Scamming musicians is nothing new. They’re easy marks, whose best defense mechanism against the scammers lining up to get a hand in their wallets, is the lack of funds within. But musicians’ lack of money doesn’t stop these scam artists from trying… it just means they have to scam in bulk.

Case in point: Music Xray. Music Xray will tell you they are providing a service to these musicians by offering “exposure opportunities”, that put their music in front of “Music Industry Professional”… for a fee. Right, so if you’re a musician, instead of buying that QuickStop burrito, you can pay $3+ to submit your music to one of these “exposure opportunities” and have your music reviewed by an “industry professional”. Of course, anyone can sign up to be one of these said “professionals”. Yup, anyone and their uncle can sign up as one and start creating “opportunities” that charge musicians a submission fee. Or you could just cut out the middle man and give your uncle Lenny $3 to tell you how great you are (thanks Lenny!).

Think American Idol, except all the thousands and thousands of contestants have to pay to have to pay each judge for every “opportunity” to perform for them and instead of Simon, you get berated by uncle Lenny (who was in a band once). And in this scenario, Music Xray would be the TV producers who get to make coin off the whole thing, while declaring their innocence of any wrong-doing. It’s not their fault Lenny is really a refrigerator repair man and can’t cary a tune in a bucket.

Want more proof? Music Xray are also prolific spammers. Once you’re on their list, they will email you constantly with “opportunities” from a range of email domains, so you can’t kill them off with a spam filter. You can keep trying to “unsubscribe” but it won’t do you any good. Classy! How much money would you give to a spammer?

And Music Xray also searches for, and responds to, articles that discus their business as being a scam (like this one). This in itself is an obvious mark of a shady business.

So, is Music Xray a scam? Maybe it depends on how much you like QuickStop burritos. Judge for yourself…

An old friend has a new name and a new album out. I’m still waiting for my copy (hint) but from the clips on his site, it sounds like a winner.

The man is Mack Starks and the album is Elsewhere. His new European label, Blue Rose Records, has a press release but it’s in German. Get the translation from Google.

Finally got the record! It’s on my JookBox. Take a listen…

A few weeks back, I picked up an OLP MM2 4 string bass that can be found here at Musicians Friend for $229. It’s a MusicMan stingray copy, made in China in a similar vain as Fender’s cheaper Japanese or Mexican series basses. It’s made of basswood, has two volumes and a tone, maple neck and fingerboard and a MusicMan style passive pickup.
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I picked up Elvis Costello’s new record When I was Cruel the other day and gave it a spin while I washed my truck. I wanted to give it more attention but… Then this afternoon, I listened again as I waxed my floors. If nothing else, this album is making work around the house a joy! After finishing my chores, I really sat down and listened to it.

This is just a fantastic record. It seems to pick up where Brutal Youth left off but it is perhaps a bit less severe sounding. Lyrically, it reminds me of Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, where the lyrics seems a little more simple and natural but hit the target just as hard. Musically, it sounds like he may have been listening to Tom Waits a bit. It features most of the members of the Attractions except for bassist Bruce Thomas (who is my favorite bass player ever) and is everything you would expect from Costello. Just go buy it!

I’m gonna say go see this movie, if for no other reason than to keep up with the story so you can understand the next one. Personally, I thought Attack of the Clones was terrible.

Sorry George but I don’t think you have any ink left in your pen. The story and characters are just not there nor are they interesting. The dialog is just plain bad and uninspired. There’s some nice action at the end but it’s like a painfully long, boring joke that has a mildly entertaining, sword wielding puppet as the punch line.

Go see for yourself. Everyone seems to have a different opinion and many seemed to like it. Yuck.

Alice is slow, dark and playful and although it may be reminiciant of some of Waits’ earlier works, it reminds me of Black Rider’s B-side (one of my favorites). It was originally written as an opera and played in Germany in the early ’90s. If you like Waits but are not into all of his albums (shame on you!), this is the album for you.

Blood Money on the other hand, picks up right where Mule Variations left off. It is another triumphant return to Waits’ spooky-midget-circus-music that I do love so. Another fantastic album but perhaps not for the casual Waits listener.

Not one but two Waits CDs this year! I must have been prety good lately. Go buy both!

Spider-man was even better than I hoped it would be. It’s funny and very well done. When first reading about this film, I thought that the casting of Tobey Maguire as Spider-man was a great fit. Turns out that I’m smarter than I look because he is perfect in the role. I won’t bore you with the obvious details, just go see it.

The diehard Spider-man fans will want to sit through all of the credits for a giggle at the end.

Verdict: Look the other way!

I’m a huge Woody Allen fan and it pains me to say it but this movie is terrible. I implore you to look the other way an pretend it isn’t there.

Hollywood Ending is a bad movie about a guy who makes a bad movie. Woody plays a famous director that has been in a slump and gets a last crack at a big Hollywood movie. The comic hijinx begins when he goes blind the day before shooting starts. There are some giggles to be sure but in the end, this movie was painful to watch.

I’d like to think that this movie is just above my little cerebrum and that it is truly great art but unlike in the movie itself, I thinke even the French will pass on this one.

After finally seeing A Beautiful Mind, I now see what all the hubbub was about. This is a fantastic film. Ron Howard keeps getting better as a director and Russell Crowe can be as weird as he wants when he’s this good.

I think it’s best not to have any information about this film before you see it so I won’t write any spoilers here. Just go see it or buy it. The day or two you spend thinking about it will be worth it.
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I’m not a big fan of Jet Li movies because although he has great foo, the movies themselves are pretty lame.
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