Blog Posts by Dave DiMartino

I’m not sure what it may mean as far as the record industry is concerned, but this week was significant indeed.

Anyone who’s been paying attention to the present-day music biz realizes that the buzz on Random Access Memories, the soon-to-be-released album by helmet-wearing French space dudes Daft Punk, has been bordering on the absurd since initial track “Get Lucky” emerged during Coachella weekend.

This morning it was announced that the entire album could be heard for free, streaming on iTunes.

This afternoon, everyone I spoke with who liked music had heard it and had an opinion about it. Most of them liked it.

And next week, when it’s finally available for purchase, many of them will have forgotten about it!

Who says things aren’t getting better than ever?

Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires Of The City (XL) As one of the few record-buying humans who was never deeply attached to or personally invested in the Strokes—and thus felt no sense of letdown by their latest album, which is

There are weeks when one can look at new album release lists and wonder who in their right mind would buy any of these?

This, however, is not one of those weeks.

I don’t know if anyone might’ve guessed ten years ago that contemporary country music would become one of the hottest genres going, but here we are. New releases by Lady Antebellum, the Pistol Annies and the Dixie Chicks’ own Natalie Maines are among this week’s most hotly anticipated albums, and all of them—however far removed they may be from the works of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline—represent where the public’s taste resides at the moment, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Because while each signals a deliberate move forward from the strict traditionalism of what some would call classic country, none are particularly blatant examples of crass commercialism, none appear to be specifically aiming at “crossing over” to pop at the expense of art, and all of them are actually quite interesting.

And then there’s that new Gatsby

They say that rock ‘n’ roll is a young man’s game, but of course “they” are inadvertently sexist—I’m told that chicks rock as well!—and clearly weren’t living in Los Angeles this week, where two of the hottest concert tickets came via private shows by one Rod Stewart (current age: 68) and the Rolling Stones (average age two years older than that of the US Supreme Court).

Unexpectedly, neither artist covered “Walk, Don’t Run” because they dug the fab irony!

But it drove home the point that with occasional exceptions, the old-school rockers, the ones whose careers were well in bloom ages before MTV came to be, still generate the most personal excitement among their fans. Which couldn’t be better illustrated than this year’s rather dreary Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall Of Fame Awards, largely celebrating a batch of post-MTV artists well past their commercial shelf life—with the notable exception of Rush, never a media favorite, who garnered the most vocal and notable support among observers, perhaps

Last week was an odd one for music fans: The year’s biggest music fest, Coachella, faded out with something of a whimper, overshadowed by, of all things, the surging popularity of a Daft Punk single and a video by the mildly amusing Psy, now apparently back for his second 15 minutes of fame, and what we have now come to call Record Store Day.

To those of use who once spent significant time behind the counters of various record stores, Record Store Day is a bittersweet event. Finding a record store that actually celebrates it is no easy task. Still, this Saturday I did my duty, drove by my local record store here in Sherman Oaks, California, saw a huge line in front of it, decided to come back a few hours later, and finally managed to pick up a single disc—that Universal reissue of the first American Nick Drake album, originally released via Island/Capitol back in the early ‘70s—for close to $30.

I then dutifully filed it away, feeling good about myself and simultaneously wondering

I’m embarrassed to admit that—though it was only a meager car ride away—I skipped attending this year’s celebrated Coachella Festival last week! And though it’s happening again next weekend, I’ll probably be skipping that, too!

And it isn’t just because I could stay at home and watch the proceedings on my completely wired home entertainment system and avoid the pesky body odors and bothersome tattoos accompanying the masses of humanity that might theoretically be attending the festival in order to witness the Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Nor is it because I could merely walk into my kitchen and pour myself the finest of today’s bottled liquors at my leisure while sparing myself the troublesome expense of gas money, Coachella tickets and excessive carbohydrates!

Sadly, I must report, I didn’t attend simply because I didn’t have a thing to wear!

Plus, I needed to pick up some creme rinse at Costco!

Fall Out Boy: Save Rock And Roll (Island) I think most of us have been frantically aware that

Since the early days of punk rock, when the notion that nearly anybody with a small degree of talent might be able to pick up a guitar, sing and write songs, and make an artistic statement entirely on their own—without the assistance of a major record label and its inevitable, large-ish marketing budget—the DIY ethic has driven a surprising number of people to comparative fame.

Count Allison Weiss among them.

The 25-year-old singer/songwriter from Michigan picked up a guitar as a young teen, started writing songs, and following a dalliance with Kickstarter eventually headed out to New York, where she largely spread the word about herself by herself—putting up local handbills advertising performances and gradually building a growing fanbase. An eventual liaison with Lou Reed, who selected her to be a part of his backup band for a European tour, gave her a solid grounding is the entertainment business, and things have been looking up for Weiss ever since.

One of this year’s most tasteful and unexpected pleasures is surely Brightest Darkest Day, the debut album from PYYRAMIDS--whose appearance at this year’s South By Southwest conference proved them to be an equally captivating live band.

A collaborative effort between OK Go bassist Tim Nordwind and He Say, She Say singer Drea Smith, PYYRAMIDs have been described by some as “Billie Holiday fronting the Smiths”—which, as outrageous as that might sound, is not stylistically off the mark. The same energies the latter band is famed for providing permeate many of the textures of Brightest Darkest Day—not to mention some of the more tasteful, upbeat groups to be had on the 4AD Records roster of the late ‘90s—but all is capped with the rich and soothing vocals of Smith, who provides a textural depth that makes the album a very worthy candidate for repeated listening.

In stripped-down acoustic setting, PYRRAMIDS are equally appealing, as you’ll discover here in this great session Y! Music captured in our Austin headquarters last month. Most notable might have been their mesmerizing performance of “Paper Doll”-- which is gorgeous here and, sonically, considerably more refined than the pounding and appealing version to be found on Brightest Darkest Day, which we strongly suggest you also check out.

If the best part of the yearly SXSW experience is finding a new and worthwhile band you’ve never heard before, we think PYYRAMIDS are high on the list of new bands to watch out for. Just give them a listen.

One of the most energetic, literate and enthusiastic performers currently out there, Frank Turner—who for better or worse is generally described as a “folk/punk singer songwriter”—livened up Y! Music headquarters at South By Southwest this year with a rousing set of performances that captivated the entire room.

Turner, whose new album Tape Deck Heart is due later this month, has amassed a large international audience with his steady flow of inspiring, politically-charged songs and very prominent live performances—the most notable of which may be his selection to play as warm-up artist for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony in front of 200,000 people.

The singer, signed to Xtra Mile Recordings in the UK but until recently handled by Epitaph in the States, will now see Tape Deck Heart distributed in the US by Interscope Records. Though that extended reach is unlikely to affect the quality of the songs Turner continues to write, it’s very possible his music will now be accessible to more people than ever. And as you’ll surely note by watching the performances below, that’s very good indeed.