Matthew Dear partners with design firm Boym for new album – Black City

By: Dave Allen | 1 Comment

I have written many words about how musicians need to rethink the act of delivery of their recorded albums in a digital age, so it’s refreshing to see Matthew Dear step up to the plate with his record label, Ghostly International, to bring us his new album, Black City, in the form of what can only be described as a sculpture; or perhaps ‘object’ will suffice. Here’s more info on what Dear describes as ‘totems..’

Dear has partnered with design firm, Boym, who designed the monolithic totems, that include a special code that allows the buyer to access a download and stream of the full digital album, as well as an exclusive track.

From Matthew Dear’s web site:

The MDBC Totem is both a sculptural representation of the themes explored in Black City and a symbolic conduit to the music itself. Vaguely reminiscent of one of the soot-blackened skyscrapers that might populate Dear’s creeping, nameless city, the stacks upon the totem also call to mind the many shaped prongs of a universal power adaptor. In this sense, the totem is not simply a miniature building, but an abstract key to an unknown door. The branding of the totem has been purposefully reduced to its bare essentials – only the letters MDBC and unique three-digit suffixes are included – so that the totem’s meaning remains discernible only to its beholder.

You can also get a free MP3 download from the web site.

Here’s some of my thoughts on City.

Cash vs credit – what should you do?

By: Dave Allen | 4 Comments

I know this is off topic [although what stands for "topic" here is rather malleable.] As someone who doesn’t use credit cards I found this very interesting and thought I’d share it.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has released a Discussion Paper – Who Gains and Who Loses from Credit Card Payments? Theory and Calibrations.

Here’s the abstract:

Merchant fees and reward programs generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash”) users because merchants generally do not set differential prices for card users to recoup the costs of fees and rewards. On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year. We build and calibrate a model of consumer payment choice to compute the effects of merchant fees and card rewards on consumer welfare. Reducing merchant fees and card rewards would likely increase consumer welfare.

What does this mean? Well, in a nutshell, if like me you pay for a good with cash, you are subsidizing all those folks who pay by credit card and who benefit from card rewards programs. This is because the card companies charge merchants 1-2% of the price of a product when a customer uses their credit card. The merchant then raises her prices to compensate for those charges, yet if you pay by cash you don’t get to pay less – which would be the true cost of the item; i.e., minus the card company charges. Apparently the credit card companies make the merchants do this. Therefore we cash payers are subsidizing credit card users.

It also gets a bit complicated as [the mysteriously named] Economist blogger M.S. posted:

The Boston Fed paper argues that cash users lose from bundling, while credit-card users win. But an alternative view would be that both lose, since credit-card users lose the opportunity to save money by using cash. For example, on a recent purchase of airline tickets in an emerging-market country, I saved about $200 by paying cash rather than using a credit card. In America, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. Using the credit card would have been “free”.

I’m sticking to cash. Meanwhile American Express is offering select customers $300 if they pay off and close their credit card accounts. It’s not a gift really, they are worried that people will default on their loans.

Menomena – Mines out today July 27

By: Dave Allen | 1 Comment

Let’s switch gears. Portland, being the Indie Music Capital of the World, should always give thanks that one of indie/alternative music’s greatest bands resides in town – Menomena. They release their brand new album today, entitled Mines. You can read a great review of the album by Robert Ham here, take a listen to a track below and if you like your high-quality MP3s DRM-free, then Amazon is the place for you as you can download the album and it’s only $3.99.The $3.99 deal is only for today so hurry or get on down to your local indie music store and the grab the vinyl version – I got mine..

Menomena – TAOS

Mossini 2010 campaign: Is this brand authenticity?

By: Dave Allen | 2 Comments

Photo credit: Juergen Teller/Mossini

Some thoughts on the Mossini advertising campaign.

Famed fashion photographer, Juergen Teller, took these photographs [it's a Flash site, click on the advertising link,] of the Mossini’s at their family residence in Sumirago, Italy.

Teller has created a photomontage of a family seemingly at peace with itself, doing what families do when they gather for a retreat or an occasion of some kind. Yet we only know the half of it; we only know what we “see.” Family gatherings can get weird real quick.

In these shots everything and everyone looks fine. Teller lets the flash bounce off a picture behind a sofa in one shot, an accident that you or I, or any amateur photographer might make; the images are slightly out of focus too and there are over-exposed faces front and center; all of this is to reinforce the idea that any family member could be behind the camera.

Some in the media have lapped this up. Here’s an extract from the blog Trendland.net:

“I am loving the Missoni SS 2010 Campaign shot by Juergen Teller. It oozes with familial warmth that so many people can relate to. The campaign portrays the authenticity of the brand in a way that no model could ever depict. Nostalgia fills each frame, as a generational tale unveils itself to the media. Just Brilliant!”

I can forgive the hyperbole but I’m not feeling it. Would it not have been more authentic to actually have a family member take the photos rather than have Teller be the “fake” family member?

I could be wrong; maybe Teller simply captured a famous fashion family living the good life..

“”The images of Juergen Teller for the S/S 2010 campaign reflected and portrayed our everyday family life,” said Angela Missoni.” from Vogue Italia.