Moses Supposes

Moses Supposes: EMI will not die, says CEO

Moses Avalon is one of the nation’s leading music-business consultants and artists’-rights advocates and is the author of a top-selling music business reference, Confessions of a Record Producer. More of his articles can be found at www.mosesavalon.com/blog.

It must be tough to be Roger Faxon right now. In early November, he wakes up to find that not only has his sugar daddy, Terra Firma, lost in court to its lender Citigroup, but many bloggers and journalists (me included) had written an epitaph to EMI, the company he runs, essentially throwing dirt on the grave of the major label before the coroner’s report is signed. Tired of pulling employees off the ledge of the building, Faxon fired back.

In an odd move, rather than call a press conference to publicly diffuse all the negative speculations, which would have opened his comments to journalists’ scrutiny, Faxon opted for a private memo to EMI staff. In essence, he called the press irresponsible and implied that the blogosphere should bugger off.

Avi Buffalo

Avi Buffalo: Rock Prodigies’ Trial by Fire

Avi Zahner-Isenberg traded in his skateboard for a guitar at age 12. A short eight years later, his band, Avi Buffalo, is signed to Sub Pop and touring the world on the strength of its self-assured rock-pop debut.

Christopher Cavaliere

World in Stereo: Christopher Cavaliere’s Monrovia Suite

Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.

Christopher Cavaliere: “Étude 7 (Brazilian March)” (Monrovia Suite, self-released, 8/13/10)

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/07-Track-7.mp3|titles=Christopher Cavaliere: “Etude 7 (Brazilian March)”]

With his self-released album Monrovia Suite, multi-instrumentalist Christopher Cavaliere presents a tightly wound collection of worldly instrumental tracks.  Accessible yet avant garde, the album exudes a patience and grace towards composition that may be best demonstrated by those schooled in jazz and classical music.

The young virtuoso, hailing from Bridgeport, Connecticut, has a knack for turning his solo routine into a swelling symphonic experience. In the same style as Frédéric Chopin and other great composers, Cavaliere has titled his songs as études. It’s a compelling choice warranted by the album’s dynamic lushness, timeless guitar intercessions, and rhythmic complexity. The songs can be heard as studies in the sense of composition, arrangement, and tone. For listeners, it’s a helpful way to frame the album, imagining the songs more like movements or motifs in the traditional classical sense.

Fuck Buttons

Fuck Buttons: Over the Influence

While retaining some of the dark, distorted undertones that peppered its 2008 debut, Fuck Buttons‘ latest offering relaxes a bit with atmospherics that glaze the record in a glassy sheen.