Here’s What the Members of ABBA Have Been Up To During Their 35-Year Hiatus

28 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

© RB/Redferns Abba

(via msn entertainment) by Morgan Enos

BBA suddenly announced their return to the studio and stage Friday (April 27). The legendary Swedish pop band took to Instagram to clarify their full intention behind their upcoming “avatar” tour project, in which the band will be featured as holograms resembling their 1970s selves. Said the band: “We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did.”

This most unique pop ensemble, consisting of two married couples — Agnetha Fältskog with Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson with Anni-Frid Lyngstad — may not have produced any music together during their three decades apart, but they’ve hardly been out of commission. There have been plenty of dispatches from both camps prior to their reunion this year. Here is a breakdown of what the members of ABBA have been up to during their long silence…

Read more:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/heres-what-the-members-of-abba-have-been-up-to-during-their-35-year-hiatus/ar-AAwroXN?ocid=spartanntp

Thanks to streaming, recording industry revenues are back up to pre-internet levels, but musicians are poorer than ever

27 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

(via boing boing) by Cory Doctorow

Since the days of Napster, record labels have recruited recording artists as allies in their fight against unauthorized music services, arguing that what was good for capital was also good for labor.

But as Teresa Nielsen Hayden says, “Just because you’re on their side, it doesn’t mean they’re on your side.”

Since the rise of streaming services, recording artists have complained bitterly about the pittances they receive in royalties, while the streaming services countered that they were sending billions to the labels, who were pocketing all the money without passing it on to the talent…

Read more:

https://boingboing.net/2018/04/24/which-side-are-you-on-3.html

Did You Ever Realize…

13 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Did You Ever Realize Tags: ,

Spinal Tap Bassist Derek Smalls Is Back

13 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts, On a Lighter Note Tags: ,

Photo by Rob Shanahan

(via npr)

If you believe the press release — and in these credulous times, why wouldn’t you? — semi-famous British rock dinosaur Derek Smalls, known for holding down the low end in Spinal Tap, has chosen his 75th birthday to release his first ever solo album, Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing). Claiming it as “halfway between ‘rage against the dying of the light’ and trying to find the light,” Smalls begins with the orchestral “Openture” by proclaiming with terse insight: “Age…is just a number. Number…is…just a word. And word…is just a thing.”

The truth, of course, is that comedian/actor Harry Shearer has happily donned the now incredibly grizzled hair and mustache of Smalls once again. Smalls Change is at once an extension of the now honestly storied tale of the ultimate fake band and an amusing indulgence in its own right, recognizing that time waits for no man, even double bass wielders…

Read more:

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/05/599148952/first-listen-derek-smalls-smalls-change-meditations-upon-ageing?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20180405

Video of the Week: First Aid Kid–“Emmylou”

23 Mar 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Video of the Week Tags: ,

Recommended Albums #76

23 Mar 2018 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

Nanci Griffith: One Fair Summer Evening (1988)

griff

Sweet-voiced songstress Nanci Griffith straddled the folk and country genres, enjoying modest success with her own recordings and having her songs recorded by country hit makers such as Suzy Bogguss and Kathy Mattea.

Before courting a wider audience with the more pop-oriented releases that followed–much the same way that Mary Chapin Carpenter had done more successfully a couple years earlier–Griffith’s August 1988 Anderson Fair (Houston) performance neatly encapsulated her career to that point with a combination of originals and well-chosen covers

She even made Julie Gold’s “From a Distance” a top ten hit in Ireland prior to Bette Midler taking the song to stratospheric heights.

The sympathetic, restrained accompaniment of the Blue Moon Orchestra gives this live release an organic feel throughout. Compared to the original studio versions, which often seem over produced, these recordings feel like the definitive versions of these songs.

Despite only modest success on its release, this album feels like a classic today.

Listen to: “Once in a Very Blue Moon”

Listen to: “Looking For the Time (Workin’ Girl)”

Listen to: “Trouble in the Fields”

Listen to: “The Wing and the Wheel”

Listen to “From a Distance”

Listen to: “Love at the Five and Dime”

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