Elder Statesman: 1st Base Runner, Everything But The Everything, Other New Music, and One Oldie

Recently, I came across an interesting article on Digital Music News. Essentially, Jim Anderson, who is a big-wheel at Spotify and is responsible for Spotify’s system architecture, appeared at the 2019 SyncSummit in NYC.

An artist, named Ashley Jana, asked Anderson why Spotify doesn’t pay more. An excellent question. Apple Music now pays one cent per stream, while Spotify’s payout is around $0.003 to $0.005, which is pretty pathetic. This means the labels and Spotify are making bank, while the artists are getting shafted.

Anderson’s reply is not only heedless but reveals psychological projection, wherein his ego defends itself by attributing his feeling of entitlement onto Ashley Jana.

“Do you guys want to talk about entitlement now?” Anderson asked. And then went on to say, “The problem is this: Spotify was created to solve a problem. The problem was this: piracy and music distribution. The problem was to get artists’ music out there. The problem was not to pay people money.”

In other words, the creators of the music—the artists—don’t deserve to be paid. And if they think they do, it’s because they are suffering from a ridiculous and unwarranted sense of privilege. In effect, he’s sanctioning legalized piracy. Illegal piracy is bad. Legalized piracy is good.

Anderson’s remarks are egregious, ranting, boorish, and unacceptable. What planet is this guy from?

We don’t need to dwell here long. I just thought his corporate perspective reeked of marvelous effrontery and off-the-chart hubris.

Moving on, this is what I’ve been listening to this week.

1^st Base Runner – “Break Even”

Austin, Texas-based indie-electronic artist 1^st Base Runner, aka Tim Husmann, just released his single/music video, “Break Even,” lifted from his impending album, Seven Years of Silence, which drops July 30.

1^st Base Runner’s sound blends Gothic-pop, trip-hop, and avant-garde post-rock into wraithlike songs rife with dark, haunting textures.

LP – “Goodbye”

Alt-rock/pop-rock singer-songwriter LP, aka Laura Pergolizzi, unveiled the music video for “Goodbye” on July 9.

“Goodbye” is a track from LP’s forthcoming album, Churches, produced by a literal who’s who of producers. Churches will drop on October 8.

Talking about “Goodbye,” LP shares, “’Goodbye’ is a blast for the soul. A spring cleaning to free myself and hopefully others from the shackles of my own mind. The light is always there if you want it. I definitely want it.”

Izzy Outerspace – “Throw Me Into the Pool”

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Izzy Outerspace released the music video, “Throw Me Into the Pool,” an ethereal, dream-pop-like song, drifting on gleaming colors, along with Izzy’s deliciously nuanced voice.

Everything But The Everything – “Blue Sun,” featuring Olivia Barchard

Izzy The Gent, aka Israel Chavarin, aka Everything But The Everything, teamed up with Olivia Barchard on “Blue Sun.”

Barchard, renowned for her work with Moon Museum and Breakdown Valentine, owns one of those impressive voices rippling with new wave savors and elegant muscularity. “Blue Sun” rolls out on ‘90s indie-rock and shoegaze coloration and is a definite earworm.

Blindrunner – “Heart On The Line 27”

Denver-based noise pop power trio Blindrunner recently dropped the Brit-flavored “Heart On The Line 27,” vaguely reminiscent of the Kings of Leon.

weswes – ‘down bad but upright’

American-Taiwanese artist weswes just dropped his debut EP, down bad but upright. Speaking subjectively, the best track on the EP is “Rainforest,” rippling with aromas of reggae, pop, and modern hip-hop.

TGC – ‘Parallels’

Oslo-based electro-pop duo TGC—The Green Children—released Parallels a few days ago, a dreamy, creamy collection of low-slung songs. The highlight of the album is the deluxe voice of Milla Fay Sunde, whose translucent timbres imbue the songs with soft, sinuous, crystalline hues.

Shai Skye – “Paramour”

Originally from Juneau, Alaska, Shai Skye rolls out good old-fashioned pop-punk on “Paramour,” a song she calls a “big F*** YOU to the boyz who play dirty.” Shai definitely has it going on!