photos by Andrew St. Clair

If you didn't know about this NYC show Friday, it's probably because you're not one of the "NYC Rebel"s who were invited to the party that took place at NIKE Bowery Stadium (near Bowery and Houston). Made up mostly of NYU students (or maybe 100% NYU students), the crowd had all just participated in the Nike-sponsored "Rebel Run" "through the streets of NYC". Most probably didn't even know who Phantogram was, and they didn't know they were playing. The invite said, "The after party will include a private concert performance by a musical act that we aren't able to disclose at the moment - just know that it's going to be insane." The insanity, aka Phantogram's set, lasted 30 minutes, and there was a raffle and other wild party stuff going on too.

Phantogram have just one upcoming show at the moment, at the Bug Jar in Rochester on December 3rd. The running party took place exactly a week after Phantogram headlined Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. More pictures from the event below...

Continue reading "Phantogram played a pre-marathon 'Rebel Run' party (pics) "

by Ryan Barkan

When it comes to licensing, Tom Waits has a strong reputation..

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has joked about other artists who do. ("If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it?") He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad -- ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car," he said in a statement, referring to the Mercury Cougar. "I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor....

...In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a soundalike singer. In 2007, the suit was settled, and Waits gave the sum to charity." [Wikipedia]

Speaking in an interview in 2005 to NPR's All Things Considered, Waits bluntly says "I'd rather have a hot lead enema" than have a song in a commercial. At the time he was referring to products like Doritos, cars and diapers. His stance isn't as strong when it comes to a good cause. His song "Never Let Go" is the soundtrack to a new PSA by the Ad Council for Feeding America.

The campaign, shot by American History X director Tony Kaye, launched November 25th and is intended to raise awareness and drive action to fight hunger in America.

Created pro bono by Ogilvy NY, the new TV, radio, print, and web advertising aims to change the way Americans look at this critical issue affecting our country and to understand the fact that many people they interact with on a daily basis may not know where their next meal will come from...

"We are thrilled to partner with Feeding America to educate Americans about just how close hunger is to each one of us," according to Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of The Advertising Council. "I believe that the 1 in 8 campaign will inspire Americans to become involved in this critical issue."

"This work uses simple visual imagery to demonstrate the reality of the fact that everyone today knows someone who is hungry," said Antonio Navas and Chris Bradley, creative directors at Ogilvy who developed the campaign. "We were very fortunate to get musician Tom Waits to contribute a beautiful piece of music - "Never Let Go" off of 2006's Orphans -- that helps bring the work to life and connect with the public in a tangible way. We believe it will have great impact on this important cause."

Per the Ad Council model, the PSAs will be distributed to media outlets nationwide this week and will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Waits says of the project: "We all need to be reminded that the folks who need help getting back on their feet are all members of our family." Watch the two different PSAs below.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Another band that usually passes on licensing requests for its music is Arcade Fire. The Canadian band decided to let its song "My Body Is A Cage" be used in the trailer for the new Brad Pitt movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

According to the Arcade Fire's management, "This is the first time the band have used their music in this way. David Fincher asked them to look at the trailer. They all thought it was a good use of the music. They have no issue with licensing music when it's used in a creative way. It rarely happens." [Pitchfork]

Watch the trailer below.

The soundtrack to Juno continues to inspire advertising creatives. One of Barry Louis Polisar's songs from that soundtrack, "All I Want Is You", gives it a go in a spot for the National Lottery in the UK. The commercial can be seen below.

I've seen the commercial for Ubisoft's new Prince Of Persia game on air this past week. Just like the trailer (watch it below), the spot features the song "Saeglopur" by Sigur Ros. This is the second video game featuring Sigur Ros music - EA's trailer for Dead Space (released in October 2008) uses "Track 7" as the soundtrack.

The Shins' "Sleeping Lessons" provides a cool soundtrack to Statkraft Energy's new European commercial. Watch it at Boards Mag.

Sony has released quite a few new commercials recently for both the PS3 and PSP that have good musical soundtracks. The "Mural" spot features "Everybody Ona Move" by Michael Franti & Spearhead, "LA Plays PSP" has The Grouch featuring MURS' "The Bay To LA", and "NYC Plays PSP" uses Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork". Watch the last one below.

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Continue reading "This week in Music Licensing"

On August 8th, 2008 [8.8.08], Nike Sportswear will present Boredoms' 88Boadrum -- an unprecedented aural and visual experience, on the same day in New York and Los Angeles.

Today is 8/7/8. Tomorrow is 8/8/8. Here's who will be drumming at the LA show...

Continue reading "the list of 88 drummers playing 8 / 8 / 8 (in LA)"

77Boadrum in Brooklyn - 7/7/07 (more)

...Japanese psych-noise-crazy-genius-types Boredoms will once again bring the clattering of oh-so-many drums to the States this summer, in a bi-coastal sequel to last year's wildly successful 77BoaDrum event. This time out, they're calling it 88BoaDrum, and performances of the brand new 88-minute composition from Boredoms leader Eye will take place August 8 (8/8/08, you see) in both Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York.

The Los Angeles event will take place beginning at 8:08 PM PST at the city's famed La Brea Tar Pits, and will feature 88 drummers selected by both the Boredoms and 88Boadrum artistic director Hisham Bharoocha of Soft Circle. The New York event, conducted on behalf of the Boredoms by Brooklyn's own Gang Gang Dance, goes down at 8:08 PM EST at the Williamsburg waterfront.

Both BoaDrums will be free and open to the public, but tickets will be required for entry. They'll be available starting Friday, July 18 at brownpapertickets.com, at L.A.'s Amoeba Records and the L.A. County Museum of Art, or at New York's Other Music and Sound Fix Records. Only one ticket will be available per person.

88BoaDrum is presented by Nike Sportswear, who will bring you the commemorative "88Boadrum NSW Tee collection". Attendees will be able to purchase t-shirts, featuring designs by Eye, that will be hand-screened at the events... [Pitchfork]

This has been rumored since last year, and as many have pointed out, is during All Points West. it's also the first day the 2008 Summer Olympics, Iggy Pop @ Terminal 5 and Hercules & Love Affair at Irving Plaza.