'LOVE' IS ALL Y IT'S THE BEATLES PAGE 4B. - 2006'S POP MAESTRO PAGE 4B. MUSIC COLUMN Looking ahead to 2007 Former music executive Bob Lefsetz has a great e-mail newsletter (lefsetz.cgm) that he churns out updates for a couple times a day. His passionate rants on the current poor state of popular music and industry issues *like copy-protection, pricing and downloading are an interest- ing read for a casual music fan or a major label executive. Despite his admittedly older reader- ship, recently LLOYD H. amid his sea of CARGO nostalgic grum- blings was a look ahead at the state of the music industry in 2007 that included a lot of relevant opinions on issues that directly effect our generation. His first dire prediction is one most young people are apathetic toward, and somewhat responsible for: the continuing downward slide of CD sales. Well no kidding. Nobody will continue to buy a flawed, over-priced medium when there's a free alternative, so while an important issue, it's not exactly a bold forecast. What's more inter- esting is that Lefsetz says this ' will end up being a good thing. In a parallel with the film to digital transformation in photography, the music industry will begin to phase out CDs in favor of digital. The logic behind "People shoot MANY MORE digital photos than they ever did film ones. People will own MUCH more music than they did in the physical era. This is good" makes a lot of sense to me. One of his predictions has already come true. Lefsetz wrote that"(Apple) will probably intro- duce a phone within the next 90 days. They'll continue to have a stranglehold on per-track downloads and handheld music players. BUY STOCK!" and only a week later all of those ring true. The iPod is still king (the Zune being a bust), Apple introduced the iPhone at Macworld two days ago and their stock jumped up more than $5 and the iTunes store has become even more dominant with the addition of Disney's feature films. With all these things going for them, Apple is only going to continue killing the major labels and increas- ing its already ubiquitous presence in our lives. Similarly prescient are his remarks on Apple. Lefsetz writes, "It's 1967, just before under- ground FM radio started to gain traction. By 1970 nobody hip was listening to AM. And by'73, AOR ruled. In other words, that Sound- Scan chart with the albums of acts with hits on the Top Forty??? It's gonna look completely differ- ent in the future. That paradigm won't die, butit will diminish in domination. It will be about the outside, the cult, the LESS THAN HYPED!" He's right: Popular music is becomingless and less cool (Tim- berlake aside), and the music industry hasn't caught on that the death of conventional radio and MTV actually programming music videos combined with the prolif- eration of downloading means they can't keep hurling the same inane crap at younger consumers and expect them to pay $18 for it. But how are we supposed to know where to dig through the vast indie wastelands - where the ratio of good to bad isn't all that dif- ferent to the popular music world -to find those "less than hyped," cool bands? Lefsetz labels Rolling Stone "irrelevant" and says pitch- forkmedia.com "won't become any more powerful, but some company See CARGO, page 5B 2006 was the year that hype threatened to overshadow the music itself. Blogs babbled, publications preached and sometimes it was downright distracting. Despite the considerable pap, though, Top 40 had its moments - witness Timberlake's triumphs or T.I.'s coronation. A handful of more underground artists emerged as true visionaries, releasing albums of both substance and ambition. From allegorical baroque epics (Joanna Newsom) to icy, doom- riddled electronica (The Knife) and radiant instrumental hip hop (J Dilla), 2006 was a year of exploration and growth shrouded by a cynical veil. It turned out that this year was also extremely kind to reissues. Label owners and music consumers alike chose to dig through their crates of vinyl and revisit the classics, unearthing forgotten gems along the way. Wire, Talking Heads and The Cure all received the full reissue treatment, while albums by obscure folk luminaries like Sandy Bull and Fred Neil finally garnered the attention they deserved. 2006 was a year to rediscover and meditate on the achievements of our past. MATT KIVEL By LLOYD H. CARGO and MATT KIVEL Daily Arts Writers The main function of the reissue in 2006 was to expose music that didn't get a whole lot of attention the first time around. Just about every album with proven com- The year of the reissue? mercial potential is already outtakes and lavish liner ro Group) and modern-day folk- available (with a few nota- notes. All of this has helped ies (Devendra Banhart). ble exceptions), so the niche to contextualize current This year provided an embar- market is thriving. The trends in their respective rassment of riches with the concept of taking an album genres. reissue of Fred Neil's moody, that's been out of print and The supposed folk music self-titled second album, Karen re-releasing it isn't a new revival of the past few years Dalton's In My Own Time and one, but it's a process that's has lead to the discovery oflong the discovery of Sibylle Baier's consistently being refined. since forgotten musicians, due Colour Green. Perhaps the most We've been spoiled, grown in large part to the efforts of overlooked folk-gem of this to feel entitled to b-sides, smallreissue labels(The Nume- year's reissue crop was a live Sandy Bull concert from 1969, titled Still Valentine's Day. The virtuoso guitarist/oud player was one of the true pioneers of world music, seamlessly blend- ing everything from classical to eastern raga and American blues. The concert is a trance- like experience; Bull'splaying is rhythmic and unpredictable as See REISSUES, page 5B iLIST Jan. 11 to 14 The Daily Arts guide to the best upcoming events -it's everywhere you should be this week and why. Call them neo-Vaudeville or alternative folk, but Blanche's style deserves a label of its own. They per- formed two years ago at Hill Auditori- um with Wilco and will return to Ann Arbor tomorrow night at the Uni- versity Club in the Michigan Union at 9 p.m. Dan John Miller's strident voice is punctuated by the vocal and instrumental accompaniment of wife Tracee. Blanche recently released What This Town Needs with new extended play. Tickets are $7 to $15. If you're looking for an easy-ride comedy skit with dirty one-liners, Allyn Ball's standup routine isn't for you. Ballihas been seen on Showtime, Comedy Central and MTV, to name a few. His "Punk Rock Grown Up?" leaves the staple jokes at home and promises to be a clean, original show unlike any other (fun for the whole family, no doubt). He will appear at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase tonight through Saturday. Tickets are $8 to $13. ON TH FLOOR Established in 2000 by five Uni- versity students, Leim Irish has since become the largest Irish dance group on campus. Saturday night their win- ter performance, "Emerald Nights," will open at7:30 p.m. at The Michigan Theater. The original choreography is set to traditional and nontradi- tional Irish music, in addition to pop music to add a more modern flair. The group's costumes were designed by member Lauren Berry. Tickets are $8 or $5 with student ID. ON SCREEN A winner of the Rencontres Film Festival's audience award for best documentary, "Encounter Point" tells the personal stories of Israe- lis and Palestinians overcoming tragedy and devoting themselves to global peace. The acclaimed film has received rave reviews from the Village Voice, the Jerusalem Post and New York Times and others. "Encounter Point" will be showing tonight at The Michigan Theater at 7:15 p.m.