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Tune in today, October 6th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

Now we know why we can’t have concerts.

Actually, there are a number of music business lessons here. Like news is short haul and music is long haul. In other words, it used to be about making a splash and then making hay off of it. Kinda like a movie release…bombard the public with information and get them to pay before they realize it’s crap. After all, it’s all about the Benjamins.

You think it’s all about your one big break. But the “New York Times” publishes the story of the year, an investigation of Trump’s tax returns, and it’s already in the rearview mirror. So, if you’re not in it forever, you’re better off not even starting. Because it’s a really long haul, a mighty long way down rock ‘n roll, from the Liverpool docks and chances are you’ll never make it to the Hollywood Bowl, and the only people out on parole are the poor, because the rich don’t go to jail. That’s another lesson we learned this week, the IRS admitted it doesn’t bother auditing the rich, it’s too expensive…proving once again, the government is no match for the billionaires, even the millionaires.

Maybe you don’t know what I’m talking about. But the preceding all comes from Mott the Hoople’s “All the Way From Memphis”:

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But rock is dead, and contrary to what the Who sang, we can’t say “Long Live Rock.” Why? Because it’s all been done, played out. And it’s too expensive to make. You’ve got to form a band, you’ve got to rehearse, you’ve got to write and record and keep the band together, all of which are a near impossibility, never mind creating stuff so good that you can take it on the road and start a career. Whereas with hip-hop, you can borrow some beats online, post your new ditty on TikTok and you can be a star all over the world and go back to your own little life nearly instantly. As for hip-hop, it’s rock in that it started as outside music and then was generally accepted and then morphed constantly, it’s still morphing, whereas hair band ballads just about put a stake in the heart of rock and roll but grunge came along to rescue the genre and then…nothing, it’s all over. You see what kept rock alive was the conception. The constant pushing of the envelope. No one’s doing that anymore. So, you’re another singer songwriter…well, you’d better be as good as Joni Mitchell, because we’ve seen that movie before.

But it’s not about the music anymore, it’s about the brand. Just ask Rihanna. And it’s not like a lot of these acts are even responsible for the music, that’s oftentimes old white guys in pop or studio rats in hip-hop and it’s all so soulless that when the country breaks apart music can’t deliver a believable message, because no one’s got any credibility. Except for the nobodies. They’re constantly telling you how great they are even though they almost always suck. Self-promotion…if your music doesn’t speak for itself, if it doesn’t go viral all by itself, however slowly, maybe you should look for another line of work.

And speaking of work, the government can’t save the concert industry because the right and the left can’t agree on a number, a package to save the starving. Once again, you’ve got to be rich to get paid. And you’ve got to play both sides. If you don’t give money to the Republicans, they’re gonna give you the shiv down the line.

And that’s another weird thing about this Covid era, how so many musicians are out of their minds. Like Van Morrison.

I guess what we’ve learned is the music didn’t inform the populace but vice versa back then. What I really mean is the musicians were influenced by what was happening in society and then they distilled the message for the masses, they didn’t come up with the ideas themselves. So, in this mercenary culture what other message do you expect “artists” to come up with?

But everybody misses shows, concerts. They keep focusing on ways to do it, they’re champing at the bit, give us our shows back.

Well, Trump had a club show in the backyard at the White House, featuring Amy Coney Barrett, and everybody got sick, especially those who went backstage, into the White House itself. Kinda like rock stars doing coke backstage and O.D.’ing back in their hotel room. It’s all a party until it’s not.

Superspreader events. You just can’t put that many people together at one time, especially not indoors, and if you’re packed together you’re not safe outdoors either. And, the more exposed you are to the virus, the more you’re infected, the worse your illness is.

But don’t let the facts get in the way of emotions.

America has no character. It failed the marshmallow test. No one can forgo for a reward down the line, they want it now, even if it means death.

Today in “Parade,” a right wing hype sheet if there ever was one, Jerry Seinfeld said he’s not going to tour until the middle of 2022. Yet, my inbox is filled with agents who keep rescheduling shows, from the fall of 2020 to the late winter/early spring of 2021 and then to the summer of 2021. It’s all busy work, making these people believe they’re important when the truth is they’re better off disconnecting from the internet and contemplating the world and their place in it and how they’re gonna fix it. But no, if you believe it’s true, it’s gonna happen. Just like Trump believing he couldn’t get infected, look how that turned out.

Which brings us to credibility. No one in America’s got any anymore. That’s the story of the weekend, how you can’t believe what the doctors and the White House say, and Trump is parading around like he’s Putin, giving a false image of his superiority, togetherness and imperviousness. You can’t beat Covid on pure intention.

Then again, everybody in America is an optimist and no one wants to do the hard work.

And the left believes this is the nail in the coffin of Trump’s campaign.

But if you go to Fox, and I do, you’ll learn that the fault is the Democrats, and both the NYT and WaPo have done stories how the Republican base does not blame Trump and still doesn’t see a need for masks. That’s right, up is down and down is up, welcome to Eastern Europe!

And all of this is out of the authoritarian handbook, but no one in America has ever seen it so they think with their will and intent they can defeat Trump. No way, that’s not the solution. He’s not going quietly. Did you read Sunday’s “New York Times Magazine” on the right’s voter suppression campaign of decades?

The Attack on Voting in the 2020 Elections

It went live five days ago online, not a single person has e-mailed me about it. I read it from beginning to end and I can’t say it’s riveting but with all the facts together it’s overwhelming, how the right suppresses the vote, and the governor of Texas does it right before our eyes and gets away with it. As for DeJoy, he told the judge he can’t put back the sorting machines because they’ve been stripped for parts. In other words, even the law can’t help you. As for Amy Coney Barrett and textualism, I point you to this opinion piece in the “Los Angeles Times,” and you should read it:

“Op-Ed: Why Judge Barrett’s legal philosophy is deeply antidemocratic”

That’s right, I subscribe to four newspapers as well as Apple News as well as combing Twitter and I don’t know about you, but the last 72 hours all I’ve been doing is checking my newsfeed. It’s kinda like the Kennedy assassination or 9/11, it’s stopped the world cold, we want to know more. Then again, if you’re getting your news from TV you’re only getting a sliver. But America has forgotten how to read, or never learned, so most people are uninformed…but there’s so much to know!

And Trump getting Covid is also representative of the public and the government, there’s no preparation for a rainy day, no scouting of the possibilities and preparing for them. Then again, no one wants to pay any taxes to fund the government and the IRS and the CDC…oops, that’s another organization that’s fallen by the wayside, probably never to be resuscitated, like lawyers after Watergate.

And Trump’s totally right, if you’re a believer you’re gonna be sick of so much winning. That’s right, it’s been going his way, facilitated by Bill Barr and the rest of the Donald’s cronies. You may be losing, but they don’t care about you. Did you catch that segment from last night’s South Carolina debate? Where Harrison trumped the divisive Graham by saying that whomever wins must work with the other side for the benefit of all of the people? Probably not, if you know anything at all about the debate it’s about the plexiglass shield, the campaign is all about the penumbra as opposed to the issues, Fox makes it that way.

As for Biden and the left refusing to go negative…do you really think the right would do this if Biden got sick? OF COURSE NOT! But the left is afraid of alienating Trump’s core, the only ones who will take offense, and then the Democrats will become defensive, like Hillary did with the deplorables. Aren’t you supposed to make hay while the sun shines (using that farm metaphor for the second time in this screed)? Trump’s ill, if you’re not going to focus on his mishandling of the virus when are you, this is the best time!

And we still don’t have a plan for the virus.

And Cam Newton gets Covid but somehow college football players will not.

This is the best movie of my lifetime. I’m addicted. And so is America.

But the worst thing is we’re paying for it, not only with our cash but in some cases our lives.

But since the internet flattened distribution, despite the cries of the hypesters, the big are no longer as big and falsehood reigns and give Trump credit, even in the hospital he’s making news, he’s dominating the discussion, there’s no air for Biden or anybody else, never mind entertainers. Trump rode modern communications to victory once, he knows the game and the left still does not. And the truth is people are truly suffering, and Trump is giving them a scapegoat, many, from immigrants to China to Ilhan Omar…the Donald is appealing to the oppressed and claiming to be the most oppressed of all! Can you believe it, the president is the most oppressed person in America? What next…oh, wait a minute, everybody says they’re oppressed, even Katy Perry, I guess he does speak for America.

So how are we gonna turn this ship around?

A ton of sacrifice, imposed by a leader.

But we don’t have anyone with brains who has captured the imagination of the public and can carry the flag to the finish line.

So, tomorrow there will be a whole new set of facts. And we’ll argue them but the truth is Trump is leading and we’re reacting and nothing he does alienates his hard core and the right is rigging the election through voter suppression and all of this is happening in plain sight.

Scary.

“Lake Life”

“One By One”

Highbrow or lowbrow, take your pick.

We are deep into this Korean show on Netflix, “Stranger.” Felice says it can’t be recommended, I’m on the fence. First and foremost, not only is it in Korean, it’s the densest series I’ve ever watched, at some point you just have to let it flow, hope that plot points will resurface and you will figure them out. And, it’s a commitment. Each episode is over an hour, and the first season has sixteen episodes. But foreignness appeals to me. The locations can be exotic. And within the first ten minutes of the first episode Felice said “So now you want to go to Seoul?” And that’s exactly what I’d been thinking. Supposedly Jackie O. spoke six languages, that was part of the Kennedy hype. But checking on Wikipedia right now it says only four, English, French, Spanish and Italian. And in truth, those are all kind of close, at least the last three…but Korean?

So, if I learn Korean…it’s completely separate from Japanese, never mind Chinese. And to tell you the truth I’m bad with languages, some people pick them up right away, that is not me. I always wonder if I moved somewhere whether I’d learn the language quickly or not, but it pains me to know there’s no way I wouldn’t have an accent, and locals would know and see me as the other.

And the truth is in so many locations today everybody speaks English, or at least enough people. I went skiing in France in 1971 and only the Americans spoke English. I went skiing in France in 2011 and seemingly everybody spoke English, there was no problem getting your message across, being understood. But to be able to speak in the native language? Then again, Korean’s got a wholly different alphabet, there’s a steep learning curve.

But, if you’re going to watch TV, I reinforce you should begin with “Borgen.” I’m a fan of Aaron Sorkin, but I never watched “West Wing”…if it’s on network I’m hesitant. And U.S. TV is slick and too often compromised. But as good an actor as Martin Sheen might be, Sidse Babett Knudsen, who plays the lead character, Birgitte Nyborg, is better. She’ll smile for the camera and then do a one-eighty and go straight to a frown. And what’s great about foreign TV is the expected doesn’t happen, it doesn’t go the way you assume it will, both in the third season and in Nyborg’s relationships, but… Denmark has multiple political parties, not just two, and the key is to build a coalition and try to govern, to make the sausage, and it’s not so easy. Another thread is the media, they go inside TV and print news and you see how both have influence yet are compromised, how some outlets have agendas. And the spin doctors! If you watch “Borgen” that’s who you’ll want to be, Kasper Juul. Not that Birgitte is not savvy, but it’s Juul who crafts the specifics of the agenda, decides what can and cannot work, it’s fascinating to watch.

But bracketing streaming television shows I read books. And I was on another bad streak of mediocre books. If it’s not worth your time, or if it’s not the focus of media attention, why bother, just to show I watched/read it? But the two books linked to above, they’re really good, in their own unique ways.

“Lake Life.” It’s the story of a family on vacation in their double-wide of two decades, on a big lake. My mind pictured it as “Ozark,” but there’s no issue of crime and the only local who figures in is not dangerous at all. So, you’ve got the parents and two sons and their wives. What is everybody’s relationship? And you’ve been there. Not everybody gets along with the in-laws, certainly not in the same way.

And I’m loath to give away any plot points, because I read for plot, it’s the twists and turns, the surprises that excite me. But let me just say the kids are not winners, they’re not setting the world on fire. We always read about the winners and the losers, how about those in between?

You could compare “Lake Life” to Franzen. But without the overhanging heaviness. There’s not really a cloud in “Lake Life.” Nowhere is it said that BIG POINTS are being made. Yet, it’s these family dramas that reach me, that I’m most interested in reading. And normally I plow right through books I love, but in this case I’d stop after every chapter or two, to savor what had happened, to think about it. And the truth is about two-thirds of the way through “Lake Life” I got inspired to write something about it, and it would have been great, but it was after midnight and I hadn’t finished the book yet, what if the end didn’t satisfy as much? This happened to me with a book I recommended about the tech world/Silicon Valley, “Chaos Monkeys.” At first I was riveted, but then…you had to be interested in the subject to continue to read and enjoy, and that cut down the number of people who’d like it and I don’t want to recommend something people won’t like because it will affect my credibility, so, I don’t write until I finish, if at all.

But maybe I should change that.

You see the same thing happened with “One by One.” I was so excited but then…the person I thought did it was the one who did and the last quarter of the book just wasn’t as riveting, but before then…every night I looked forward to reading “One by One,” it’s great to have such a book in the wings, on the nightstand.

So, the muckety-mucks would call “Lake Life” literature, not that it’s hard to read, whereas “One by One” is genre, as in mystery/thriller/whodunit. People compare the author, Ruth Ware, to Agatha Christie, but I did not know that until after the fact, that’s when I do my research, otherwise it affects the reading experience, especially reviews, which tend to tell two-thirds of the plot.

I stay away from genre. And non-fiction. Not that I never read them, but oftentimes when I do I end up disappointed, certainly when I read mystery/thriller stuff, and when I read non-fiction…I’m all excited, I buy the book and then it’s a slog to finish it. Happens over and over again. Maybe I’ll explain the details sometime, but not today.

Anyway, “One by One” centers around skiing and tech/music, what’s not to like?

Not that I knew this going in. I’m just constantly trolling for stuff to read. And when I find something that is interesting, I download a sample chapter to my Kindle. And most stuff I chuck right away, the books are not readable enough, as a matter of fact, most of the vaunted literature I find unreadable, they’re about style, they’re overwritten, laden with metaphors, but that was not “One by One,” I got hooked right away, so I bought it.

I did not know it revolved around skiing. I did not know the app centered around music, those were surprises. But I read and I pictured the landscape, I had it in my mind’s eye. And that’s one great thing about reading, you can divine your own pictures. And when they make the movie, it’s almost never the same. Maybe the movie stands on its own, but it’s rarely the book.

So, you’ve got everybody in a chalet and they’re there on business and vacation and if I tell you any more, I’ll ruin it.

I had a suspicion who the culprit was right up front, and like I told you, I was right. But it wasn’t until two-thirds through the book that it truly came clear. Which had me, as well as the characters, constantly guessing.

And some of these genre books are nothing more than the plot. But in “One by One” the characters are fully defined, you think you know them and…if you’re looking for a book to take you away, that cuts like butter in these quarantined Covid times, I highly recommend “One by One.”

As for “Lake Life”…

“One by One” has 1,313 ratings on Amazon. That doesn’t mean it’s terrific, a lot of junk gets a lot of ratings, even good ones. And speaking of stars, if it has fewer than four I’m extremely hesitant, maybe I’ll go for something with three and a half, but that’s rare.

“One by One” has a solid four. As does “Lake Life. But, “Lake Life” only has 88 ratings, and it came out back in July.

This happens all the time, you read a great review and you go to Amazon and almost no one is reading the book. And almost always, that’s a bad sign. That usually means the particular reviewer resonated, but most people did not. Of course it can mean that word hasn’t spread about a book, but if you’ve gotten a review in the “New York Times”…the industry knows about it.

So I waited to finish “Lake Life” before I rendered a final judgment. And it’s not five star best of the year, but it’s really damn good. But there appears to be no word of mouth on it.

And, one of the reasons you read fiction is for the wisdom contained therein. So to close, I’m gonna quote a few lines from “Lake Life” that resonated. And as one must say in these blowback days, your mileage might vary. But it’s funny how those who complain always ended up reading the whole damn book, finishing the whole damn series…if it was that bad why didn’t they quit? Usually it turns out they didn’t dislike the work that much, but they just wanted to show me they’re equal to me and their opinion matters. Fine, but it’s always given with attitude. Hell, what do I know, I’m just another person on the planet, if I find something I think the majority of my readers will like, I call their attention to it, it’s an imperfect science.

Anyway…

“But this is the way of families – the inconsequential elevated to the imperative.”

Ain’t that the truth, especially on vacation, especially when the kids are out of the house and the only time you come back together is during vacation. When my father was alive, we always had a huge blowout during vacation, always!

“Except, that’s the thing about death – it reminds you you’re alive.”

I’m still messed up about Judd‘s death. But as I normalize, I realize emotionally as well as intellectually I should try not to sweat the small stuff and if I’ve got something to prove, something I want to do, not to waste time but to go for it.

“…the kind of argument art school students have when all they have to show for all the work they’ve done, so far in life, are their opinions and inflexibility.”

That’s one of the problems with arts education. It makes you feel you know something, that you’re better than the hoi polloi. But when it comes to creation, oftentimes schooling is unnecessary, at best it helps. And the uneducated start, but those with degrees are oftentimes too inhibited, yet because of that piece of paper they think they are better, and they’ll let you know it.

“People at the funeral made things worse, the way well-meaning people tend to do.”

Bingo! They’re trying their best but what you really want is to be left alone, or to talk to one or two specific people. Yet, you carry on and listen to them, interact with them, because they mean well and you don’t want to offend them yet you wonder why you’re doing this, why you’re worried about their feelings when you’re the one who is hurting.

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What, is it 1969?

From: donald little
Re: Why BOOMERS Hate POP Music

I know you get hundreds of replies so I’ll keep this brief. I’m a guitarist who has played professionally for about 20yrs here in the UK. I was the guitarist for Paolo Nutini for many years. This track (recorded live) was a massive hit here in the UK. It’s had 55m views to date. I think you might like it. youtu.be/ELKbtFljucQ

Donny Little

So I clicked the link and played it. In the background. On the other screen. And then, about two-thirds through my brain woke up, I stopped reading my e-mail to watch. Whoa, this is good, this is what we used to call music, R&B with a heart, with a rhythm that locks into your body waves, that has you leaning back and forth in time and, and, when it was all over I had to hear it again.

Then I went to Wikipedia. “Iron Sky” didn’t make it in the U.S. And Paolo Nutini hasn’t put out an album since 2014.

So I decided to go deep, I needed to go deep, I was not Paolo proficient.

So I went to Amazon Music HD and played the top tracks, this is music that had to be heard in full fidelity.

And of course all the buzz was about 2006’s “These Streets,” that’s when Nutini’s arrival made waves on both sides of the pond. But “Iron Sky” is on the latest LP, 2014’s “Caustic Love,” and although I was enamored of the top tracks, “Caustic Love” knocked my socks off, from the opening track, “Scream (Funk My Life Up).” The greats can immediately grab you, and wasn’t that the Stones’s trick, to hit you between the eyes from the very start?

But that didn’t turn out to be my favorite track. Nor was the aforementioned “Iron Sky.” Rather, I was enamored of the “Mama Told Me Not To Come” groove of “Numpty,” a cut that was not made for Top Forty, not even the Spotify Top 50, but takes you to away on a flight into the stratosphere and makes you feel better than all that dreck.

But even better was “Diana.” And “Cherry Blossom.” Both nearly at the end of this thirteen track album.

And none of these three tracks have their own Wikipedia page. They’re hiding in plain sight. They were not hammered over the heads of the masses, you had to own the album to be aware of them, to uncover these jewels.

Now wait a second. This reminds me of the seventies. When you’d buy an album, maybe based on a track you heard on the radio, maybe on a review, and you dropped the needle and went on an adventure. Two or three tracks would jump out at you on the first play, and they’d make you play the whole thing all over again and then the rest of the album would start to make sense and as you continued to play it other cuts emerged from the morass, you got to the point where this was your favorite LP, what everybody else thought, what was on the radio was irrelevant. And when the act came to town, usually to play a club or theatre, you’d go, and tell everybody you’d been there from the beginning when they hit arenas.

This can’t happen in the U.S., only in the U.K. In the U.S. there are very specific verticals, very specific tribes, and you don’t cross genres. Sure, a country act might rap, but adult alternative ones don’t suddenly put out a hip-hop track, and one thing’s definitely for sure, the big business focuses on what is already selling, streaming, the Spotify Top 50 and hit radio, and if you don’t fall into one of these lanes it’s just too hard to break though, no one wants to put in the time and effort and money to push you into superstardom, even though Adele is so big, she’s seen as an outlier.

So, I’ve been playing “Caustic Love” for days. Sure, sure, it’s six years old, but welcome to the modern world where no one can know everything and what’s old can be new to so many people. I’ve been dying to write about “Caustic Love” but I didn’t know where to start, whether to be general or dig deep into each track, whether to do a post for each track, and then I heard Chris Stapleton’s “Cold.”

Although low key, you get it just like you get “Scream (Funk My Life Up).”

Actually, you’ve got to commit. This is not a hellzapoppin’ race of a track made for TikTok. It starts off slow, you don’t really get hooked until almost thirty seconds in. There’s nothing magical about the piano intro, it’s more than serviceable, that is until you’ve heard the whole track and go back to it, but then the drums solo, setting the beat and then those high piano notes sear your brain, telling you this is important, this is about pain, this is about human emotions, this is about human life.

And then Chris starts to sing.

This ain’t no TV competition show, Chris Stapleton can both sing and WRITE! He’s not trying to impress the judges, just himself, he believes if he gets it right it will resonate, and even if it doesn’t he’s been doing this so long that he knows he’ll survive.

And Stapleton is seen as a country artist. But this ain’t country, unless you retreat to the sixties and Muscle Shoals, this kind of stuff worked back then, before country music became a retread of the rock music of the seventies, in the twenty first century.

And “Cold” is anathema to radio. Slow and long. But it’ a burner. It’s the kind of music the audience actually wants to hear, when selling advertising isn’t the primary component, when it’s purely about what comes out of the speakers and goes into your ears.

And the track starts to build, the strings come in and then the solo guitar…this sounds similar to something Jerry Wexler or Tom Dowd might have cut in their heyday, something that Ahmet would understand, back when music was a calling about the sound as opposed to the money.

These extended blues tracks were a part of the landscape in the late sixties, they were embedded in all those LPs that built album rock, when it was about albums as opposed to hits, when you didn’t even lead with the single, when if you got enough traction with a track the label might cross it over.

Not that “Cold” is a giant leap forward. But it is a giant leap back. To the past. When you didn’t have to add computer sounds, computer drums to dense up the sound, when air allowed not only the track to breathe, but your mind. “Cold” is analog in a digital world.

Maybe you know all this, maybe I’m late to the party, but I’m not even sure I want to be a member of the club. I want to be an individual, that’s the essence of the listening experience, alone, not smiling at your brethren, shooting selfies, but letting your mind go free, closing your eyes and reveling in the music, and only the music, it demands your attention, anything else will infringe upon the experience.