his recent encounter with the Son of God, Maynard said, 'That guy's a punk!'"As it turns out, Maynard was out 'location scouting' near the Fourth Street bridge in downtown Los Angeles when he 'found Jesus.' " 'Turns out he was here the whole time, and not that difficult to find if you know where to look,' Maynard reported. "Apparently Jesus offered him the position of campaign manager for his new line of 'Holier Than Thou' sparkling holy water, which Maynard of course accepted. What wasn't obvious was that this guy is a total drunk. It's an occupational hazard. Every time our Lord goes to get a glass of water, it transforms into a generic grocery store Merlot. Because the alcoholic is the Son of God and an all-knowing being, he knew of Maynard's extensive interest in collecting wine. So he went to work trying to get his lips on it. Maynard caught J.C. in his cellar transforming his precious wine collection into urine, then pissing it into the empty 'sparkling holy water' bottles for the eventual sale to all those people who bought, read, and embraced The Celestine Prophesy. Tragic. " 'Truth be told,' Maynard confessed, 'I wasn't feeling top notch when I found him. The evening prior to the day in question I had over-indulged in a series of bad Molotov shrimp cocktails with a side of Makers Mark and twin strippers. So after an entire night of G.I. Blowouts, hot/cold sweats, and blurred vision, it's very possible that the guy I met wasn't even Jesus at all. For all I know, it was Willem Dafoe.' " =================================================== Information in this article has been collected from http://www.getyouroj.com http://www.edge.ca and http://www.toolband.com ===================================================

KURT 11 YEARS LATER

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Tue, 5 Apr 2005 11:42:41 EDT

I woke up this April 5th morning and it hit me just the same as always. I remember posting

Another Mass Shooting: Must Be the Music

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 15:40:55 EST

It seems one of my past articles on Blog Critics has been dug up now that another mass shooting has been reported. Specifically, an article about how for some reason some of us out there actually think it's reasonable to cast blame upon musicians for the actions of others. Further, it's usually a "goth" or "metal" type like a Manson or an Osborne that gets the blame. Some people out there actually insist that because a teenager wears a trenchcoat and listens to Manson they must be getting ready to shoot someone, or at least they must be thinking about it. Music doesn't have that absolute power of contol. Music may assist in re-enforcing a given point of view, but it is not responsible for that point of view. Music doesn't load a gun and shoot it. Music isn't responsible for poor gun control laws in the United States. Music doesn't perpetuate the N.R.A. Music doesn't make anyone do anything. If music really could totally influence someone that much, George W. Bush would likely be recording an album called "Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad" all about how fascism is great and therefore we should all just shut up and take it and/or go blow up another country outside the North American border. What irks me the most is that while Manson gets blamed for these shootings, no one pays much attention to Tu Pac and 50 Cent and their gun toting lyrics. Why is that? Perhaps because up until recently that type of music was predominantly listned to by African Americans? What if the Columbine shooters had not been "goths", what if they were African Americans that listened to N.W.A. and Snoop Dogg? Would we even hear about what was in their disc men on the way to school. I don't really think we would. I think it would be reported as some "black" kids shooting up a high school. Just a thought. Either way, I'm imploring you to think before you start blaming all this shooting business on a couple af musicians expressing themselves via their right to freedom of speech. Wasn't it John Stuart Mill who said every opinion is worth hearing. Censorship is wrong. Laying the blame on an easy target is wrong too.

U2 Breaks More Records: Four Consecutive Shows Sold Out In Toronto

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 11:09:00 EST

U2's Toronto concert, announced earlier this week, sold out in just 3 hours! Shane Bourbonnais, Clear Channel Senior Vice President said, "I'm as excited as the fans, it's been an amazing day. We're really proud to be involved with an event that obviously the fans want and will be great for the city of Toronto." The Biggest Band In the World was slated to perform one or two shows at the Air Canada Center, but the incredible demand resulted in not one but two more shows being added. In short, U2 will play four back to back shows in Toronto. Ticketmaster spokesperson Patti Babin added, "Ticketmaster is delighted with the success of sales for the Concert For Toronto. Activity through all of our sales channels (outlets, call center and Internet) was extremely busy and demand far outweighed the supply of tickets. The response proves that the ticket buying public is confident in Toronto as the place to be". The U2 concert, along with the announcement that Lord of the Rings: The Musical will soon debut in Toronto, should help boost the city as an "it" spot for tourists, which is very good for a city that just over a year ago was plagued with the SARS scare (which spawned a summer benefit concert headlined by The Rolling Stones, , AC/DC, Rush, and an out-of-place Justin Timberlake).

U2 TO REHEARSE FOR TOUR IN VANCOUVER

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Wed, 2 Mar 2005 09:10:56 EST

U2 is expected to prepare for its 2005 Vertigo tour in the scenic city of Vancouver, British Columbia. The legendary rock band and its road crew will spend most of March 2005 holding full production rehearsals at the General Motors Place arena, with staging expected to arrive in town later this week. R.E.M. has also spent significant periods of time in Vancouver, B.C., while they were recording the album "Reveal." Having spent a year of my life living in Lotus Land myself, I'm hoping that perhaps Bono will get political with the Premiere of the province, Gordon Campbell, and ask him why Main and Hastings still holds the title of poorest zip code in all of North America. Hastings Street and many parts of Vancouver are inflicted with junkies and underage prostitutes and homelessness, but Campbell shut his eyes to these issues in favour of pursuing an Olympic bid. We'll have to wait and see how all the West Coast "tree huggers" react to the Vancouver/Whistler Winter Games when they arrive.The 2005 U2 Tour officially starts on March 28th in San Diego, California.U2 will return to Vancouver for shows at General Motors Place on April 28th and 29th. Vancouver radio station CFOX reports that, "U2 will break from rehearsals to attend its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14th in New York City. The Irish quartet will be inducted by Bruce Springsteen and plans to perform that night as well. The ceremony will be telecast on March 19th by VH1."

"Wikked L'il Grrrl" Back With First Full-Length CD In 7 Years

Jason Meltzer Patterson — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 11:51:58 EST

Just months after releasing a mini-disc entitled We R In Need of A Musical Revolution , Esthero is headed back to her "heart and home" of Toronto to perform at the eye Weekly Magazine Canadian Music Week Showcase with opening act controller.controller. She'll play a second show at the Canadian Independent Music Awards (7:30pm). Wed, Mar 2. Even though her first full-length offering in about seven years does not hit the shelves until April 2005, the "pink pirate" is already back to playing shows again. Additionally, she's collaborated with many big names that include Black Eyed Peas, Goodie Mob, Nelly Furtado, Ian Pooley, DJ Krush, Blue Man Group and more. Many Esthero fans can't wait to hear what the new CD, entitled Wikked L'il Grrrls will sound like.Seven years is quite a long time for a hiatus after only one debut CD, but despite this fact even fellow Blog Critics have awarded Esthero the honour of being a top name in Trip Hop music alongside arguably much more well known musical talent such as Massive Attack and Bjork.And even though the fiery red head claims she is not as recogized in her home town of Toronto as she is in other cities such as L.A., Toronto's eye Magazine has her sex-kitten image plastered across the front cover this week, focusing not on the past seven years of her career (or lack thereof), but instead looking into the artists future.In an interview this week with eye writer Liisa Ladoucer , Esthero told the publication that,"I get no special treatment [in Tornoto]. In LA, I can get into any premiere. I'll go to one of those clubs they write about in the tabloids and I'll get paparazzi. Not here. I go to meet someone at a Toronto club and they're like, 'Who are you?' The upside is that I don't have people going through my garbage. The bonus of being Canadian is we're all equal. I appreciate it. And the creativity is here, which is why I stay. Once you're doing well as a musician, you don't live anywhere anyway."Despite the fact that the singer thinks Toronto doesn't offer too many roads to International success ("You can win MuchMusic awards and Juno awards up the hoo-ha and still live in Regent Park in a shitty apartment with no cash,") she still resides in the same place I first had the pleasure of meeting her, < a href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/19/144441.php"> Toronto's Annex neighborhood. I guess we'll all have to wait until April to find out how the next chapter of this talented singers career unfolds.