QN Makes German Newspaper!

Quoting Napoleon has been written up in a German newspaper that serves 70-90,000 people in southern Bavaria!

Link

Here's a crop of the article:



Of course, none of us speak German but Babelfish seems to think it's a very positive review of "Rise & Fall". If you speak German and would like to translate this for us, please drop us a line.

Now if we can just get some local coverage. Hint, hint.

Update:

Here's the Babelfish translation with a few modifications:

"The coincidence led me over YouTube to me to date completely unknown the volume " Quoting Napoleon" and their marvelous album Rise & Fall. The song " The Belle of Amherst" is a beautiful Ballade, which has your roots in the music of Van Morrison. The remainder of the entire album, which I on " myself; well Glück" then, is an ear pasture procured immediately. A song more beautifully like the other one, jazzige Rhytmen, soulige of song, groovige and very in-usual numbers of the all-finest. In particular the song " Fade" and " Plastic America" run with me highly and down and already invariably since turn of the year 07/08. Who looks for something special, directly good music and perfect sound paired with a gift far apart of the mainstream search, that have here the correct ultimative gift for all opportunities!!! That purchase-tap absolutely not to keep so easy unfortunately at all but if in the collection perpetuates, then a true jewel!!!!!"

The article was written by Udo Kewitsch and ran in the Traunsteiner Tagblatt. I'm sure his words are far more eloquent and proper than those of Babelfish. Thanks, Udo!

Quoting Napoleon Meet David Lynch

John has edited scenes from David Lynch's "Lost Highway" to fit our "Plastic America", complete with sax solo. It's pretty dope so check it out:





And, check out other David Lynch classics like "Blue Velvet".

Peace

Album vs Singles, CD vs Download

There seems to be a lot of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in the music industry of late. There's also a lot of experimentation. Some folks resist change as a form of self preservation. Some embrace it as an opportunity to grow. I try to follow all the signals flowing into my brain and the only thing I can figure so far is that no one really knows what they're doing.

We've seen a lot of firsts in the last year or so. A few big exclusive distribution deals. A major international band releasing an album themselves and letting consumers pay what they want. There are also some acts refusing to embrace the now and doing things the old-fashioned way. Here's an interesting article on the issue of single-track downloads, long the fear of many a album-producing recording artist and record company:

Single-Track Digital Downloads Death Knell To Artists?

More than half a decade after Apple’s iTunes online music store revolutionized digital music sales by introducing single-track downloads, artists and music labels are beginning to question whether or not the approach is smart business.

AC/DC and Kid Rock, two of the year's biggest rock acts, insist their albums only be sold whole, something Apple rarely permits. Furthermore, despite the fact that iTunes is the largest music retailer in the country, neither allows iTunes to sell its albums in the United States.

I love albums. I love being immersed in 10 or 12 songs for 40 or so minutes that represent some kind of cohesive statement from an artist. It just seems so much deeper to me. Then again, there are those rare little gems that just seem to stand on their own. Nevertheless, I spend my time as a consumer in the realm of albums, both CD and download. As a musician and recording artist, I need to think a bit differently.

They go one to talk about Lil Wayne and success with downloads...

It’s fair to ask whether AC/DC or Could Kid Rock could have accomplished these feats.

"They're leaving money on the table by not offering track sales," Carlson told Billboard.

"I don't think that creating an economy of scarcity works. There have been a couple of examples that have been successful ... people like to hope that part of the industry is still alive. But I personally think those two are anomalies."

I have to ask, why not do it all? Seriously, why is it such a big problem to put out an album and make singles available as well? There are so many different ways to do this creatively. You could hold back the availability of singles for a short period after an album's release. Or, you could release singles for a while before the whole album becomes available. Or you could just throw it all out there at once and give people the freedom to chose whatever they want. You could also release a traditional album and then make special singles available in between.

Some of this smacks of bunch of old codgers not wanting to embrace the digital age. It's like, dare I say, McCain and his inability to email! Hire some young whipper snappers fellas! Take a class at the senior center. Something! I'm not sure what Kid Rock's objection is. Should I care?

I guess the point is why not do a little of the old and a little of the new? CD sales aren't tanking nearly as fast as other media historically has. Not everyone is downloading. I'd like to have a fan base that crosses a variety of preferred mediums and I really don't see any reason to not satisfy them. As for a band like AC/DC refusing to offer downloads, well, I loves me some AC/DC but I'm not at a point in my life where I'm going to go out and buy their CD. However, sitting here at my desk, waxing nostalgic about tearing down the road in my '64 Ford Galaxie, no shirt on and Highway To Hell blaring from the rear deck makes me wish I could easily (and legally) download some new material from Angus and the boys. Sales left on the table? You bet.

More Thoughts On Coldplay And Plagerism

I'm not a lawyer. I just play one on the intertubes.

I keep thinking about this case Joe Satriani has brought against Coldplay and of course, it's getting quite a bit of coverage in light of the Grammy noms. I have a few thoughts... I suppose in defense of Coldplay. Although, I can totally understand why Satriani brought the case. I'm still curious about the legal standards that will be applied. Does he have to prove damages? Does he deserve all the profits the song has generated? Does he have to prove intent? Does the "coincidence" defense hold water? Anyway, here are some thoughts:

In 2005, Coldplay received permission from the pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk to use the synth melody from "Computer Love" as the vocal melody for their song "Talk" from XY. That establishes a record of being forthright with their derivative works.

Furthermore, it's entirely possible for two people to "invent" the same thing nearly simultaneously. It's happened in the world of technology and mathematics multiple times. People in different parts of the world, working independent of each other, have at times made similar if not identical discoveries at roughly the same time.

The Great Radio Controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_radio

Einstein and Poincare published papers on special relativity within months of each other
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9#Poincar.C3.A9_and_Einstein

The Taylor Series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_series

Colin Maclaurin (February, 1698 – June 14, 1746)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Maclaurin

Brook Taylor (18 August 1685 – 30 November 1731)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brook_Taylor

I also find it very interesting that Satriani is specifically requesting a jury trial. Why specifically rule out arbitration or a settlement? I suspect he figures normal folks will be more sympathetic to his claim. Frankly, from the chatter I hear about this, the average person doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. All they hear is the two melodies played against each other. They don't know enough about music to truly have an educated opinion.

There are 12 notes in western music. That's it. There is not an infinite number of melodic combinations for those 12 notes but there are billions. When you consider the variety of ways those note can be played and combined with harmony and rhythm, it definitely starts to feel like infinity. However, in this case, we aren't talking about rare melodic combinations. On the contrary, with no intended offense to the artists in question, this melody is fairly simple. Furthermore, there are some slight differences in each melody.

In the end, it won't matter what a bunch of douchebags (myself included) on the intertubes think. It will only matter what the lawyers present, what the judge allows and what the jury decides.

I'm going to change my prediction on this one. I suspect Coldplay will be forced to pay something despite no one being able to prove this was intentional. As it has in the past, intent doesn't seem to matter. Exactly where are we musicians supposed to go to check the melodies we create against the vast database of every song ever written?

Satriani Sues Coldplay

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE4B40XV20081205

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued British band Coldplay, accusing the Grammy-nominated stars of plagiarizing one of his songs.

Satriani's copyright infringement suit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, claims the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida" incorporates "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly."

The 52-year-old guitar virtuoso is seeking a jury trial, damages and "any and all profits" attributable to the alleged copyright infringement.

Let me first say that I am a fan of Coldplay despite their haters. I'm also a huge, longtime fan of Joe Satriani. I even had the good fortune of meeting him and shaking his hand in '89. For the record, his hand was soft and supple like butter and he was a genuinely nice individual.

Anyway, here's a video comparison:

I'll say that the melodies are nearly identical except for the flourishes that Satriani puts in at the end. However, this is not a complicated melody. It's a pretty simple line and it would be no surprise that two or more writers came up with it independently. Furthermore, the harmonic structure is directly tied to the melody so it's no suprise to me that the root movement is the same. When you listen to the songs whole, they're different except for this main hook. What's more likely; that Chris Martin happened upon the same melody whether through hearing it somewhere or at random or did Martin and company (one of the biggest bands in the world) deliberately ripoff one of the foremost pioneers of instrumental guitar rock and put it out there for all the world to see?

I venture to guess there's another song out there that uses the same or similar melody. Boom pow zing! There is! This is the second time that Coldplay has been accused of lifting a melodic hook for the song Viva La Vida. The Creaky Boards claim Coldplay stole their idea. Why isn't Satriani suing the Creaky Boards?

It makes me wonder where music comes from. Are we just channeling bits of some cosmic song? Do Satriani and Coldplay share a musical consciousness? Perhaps they should just put their differences aside an make a record together.

I think Satriani will likely lose this one though. This is simply what happens when you're one of the biggest bands in the world. No one is suing the countless unknown bands who sound exactly like other more popular bands. There's no money in that.