The made easy Forex discussions generally tend to ellipse the technical aspects of trading. But if you really want to make killing on the foreign exchange spot market, you must get to know these recondite aspects. After all, the more you know about the market, the more advantage you have. Formulating an investment paradigm means beginning with an end goal in mind. This can be a financial goal as articulated in a particular monetary achievement. Or it can be a more high-minded endeavor based on the philosophical underpinnings of the market. easy Forex Forums made -- Discussing Success Whatever your fancy, getting involved in a Forex made easy forum can help you. These groups abound and proliferate right here in the World Wide Web www.forex.digestofnews.com. Choosing among them is really your only challenge at this point, friend! Don't blindly follow foreign exchange tips solicited from these forums, however. Cautionary tales abound about naive investors using stock tips conceived by non players! Protect yourself and your portfolio by vetting any "hot tips" via multiple channels. All news of www.forex.digestofnews.com. Best and Turbo: Doorway generator! Dorgen, code generator, Search, Engine, Optimization, Google, Optimization, -, SEO

Archive for the ‘Odds & Sods’ Category

Odds and Sods: Dylan at Newport in 1965, Hard Rock Cafe’s Memorabilia Site, Top ’80s Metal Moments and More…

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

I haven’t done a classic Odds and Sods post in awhile so I have a bunch of cool things for you to check out.

newport.jpgThe first is video of Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when he goes electric. He’s performing “Maggies Farm” in this historic video that is one of the most significant events in rock histroy. Regardless of whether you like Dylan or not you should watch this just to get a sense of what the man is about.

Regardless of what you think about the Hard Rock chain of restaurants and hotels/casinos, the company does own an incredible selection of rock and roll memorabilia but it would cost you a fortune to travel to every location to see it. Luckily they have put together a very cool website where you can check this stuff out from the comfort of your own home. Called the slightly unimaginative Hard Rock Memorabilia Site and located at http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ you can check out their incredible collection. Unfortunately, you have to install the new Microsoft web software Silverlight to view the site so it’s your call whether you want to go that far or not. Still, a pretty impressive website for the rock hsitory buff.

poison.jpgSteele In Music has a very cool collection of video highlights of some great 80’s Metal Moments in their Sweet 16: Best 80’s Hair Metal Bands that I really enjoyed watching. Featuring everybody from Van Halen and Motley Crue at the US Festival to stunning video of the late, great Randy Rhoads, If you liked hair bands and 80’s metal you will be astounded at some of this stuff. Videos 16 to 9 can be found at http://steeleinmusic.uber.com/metalhair1 and videos 8 to 1 can be found at http://steeleinmusic.uber.com/metalhair2. Very cool stuff.

Speaking of 80’s hair metal bands, a gaggle of them will be performing at this year’s Rocklahoma 2008. A reunited Triumph joins bands like Cinderella, LA Guns, Enuff Z Nuff, Tesla, Night Ranger, Kingdom Come, Warrant, Lynch Mob and more. Man I think I would like to go just to see what the 80s metal babes look like 20 years on!

Finally, Rolling Stone Magazine has an interesting piece on how Walmart wants to pressur the major record labels in allowing them to sell CDs for less than 10 bucks. The piece is called Walmart Wants $10 CDs and describes how the American retail behemoth is treating the major record labels much like it does the rest of its suppliers by demanding price concessions from them to to the fact that they move so much product in their stores. Check out this breakdown of where the money goes on a $15.99 major label CD:

$0.17 Musicians’ unions
$0.80 Packaging/manufacturing
$0.82 Publishing royalties
$0.80 Retail profit
$0.90 Distribution
$1.60 Artists’ royalties
$1.70 Label profit
$2.40 Marketing/promotion
$2.91 Label overhead
$3.89 Retail overhead

An interesting read.

Well that’s it for this edition of Odds and Sods! Talk to you all later.

Mark

Introducing Scott Homewood to the Rock and Roll Report

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

resized-rockandrollreportlogo.jpgI am pleased to introduce Scott Homewood to the virtual pages of The Rock and Roll Report. With years of music journalism under his belt and work published in numerous online and print publications, Scott brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Report and I can’t be more excited hosting his first rate writing and I know you will enjoy Scott’s distinctive take on what rocks his world.

We kick off Scott’s contributions here with his review of two long lost gems by British psychedelic rockers Blossom Toes, a name you probably don’t know but after reading Scott’s piece, you will probably want to get.

With Scott joining regular contributors Matheson Kamin and Michael Goldsmith (the author of the weekly series Cover Stories), I am pretty stoked to see where this is all going and now is as good a time as any to begin the process of transforming The Rock and Roll Report into more of an online magazine and less of a blog. In the coming months get ready for yet another change in look for the Report with some new features and new voices that will make a visit to the Report a great way to discover amazing rock and roll you may not be aware of, whether it was created in 2008 or 1968.

As the podcast grows and matures (well mature might not be the best word!) and we start to incorporate more videos from the bands we write about and play, the Rock and Roll Report is finally becoming the site I hoped it would be. As I like to say on Rock and Roll Report Radio, grab a cold drink, a hot squeeze and turn the volume up to 11, this rock and roll ride is just getting warmed up!

Thanks for reading and listening!

Mark Boudreau
Head Ringmaster and Handyman

Cool Site: Indie Hunt on SessionSound

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Running until the end of February, the Indie Hunt on SessionSound is where fans get a chance to help discover & promote the indie music acts on the site, with the fan favourite & competition winner receiving a $1000 cash prize.

With registration on the site free, the competition is open to all indie music acts with their music profile on the site. I just discovered SessionSound and I have signed up to investigate but it seems pretty cool. I’ll let you know what I think when I have fully digested it but if you are a band they offer:

* Artist sets their own retail price, even give it away for free download
* 100% non-exclusive, your music stays your own
* DRM-free, upload & download in mp3 format then enjoy!
* Webcasts & streaming audio with Airplay Radio, create your own playlist & embed it on the web
* Artists retain 100% of their price, we just add 10% processing fee to all mp3 purchases

Later.

Mark

Introducing New Rock and Roll Report Contributor Matheson Kamin

Monday, January 28th, 2008

I am excited to introduce a new contributor here at the Rock and Roll Report by the name of Matheson Kamin. I’ll let Matheson introduce himself:

matheson-kamin.jpgWith how bad commercial radio can be, I have always paid attention to the underground music scene. When my classmates where listening to Top 40 music, I listened to college radio; the music was better and the artists had more creativity.

I have also followed the local scene here in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of the bands here have been as good or better than the stuff on commercial radio, but they have never received the notoriety they deserve.
During the last decade, I represented a local internet-based record company and an internet-based music publication. After both ventures happened to fail for their owners, I joined Cleveland-based Exciting City in 2004. I have spent more than 2 years with the hard copy publication promoting both the music and art scenes here in Cleveland.

I recently joined up with The Rock-and-Roll Report because there are a lot of local and independent bands that don’t get their share of notoriety. I want to change that.

Matheson Kamin

Happy New Year!

Monday, January 7th, 2008

Happy New Year to everybody! Here’s to 2008 being a safe, healthy and happy New Year for all filled with good friends and great rock and roll.

There should be some interesting stuff going on in 2008 from The Rock and Roll Report. With the podcast in full swing, the radio show on CKUT, a regular column in Roczine magazine plus the music blog we are expanding, slowly but surely into show promotions so keep an eye and ear out for The Rock and Roll Report coming to a town near you.

For all of you that are regular readers and listeners I cannot thank you enough. For those of you new to The Rock and Roll Report, welcome aboard! And don’t forget to exercise your rights to turn up that volume knob!

Later.

Mark

Happy Holidays from The Rock and Roll Report!

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Well as I wind things down over the next few days and take my Christmas break I would just like to wish everybody a wonderful and safe holiday. It’s been an interesting year here at The Rock and Roll Report with the move from Typepad to a server hosted by Canadian indie music store Sugartune and finally kicking off the Rock and Roll Report Podcast.

(more…)

Odds and Sods: The Rock and Roll Geek on Tour, Versailles Records Looking For Some Unsigned Bands, Joe Camel’s Illicit Affair with Rolling Stone Magazine and Keith Richards Makes Rudolph Run

Friday, December 14th, 2007

The Rock and Roll Geek is on tour

michael-butler-with-bass.JPG

I am a huge fan of the Rock and Roll Geek Show podcast. Hosted by Michael Butler, bassist for American Heartbreak and currently on tour with Jetboy, Michael is one of the original rock and roll podcasters and he is always a blast to listen to. He is currently on the road with Jetboy on the Stephen Pearcy/Jetboy/Antidivison tour and he is doing a video podcast chronicling their adventures as they rock and roll all over the States. The last time I checked they were playing a strip bar in Omaha I believe and the drummer for Antidivision had just quit. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to go on tour as part of a working indie band then you gotta start watching this. Always a lot of fun and nothing is sugar coated. This podcast is a must for any true fan of rock and roll.

Versailles Records Looking for Some Unsigned Bands for Tribute Album

(PR) Versailles Records is seeking a handful of unsigned bands to round out several star-studded tributes planned for release in 2008 to Kiss, Led Zeppelin, and Whitesnake. Collectively, these tributes feature current/former members of bands including Whitesnake, Anthrax, Dio, David Coverdale Band, Kiss, Badlands, L.A. Guns, Ratt, House of Lords, Blue Murder, TSO, Warrant, Slash’s Snakepit, Every Mother’s Nightmare, Alice Cooper Band, Lillian Axe, Riot, Dangerous Toys, Pretty Boy Floyd, and a host of others. In seeking to feature new millennium rock/metal bands among the aforementioned stars of the genre, we have approx. 2-3 slots open per-tribute. Interested bands should submit a weblink (website, myspace, etc) to versaillesrecords2006@yahoo.com for consideration.

Joe Camel’s Illicit Affair with Rolling Stone Magazine

indie-rock-universe.jpg
It seems that Rolling stone Magazine and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco are under fire for a recent promotion featured in the 40th Anniversary edition of the mag. According to an article in The Daily Swarm, the magazine features a fold-out poster that may have crossed the line between mixing advertising and editorial content. The Daily Swarm explained, “The fold-out poster – a bizarre illustration that lists dozens of Pitchfork-centric bands grouped around representations of various planets and animals – is nestled in between five pages of advertisements for ‘The Farm,’ Camel Cigarettes’ indie band and label-focused promotion. If you are like most indie music fans who paid any attention to those pages, you likely assumed that the ‘Indie Rock Universe’ poster was part and parcel of the Camel advertising campaign; if not, the message was clear…Camel’s got indie rock’s back.”

Of course everybody is denying that there was collusion and it is all an innocent misunderstanding but Reynolds has halted any further advertising of “The Farm” and indie labels are demanding an apology. This IS Rolling Stone Magazine we are talking about right? Who the hell reads RS for info on indie bands?

Keith Richards Makes Rudolph Run

Just in time for Christmas you can buy the legendary Keith Richards version of Run Rudolph Run, recorded around the time of mega-heroin use and Some Girls. Just like his idol Chuck Berry…


Keith Richards - Run Rudolph Run / Pressure Drop - Single

Later

Mark

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

preswturkey.jpg

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! Enjoy.

Later.

Mark

RecordStoreReview.Com Needs Your Support!

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

During Monday’s show I mentioned that the incredible RecorStoreReview.Com is going to close down January 1, 2008 if they don’t raise $1000.00 by then. This site is an incredible resource run by one guy and if you care at all about supporting independent record stores you will fire off a couple of bucks to him to ensure that this incredible resource keeps going for another year.

I rarely send out appeals like this but this site is too good to lose. Please give generously if you can.

Thanks.

Mark

Battling the Flu

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

I am going to take a few days off from posting while I battle whatever bug is raging through my system right now. I don’t want to put out some half-assed posts just for the sake of posting to the site. I much prefer to use my whole ass!

Later.

Mark

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

pumpkins.JPG

The Rock and Porn Report

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

You know, I don’t know if it’s just me but the rock and porn world continue to get all cozy cozy these days.

terataylor.jpgFirst we have Vince Neil’s Off the Strip Poker Tournament taking place November 3, 2007 inside The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Vegas. Hosted by adult film stars Tera Patrick and Taylor Wayne, all proceeds from the poker tournament and charity auctions will benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation via the Skylar Neil Memorial Fund, established in 1995 by Vince to honor his daughter Skylar who passed away from cancer. Since that time, Vince’s charitable efforts have helped to raise nearly two million dollars for the T.J. Martell Foundation. It’s kind of hard to find any fault with this knowing that it is a fund raiser you must admit.

Continuing our tour through the rock and porn world everybody’s favourite rock reality host and adult film director Dave Navarro speaks to Rock Confidential about his directorial debut with “Dave Navarro: Broken.” Apparently once you’ve been through heroin and cocaine addiction, the murder of your mom and Jane’s Addiction the thing to do is direct a porn flick. I suppose that’s one way to deal with it!

Later.

Mark

Please Do Not Adjust Your Set!

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

mod-testbw1.jpg 
I am currently in the process of setting up The Rock and Roll Report to be able to host the new podcast. My tech guru Graham from the mighty Sugartune is running tests and tweaking code while madly cackling in the background so that everything will look cool and work the first time around. With that said, if you see any weird posts, bizarre graphics or naked women on the site, you can ignore all but the naked women.

By the way, the podcast will be great. Everybody but one band has said yes to being on the show so far (and it was the band’s label that turned me down, not the band themselves) so the support is there. If you are looking for a rock and roll shot in the arm after listening to too much of your local classic rock radio station, this should do the trick.

Just all in a days work here at The Rock and Roll Report!

Later.

Mark

Rock and Roll Odds and Sods: Podcast News, Rolling Stone Boycott, The Return of Hair Metal, the Sad Tale of The Fags and Israeli Rock and Roll

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Sorry for the dearth of stuff on the site over these last few days but things have been pretty hectic personally and I have learned to not write just for the sake of writing. I would prefer the content to be sparse but good as opposed to overflowing but shit. Of course the content could be sparse and shit but that’s beside the point…

Just received two essential components (finally!) for Rock and Roll Report Studios and will actually begin recording Episode 1 of the Rock and Roll Report Podcast (The Phantom Podcast?) this week. It’s been frustrating to say the least but I think that once I get going things will run a lot smoother. The plan is to have the first episode out the week of October 22, 2007 (probably the 24th) and then every week thereafter. The only decision I face is whether to produce a show the week Rock and Roll Report Radio is on. Since CKUT provides a podcast feed for the show for a week after broadcast I will probably only produce three podcasts a month and see how that goes.

rolling-stone-magazine.jpgThe Day in Rock reports that Fox News columnist Roger Friedman is calling for a boycott of Rolling Stone Magazine. Now I have a love/hate relationship with that mag and I can see that if you are of a politically conservative bent you would have a lot to gripe about but Friedman’s reason is not due to the content of the magazine. Friedman’s complaint revolves around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the fact that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner essentially controls the nomination process for this ridiculous institution. Now if you shake your head at some of the decisions made for these nominations (why is Rush still not nominated again?) you will definitely want to read Friedman’s reasons for the boycott but really, why don’t we boycott both the magazine and the “institution” and get on with listening to cool rock and roll played in sweaty little clubs, you know, the way rock and roll should be celebrated.

Well if you thought the days of ‘80s hard rock and hair metal were behind us think again. According to Kris Osborn of Time.Com, some of the biggest concert draws of 2007 were reunion concerts by bands like Ratt, Tesla, Poison, Quiet Riot, Ozzy, White Lion and the like and the response to the semi-reunited Van Halen seem to bear this out. The interesting thing is that the shows seem to be attracting young concert goers who weren’t around for these bands’ first kick at the can. Can you blame them? Hard rock and metal have always contained a great mixture of sleaze, glam and fist pumping fun that makes it quite clear you are at a rock show and not a political convention. People want to lose themselves for a couple of hours and this stuff is a great way to do it. Cheap, fast and disposable. That is sometimes the best definition of rock and roll and I guess this just goes to prove that people want more than angst on stage, they want to rock!

hifi-handgrenades.jpgOne of the best CDs that I received last year and played quite a bit on Rock and Roll Report Radio was Light ‘Em Up! By The Fags and it was with considerable sadness that I learned this summer of the band’s demise. Billed as a logical successor to Cheap Trick, The Fags had what many thought was it all. Great hooks, cool songs, a great sound behind the vocals of main man John Speck, this was a band that seemed poised for great things. Unfortunately major label politics and other business mis-cues killed the band in its crib. Read all about Speck’s experiences with the Fags and their doomed run at the brass ring in The Fags Get Screwed. If you are interested in what John is up to now check out his new band HiFi HandGrenades.

Finally, if you thought all that came out of Israel was religious conflict and strife you will be happy to know that the Jewish Music Group has announced the release of “Israel Unleashed: The Best Rock And Metal From The Holy Land”. Featuring the very best unsigned rock and metal bands from Israel it is scheduled to be released November 27, 2007. For a full track listing check out http://www.jewishmusicgroup.com/album.php?id=131.

That’s it for now. I know I haven’t featured any blitz bands in awhile but if your jonesing for a rock and roll fix I suggest that you click on any of the band links from this week’s Rock and Roll Report Radio playlist and check out what they have to offer. I think you your ears will be amply rewarded.

Later.

Mark

Odds & Sods: Rock and Roll Report Updates on Shows, Podcast and Rock and Roll Report Radio

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

me-small.jpgJust wanted to update everybody on a couple of things going on with me and The Rock and Roll Report in case you were wondering.

First up, Pop Montreal has kicked off here in our fair city and I will be out and about attending shows and the like, I just don’t know which ones yet. If you are going to be in town for this cool event drop me an email or comment either here or on my MySpace page (www.myspace.com/rockandrollreport) to let me know you will be there and maybe we can work something out and get together for a beer or a show, or both!

As well as Pop Montreal, I am hoping to make it to the very first International Pop Overthrow held in Canada. David Bash is bringing this very cool event to Toronto from November 14-17, 2007 and I am trying to make arrangements to be there so if you are planning on being in Toronto during this time by all means let me know and we will try and get together.

The brand new Rock and Roll Report column in Roczine Magazine has gone to print and should be available shortly. Go to their site at www.myspace.com/roczine for updates on where you can get your copy and let me know what you think. I know there are a lot of rock mags out there but this one is just a bit different, edgier and well cooler!

Finally, the podcast looks set to debut the week of October 22, 2007. That date is not etched in stone but keep an eye out for it. If you enjoy Rock and Roll Report Radio then I think you will like the podcast. Either way check it out and let me know. And speaking of Rock and Roll Report Radio, the next one is set for October 8, 2007 at the usual time slot of 10:00-11:00 PM EST on www.ckut.ca. Hope you can join me then.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, listening, commenting and just stopping by to say hi. It’s been great having ya!

Later.

Mark
www.rockandrollreport.com

Porn & Rock and Roll - Getting Hot and Heavy Together

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

tera-wray.jpgI have written about the connection between porn and rock and roll a number of times (Porn and Rock and Roll, More Porn and Rock and Roll) and the connection continues to grow stronger. I’m not sure what that says about rock and roll since it is by definition a very sexy thing but it certainly points the way towards the continued mainstreaming of the porn industry. With everybody from Eddie Van Halen writing two songs for the soundtrack to the porn film Sacred Sin to Dave Navarro directing the porn flick Broken with Tera Patrick to Gene Simmons’ soft-core antics and the increasing popularity of Playboy mansion parties again, porn seems to be stepping from the sidelines and on to center stage, often with a rocker draped on her arm.

This trend continues with the announcement that Pleasure Productions has released their latest heavy metal series called Radium. The brainchild of director Matt Zane, it features the latest metal videos, band interviews, and “loads of hot and heavy porn.” According to Zane:

“The combination of Metal and Porn has finally been linked within the mainstream world. Tera Wray was just on the entire Ozzfest Tour. Their is no one better to front this new video series.”

Pleasure Productions starlet and Kentucky native, Tera Wray, hosts this new series. Wray interviewed some of metal’s hottest up-and-coming acts. She also plays a diverse mix of new metal videos, and addresses all things metal – culturally, musically and sexually on “Radium.” Creating the perfect marriage of extremity, the premier episode of “Radium” features the entire Earache Records roster – including videos from MUNICIPAL WASTE, THE BERZERKER, MORTIIS, and WITH PASSION. This issue also includes a live interview with Tera Wray and WITH PASSION at the California Metal Fest, as well as Tera getting a drum lesson from SOCIETY 1 drummer Berzerk Kirk.

Matt Zane will be producing the series, firmly standing by the budding alt-porn industry, recognizing the relevance of this union stating “people always will want to see porn, and metal has been around since the 70’s.”

Like I said, porn is going mainstream and is no longer relegating to the dressing room or closed hotel rooms. Like it or not the sex is back big time in Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. The rebellion rolls on…

Check out the trailer but don’t be an idiot and open it up at work!

Some Inspiration

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

happy-face.jpg
A close friend of mine sent me this quote and I just felt like sharing it. It can apply to pretty much anything you set out to do for yourself. Hope you like it.

THE FUN OF BEING ALIVE IS REALIZING THAT
YOU HAVE A TALENT AND YOU CAN USE IT
EVERY DAY, SO IT GROWS STRONGER…AND
IF YOU’RE IN AN ATMOSPHERE WHERE THIS
TALENT IS APPRECIATED INSTEAD OF JUST
TOLERATED, WHY, IT’S JUST AS GOOD AS
SEX.
-LOU CENTLIVRE

Later.

Mark

Friday Fun: Ugliest People in Rock, Nerdiest Real Names, Best Bitchslaps and Stage Falls

Friday, September 14th, 2007

courtney.jpg
Well it’s Friday so how about starting our weekend with a some laughs and some ammunition for drunken debates Saturday night.

Gigwise have put together a hilarious The 20 Ugliest People in Rock that is just hysterical. That picture of Courtney Love alternately made me piss my pants and cringe in fear!

If that didn’t do it for you check out the Shoutmouth list of the 40 Nerdiest Real Names of Famous Musicians. Who names their kid Jiles and Slowhand is really the Clap? Who knew? The comments alone are priceless.

Shoutmouth is a treasure trove for lists like these. Check out their 20 Greatest Lyrical Bitchslaps for some interesting reading and subscribe to their newsletter, it’s well worth it.

Finally, the day wouldn’t be complete without Shoutmouth’s 10 Most Embarrassing Stage Falls. Yikes!

I hope you’re smiling now!

Later.

Mark

Cool Contest: HMV Underground

Friday, September 7th, 2007

Well this is something that I don’t do very often but HMV is having a contest over at www.hmvunderground.ca and the prizes range from an autographed Gibson Les Paul by Slash of Velvet Revolver to XBox 360 packages to a Dead Silence corset! Best of all, I have the password to get in. Just head over to www.hmvunderground.ca and enter in the password Cat Scratch.

Go ahead and check it out. The contest ends October 1, 2007.

Later.

Mark

Odds and Sods: Popular Rockers Die Young and Rick Rubin Says Record Labels Don’t Get it

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

I was was roaming around the web trolling for music news I came across the usual assortment of crap but two things really stuck for me today but for completely different reasons.

keith-richards.jpgIt appears that the longevity of Keith Richards is a bit of an anomaly according to How rock stardom can take years off your life. It seems that the rock star lifestyle (you know the ol’ buggaboo of sex, drugs and rock and roll) that comes with the territory once a rock star becomes popular causes them to die pretty quickly. Citing examples of Kurt Cobain, Buddy Holly, Sid Vicious and Pete Doherty (oops he’s not dead yet!) as rockers who keeled over once stardom struck, British scientists claim that after extensive study they have come to the conclusion that “The results suggest that the most dangerous time for a star is during their first flush of fame. Stars are over three times more likely to die than ordinary people in the first five years after chart success, and in the first 10 years they are still at more than two and a half times the risk. And right up to 25 years after launching a career in showbiz, rock and pop stars are still more likely to meet their maker than the rest of us.”

What does this say to the young wannabe rock stars of today? What kind of a message does this send to them? I can just here the local garage band huddled in their rehearsal space with their collective finger poised over the “send” button of their email program- “Boys, this could mean we may become, you know popular and then we could die!” Rock and roll is a vicious game indeed!

rick-rubin.jpgAt the other end of the spectrum you have Rick Rubin perhaps being a bit to honest when the recently named co-chairman of Columbia Records stated in the New York Times magazine that “I have great confidence that we will have the best record company in the industry, but the reality is, in today’s world, we might have the best dinosaur. Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it’s going to be a declining business. This model is done.” I’m sure that the powers that be at Columbia didn’t expect this so quick in Rubin’s tenure but really, the man was just stating the truth. The old model is dead and right now everybody is staggering in the dark trying to come up with something that works in this Web 2.0 world. Until the major record labels face the fact that they are no longer the gatekeepers to the music anymore, the sooner we can figure out what will make both them and the artists they represent money, the sooner we can start promoting new and exciting artists without fear that taking a risk means the end of life as we know it. It is pretty cool that Rubin is so upfront and at least he is a “music guy” as opposed to a bean counter so don’t rule out the majors just yet.

Later.

Mark

Email woes here at Rock and Roll Report HQ!

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

full-inbox.jpg

If you have sent an email to The Rock and Roll Report at contact@rockandrollreport.com and not received a response I just want you to know that I am not ignoring you! I basically fucked up by not checking that email address regularly and it filled with spam and over-flowed my inbox on the server.

Anyhow, to make a long story short contact me at rockandrollreport@gmail.com and I guarantee I will respond!

Sorry about that people and thanks for reading!

Mark

I’m baaaack!

Monday, August 20th, 2007

trent_pic.jpgJust back from a week at the cottage away from email, TV, cell phones and the like and I am rested and refreshed. Expect things to get back to normal here over the next few days as I gear up for my regular posting schedule in September.

In the meantime, tune into www.ckut.ca tonight from 10:00 - 11:00 PM EST for the 3 Amigos radio spectacular. I will be playing tracks from Bang Sugar Bang, The Catholic Girls, The Sleepers and The Blessings.

I’m getting ready to rock again as I shake the beach sand from my shoes. I just gotta get through a week’s worth of email first!

Talk to you later.

UPDATE! I will finally update the site tonight with some cool stuff I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading.

Mark

The Rock and Roll Report Posting Schedule for August 2007

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

cr-lea-6.jpg
It’s August and the heat is finally getting to me. For the remainder of the month I will be posting from Tuesdays to Thursdays only and taking Mondays and Fridays off to go to the beach. If you go to the beach in the Montreal or Ottawa area during the month of August and see some bronze God with rippling biceps and a six pack chest with a smile to die for, I’ll be the guy just to the left of him!

Thanks for reading. Take care!

Later

Mark

Vacation Time!

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

vacation.jpg
I am taking a few days off for some R&R but I will be back next Monday for some more great rock and roll being played right now possibly right around your corner. Go find it and report back to me on what you heard. You will be amazed at what you have been missing!

And tune into CKUT 90.3 FM (or on the Net at www.ckut.ca) in Montreal Monday night from 10:00 - 11:00 PM EST for the return of the 3 Amigos! Woo hoo!

Later.

Mark

Should the Rock and Roll Report be on Facebook?

Monday, July 16th, 2007

I have started to really network like crazy on MySpace these last few weeks and it has been paying off in spades as I have met a ton of great bands, labels, P.R. people and fans but it certainly can consume a lot of your time if you are not careful. I am now hearing a lot about Facebook and I am wondering, should the Rock and Roll Report be on Facebook as well?

MySpace is great for bands and labels which is the main reason that I am there but how is Facebook in this regard? Anybody on both or who has ditched one for the other? I am not looking at MySpace or Facebook as a place just to idly chit chat with people but as a true networking tool to meet people interested in playing, listening to or releasing great rock and roll.

Any thoughts?

Thanks. Later.

Mark


Close
E-mail It