Scott Goldberg's blog

How to Destroy a Song, Courtesy of Chevy and John Mellencamp

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 30, 2006 - 7:50am.
Chevy Truck Commercial I’m pulling my hair out over the disaster Chevy has made of John Mellencamp’s ridiculous and irrelevant tribute song “Our Country.”  Whoever was in charge of this campaign forgot to calculate the insanity they might cause in viewers, and the newfound dedication some of us have found to never buying a Chevy product again.  I’m serious about that.  Every time it comes on I want to throw my television against a wall.  What’s really sad about it, too, is that Mellencamp’s new album hasn’t even been released, which means we can expect to hear this God-awful piece of music at least 18 times a day for the next 9 months.  Just the thought of that is making me break out into a cold sweat.  I feel a burning hatred brewing toward Chevy and Cougar Mellencamp. 


Music Review: Few Compare to Citizen Cope's Originality

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 20, 2006 - 4:59am.
Citizen CopeThe words “unique” and “original” are too often tossed at art and music unworthy of such lofty claims, because to possess a truly unique and original style is, perhaps, the highest aim of any artist.  Listening to Citizen Cope’s music, the lack of comparisons will not be obvious right away.  At first you’re reminded of the blues, Cope’s smoky voice and melancholy mood hovering over every track.  But his style is as much blues as it is rap, as much rap as it is reggae; in jazz terminology you might call it a “cool” approach – Cope always sings just behind the already slowed-down beat, taking his time with every word, and in that sense he lacks (gratefully) the urgency underlining most hip hop and rap today.
tags: Music | Reviews | Scott Goldberg | Samples | Citizen Cope |

Is Revver Stepping up Advertising?

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 18, 2006 - 5:30am.
Revver Logo Driving on Sunset in Hollywood last Saturday night, I noticed a huge billboard advertising Revver.  So I spoke to my contact there, and he only offered, "We're currently laying our plans.  Stay tuned." I could be wrong, but I think it's unusual to lay your plans at the same time that you're executing them.  Revver is no doubt hatching something huge, because billboard advertising is not cheap on Sunset.  Granted, Revver is a Hollywood-based company, so marketing on its own turf makes sense, but still...get ready to see more of Revver elsewhere.  I also should add: The billboard looked good; nicely styled, simple, and unavoidable. 
tags: Internet | Video | Marketing | Advertising | Revver | Video-Sharing | UGC | Scott Goldberg |

The 21st Century Warhol? Not Sure, But Plasticgod is Pretty Cool

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 17, 2006 - 5:09pm.
Plasticgod Plasticgod calls himself “The 21st Century Warhol,” which is saying a lot, but whatever you call him, his stuff is good.  He animates in a mug shot angle, straight on at the subject, and has a knack for adding the right touches to help the nameless images achieve their identity quickly, even for people who care little for pop culture.  Though he has different pieces, his primary focus seems to be the “Gods Heads” and “God Bods,” which have achieved popularity with a celebrity audience that Plasticgod makes no effort to conceal.  It seems like the unartistic thing to do – becoming a “celebutante,” that is – but it’s obviously been done before, by Andy Warhol, to give one relatable example, which is no coincidence, as Plasticgod admits on his site.  The celebrities include Tim Curry, Seth Green, Paul McCartney, and Fred Durst (to name four of the 50 or so he has listed on his website). 

 

A Different Kind of Concert (updated)

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 12, 2006 - 6:32am.
Big Screen Concerts Logo It looks like there's already a company to turn to for the "Movie Theater Concert" project I wrote about last week.  It's called Big Screen Concerts. They had an impressive playlist on their site, including Phish and Widespread Panic.  Peter Grenney wrote that one of the problems movie theaters have is the "skate punk" crowd loitering outside.  Wouldn't it be great, he said, if a movie theater made positive use of that fact rather than fighting it.  He also offered that, increasingly, theater owners are trying to come up with ways to make their real estate usable in a round-the-clock way.  For example, conferences could be held in the large auditoriums, meetings, etc. 

From The Motley Fool: Generation Y Discusses the Baby Boom

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 11, 2006 - 3:51pm.
Motley Fool LogoWith nearly 78.2 million baby boomers driving our economy and 330 of them turning 60 each hour, there's clearly a transition on the horizon with fiscal implications all around. Soon, a generation of parents will become a generation of geriatrics, and this means different things for different companies. These demographic trends will be providing a lot of great investment opportunities for younger generations -- the Xs, the Ys, and any other nicknames they're giving generations nowadays. So we've sought out the insights of two twentysomething analysts (Nick, 22, and Katrina, 23) here at the Fool. Their conversation follows:

The Fine Taste of Flavorpill

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 11, 2006 - 3:23pm.

There’s no shortage of information today, and for anything you’re after there’s likely to be an abundance of options.  That’s great if you want a car deal, a news story, or an airline ticket, but when it comes to entertainment, especially in large cities like New York and Los Angeles, it’s hard to sift through the B.S. and find something interesting.  For one, the listings are too often the same.  I’ve heard or read at least a hundred times in the last month that The Killers have a new album and will be playing at the Wiltern in LA on October 6 and 7.  You begin to think LA doesn’t have much happening and that its entertainment sources are becoming stale, unless of course you want to see Ashton Kutcher’s latest attempt at serious acting in The Guardian.

A Different Kind of Concert

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 6, 2006 - 5:49am.
It's being done in a different format, and the technology has been used for a similar idea, but I think it's time for someone to buy a movieStage Diving theater, gut the inside, turn it into a bar/concert venue, and use the big screen to broadcast concerts anywhere in the world in HD. Imagine: You live in San Francisco. Your favorite live act, Widespread Panic, is playing at Madison Square Garden. You can't go because of that small green obstacle, money, and that pesky thing no one can quite figure out how to overcome, time. But it doesn't bother you because it's Friday night and you're going out anyway, so you head to the theater playing the show on its big screen, pay $10 to get in, then mingle with a lively crowd and enjoy the show without all of the hassles associated with concerts.