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Editorial
I can't believe that we are finally putting out another newsletter. I've started a few in the past two years, but it always seems to be pushed aside by more pressing issues. There have been some changes at Buckyball Music this year, and for the first time we have taken on board some regular help. This has given us more time to do things like this newsletter, which has been assembled by recent Buckyball addition Scott Bowen who lends his enthusiasm for music and words. Also with us for more than six months is Sakura Toyama, who has been a great help all around - from driving and recording Tunnels on the road, trying to maintain a lid on the inbox in Buckyball Central, to conversing with our Japanese associates in her native tongue.
It is said that the only thing that is certain in life is uncertainty, but these newsletters should be getting published more often in the future. As for now, please receive our best wishes for the New Year.
Legislation
They legislate while you're sleeping, they charge while you're awake. They don't care if you are small or big so be big business for goodness' sake!
The life of the musician is typically far removed from anything political in the Washington sense of the term. In fact, remembering to head to the polls to vote every four years is about as politically active as your average working musician gets. But decisions are being made in Congress that will directly affect us both now and in the future. So while we were sleeping, a fee for web casting music was set across the board to Internet radio. The posting of this act can be viewed at: http://www.copyright.gov/carp/webcasting_rates_final.html . What¹s so wrong about charging to broadcast the product of our hard work? (Funny you should ask) Here it is in a nutshell:
Internet radio sites have sprung up all around the 'net. They are, for the most part, small non-commercial operations. Nearly every college station has one and there are multitudes of independent-minded DJ¹s who want to broadcast atypical music that doesn't always float in the mainstream. The latter has the effect of diversifying the narrow choice available on the commercial airwaves. That being said, everybody should get his or her due - right? In a broad, vaguely defined and all-encompassing theoretical sort of way, yes. But the unfortunate reality of it is that the tracking of the web cast royalties will rely on a form of web cast sampling. So in practice, only the most-played tracks will show up on the sample (easy if you can afford the extensive Internet radio promotion budgets). The smaller market arenas, however, will have little to no representation.
So how can this affect independent music and independent web radio, you ask? (My, but aren't we on top of it with the astute questions today?) It could conceivably put many independent web radio stations out of business, which will have to find the revenue to pay for the twenty-four hour web casting of music. Those web radio sites that do manage to stay afloat will be paying royalties for those cuts that constitute the largest slice of the airwave pie. That's all well and good for Shakira, NSYNC, and Eminem. But for the rest of us left hanging out in that little place called "real life" - we'll be watching from afar as the big names can at last afford that third summer home.
Other legislative acts to watch include the curbing of ³Peer to peer network² sites á la Napster on the 'net. Another legislative oddity is the aptly named ³Rave Act² which would essentially criminalize the hosting of such parties. Put down your glowsticks for a second and go get informed before you're affected by something you didn't know about, one and all!
An organization that stays on top of these issues is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF. You can visit their website at: http://www.eff.org
Our last release in the spotlight
Here is an interesting late evening topic of discussion around the fireplace for those long winter nights. How can we define if a song is too long, or what should be the official cut off time? Where is the point when the music stops being an expression and, furthermore, who¹s to judge as to what the listener will enjoy? Our reviewer might guide us through this difficult process. But yet again we see a varied pool of opinions - which is not helping us in deciding when we should stop playing, why we should stop playing, or even if we should stop playing at all! Should I stop now? Who¹s to decide? Well I am not for certain, but what I am sure of is that it is not going to be the critics.
Buckminster¹s Corner:
Our namesake is in the news again. Patients who undergo an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) drink a concoction that contains metals, making their insides shine through for the imaging. Buckyballs, those miniscule structures (you can put 50,000 of them on the width of a human hair), could encage the metals, preventing them from poisoning you as they pass through the body. So the next time you go to your favorite HMO just ask for a stiff buckyball cocktail - shaken, not stirred.
Buckyball News
2002 proved to be a very active year for the Buckyball roster. The releases of Nuove Musiche and Progressivity brought more vitality to the Buckyball catalogue, and have subsequently sparked an upcoming tour beginning in March, 2003.
The year of the horse also saw some noteworthy tour dates by Sarah¹s Galileo¹s Daughters which included an appearance at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, in Charleston, South Carolina.
We have some exciting new releases slated for the upcoming year. We are going to put together the last two Brand X studio recordings: Manifest Destiny and X-Communication, with an added fifty-five minutes of an unreleased recording of the last Brand X U.S. tour in 1980 - featuring Phil Collins, Pete Robinson, Robin Lumley, John and Percy.
Sarah Pillow is out with a new crossover project, picking up where Nuove Musiche left off. It is going to be a double CD with two interpretations of each song; one with a traditional arrangement and instruments, the other with the Brand X lineup.
We also are working on a Live Tunnels CD, and there is an ongoing succession of mp3 downloads on the web site from Tunnels live gigs in 2002.
All in all, this year has been a productive one. But we can¹t dwell on our current good fortune, lest we linger. So we here at Buckyball are going to strap in, prepare for launch, and blast off into 2003 - setting the shape of music to come..
The Well Fed Starving Artist Warning - Dip In Road
The holidays tend to bring on a mixed bag of emotions. For those of you who find the holidays a fun time, the first recipe requires a small amount of elbow grease but is tasty and worth the investment. If you can barely drag yourself out the door, try the second recipe, it¹s delicious and extremely easy and you might just end up cheering up others as well as yourself, leading to greater understanding and global peace. Okay, it¹s a stretch- but who¹s to say the glass isn¹t half full of eggnog?
Red Pepper and Walnut Dip
adapted from Eating Well Magazine
The dip will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
2 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons fine unseasoned dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted, for garnish
Preheat broiler. Cut peppers into quarters lengthwise and remove cores and seeds. Arrange the peppers, skin-side up, in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil until the skins are blackened all over, 15 to 25 minutes, turning peppers occasionally to blacken evenly. Transfer peppers to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, slip off skins and discard. Coarsely chop the peppers. You should have about 1 cup.
Combine chopped peppers, breadcrumbs, oil, lemon juice, salt, cumin, sugar, cayenne and cloves in a blender or food processor; puree until smooth. Add walnuts and blend until smooth. (Some of the walnuts can be added after blending, if some texture is desired.) The dip should have the consistency of a batter: if too thick, blend in some hot water, a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add more breadcrumbs. Transfer to a bowl. Just before serving, garnish with pine nuts. This dip is excellent with toasted pita bread or crudité.
Easy Dip from Barbara Hipkins and Hidden Valley Ranch
1. Mix 1oz. packet of Original Ranch dressing with 1 pint (16oz.) sour cream.
2. Add one 10oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained & one 8oz. can of water chestnuts, chopped.
3. Mix together & serve.
Great with crudité, crackers or chips.
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