Search Results for: higher power

Radio remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available to the recording industry, despite skyrocketing costs of gaining access to the airwaves via independent promoters. While word-of-mouth, video and Internet brush fires occasionally catapult unknowns to stardom, radio remains the most reliable and efficient means of enticing listeners to record stores. Yet many fans surfing the airwaves are far from satisfied. The complaint: Consolidation has made radio even more cookie-cutter bland, with narrow, unimaginative playlists. Demographic targeting and audience testing eliminate variety, stifle regionalism and foist the least objectionable music on the public. Failing to recognize that an individual’s… Read more »

Bennett Zier has a fine idea for a new radio format. His eyes light up as he tells you about it. “We play Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bobby Darin,” he says. “The great thing about it is what we call it. You ready?” He pauses. “Vegas Radio! Is that great or what?” Zier can imagine the whole scene – the deejays, the jingles, the ironic retro-swinger patter. It’s his music, the kind he plays in his car. He’s in love with this idea, and with his natural salesman’s charm, he’s making you love it, too. So why doesn’t… Read more »

The Dave Matthews Band hit the third city of its spring tour Sunday, settling into the sold-out FleetCenter for the front half of the run’s first two-night stand. But despite big-screen video action, the pacing and atmosphere onstage seemed more barroom than arena. The group took its time between songs and frontman Matthews asked fans, “Are you enjoying yourselves?” with the laconic drawl of his Virginia club days. The predominately young crowd eventually slipped into a similar vibe as the Matthews Band delivered a two-and-a-half-hour concert that was largely mellow and favored newer material. Widely bootlegged songs from 2000’s scrapped… Read more »

There is no part of a Femi Kuti show that doesn’t thrill or educate. It’s a whirlwind of African percussion, and American funk and soul married in a most danceable state by a colorfully dressed ensemble, with Kuti overseeing the maelstrom with either a saxophone or a set of dictum-weighted lyrics. His act, drawing heavily on material from his second album for MCA,”Fight to Win,” continues to set the bar for the term “first-rate” with new music that is loaded with colors softer than the ones found on his debut, “Shoki Shoki,” or in the Afrobeat music of his late… Read more »

Stevie Wonder was the surprise musical guest at the all-star Wave Of Peace smooth jazz fundraising show on Sunday (October 14) at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. His appearance prompted an already highly charged audience to leap to its feet. Accompanying himself on piano during one of the last sets of the three-hour show, Wonder launched into some straight-ahead jazz variations on “Giant Steps” before playing compositions like “Overjoyed” and “Ribbon In The Sky.” Wonder was the only previously unannounced guest on a bill packed with smooth jazz greats. The event was organized by saxophonist Dave Koz and… Read more »

Following much hemming and boatload of hawing, all is set in stone for Weezer’s many-moons-in-the-making third album. Produced by Ric Ocasek, The Green Album will drop as planned on May 15th, it’s cover art closely resembling that of the band’s eponymous debut (lovingly called “The Blue Album”) – a picture of the foursome against a solid backdrop. The nod to their 1994 nerd-core breakthrough is no doubt intentional, a clear signal that Rivers Cuomo and Co. have returned, at least in part, to the signature neo-New Wave sound somewhat absent from 1996’s poorer-selling second album, Pinkerton. According to a posting… Read more »