Cost In Translation
Last summer, Universal Music Group -- the largest of the five
corporations that produce most of the music we hear -- made
headlines by cutting the list price of its labels’ CDs by
about 30 percent. Universal CDs now retail for between $10 and $13,
which should pressure other labels to follow suit. Universal
officials said the decision was in part an attempt to stem the tide
of illegal downloading. But is slashing the price of an album
enough to entice a typical downloader away from Kazaa?
“There’s no question that a third to half of the
decline in album sales is directly attributable to
downloading,” says Russ Crupnick, vice president of the NPD
Group, a marketing-information firm. “When we ask consumers
why they’re buying less music, price is at the top of the
list every single time.”
By Greg Milner; Spin Staff 11.18.03 4:00 AM
Anarchy In The A.C.
“Thank you, Donald Dump, for letting us play your
castle!” Johnny Rotten snarled as the Sex Pistols stormed the
Grand Cayman ballroom of the Trump Marina in Atlantic City. Rotten
may not be the firebrand he was back in 1978, but as hunched old
ladies pumped quarter after quarter into the nearby slots, the fact
that the punk legend was stirring up some genuine anger under the
gold plastic chandeliers almost made us forget that Creedence
Clearwater Revisited had played this wedding-friendly venue the
previous night (and that someone held up a lighter during
“God Save the Queen”). Have the Pistols become a sad,
spent oldies act, or are they still relevant? We turned to the
crowd for answers.
By Marc Spitz, and Elizabeth Goodman; Spin Staff 11.17.03 4:00 AM
Pink's Not Dead
Pink looks great today, with her bleached hair slicked back and a
belt buckle that says Kick Ass. She’s more curvy and
womanly these days and speaks with a confidence that’s
reflected on her new record, Try This. Two years ago,
fighting the R&B-diva mold her label had contrived for her,
Pink went multiplatinum with the dance-rock Missundaztood,
on which she collaborated with her then-obscure idol, Linda Perry
of 4 Non Blondes. But after aborting sessions with Perry, Pink, 24,
found a new creative partner in Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, who
cowrote and produced nine tracks on Try This, which
continues her stylistic pastiche of soul, gospel, rock, rap, and
disco. Don’t worry, though: As she admits, lighting up a
Newport, “I’m not that fucking evolved.”
By Kate Sullivan; Spin Staff 11.17.03 4:00 AM
Bam On The Run
If you’re going to be drinking with Brandon “Bam”
Margera, watch what you say. One night this summer, Margera was at
a bar near his suburban West Chester, Pennsylvania, home when he
heard his Jackass coconspirator Ryan Dunn shooting off his
mouth. “He was talking all kinds of shit,” says
Margera, 24, in his hyperactive Philly accent, “saying that
if he was in Iceland tomorrow, he’d go over this waterfall in
a barrel. So I went home and straight-up bought tickets, and we
left the next morning. He pussies out for like three hours until
finally he was like, ‘Dude, you spent seven grand flying us
out here!’ and he powered it out and did it. And then we just
went home.”
By Andy Greenwald; Spin Staff 11.14.03 4:00 AM
Six Steps To Godlike Genius
I’m the greatest songwriter of my generation. Granted, most
of my material falls outside the conventional parameters of
mainstream FM radio fare -- I like to fuse my country-tinged reggae
with progressive Tejano metal -- but the songs themselves are
flawless nuggets of pure pop perfection. I like to drag the
listener through a mystical portal, deep into a subterranean
consciousness that he or she never knew existed. I like to make
audiences confront love and hate simultaneously. I like to bring
the darkness with extreme prejudice.
By Chuck Klosterman; Spin Staff 11.12.03 4:00 AM
I’m the greatest songwriter of my generation. Granted, most
of my material falls outside the conventional parameters of
mainstream FM radio fare -- I like to fuse my country-tinged reggae
with progressive Tejano metal -- but the songs themselves are
flawless nuggets of pure pop perfection. I like to drag the
listener through a mystical portal, deep into a subterranean
consciousness that he or she never knew existed. I like to make
audiences confront love and hate simultaneously. I like to bring
the darkness with extreme prejudice.
Bands to Watch: The Stills
Little-known fact: Every rock group has a puker. “I talked to
a lot of bands when we were playing [England’s] Reading
Festival,” says Stills bassist Oliver Crowe, “and
I’d say 70 percent of them puke before a show from
nervousness. Take Julian of the Strokes.”
By Christine Muhlke; Spin Staff 11.11.03 4:00 AM
Little-known fact: Every rock group has a puker. “I talked to
a lot of bands when we were playing [England’s] Reading
Festival,” says Stills bassist Oliver Crowe, “and
I’d say 70 percent of them puke before a show from
nervousness. Take Julian of the Strokes.”
