Last week I had the pleasure to see one of my musical heroes from the 80s The English Beat, opening for Squeeze at the Gibson Amphitheatre in LA. The Beat’s Special Beat Service is underrated on so many levels, with songs that transcend many of the genres it celebrates- pop, ska, reggae, etc.

Before the show, I caught up with English Beat frontman Dave Wakeling for a brief, fun conversation. Dave had intelligent opinions on everything from politics to living in LA to the future of his band (looking forward to hearing some new tunes for the first time in forever). Here’s what he had to say about the current state of the music business:

It’s going to be hard to find music that you love, you’re going to have to love it enough to go look for it because it’s not going to be shoved down your throat. You make your own chart- you don’t need the Billboard 100, you’ve got your own 100. People will be superstars within their own genre, but if you or I aren’t listening to that type of music, we might have never heard of them at all. I don’t see there being a model for mass marketing. But music is going to thrive beautifully without the stranglehold of the labels, it’s going to survive wonderfully well.

I couldn’t agree more. I asked him if there were new bands that excited him and he quickly illustrated his point, by mentioning Sonic Boom 6 from Manchester. 1.1MM profile views and almost 33,000 friends on myspace is not chopped liver, and yet I’ve never heard of these guys and might never have if he didn’t mention them to me. Not bad.

Your music collection is not complete without Special Beat Service. Buy it on itunes.

The video for “I Confess” has not held up as well as the song itself but it’s still pretty entertaining.

Peep the new video for “I Wanna Be Your Telephone” from Jamie Lidell. Looks like it cost about $1.98 to make but entertaining nonetheless. Great song, scantily clad woman (SFW, for better/worse), lo fi goodness. Rock on.

Buy Jamie’s new album Compass on itunes.

Melissa Auf Der Maur has had an incredible career in the music industry, as an original member of Hole and then hooking up with Billy Corgan for a later incarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins. She recently put out a solo album entitled Out Of Our Minds, which is part film, part concept album, all cool. We recently caught up with Melissa on the road for a little email exchange to hear all about it; check out her website here for more of a full immersion into the project.

Here’s the interview:

Our Kitchen Sink: How did Out Of Our Minds come together? Was it originally conceived as a film, or an album? And there is a comic book as well; how does it all fit together?
Melissa: OOOM started as my follow up solo album- WITH a personal / creative promise to myself to expand not only as a song writer, but to bring my roots as a visual artist into my life in music. so i knew from the get go- that there would be a fantasy film & comic somewhere in the project. .. BUT first i had to write many a song to find the THEME & CONCEPT. when the song OUT OF OUR MINDS was written, that’s when I was given my sonic and thematic direction for the whole project. without the song, there would be no film and comic. they are tentacles that grew out of the spirit of the song.

What would you say is the central theme of the project?
THE HUNT FOR THE HEART- be it the heart of the matter, or the heart of a viking, it is a quest towards the emotional center. symbolized by the heart in certain circumstances, as i am using the language of symbols, dreams, music and the subconscious . ultimately it is an invitation into a world of that. “IF YOU’RE LISTENING, COME IN. IF YOU’RE LISTENING, YOU’RE A DREAMER, SO COME IN …. TRAVEL OUT OF OUR MINDS, AND INTO OUR HEARTS STANDING BY” basically that’s it in a nutshell.

How does your experience working with with Courtney Love and Billy Corgan, two people who have the reputation as being rather demanding to work with, effect your approach as a front woman?
billy and courtney really are my big brother and sister who invited me into this world of making music your life. i am grateful for that, and learned so much from playing a supportive role to them. my time in hole was character defining- learning how to fight to be heard and defining your message. my time with the pumpkins, was the greatest music lesson, fine tuning my tools and growing as a bass player and song writer. observing both of them taught me a lot in following through with your vision and having the chops to support it.

Speaking of Love and Corgan, you’ve probably seen a lot in your years as a member of Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. Any chance we can get a juicy tell-all memoir out of you? You could probably make a killing writing just a sliver of your experiences!
when i am 99 years old living in solar powered tree house under a water fall, i will have a lot of time to reflect on the wild ride i was on during the last decade of the 2O th century… and if i feel i have a great perspective that could benefit or enlightened, perhaps i will share it !

What is your take on the so-called “digital revolution” of the music business? On the one hand you have control over the distribution of an ambitious project such as this; on the other hand you have to compete with the ADD nature of consuming music via the web.
very very exciting. huge learning curve for all. the freedom and independence we artist have been granted, is a lot to take in and work with. endless tools + limited budgets = great puzzle. we must be more creative, work harder, be progressive and experiment. sounds like a dream dilemma for all arts! remember although we can get it “All” in one browser window, you can still order things to hold in your hand, that come straight to your door! best of both worlds! see: www.xmadmx.com

In addition to being a musician, you are also a rather accomplished photographer. Who are your favorite photographers out there? Any up-and-coming artists you want to put on our radar?
Francesca Woodman - photographer that was introduced to me while i was studying photography. she is from another time, but her work is timeless x highly recommend finding the Taschen book on her.

Do you have plans to tour in support of this project? Will it be a “multimedia extravaganza” with visuals from the film?
That’s a double edged question… in one way, i feel the music needs to stand alone, and rely on the simple visceral live performance. be able to stand up in any venue- a tiny sweaty bar with shitty gear OR big fancy arena. Would it be fun to rock out with fireballs and galloping horses? sure thing… but as of now, i am thrilled to be stepping on stage with nothing but my bass as weapon, and let the music speak for itself. that being said, in some cases we have used the film as an opening act, and it’s been great. plants to mood and visual landscapes to segue way into the music.

Good luck with everything. Hope 2010 is a great year for you.
thanks!

You can purchase Melissa Auf Der Maur’s Out Of Our Minds at itunes.

I feel like quality electronic/dance DJs are becoming endangered species. I will allow that this is due to the fact that I am a) not really in that scene, b) am not a pill gobbling teenager anymore, and c) ok, I never really was a pill gobbling teenager.

At its best, electronic music (we’ll use that blanket term for simplicity sake) is like modern day classical music. It doesn’t adhere to modern rock/pop music formulas, and is more apt to express emotions in a purely musical fashion than anything else being created these days. But in today’s fractured music scene, you have to really pay attention to what’s going on in the genre to figure out who the new players are. I was a fan of the big beat era of the Chemical Bros and Fatboy Slim in their primes, but that was about as close to the mainstream that electronic got.

So here’s LA’s own Flying Lotus, and with his new Cosmogramma, I gotta say this was the first electronic release that I was looking forward to in years. Maybe it was because he was heralded as Thom Yorke’s favorite DJ, or because of the LA connection, or because let’s be honest- the name Flying Lotus sounds really cool. Your name is key in the DJ/dance/electronic world. Regardless he doesn’t disappoint here. I don’t know if I have the vocabulary to clearly articulate the best attributes of this album, other than to say that it is varied musically in ways that are interesting as opposed to alienating to the casual listener. What I mean by that is that the music sounds f*%#ing cool, and can be listened to when running on the treadmill, in the background at a dinner party, or whilst gobbling various pills at 2AM. Not that I would know. The best electronic music stays true to its esoteric roots but is still enjoyable to the casual fan such as myself, even if said casual fan is not doped up beyond repair. Listen up.

Buy Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma for only eight friggin bucks on itunes.

Obviously the new M.I.A. video, Born Free, has been floating around the interwebs for the last few days so that’s not really news worthy. What’s news to me is that it was directed by Romain Gavras who just so happens to have directed one of my favorite music videos of all time: Justice’s “Stress.” Enjoy his work and a little bit of senseless violence.