Ooh, I’m slightly annoyed after submitting a few questions for a Q&A session (in Norwegian, if you’re so inclined) on a local site today with Ragnar Bjerkreim, a board member of TONO, the Norwegian Performing Right Society, and leader of NOPA, the Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists. Today’s session was about the record industry and file-sharing.

Admittedly, no matter how much you try to avoid it, you look somewhat like a member of the Green Ink Brigade posting questions for these Q&A sessions, forced into asking multiple questions in a slew, unable to format them in a sensible manner on a lousy submit form. Nevertheless, I think his answers were foggy and evasive to the point that I suspect he didn’t even understand my questions. Or maybe he just didn’t have any real answers. I sure don’t — that’s why I asked him.

My questions:

• What do you think the future will look like? Do you think it is possible to agree on international technology laws to effectively put a stop to illegal file-sharing?
• If so, how are we going to avoid affecting the democratic and legal exchange of information […] on the web in a negative way with this kind of legislation?
• Is it alright to sacrifice parts of this democratic and legal exchange of information in order to protect commercial interests, or do you rather consider these aspects to be unrelated? If so, why aren’t they related?
• And finally: Do you think recorded music is permanently devalued, or is it possible to regain the commercial value of recorded music in a reality where — if technology continues to evolve at the pace we’ve seen so far — we will be able to get all music that has ever been recorded onto our iPods in 20 years’ time?

Granted, the general direction of these questions is somewhat colored by my own views. I’m trying to force him into a trap. I’m also taking for granted that introducing new technology legislation implies restricting the use of file-sharing tools, which is totally relevant in regards to the ongoing Pirate Bay trial. But maybe I wasn’t clear enough after all.

Here are Ragnar’s answers that pissed me off a little bit. Not much, but enough to put it on my blog. He probably answered a lot of questions within a limited timeframe, but I say that doesn’t excuse him from actually reading the questions. My comments in parentheses, if you were wondering:

• It’s hard to say what the future will look like (No shit. Stupid me for asking)
• Your questions include several assumptions that I don’t agree with (?)
• It’s allowed to share files that are not copyrighted  (Yes it is, but I didn’t ask)
• It’s not a democratic right to walk into a book store or a music store and take whatever you want and not pay for it (No it isn’t, no one said it was. I asked how we could avoid affecting the democratic and legal exchange of information with new laws)
• As time goes by, I’m sure new and better technical formats will come along, where you can choose whether you want to own or rent your music (?!?)

None the wiser, then. He answered my first question, I’ll give him that.

A little bit about my viewpoint: I’m all for finding viable solutions that will ensure that the artist gets paid for his/her work, but to be honest I’m more worried about the potential implications of new technology laws for me as a regular web user.

I can upload my holiday videos to YouTube. I distribute my music (I’m an amatur musician) to last.fm, iLike or any other service that is willing to host my music. I’m a total publicity whore. I write this blog to express myself, and I upload all of my pictures to Flickr. I don’t use BitTorrent — but I might as well have uploaded my pictures to the web using a BitTorrent-client if that was my preference, it’s still totally legal.

To my knowledge, everything I do on the web is legal. But at the same time I could easily have used either of these services to upload large amounts of illegal content, copyrighted material for which no permission has been obtained. As, indeed, many do.

The way I see it, if you’re ever going to reduce the amount of illegal sharing on the web, you inevitably have to reduce a lot of the perfectly legal sharing that is going on all over the web, because the tools are the same. For every paragraph I publish, for every song I make available to the public, for every video I upload, I could have chosen to do something illegal - I could have copied a large portion of someone else’s book onto my blog, I could have uploaded the latest Britney Spears album to the web using my ftp-software (not really, I don’t have it)… anyway, you get the idea.

It worries me. How are they going to stop all those “pirates” and all those “thieves” without bothering me and my legal web habits? I just don’t think it’s possible, and I don’t think the entertainment industry cares about how their crusade affects me and my internet habits. I am skeptical of the entertainment industry, the right holders and their motives at large. I’m worried about how their endless search for petty cash may ultimately harm the web. Most of all, I’m skeptical because of the way they have treated fans, developers, technological innovation, competition, thieves, bands and musicians in the past.

That being said, I have no sympathy for self-righteous people who assume that it is their God-given right to get things for free either.

Yes! Yes! As some of you may know, I’m a “recording” artist, and some time ago I signed up for last.fm’s royalty program. That means that every time someone streams my music on last.fm, I make a little bit of money. I’m all for transparency and being open towards my fans and all that, so please let me share my revenues with you so far (not share share of course, just share as in… well, you know, show you the numbers… I’m not stupid or anything):

So you see, it’s no joke. I’m actually making money off my music. And I want more! Dear fans, you’re wonderful, you’re beautiful. I love you all. Now off you go, off to my artist page on last.fm to help me make more money. Stream my music as if there was no tomorrow. Support the my art. $ee you soon.

From Times Online:

EMI, the troubled music group, is close to appointing a little-known Italian executive from the consumer goods industry to run its recorded music division.

Guy Hands, chairman at EMI, is in the process of poaching Elio Leoni Sceti from Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer products giant behind brands such as Cillit Bang, Veet hair remover and Finish dishwasher tablets.

Cillit Bang and Veet hair remover - how appropriate. They just fired 1500 employees this spring, and by the look of it they plan to continue with their spring cleaning well into the summer and beyond.

My guess is that Hands is planning to get rid of the entire recorded music division. The money is in the publishing division of EMI and they’re losing big time on their recorded music investments at the time.

Steve Lukather on his website a couple of days ago: “The fact is yes I have left Toto. There is no more Toto. I told the guys before the last leg of our tour.”

I used to be a big Toto fan, so I’m kinda sad to see them go, but I totally understand him. David Paich was out of the band, the Porcaro brothers were out - it wasn’t really Toto anymore anyway, even though Bobby Kimball was back on vocals. It must be a great relief for mr. Lukather to finally call it quits.

Toto lost me around 1991-92, after the release of “Kingdom of Desire.” Jeff Porcaro died, that was a major blow, of course. And after Joseph Williams had to leave the band in the late 1980s, followed by the disastrous Jean-Michel Byron experiment, they were left with Steve Lukather as their lead singer - and, although a decent ballad singer, his voice isn’t very strong. And I absolutely hated “Kingdom of Desire.” They never really recovered after that. Not for me, anyway.

My favorite Toto period was probably the Joseph Williams “era”, “Fahrenheit” (1986) and “The Seventh One” (1988). I loved those albums when I was a teenager.

By the way, I enjoyed Lukather’s honesty in his recent announcement: “I really cant go out and play Hold the Line with a straight face anymore. I was 19 when we cut the record. I am 50 now.”

The fans apparently didn’t like it very much (he had to retract the statement after a couple of days) but seriously, who can blame him? I’m pretty sure he’s not the only musician who feels that way about his old stuff. I mean, artists should be allowed to grow sick of their own material. Even if their fans still love it. Even if it has turned them into wealthy men. Especially after 30 years. I guess the problem is that most of the Toto fans really loved those early albums. So the band wasn’t really in tune with their fans anymore - another good reason to split up, I guess.

Besides, what separates Steve Lukather’s recent solo album, “Ever Changing Times” (2008) from anything Toto did the last 15 years. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So, nothing lost then, really? I don’t think so, not at this stage. But so long, Toto, and thanks for all the fish.

Visit Popdose, one of my favorite places on the internet, on Thursday and find out what’s happening!

…that We Are Scientists are the new Rubinoos until I just played the last track on their new album!

The bass, the vocalists singing the melody parallelly in two octaves, the guitar fills, the rich background vocals - it’s pretty similar. Not similar as in "Girlfriend" vs. "Boyfriend" mind you, but the Rubinoos-style is definitely recognizable.

The track in question, "That’s What Counts", is softer than anything else We Are Scientists have ever recorded, at least to my knowledge, and that’s probably why the Rubinoos suddenly came to mind. But once I made the connection, I see quite a lot of similarities between the sound of the two bands.

The tracks are available for streaming here: "That’s What Counts" by We Are Scientists and "The Magic’s Back" by The Rubinoos. And, I may add, I do like the new We Are Scientists album. It’s more diverse than the first, but it still has plenty of punch. It’s called "Brain Thrust Mastery" and was released in March 2008 on Virgin.

If you’re reading this a few weeks from now the tracks are probably gone. Sorry.

Dear God. Here I am, sitting unsuspectingly in my garden enjoying the evening sun when all of a sudden I’m hearing "Animal" booming from a massive soundstage somewhere downtown in this sleepy, little village on the west coast of Norway.

I’m rushing in to grab my computer and find out what the hell is going on. And you’ll never guess who’s coming to town - my town - for a Classic Rock Festival this week: Def Leppard. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Thin Lizzy. Roger Hodgson. Slade. Mott the Hoope and Rod Stewart!

Robert! Rod is here! Why didn’t he tell me he was coming? Why didn’t he warn me? I need to go dig up my old toy trains right away.

Anyway, after rubbing my eyes (and ears) and double-checking the calendar (ok, it is still 2008, I’m not going crazy) I really don’t know what to do next. Should I lock up the door, close the windows and stay inside for the next couple of days or pull out my old pub rock outfit from the basement and head on down and join the party?

Hooo-ooooo! [cl-ick]

Good morning, good people. Welcome to the column you never asked for: The Smooth Side - an unforgettable ride through the dubious pleasures of smooth and non-confrontational music in the last 35 years. It may be Mellow Gold, yacht rock or marina rock, it may be soul, jazz-pop or rock (sort of) - it may even be perfectly awful, but it’s always gonna be smooth as silk, I assure you. The song link leads you to a stream on muxtape.com - double-click to listen. Look for a new entry every now and then, but probably not too often.

Prefab Sprout emerged in the UK in the early 1980s in the wake of Steely Dan, soft rock, punk and New Wave. They are often compared to contemporaries such as Simply Red, Aztec Camera and Swingout Sister - in the ghastly dubbed “sophistipop” genre.

Although this comparison is not entirely off base, Prefab Sprout deserves to be judged on their own terms. No one ever sounded quite like them. Front man Paddy McAloon is a brilliant songsmith, a pop perfectionist with grandiose ambitions and the talent to fulfill a lot of them - notably on 1990’s “Jordan: The Comeback”, produced by the equally talented Thomas Dolby.

1997 was the last time Prefab Sprout appeared as a “proper band”, with the album “Andromeda Heights”. 2001’s “The Gunman And Other Stories”, although released as a Sprout album, is often considered as more of a McAloon album. Sadly, he’s been struggling with some health problems in recent years and hasn’t released new material since 2003 apart from a couple of re-recordings for a reissue, I believe.

1997: I’m 25, effortlessly cool, ironic and single. Full-time student playing in a shoe-gazing Britpop-band, reading Pierre Bourdieu, quoting Harold Bloom for kicks and dressing in different shades of grey. The ladies seem to crowd around me, sort of, and it’s a brand new sensation. I’m the king of 1997. But as some mediocre Oasis clone stumble onto the local club scene I secretly hurry on home after class - such an uncool thing to do - hurry - to listen to the first Prefab Sprout album in 7 years. 7 years!

I loved every single thing about it. The lush arrangements, the harmonies, the cheesy synth sounds, the cover art with the star map - and of course the voice and the words.

Paddy McAloon was my hero when I was an awkward teenager in 1986 playing the tuba, sporting a crewcut in the age of the mullet and effectively turning into a deaf-mute every time a girl spoke to me and - much as I’d like to deny it at the time - he still was in 1997, meticulous reinvention of myself notwithstanding.

He still is, and it’s 2008. Some things will never change.

Prefab Sprout - Life’s A Miracle (1997)
(opens in new window, double-click to listen)

“Life’s a Miracle” is totally unapologetic in its embrace of the beauty of life. As far as I can tell, there’s not a hint of sarcasm, and it’s written by a man who’s more than capable of it. It’s corny as hell, but when I’m in the mood, listening to this track can be a truly liberating experience.

Try it - let the purity of the words and the beautiful harmonies wash over your tormented soul and free you from the chains of modern political correctness and the thick layers of ironic distance. Ain’t it wonderful?

…but me and my kids have the best time running around and dancing like maniacs to it all over the house every night. It’s probably our favorite song at the moment. Great fun!

My big head has been working overtime lately (for no apparent reason, as usual), and it’s time to share my new pet theory:

My claim is that over the past hundred years or so, the development of Anglo- and African-American popular music can be divided into highly predictable cycles.

You see, I figure that roughly, there’s been a revolution, a major shift in mainstream popular taste, every 35 years - starting with African American work songs entering the public consciousness around 1885, followed by the jazz revolution in the 1920s, the introduction of rock’n'roll in the 1950s and finally by the rise of rap music in the 1980s.

These 35 year-cycles can be split further into 7-year cycles that each mark the introduction of a significant new stylistic direction. About midway through these 7-year cycles there have been fads that also had a major impact on popular music, but these fads can generally be considered as an amalgam of previously established styles, and not as something inherently new.

So, according to my logic, the next major music revolution will occur around the year of 2025! I can’t wait.

Of course, this is not to be taken very seriously, and, if anything, the theory exposes my total insecurity and lack of knowledge concerning anything released after 1990. I don’t know the first thing about rap/hip hop music. I have no formal background. I have no research to back up my conclusions. I’m just another one of those average, rambling blogger-types.

Bebop is defined at a very early stage of its development (and to call bebop mainstream’s a bit of a stretch, really) , new wave? 1983?, rap/hip hop is defined at a late stage and there are at least a couple of other approximations. So there’s absolutely no reason whatsoever to digg me here. You hear me?

It usually takes quite a few years for a stylistic period to be settled in people’s minds, and I think it’s hard to be very precise about the past 10 years, so a lot of question marks there.

Here’s my list. I imagine this list in the center of a musical landscape surrounded by styles that influenced (and were influenced by) it: folk, country, gospel, modern classical music, electronic music. Take a look, see if you agree:

1885 African American work songs

1895 Blues
1905 Ragtime
1913 Dixieland

1920 Jazz

1927 Hot jazz
1934 Swing
1941 Bebop
1948 Rhythm and blues

1955 Rock ‘N’ Roll

(1958 Doo wop)
1962 The Beat
(1966 Psychedelia)
1969 The Prog
(1972 Glam)
1976 The Punk
(1979 Disco)
1983 New wave
(1986 Hair metal)

1990 Rap/Hip Hop

(1993 Grunge)
1997 New School?
(2000 Boyband? Teenage divas?)
2004 The beginning of the demise of hip hop?
(2007 ?)
2011 ?
2019 ?

2025 ?? Cyber Plink Plonk ??