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If Borat had a Japanese cousin, this guy would be it. Before YouTube mercilessly takes this down, I want to show you this video of Hard Gay singing "YMCA". The funny thing, its listed as "Young Man" on YouTube's description. This guy should've opened for Goldfrapp.
Actually, this was the quote that is bandied about the net.. "The CD as it is right now is dead," said Alain Levy, EMI Music Chairman and Chief Executive.
With CMJ just around the corner, no doubt this will be talked about as music companies try to wrestle with YouTube and the dwindling sales of CDs. With Tower Records closing its doors for good, that means less ancillary revenue streams and more question marks into the holiday season. The plight of Tower Records sort of set off a warning alarm to music labels across the board -- from major to indie. The business must change and the physical CD as it is being sold today is not helping.
Alain Levy was speaking at a London Business School, discussing the state of the music industry and such. Levy admits that CDs being sold today don't have as much value-added features. I disagree with him in a way. Labels have released versions of a band's music on formats such as VCD, SACD and 5.1 Dolby Digital. In a sense, Levy is admitting defeat but still trying to push the public into believing that the physical CD is something that will be in market over the next 20 years. Perhaps, but like its vinyl predecessor it may be in limited quantities as more people gravitate to MP3 players and memory cards for music playback and storage.
The music industry isn't moving fast enough to meet demands of a digital marketplace. Its killing them. With YouTube and Apple dictating marketplace, the music industry has no choice but to follow. Which brings me to Levy's next comment, "By the beginning of next year, none of our content will come without any additional material." So, does that mean that the next Goldfrapp release will actually have music videos bundled with the audio CD release? Is that what he means by "value-added" releases? That's just a stop-gap. People will still burn the tracks onto their iTunes or some other MP3 player. And what's the difference if iTunes offers a release on their store site that gives the same features -- audio and music video bundle? Unless he's talking about something else, like a collectible book or something.
I think EMI is just dragging their feet. Meanwhile, rival labels allow their content to be shared as their artists gain more exposure through blogs, sites and mash-ups.
Here's that story I've been meaning to push. Its been a week and I can still vividly remember the sights, the smell and the incredibly honest performance of Alison Goldfrapp.
Alison Goldfrapp, photo by Amanda Nanawa
The last time I was at Roseland Ballroom was 1999. The place is just ok. It's not Nokia Theatre Times Square but the place does have ambiance. There was a security guard I recognized from way back and it was amazing to see that he was still there - checking the attendees and confiscating questionable items.
That night marked the last stop of the Supernature tour. Everything culminated to this place on W52nd Street where people traveled far and wide to get here. The evening in the city was just right - not too cold and not too warm. Prior to doors opening, there was a long line that wrapped its way around the street and onto Broadway. It stretched past the entrance of the Ed Sullivan Theater and kept going. Kinda hard to believe that the show wasn't sold out but it must've been close as more people bought tickets at the window. It was funny to hear some scalper outside trying to sell "seats" for this show. First of all, there are no seats at Roseland (except for the balcony area which was accessible for VIP attendees).
Upon entering the ballroom, the bar was overflowing with Red Bull and other hard liquors. The bartenders were making some strong mixes as the aroma from the drinks wafted through the vestibule. It was going to be that kind of night.
The opening act was a duo called Ratatat. They started out alright with their DJ set. The crowd gave them a kind applause. But as the set waned on, the audience went from nice to downright rude. Ok, they were on the stage for a little over an hour but that doesn't give people the right to throw things at them. Its one thing to yell out, "You suck!" Totally another when you yell out, "You suck!" and throw things at them. I will admit, I was bored by their set. I caught myself yawning four or five times. The people around me said some amusing things like, "I could've gone up there and done that DJ shit myself" and "This is painful." After Ratatat left the stage, the sound people began prepping for Goldfrapp. Actually, during the DJ set, I was able to get a glimpse of the holding area which was behind the stage. The dancers were there warming up and this one other woman with curly blonde tresses was speaking with them. Could it be that I just caught a glimpse of Alison herself talking to the dancers?
During the setup, people (already drunk with euphoria - figuratively and literally) pushed their way to the center hoping to get the best possible view. At one point, this very loud and drunk group formed a "wall of resistance" making people walk around them. Yes, the alcohol flowed freely that night. I amused myself by watching the roadies set up the electric fans and placing drinks in their strategic positions for the band.
Alison Goldfrapp, photo by Amanda Nanawa
As soon as Cerrone's "Supernature" filled the ballroom, the place went wild and the band came on stage. Alison opened the show with "Utopia", a stand out track from Felt Mountain
"Train" from Black Cherry
A few minutes later, Alison acknowledged to the crowd the technical difficulties. A trademark of a Goldfrapp concert. She smiled and kept saying, "Hello NY!" I'm paraphrasing now - "This is our proper gig, no matter what you read about last night." Alison was alluding to the Hennessy event the night before which was at the Capitale in lower Manhattan. I'm glad I wasn't there. I heard the event sucked.
The good thing about this show was that she didn't point to her ear monitor for sound too often. She made some other signals (tugging at her side to the soundboard man is one example). Her dress was something to behold. I couldn't tell if it was inspired from Blade Runner or what? It was a short red dress with buckles and two large O-shaped rings; one in the middle of her chest and the other one further down around her stomach and you-know-what area. They held the straps that adorned her torso. It wasn't holding the dress - I don't think. It looked more like an accessory. But the dress was mighty short and that was mighty fine for the guys (and gals) up front who didn't mind Alison's flash of underpants brilliance. The band opened "You Never Know" with an instrumental track. It was refreshing to hear it that way live. I didn't hear that at the Nokia show. During "Fly Me Away" she did her little rag doll/going to try and fly/quasi robot dance routine. That's my favorite part of watching her live.
During the opening tracks of "Ride a White Horse", a mini mosh pit was starting to emerge. Thankfully, people had the sense to stop pushing and call for security before any of that started. Yes, a mosh pit at a Goldfrapp show. Have you ever? They ended their set with "Ooh La La" where Charlie Jones (bass) shined through clearly. Alison was having a ball. At one point, she crouched down and turned her mic to the crowd eliciting them to sing.
Alison Goldfrapp, photo by Amanda Nanawa
Now here's where things get really interesting. The band comes back out for their first encore. They start off with "Black Cherry" from Black Cherry. Everything was fine until Alison stopped singing in the middle of the song. She didn't complete singing "Excite Me - Ignite Me". She just stopped. Meanwhile, the band kept playing as Angie Pollock (keyboards, keytar, backing vocals) continued to provide backing vocals. I don't think people realized that at that very moment, Alison was letting all her emotions take the best of her and what we witnessed was a truly human performance. She was fighting back tears and didn't want to run off stage. Not here and not now. She soldiered on trying to gain composure but every time she wanted to sing the verse, she stopped and tried to bring herself back. When she turned to Angie for guidance, I noticed some of her mascara and eyeliner was starting to run a bit, darkening her eyes more than ever. The crowd suddenly realized - "Oh my God! She was crying?" - and began to encourage her on. The crowd realized too at that moment that this show was one to remember. It's just too bad that the crowd didn't do a sing-along to uplift Alison's spirits (on second thought, she might burst out crying from complete overwhelming affection from the crowd). At the end of the song, she smiled and politely said, "Thank you."
She reminded the audience that this was the last gig of the tour and that ending it in NYC was the best place to do it. What puzzled a lot of people is the fact that the Supernature tour for the US was lacking. If you think of it, they did most of their US "touring" in NYC.
Their second encore was "Strict Machine/We Are Glitter mix" from a b-side of Black Cherry. This sealed the evening. Alison bade us a good night and said, "See you next time." The band was on stage for a while, waving at the crowd as they walked off stage until Alison was left standing alone on stage. She bowed, curtsied and waved to roaring cheers.
Despite the lack of the Theremin, the emotional breakdown and no "Deer Stop" (from Felt Mountain), it was still a brilliant show. It wasn't perfect. It was real. It was human.
I am beat. But I shall share with you a few photos from last night's show. I'll write up a more detailed story later but for now, I'll just say a few highlights about the show. Stay tuned. I will come back after I sleep.
Here's the setlist from last night's show:
Goldfrapp, Roseland NYC Photo by Amanda Nanawa
Highlight: During "Train", the Theremin went M.I.A. That's right. It wasn't on stage for Alison to do her trademark rubbing, slapping and tongue licking antics. In fact, a stagehand was about to step on stage and hand it to her when Alison basically motioned her to stop and don't bother. The song and the Theremin moment was just about over so she had Rowan (the drummer) just end the song and the band followed suite. I just witnessed a technical fuck up. What transpired was a comedy of errors. And on the last gig of the tour of all things.
Alison performing the song "Utopia"
Goldfrapp, Roseland NYC Photo by Amanda Nanawa
Highlight: Alison was in fine form that evening. Her voice was crystal clear as shivers went down my spine whenever she would hit those soprano level notes. "Utopia" is a perfect example as it shows off her range. During "Lovely Head", a mini-fight broke out between two women. One woman was pushing her way to the front and she ticked off one of the people she pushed. So, the pushee pushed back and suddenly the two women began swiping at each other's heads -- during the song "Lovely Head".
Goldfrapp, Roseland NYC Photo by Amanda Nanawa
Highlight: Alison kept going backstage because of technical difficulties. She took those difficulties in stride and whenever she came back to the mic, she would jokingly say, "Minor technical difficulties -- Hello NY!" She would call out NY about 5 or six times. She rarely holds a conversation with the audience and always utters -- at most -- about 5 words. She's quite terse but in a good way.
I did like the extended opening bars to "You Never Know". I wasn't at the Irving Plaza show in May so that was a first for me.
I want to quickly talk about the dress she wore on stage. It was a red short dress adorned with loops, buckles and an O-Ring holder (I dunno what the fuck you call that but that's what it looked like to me) to hold the straps that graced her torso. It kinda looked like a cross between a pilot's jumpsuit, a cocktail dress and a parachute stripped of it's straps. The dress was so short that the front row got some fan service -- her black knickers made several appearances that night.
During the song "Ride a White Horse", a mini mosh pit (this Goldfrapp show pretty much had it all) started to brew and bodies just surged forward in my direction. The people who were trying to start a mosh pit were surreptitiously met with security and the mosh pit never came to fruition. But that was weird. A mosh pit at a Goldfrapp show?
Alison Goldfrapp performing "Black Cherry"
Goldfrapp, Roseland NYC Photo by Amanda Nanawa
During the first encore, the band performed "Black Cherry" and somewhere near the middle of the song, Alison stopped singing. She literally stopped, turned away from the audience and clutched the mic and mic stand. She was fighting back tears. Alison realized at that very moment that this was it for the Supernature tour and it overwhelmed her. She recovered slightly to try and sing the rest of the song. It was quite a sight to behold. That was the most human and vulnerable moment I had seen Alison and that made the show more personal.
I'll write up a nice story in a bit. I must sleep now.
If this doesn't make you laugh, then you are lost.
Here's another interview from my past that I never had a chance to publish until now. The interview was conducted at Capitol Records offices in Midtown during the sweltering June summer heat of 1996. I still have their single "Girl, Kill Your Boyfriend" sitting in one of my desk drawers. The cover art is funny. There's a giant muscle-bound lady looking ready to kill her boyfriend. So why am I putting this up now? Because I want to. The band is still around. They do have a homepage at the figgs dot net but what I wanted to show was that moment in time when I was sitting in the room with them. I want the reader to feel the urgency, like they did. To feel how it was like then to try and break through all the noise of the late 90s. It was tough -- I don't need to remind you that. Long before MySpace and YouTube, there was just the good 'ol fashioned zine, burgeoning Internet radio and FM rock radio.
********* June, 1996, Capitol Records, New York City
The Figgs
“The main difference is,” says guitarist/vocalist Guy Lyons, “the songs on the last record were really old to us and when we went in to record them, we had already recorded a couple times, they’ve been on other things. Whereas for this record, we went in with a batch of songs that we hardly played out. So, I think maybe the performances are a bit more inspire-sounding. We’re a bit more excited about making this record, I think. Not to say we don’t like Low Fi...”
By this time, the band is fully awake and Gent takes a seat at the empty leather love sofa across from bassist/vocalist Pete Donnelly and drummer Pete Hayes. Donnelly continues where Lyons left off, “It’s just the material was older and it wasn’t fresh to us. And we were a little intimidated, I think. We were working with a big producer; our first record on a major has gotta be right. For this record, our relationship with the label was falling apart. We were on our own so we felt free to just do as we wish and not be worried about anything.”
“Yeah there’s a big difference. I guess Don (Gehman) is...,” says Lyons.
“...successful...,” concludes Gent. Lyons laughs and then eases up to continue, ”...yeah. I think the biggest difference is that for this record we were looking at it as if we were in a partnership with Eric, like we were producing it together. So we both had equal input.” Does this mean The Figgs had a love spat with producer Don Gehman (who also produced R.E.M.’s Life’s Rich Pageant and John Mellencamp’s Scarecrow) on the last album? “No,” says Donnelly. “Various members of the band sat behind the board more (on this) than we did during the Don sessions. Don was more in control of the sounds in the last record. Where (for) this record we told Eric...”
“He knew what he was doing at that time,” finishes Lyons.
Banda Macho is not The Yes Album or a Genesis album. It is 17 songs of fast tempo rock ‘n roll sometimes dabbled in confusion with punk. It’s Beaver Cleaver on acid. “Guy, Mike, and I wrote all the songs for this record,” says Donnelly. All the lyrics are well written and quite sardonic if not tainted with wit. “Whoever sings it wrote it,” says Gent. Donnelly then laughs, “Except for ‘Kiss of Baby’. It’s supposed to be ‘Kiss Off, Baby’. That’s our perfume scent.” The band laughs as we continue to freeze in this corporate ice box. I shouldn’t be complaining. It is after all 70 degrees in midtown Manhattan; and this interview could’ve been conducted in the worst places like on board a tour bus in the middle of a Nor’Easter. Gent suddenly shot up from the sofa and went down on all fours so to talk closer into the recorder. “We try to play different kinds of music. On the next record, it’ll probably be a tango or bossanova.”
The first time I met Mike Gent was back in February when Eve’s Plum performed at the Metro Lounge in Long Branch, New Jersey on Grammy Awards night. Instead of protesting about fucking the alternative music scene or being an usher at the awards, he was the band’s guest guitarist. It was cold that evening, so cold that we found warmth by sitting on top of each other while Amanda Kravat of Marry Me Jane took a snapshot of us. Gent is good friends with lead vocalist Colleen Fitzpatrick and guitarist Mike Kotch of Eve’s Plum and the three are currently doing a studio recording under the guise of The Dirty Mags. “It’s not really a side project,” explains Gent. “Originally it was Colleen and myself and someone else but Mike was into playing it and was a better guitarist. The Dirty Mags is a go-go band. These two (pointing at Donnelly and Hayes) were making out with models.” Donnelly grins as he looks to me in order to validate his integrity. “I worked on another record.” For every band that is friends with another band, there has to be enemies. It’s part of the food chain of the entertainment industry. “Out of a lot of people who like us there’s probably 3x’s as many people who hate us. I overheard someone say ‘Ah, I know The Figgs. You either go to see them or you’re fucking them,” says Gent.
“The N.Y. press hates us,” continues Donnelly. “I don’t really understand why ‘cause I don’t feel like we’re that forward enough even to be hated. I don’t hate something unless it’s so obviously set up or contrived. I don’t think we’re a contrived band. I guess somebody thinks we are. We’re not just thrown together to be a style. We’re a real band.” Donnelly suddenly had this look of anger that was dormant at the start of the interview. They’re intimidated by the press that seems to act fickle whenever a concert review is written about them. The group is still in search of real success. They want to see an empty spot where their c.d. is suppose to be in the bands-that-start-in-the-letter-F section. They also don’t mind hearing their tracks on the radio every so often.
“I want my career to last. I don’t need to be a huge star. If we sell tons of records, I wouldn’t be complaining. Capitol wants us to sell tons of records. But I just want a career.
"I mean, we put 17 songs on there and the label thought it was a little long but we didn’t put out a record for two years. We thought people should have just a little bit more.”
Banda Macho does not disappoint rockers who like to swing to songs like ”Blame it all Senseless,” “Girl, Kill Your Boyfriend,” and “FTMU”. It’s hard to say that The Figgs sound like Elvis Costello or The Clash or even Joe Jackson. They are not Live. The Figgs can’t be classified. “That is the most intelligent thing I’ve heard all day,” compliments Hayes about my comment on their sound.
“I don’t want to tour with super tough guy bands. I want a band that attracts girls as well as guys. I couldn’t take it if we’re playing in front of a pit full of 14 year-old boys (band laughs). It’s weird, man.
“I don’t feel macho enough to do it,” answers Lyons. “That’s why we called the album Banda Macho,” exudes Hayes.
So what is the problem with listeners today? “I think the problem is they say producers make hits and that’s what people believe. But the band makes the hits. I don’t know. If labels allow bands to be more of themselves, then the music would be more dimensional,” says Donnelly. One thing is for certain about The Figgs, they might never have an opportunity to record out of sheer freedom again like they had with this c.d. “A good example is the Beck song ‘Loser’. He did that by himself on like a four-track or something and it sounds good enough. But the thing that everybody remembered was the song,” says Lyons.
“And people pretty much identify with feel and lyrics,” concludes Donnelly. “That was one of our goals. It just didn’t sound like any other record out today.” “We just didn’t want to sound like another band from L.A.,” laughs Gent as we spent the remainder of the interview trying to figure out what songs Elvis Presley would’ve covered if he were alive today. The guys started singing Temple of the Dog’s ‘Hunger Strike’ in Presley faux pas. Scary.
**********
Click here to see where The Figgs will perform. They will be at CMJ this year. See their schedule for details. They will have a new studio album out on Nov 14, 2006 called Follow Jean Through the Sea.
If I were to write a memorial to the death of the Tower Records music store chain, it would read something like this...
Out of all the record stores I have ever shopped in -- from your HMVs to Sam Goodie; from fye to Musicland -- your record store was the only record store high on my mind. You had everything and more. Whenever I needed a vinyl version of a musician's release, I would definitely find it at Tower. Sometimes, I would walk into the Lincoln Center store and just browse. But every time I did that, I always seemed to find myself buying something. Last Fall when Mute released Goldfrapp's Supernature
Its sad to see you go, but hopefully your spirit of being the best music store will live on.
I am absolutely certain that people have seen this video. But if not, then be prepared to laugh because it is that funny.
This is probably one of the best love letter songs to NY. Just watch and enjoy.
Ok. Maybe you have noticed that Tom - the MySpace web manager - took down the original clip. Apparently, that midget dance clip was viewed over 2.1 million times. But after popular demand, Tom allowed to upload the clip again; albeit slightly edited at the beginning and end. Its too bad they had to edit the end because that's what did it for me -- the midget taking a slow drag off his cigarette. Priceless.
Here's the edited dance clip:
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
And now, watch the continuing saga where the dancing midget climbs a man via his tie (not kidding) and bitch slaps him.
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
I wish MySpace had a better codec. It looks like the little man is cockeyed.
While visiting the Goldfrapp message board, I encountered a post about Mute posting on You Tube footage from Goldfrapp's Eden Project concert. I am six days away from seeing this band live again in NYC. If there's one thing I'm jealous of, its the fact that people got to see Alison wear that cat mask and matching gold outfit during this song at Eden Project. Lucky bastards!
Oh, and for an awesome quality version of the performance, click here.
I don't know the name of the movie this clip comes from (if you do, please share). Its posted on someone's MySpace page and made it on TV Week's Daily Viral Video roundup.
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Looks like early Bollywood (the boombox and choice of music gave it away).
Well, I'm starting to get a little excited. I wonder if she'll sing "Utopia" again? I missed the Irving Plaza show back in May so hopefully at this show, she's ready to just let it all out.
What's been weird about this tour in support of Supernature is the fact that the band hasn't done a truly worldwide tour. Not like the one they did for Black Cherry. They spanned the globe for that one. If there was one place that didn't get a gig, it was an ice cave in Antarctica.
I bought the limited edition 7" vinyl single called "Satin Boys, Flaming Chic". Yes, I do have a turntable and it works fine. If you care, its a Gerrard turntable with an automatic arm. Its my father's. He also has a Thorens belt-driven turntable. That one sucks because the belt is worn out -- damn thing keeps slipping after playing one side.
Ahhh, and I found this on iFilm. This is the song that made me a Goldfrapp fan for life - "Tiptoe".
And now 16 days away...
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