__Nike: North American Scum__Musicians who sell their work to corporations are like . . . HDTV. High-definition is great if you’re watching a good movie. But if the movie sucks, then it sucks in double linear resolution. It sucks __vividly__.In the same way, good musicians, like Feist, can enhance their standing with a corporate tie-in, whereas mediocre artists such as Moby only serve to clarify how much of a grave-robbing bible-bashing slaphead they actually are. Although, Feist is now trying to have her cake and eat it. She’s saying she didn’t realize how much “exposure” her 1234 video would receive when she sold her music to that little known Mon’n’Pop store, Apple, Inc. At least Moby’s excuse was honest. He admitted that he licensed every song from his gospel-sampling Play album to advertisers in an effort to break into the mainstream. The fact that he couldn’t please crowds with his own compositions before, or since, alas suggests that he’s an overambitious huckster whose real talent is for making money.
__Just Do It, Or Else__Which brings me to Phil Knight, co-founder and former CEO of Nike, Inc. By pure chance I caught a CNBC documentary this week about the company. In interview, Knight wore creepy wraparound shades to hide his goggle-eyes. The fat billionaire guffawed loudly after relaying how he paid a measly 30 bucks to a female graphic designer to come up with the Swoosh logo. Later, he spoke at his regret that Nike (not Knight himself, of course) had become synonymous with exploiting workers. Hey, it was right there right at the company’s inception, you stalk-eyed shyster. Of course, as an ageing hipster, it’s my solemn duty to detest Knight and his company with every breath in my slowly deteriorating body. Until, that is, they release a product that helps me to improve said body. So far they’ve done it twice. The first time was a pedometer that allows me to time the distance of my running, which I placed under of the laces of my wonderful Asics running shoes. The second is LCD Soundsystem’s exercise mix for Nike, 45:33. An ageing hipster himself -- perhaps the king of ‘em -- James Murphy seems an odd choice for this enterprise. If I had to choose an artist to partner up with Nike, I’d pick R. Kelly. One, both Nike and Kelly are perennially being accused of doing disgusting things to children. Two, Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” is a perfect fit for the marketing of Nike Air range, which convinces millions of concave-chested idiots that they’re walking on air rather than some plastic shoe padding.
__Phil Knight: Goggle-eyed CEO.__Happily, as one might expect from dance music’s funniest writer, Murphy doesn’t totally toe the company line. The first words on the mix are "Shame On You". A sly dig at Nike’s appalling worker rights record in Asia? I certainly hope so. That’s during the slinky funky piece of business that I call Part II, where he stretches himself a little further with his version of 70s soul singer vocals.Indeed, Murphy treated the project as a chance to experiment. He credits the mix as the beginning of a creative purple patch which led to his 2007 masterpiece Sound of Silver. Proof of which is the appearance in Part III of the pre-lyric version of the storming Someone Great, a beautiful piece of music even divorced from Murphy’s bittersweet lines. 45:33 finishes with a organ-led ambient piece meant for warming down to; that is, if you actually listen while jogging. Personally, I’ve jogged to it twice. However I’ve listened to it dozens more times doing all manner of other activities, including sitting at my desk, taking the train, walking in the park, and playing the X-Box. I have a sneaking suspicion too that this euphoric music would be great to do the nasty to. Sadly, in my case, the 45 minute plus timeframe renders the point moot.Of course, music lovers don’t need an exercise mix made by a corporation. We use mixes made by ourselves or fellow musos. Plus, we don’t need a Nike mix to get our blood pumping. All we have to do is open the Nike page on knowmore.org "[link]":http://www.knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nike%2C_inc.
__If we play a mix, will they work faster?__If after reading knowmore.org, you might feel that Murphy is an irresponsible sellout - a reasonable assumption given the nature of the evidence against Nike. Consider, though, how another electronic artist deals with The Man. Techno "activist" Alex Empire likes to tell the tale of how he took Phonogram Records for a ride during the dance music explostion in Britain in the early 90s. His band Atari Teenage Riot signed for a large unrecoupable advance, then sabotaged the recording process. They started their own label with the money. On hearing this, I remember thinking, yes, Alex, the world would be a much better place with dishonorable people like you at helm.I prefer Murphy’s healthier attitude towards corporate work. Treat it as your own, don’t compromise the music itself, pay some bills, and everyone’s happy. Well, almost everyone. Nike’s workout audience, Murphy reports, found the music “horrible”! In fact, LCD Soundsystem seem to have done a lot better out of the deal than Nike. Creatively and in a business sense. Murphy demanded that the rights of 45:33 transferred back to his label DFA after one year. So, the Devil doesn’t have __all__ the best tunes.
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