Neil Young took down his albums from streaming last week, and this is absolutely his right and I am not disagreeing with it. But what I will say is this: since Apple Play and Itunes, to the best of my knowledge, use the same audio files, how is his music still available on Itunes?
t’s not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.
It’s about sound quality. I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don’t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It’s bad for my music.
The Monsanto Years – Neil Young And And Promise Of The Real – From “Harvest” to “Harvest Moon” to “Wolf Moon”, this isn’t the devolution we have been promised but rather a wildly eccentric rock and folk mash up, that works better than anything Young has done since Psychedelic Pill. Even the seven minute song that gives the album its title is a goodie, plus it is politically smart – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – B+
He announced his bid for the presidency with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’. What. a. joke. Except it is not one! How could a climate-change-denier pro-war billionaire think a second he could be associated with Young, the most liberal hippie of all our rock stars, who has constantly written anti-war, anti-establishment, pro-earth and pro-peace songs?
‘If you don’t like to rock Starbucks, a coffee shop/Well, you better change your station ’cause that ain’t all that we got/Yeah, I want a cup of coffee, but I don’t want a GMO/I like to start my day off without helping Monsanto/Monsanto/Let our farmers grow/What they want to grow’
This article on Yahoo by David Pogue basically says that the Pono Player recently launched by Neil Young is not really worth it. I have never tried it so
I was so surprised to see that 71-year-old Joni Mitchell becoming the new face for Yves Saint Laurent. The 70’s folk legend was photographed by Hedi Slimane for the designer’s ongoing music project, which has previously featured Ariel Pink, Courtney Love, Kim Gordon and Marilyn Manson
Today, there is certainly a lot of mediocrity, any American Idol, X Factor product is an example for me! But at the same time, there is a lot of excellent music, it is just harder to find it because of the enormous amount of bands formed every year and songs released each day!
2014 was the year of pop, the entire world, hip hop, rap, country, r&b, rock and roll was a no show, were the hand servants of pop music meets everything under the sun. Artistry will get you so far and no furthe, money talks in a consumer society and money wanted beats and bops. And got it. Not a good year, a little unexciting.
This is how I like Neil Young, mad at the entire human species, wearing an Earth shirt, and singing a protest song to save the planet… ‘Who’s Gonna Stand Up?
And I happen to know that he’s hanging out with somebody that’s a purely poisonous predator now. And that’s karma. He’s gonna get hurt. But I understand why it happened. I’m just sad about it. I’m always sad when I see love get tossed in the gutter.’
‘Is that Neil Young?’ asked me a guy entering the studio at the same time ‘Yes! And it’s unbelievable!’ I answered. No it wasn’t unbelievable that Neil was there for his daughter’s first solo art show in Los Angeles, but it was unbelievable that I was there, among all these people. Amber was attending, of course, as was Pegi, her mother, and even Stephen Stills showed up
For better or worse, I’ve started on a book about 1970s popular music. I plan is to write about 10 entries a day, which means I should have the first draft done sometime in December. I’ve divided each year into pop, rock, soul, and country. Here’s my first 12 rock entries from 1970.
Katy Perry – Barclay Center – July 25th, 2014 – Modern pop musics big sister plays hit after hit with a sort of las vegas meets ancient Egypt motif, just to prove lost love ain’t lost life and roaring is easy if you try hard enough.
The event has released its 2014 line up and surprise!! Jack White is on board. The ghastly man who is the color of milk fed veal will bring his sound to Raleigh North Carolina s Walnut Creek Amphitheater on September 13th.
Cheeseburger In Paradise – Jimmy Buffett – No, he isn’t a a vegetarian though he has a veggie burger on the menu on the menu plus, how can you hear this damn song without wanting one? A big hunk of meat!! – A
When I saw him perform this Phil Ochs song at Carnegie Hall, it was a very moving experience. But this dumb ass concept, recording it in a “Voice-O-Graph” from 1947, you know, like the one Presley recorded his first vinyl on and gave it as a gift to his mama. That one. Anyway, it is OK listening to him so lo-tech but it sounded better at Carnegie Hall – B+
This record gets the Best Supporting Cast award for 1970. Motown legends Holland/Dozier/Holland wrote the tune under a lawsuit avoiding pseudonym and The Funk Brothers played on the track. Ray Parker, Jr., who was still attending classes at Detroit’s Northwestern High School, played lead guitar.
The Wonder Years – Best Buy Theater – April 17th, 2014 – The sound of Young America trying to make sense of a world of diminished expectations and social desperation, sung by 20 somethings just a little bit wiser than their teenage fans.
Anything interesting here? Lessee Afghan Whigs, Woods, Eels (Eel’s release too much music, you can never catch up), Rodney Crowell, G Love… Relax, I’m joking about G. Love, Margot & The Nuclear So and Sos, The Pains Of being Pure At Heart, Neil Young… Neil Young? Apparently.
The True Groove Allstars – The Cutting Room – March 11th, 2014 – Lead by Tomas Doncker and featuring astounding turns by Charlie Funk and James Chance, it put the band and label right at the center of the map.
In 2012 I watched Neil play a heavy duty no nonsense Crazy Horse gig at MSG and my ears are still ringing, so take it from me folks, he didn’t need to do the Carnegie Hall gigs. Listening to him sing “A Man Needs A Maid” in 2014 takes me back to being a teenager and also, its soft strange beauty puts me at ease. It’s like not all memories end up with a bad ending.
for him listening to an mp3 is like listening to music underwater at 1000ft, while listening to a CD is just a bit better (being underwater at 200 feet) whereas with Pono (meaning righteous in Hawaiian), with its 192KHz/24bit, it is like getting out of water. Do you mean I have been doing scuba diving during all these years?
Don Giovanni Showcase – Music Hall Of Williamsburg – February 7th, 2014 – A veritable who’s who of power punk 2014, lead by the unquestionable brilliance of Shellshag, with supergroup Upset in the middle and Worriers at the top of the evening. If they have begun at 730pm instead of 830pm I could have caught Laura Stevenson as well.
Neil Young – Carnegie Hall – January 6th, 2014 – Once in a lifetime concert, as Neil Young fuses his greatest moment in the sun with a set of of his folk rock masterpieces from the early 1970s. It was one of those shows where anybody who was there will never forget it and anybody who waa there should be grateful.
The feeling was a quietly vibrating, exuberant joy, one characterized not by hysteria, volume, or grandiosity, but by gentle, light, yet still extreme, beauty. And I can’t stress enough how much feeling was present in that room
Him and Bruce and Jack and Bono: they all hate people, they hate em even when they are playing charity gigs for em, they’ve all been around for so long it is too hard to even feign indifference. Indifference is too much for Neil Young, Jack won’t even speak to the audience at an encore. Neil does it through gritted teeth but Jack just wants to deal with the proles when they are delivering his pizza after the show.
The week belonged to Neil Young, whose four night stint at Carnegie Hall will be long remembered by any one who saw it as a journey through his greatest music and a treat for fans of the great rocker.
A huge improvement, that may be the best concert first four songs Neil has ever played, and what’s better for the audience, he didn’t drop a song, indeed he also played “Birds” and the first set was 12 songs instead of 10 songs.
Loser – Governor’s Ball – What are these guys thinking of? After the disastrous early June Randall’s Island festival last year, with Friday a complete disaster (Best Coast best quote: “This fucking sucks”), and a doubling up on the headliner on Saturday which lead to overcrowding plus a nightmare of mud and ruined shoes, they have the audacity to try it again in 2014
Love Child – Diana Ross And the Supremes – A bastards story but also a Motown classic, sends me back to the back of my dad’s Jag on a Sunday afternoon driving back from Blackpool – A+
Iz you Down – Kid Ink, Tyga – Kid Ink is pretty good but Tyga remains a major annoyance, the two don’t rap well together and while the beats are good somebody forgot a memorable chorus – C
Wandering around the stage, touching his guitars, he seems to be thinking about his musical history, really from around 1966 – 1972 and playing it at the same time.Last night was the first of a four night stand and rumor has it he will be playing different sets each night. I hope not.
Harvest Moon – Neil Young – An answer song to not “Harvest” but “Heart Of Gold” where the heart is found and has been lived with for many a long year – A-
I know you think it should be Neil Young but my feeling is John Newman is gonna be brilliant on Thursday at Bowery Ballroom. Completely sold out of course, but that’s because everybody is ready for the new soul rebel who has fronted a couple of Rudimental’s best song and whose own album is about to release Stateside.
I wish Young was playing with Crazy Horse and not, as appears to be the case, solo. While an acoustic set might work like a ringing bell in this acoustic cathedrl, he has been so great electric I wanna hear that
