The Drone » black

Copyright Criminals (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:22:10 +0000

“For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a copyright infringement.”

from the Documentary website.

Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:07:44 +0000

Wesley Willis is the black Daniel Johnston. Diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, this Chicago underground rock figure of the 90′s who passed away in 2003, drew his city like no one and wrote a tremendous amount of songs which earned him a cult following.

Released in 2008, this documentary won the Gold Hugo for the Chicago Award at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival, and is being reissed on MVD.

Just as a reminder, and in the same category (but still alive!), texan songwriter and drawer Daniel Johnston got his documentary too, The Devil And Daniel Johnston.

Lightspeed Champion: Devil In Disguise (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:53:17 +0000

Lightspeed Champion, a British ex-member of Test Icicles, recorded a cover of ‘Devil In Disguise’ to celebrate the 75th Birthday of Elvis on the 8th January. Lightspeed Champions new album Life Is Sweet is coming up mid-February.

Cold Cave: Is Techno Really Back In America? (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:55:44 +0000

To make a long story short:

Black music has always crossed the Atlantic to really exist. Take blues for instance. From the cotton fields to Led Zeppelin and back to America, it took the Yardbirds (ex- Led Zeppelin) a trip to the U.S. to let the Americans know about their own legacy. The result in return: Garage rock.

And today, here we go again with Techno. In the early 80′s, Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson mixed George Clinton, Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder in Detroit and created Techno. Guess where they found their first followers? In England. Now it seems since Justice pulled it off in America, it has opened the door for the indie scene to give a warmer welcome to this very genre. Brand New example with Cold Cave. They may call it “Synth pop”, this project from Philadelphia sounds a lot like what we use to call “New Order”.

Here is my techno history storyboard:

First, some (funny) reactionary words from one the most influential hardcore frontman: Henry Rollins

Second: Justice, probably the smartest marketed techno-act of the last 4 years:

Epilogue: the indie scene gives birth to Cold Cave (involving ex members of Some Girls, Parts and Labors, Xiu-Xiu, Prurient):