The Cold Cut

Some very scary and mind blowing events took place over the last few days. It has rapidly dawned on me that these next few weeks will be the end of an era. Just over a month today, I will be leaving school, and wont have anything to really work for any more. It's both exciting and frightening. Luckily, I've secured a brilliant placement for my gap year with IBM (in short- dream job), and have also lined up some work experience with a certain car manufacturer (a clue: initials AM) for summer 2009.

I had my first A2 exam yesterday: M1, or mechanics, something that I should really be good at considering its the basis of my degree (mechanical engineering). I thought it went well, and now I must get back to the pile of work/job stuff that is building up in my room.

Anyway, I must apologise for my lack of inspiration or originality lately: I'm right in the thick of exam revision, and compiling a mixtape or trawling through my inbox is proving a bit time-consuming. However, my mid-term break is coming up on Saturday, and I have nine days to do loads of work and infuse this blog with some much needed inventiveness.

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Lupe Fiasco- The Coolest Vs. Let There Be Light (Justice Remix) (Link 2)
Lupe Fiasco- Lu Yourself (Link 2)

'Cross' and 'The Cool' were two of my favourite albums last year. I love Lupe Fiasco. I love Justice. Therefore nothing in the music world is as exciting as the prospect of Justice remixing the whole of Lupe's amazing second album. The above song is just the tip of the iceberg...

“I’m remixing the album with Justice, I’m gonna shout out to Justice”. It's comforting that the two outfits are working closely together, so the material can be treated with respect.

I've also included a Lupe rarity: Lupe is currently on the 'Glow In The Dark' tour, opening in front of N.E.R.D., Rihanna and Kanye West. Reviews have been varied: the general consensus is that Kanye's ego is growing a little too big even for a stage to accommodate (hence his solo performance... no backing singers etc.) and that Lupe Fiasco is a legend in the making. 'Lu Myslef' clarifies that fact: Lupe raps over Eminem's hit, exercising his huge lyrical wit:

"Since you don't have half the stance like an amputee, You don't have half the pants that it takes to command a family, a fan, or command a fee... So you will never get the ransom you demand from me! The goodnews' my foot's loose, my hands are free."

[Buy]

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The Hold Steady- Sequestered In Memphis (Link 2)

A few days ago, The Hold Steady released their first single- 'Sequestered In Memphis'- from their forthcoming album 'Stay Positive'. This single shows no sign of progression, but really, do The Hold Steady need to change?

'Stay Positive' is more a message for the band than for their fans. They will need comforting when few people buy the album, regardless of the fact that they're one of the best bands making music at the moment.

[Buy]

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Beck- Chemtrails (Link 2)

I haven't always been a Beck fan, 'Odelay' was the sound of undistilled talent, and a couple of tunes on his recent album were quite quirky. However, barring that, I don't agree with the view held by many of my contemporaries- that he is a genius.

'Chemtrails' highlights an eerie new direction; already miles away from the fun and games of 'Cellphones Dead'. The best way to describe this song would be 'ethereal': I felt like I was wading through it (in a good way). After a few plays it has done considerable work in bringing me over to the dark side.

[Buy]

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Vampire Weekend- Campus (Rostam Batmanglij version) (Link 2)

Unreleased demos always cause a ruckus when they're set free: however, rarely are they superior to the studio version's. It's an interesting fact that in the recording process, 'Campus' has had something taken away from it. The strings arrangements on the album version are inferior, and the atmosphere of a uni campus on a summer's day is swiftly put across by the softer vocals.

And the most important thing this points out is that their self titled debut could have been even better. A scary thought.

[Buy]

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Cool Stuff

1. If you weren't aware of Datpiff, head over there right now. It is far and away the best place to find up and coming hip hop, rap and RnB artists, and the great part is that all the music is free. I have rediscovered some great artists, and am getting into new ones (Wale's '100 Miles And Running'- Highly recommended).

2. Coldplay are the centrepiece of the new iTunes advert, and it's breathtaking. With the soundtrack of 'Viva La Vida', the band perform in marching band style, complete with Apple's tell tale visuals. 'Viva La Vida- Exclusive On iTunes'.

Probably for the first time ever on The Cold Cut, I get to combine two of my greatest passions: music, and Apple. And before I hear numerous cries of 'Fanboy!', let me state my case. Just a few days ago, Apple's computer market share broke 8%. Their shares now lie at somewhere around $200, when but a year ago they were valued at $80. They've produced some of the most iconic products of the last decade (iPhone, iPod, iMac, Macbook (Pro)). So what's not to love?

As I sit in my room, writing this potentially important post on my Macbook Pro, I can't help thinking what this means for the music industry. If the rumours are true, Apple will be launching their own music label with Jay-Z, possibly at Macworld 08 (15th January onwards). Jay is a great partner - after stepping down as CEO from Def Jam, possibly one of the most successful hip-hop labels in existence- and Apple already hold one of the most important cards: iTunes.

Many music labels already look upon iTunes as 'the enemy', after Apple made music legally available over the net, at low prices. Since online music sales beg an to rise, the format in which music is sold has rapidly changed. Could Apple, and Jay-Z, be the ones to work out the winning formula? Given their track record, almost definitely.

Here's a little celebratory Jay-Z track:

Jay-Z- Encore

In the age of iTunes and MySpace, I think it's easy to lose appreciation of what buying music is all really about. My iTunes library currently stands at a paltry 17.69 GB, something which I am not proud of and am trying to fix at the moment (my iPod died a few weeks ago, along with all the music contained on it)... However, if you were to convert that 17.69 Gigabytes of music into CDs, you might be shocked at how much tuneage that actually is. Going on the assumption that each CD is 12 tracks, and on average each track on a CD is 3 megabytes, I would own approximately 500 CDs. That's a lot of CDs, and yet 15 GB is a normal amount of music to own nowadays... is that good? Or bad? My opinion falls to the former- that's not to say I haven't noticed that more and more purists are complaining about mp3s, stating they can't compare to CDs or vinyls. Although this is essentially an mp3 blog, to a certain extent they are correct.

I can see certain things about mp3's that don't match up to CDs: you don't get sleeve notes, a CD case or the anticipation of going out to buy a new release. However, the positives for mp3's more than outweigh the negatives. First and foremost, they are cheaper- £7.99 for an album is way cheaper than in the stores, and this is applied across the board on iTunes, regardless of album length. On top of this, buying an mp3 is incredibly easy: just search, click and download. Also, on most online music stores you can see interactive charts and reviews, which give you an idea of what's good and what's bad. Another great thing is that mp3s can be bought individually- if you like one song from an album you don't have to buy the whole thing to get it. Finally, for the space conscious of you, the only thing mp3s take up is your computer's hard drive. Of course, this also applies to the machine's which play them- when I see my old CD player in my cupboard I can't help but laugh- imagine carrying around 500 CDs with you every time you go out for a run! An mp3 player? Small and pocketable, solely because mp3s are infinitesimally small (aka non-existent)...

And there you go- because mp3s are non-existent in the sense of the word, you don't get any feeling of their size or quantity. For this exact reason, I want 30 gigabytes of music when my current 17 is enough to fill up a sizeable space in the real world. But does this bother me? Nah, not really- long live the mp3! The cheaper, better sounding, more efficient way of listening to music... and just for the unconvinced of you, some tracks from my iTunes library:

Basement Jaxx- Good Luck
Cold War Kids- Hang Me Up To Dry
Guillemots- We're Here
Justice Vs. Simian- We Are Your Friends
Mark Ronson- Oh My God
Our Lady Peace- Somewhere Out There
Rilo Kiley- It's A Hit
The Rakes- Suspicious Eyes

In a move confirmed today by some of Apple's iTunes representatives, the Apple music store will see lower prices for albums across the board. After an announcement yesterday that Universal would not be continuing their partnership with Apple, there must have been some nervousness in the Apple headquarters. It seems the announcement that many albums' prices will be lowered to around 6 dollars could not have come at a better time.

Artists who will be selling cheaper albums include LCD Soundsystem, Peter, Bjorn and John and Hot Chip, and I'm certain we will see many more music labels signing up over the next few weeks. As an added bonus, some of the tracks are iTunes Plus, so there is no DRM. This- and the fact that the albums are cheaper than you would find them in a bargain bin- will only help to close iTunes hold on the internet music market. So if you're contemplating puchasing a new album over the next few weeks, check out iTunes before you head down to your overpriced local record store...