A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via stereogum)

In: Radiohead. It is not inconceivable that looking backwards at the History of Art, its progress may be measured as the growth process of the individual artist evolving into a self-sustaining businessman -- patronless -- as well as an articulate spokesperson for their own personal vision, whether apocalyptic, lyrical or what-have-you. Just speculating. And if this is so, then Radiohead is light years ahead of most bands. from Paidcontent:

"Radiohead’s pioneering pay-what-you-like In Rainbows album was bought 3 million times and sold more physical CD copies than the band’s last two records despite being available online for free for almost three months. That startling fact came from Jane Dyball, head of business affairs at music label Warner Chappell which licensed all digital and recording rights for the band, according to musically.com and MediaGuardian. Speaking at the You Are In Control conference in Iceland today, she revealed that despite being available for free online the record still sold 1.75 million physical copies in the UK and US. By contrast, 2001’s Amnesiac sold 900,000 copies and 2003’s Hail to the Thief shifted 990,000 copies."

(image via theatlantic)

Out: The McCain Strategy. Is there even one? Remember when, during the first Presidential debate, Senator McCain said -- in his most condescending voice imaginable, "I'm afraid Sen. Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy." The Corsair would like to say the same about Senator McCain. From The Observer's Joe Conason:

"From John McCain's perspective, the dispiriting outcome of the last presidential debate was determined long before he and Barack Obama arrived on the Hofstra campus. It had been decided months before, in fact, largely by the ineptitude of the Republican campaign's strategists. Actually, as experienced figures in both parties now agree, "strategist" is probably too generous a term to describe the people managing McCain's campaign. (Lobbyist is generally a more accurate term for the top advisers but beside the point here.) Rick Davis, Steve Schmidt, and the rest of the McCain-Palin crew have consistently failed to move their campaign above the tactical level.

"'I'm not Bush,' the latest gambit tried out by McCain last night onstage and in a new commercial, is not a strategy. (And it is altogether too vulnerable to rebuttal, as the new Obama ad proves with the opponent's own utterance.)"

Mixed: How Will "W" Do? Inquiring minds want to know. From DeadlineHollywoodDaily:

"... Hollywood never bets the farm on political fiction pics because they usually don't attract crowds at the box office. Small budget Wag The Dog and Bullworth received a lot of attention but not a lot of business. Studio pic Primary Colors disappointed. Stone's own JFK was wildly successful, but his Nixon underperformed. Of course, none of these pics were about a sitting U.S. president. Even though Stone's pic is opening Friday in wide release at 2,100+ North American theaters, Hollywood box office analysts are all over the map, telling me they expect anywhere from a low of $5 million to a high of $12 million for the weekend."

In: Sasha Gray, Porn Star Made Good. Variety broke the story and Page Six trumpeted the news across the Chattering Class event horizon that for whatever reason, Steven Soderbergh is helping a porn star go legit. How "European." That's quite a splash for an ingenue to make, though, on Page Six alongside a kingmaker like the certified Friend-of-Clooney, Soderberg. The awesome Karina Longworth of Spout has an interesting perspective on it all:

"I can only imagine that Jean-Luc himself would disapprove of a creation like Grey, a literal embodiment of the pornographic endgame of mass media, aligning herself with his name and work — but I’d bet he’d get a laugh out of the idea that she tried to name herself Anna Karina before her porno agent talked her out of it. In any case, if there’s anything more mind-blowing than the fact that Grey exists (and has won awards for her work in films like Fuck Slaves, no less), it’s that Magnolia and Soderbergh stumbled on her at just the right time. Because if anything’s going to top the Diablo Cody mythos, why not a porn star with a working knowledge of auteur theory?"

The full post here.