Dub dot dash

Christmas in July
Just back from a weeks holiday - can I just say that taking off from work the same week as the Film Festival is a damn cool idea, if you like going to the movies.

FFD chart watch.
Last week they slipped just out of the top ten to #11, and Shihad dropped one slot from 29 to 30. This week Shihad at number 32 on the back of their current tour, and FFD are at number 12. It used to be that bands would do the tour to promote the CD; now they put out the CD to promote the tour. Although, that logic hasn't worked for Shihad, so far. May yet make a turn tho.
The Fat Freddy's Drop has just come out in Europe via Sonar Kollektiv, on CD and double vinyl, which will eventually filter down this way for all you vinyl junkies.
ADDED July 21 - this week FFD hold steady at number 12, Shihad slip to number 35.


88 Keys on sampling, interview in Dork magazine. Well worth a read.

"DM: How do you think the game has changed from when you started till now?

88: Oh that's simple... PRO TOOLS. It was a great invention but at the same time, it's hurting some parts of this industry. It has made it harder for us non-"super" producers to get front end checks cut before we set foot in the studio or the day of because artists are recording ALBUMS with your beat tapes. [Really beat cd's but I'm from the mid-school so I still call 'em "beat tapes"]. Also, most a&r's lately don't seem to have the "vision" like a&r reps had back in the day. No a&r really wants to take chances & gamble on something new in fear of losing their jobs. They don't realize that it's the new shit that revitalizes this game."


Attention Donna Marie Lever - your life is a fiction
TV One reporter Donna Marie Lever was covering the grisly discovery of the body of Katrina Jefferies on last Thursday night's news, and said that "the Police are treating it as a murder mystery". What the hell? Donna Marie, this woman is not a fictional character in an Agatha Christie crime novel, she was a real living person, and the Police are treating it as a homicide. Perhaps a career change is in the wind, Ms Lever? Bottom line - don't play with language at the expense of truth. It doesn't make you look clever, and it doesn't make you a better reporter. Might get you a job with Paul Holmes.

Speaking of journalists, here's a handy link to current pay rates for freelance magazine writers in NZ. Instructive.