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Fight Night Double Bill: Coldplay vs. Joe Satriani and M.I.A vs Sri Lanka
Dear Groundlings, welcome to yet another edition of the spiffy music column we all know and adore
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Dear Groundlings, welcome to yet another edition of the spiffy music column we all know and adore. As always, I'd like to thank you for all the notes you've sent me, please keep them coming.
Now, let's get to it!
REVERB
You may have heard the tiff going on between Guitar World cover boy and the idol of pot-bellied prog-rock-loving Indonesian Harley -Davidson enthusiasts Joe Satriani had filed suit against UK rock gods Coldplay, claiming that Coldplay's vivacious "Viva La Vida" song of the eponymous album contains "substantial original portions" of Satriani's own song "If I Could Fly".
And while it's not really easy to imagine that this champion of endless screeching guitar solos (an act I consider to be a form of musical masturbation) could be in any way responsible for one of 2008's most ass-kicking rock singles, the two songs do share remarkably similar riffs, evidence of which can be found in many a Youtube video.
Not long after Satriani filed suit, Coldplay released the following statement claiming that Satriani didn't have anything to do with "Viva La Vida": "Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song *Viva la Vida'. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors." Satriani did not accept those assurances, of course. I mean, come on! That was kind of lame. The Associated Press reports that lawyers for Coldplay have once again insisted that Satriani didn't write the song, this time in court.
Yesterday, they filed a response in a Los Angeles federal court, claiming that "If I Could Fly" "lacks originality" and doesn't warrant copyright protection. According to Billboard, Satriani's lawyer believed the matter could've been resolved out of court, which is usually where cases like this end. Coldplay are sticking to their guns, though, and they stand to lose all kinds of money if the court rules against them. In the meantime, the members of Coldplay don't appear to be losing any sleep. They've been busy recording their Viva La Vida follow-up with uber-producer Brian Eno.
British-Sri Lankan hip-hop queen M.I.A. (born: Mathangi Arulpragasam named her first album after her father, a controversial Sri Lankan revolutionary figure, and she often uses revolutionary slogans and imagery in her music and presentation. Her politics have ruffled many feathers of those government types in Colombo. In recent months, her ladyship's statements about Sri Lanka's ongoing civil war have manage to irk people once more.
In late March, M.I.A. apparently lent her support to the Mercy Mission to Vanni (http://vannimission.org) , a British campaign to send supplies to civilians trapped in the fighting between the Tamil Tigers, who seek independence from the country at large, and the Sri Lankan Army. Now, a representative for the Sri Lankan Navy has made statements to a Sri Lankan newspaper about how these supplies may in fact be intended for the Tigers themselves and how the country's Navy will fire on any unauthorized vessel entering the country's waters.
Alt-country rockers and good ol' Kentucky boys My Morning Jacket are prepping a new seven-song live EP recorded in their native Louisville to be released exclusively in America's finest indie music shops on April 18. The EP, dubbed Celebraci*n De La Ciudad Natal, was recorded in 2008 at Louisville's own indie music haven, Ear-X-Tacy, as well as the city's picturesque Waterfront Park; it'll be available as a CD and in limited edition 10" double vinyl form.
In a very non-mainstream minded statement about the release, the band wrote, "It is so important that we realize that it is our local businesses and people (and natural landscapes, but that's a different letter) that are what make different towns worth coming to." Don't expect a Wal-Mart-only DVD from the boys.
That about wraps it up for this week's Reverb. Stay tune next week!
Meanwhile, do drop me a line at undergroundhum@yahoo.com and if you've got a band or know of any cool bands with gigs coming up, email me the full details and I'll be sure to include it in the next Reverb.
See y'all next week!
