Helter Stupid

I keep forgetting to mention this. Remember when I was considering buying an iPod and was looking at the different models and joked about wanting a Negativland iPod rather than the U2 Edition one?

Well, lo and behold, some dude is indeed selling a Negativland iPod. He’s been trying to auction it off on eBay since Decemember (though I didn’t know about it until recently, I swear), but Apple threatened to sue and caused the cowards at eBay to cancel the auction. So now he’s doing the auctioning on his own site. According to him: “All profits from the sale of the Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition will be donated to Downhill Battle, a not-for-profit organization working to build a fairer music industry.” The current bid is at $667. [via Boing Boing, Wired]

Hey, Apple: Please just shut the fuck up. This guy bought one of your iPods, put some Negativland songs on it and now he’s selling it. It has nothing to do with you. He owns that particular iPod, not you. Besides, if you were as hip as you think you are, you’d have thought of it yourself. Now calm down and continue enjoying those profits you’re making on your overpriced gadgets.

March 9, 2005 | Filed Under Culture, Technology | Leave a Comment 

Kiwi Rock

In my last post, I discussed the impact (albeit short-term) that filesharing and having an iPod has had on my record buying habits. My conclusion: Despite easy access to free MP3s, I am still buying music and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. In fact, it looks as if I’ll go halfway around the world to find what I need.

Admittedly, I didn’t actually have to travel very far. Why should I when an order from New Zealand’s SmokeCDs.com brings so much of that country’s illustrious music right to my mailbox? I’ve ordered from them several times in the past when I’ve needed a kiwi fix. First and foremost for my purposes, they carry a huge selection of Flying Nun label stuff, including those first two Clean albums which appear to be OOP elsewhere in the world. Don’t let the prices fool you; they’re in NZ dollars, until you switch with their very handy built-in currency converter. The prices in USD are pretty reasonable but not super cheap. And while the shipping costs are something to consider (they are on the other side of the planet), they’re not terrible. I paid $11+ for standard shipping, for example, and my order was shipped on Monday and arrived that Saturday. Not too bad at all. Past experiences have been similar.

Anyway, I recommend them, especially for the stuff you might not be able to find anywhere else outside of ebay. Here’s what I got:

Very Short Films - DVD
Forty-one music videos, each from a different artist on the Flying Nun roster. This is a no-frills collection spanning virtually the entire life of this label’s considerable output. It’s starts fittingly with the Clean and a video for one of their early songs, “Anything Could Happen.” From there, we see a chronological presentation of videos from the likes of the Chills (with their excellent “Pink Frost”), Verlaines, Tall Dwarfs, The Bats, Bailterspace, and a slew of lesser-knowns (Bored Games or Betchadupa anyone?). And the quality, despite the DVD’s notice of archival footage, is pretty decent. Check this page for a full list of videos and a write-up. There’s a Volume 2 of this collection which features the same artists but with additional videos. Note that both are in PAL format, so you need a DVD player capable of playing those kinds of discs.

The Verlaines: You’re Just Too Obscure For Me
A “long overdue career retrospective,” according to SmokeCDs. Includes “Pyromaniac,” “Death and the Maiden,” and the awesome “Joed Out” which was featured here as Song of the Week for two weeks in a row. Check the write-up at SmokeCDs for more.

David Kilgour: Here Come the Cars
After enjoying the Clean frontman’s latest two solo records (especially last year’s excellent Frozen Orange), I figured I’d go back and check out one of his earlier releases. This reissue in fact appears to be that of his solo debut. I haven’t had much time to absorb this one, but a few precursory listens indicate this one is bit more restrained than later material. The SmokeCDs write-up only features the tracklist and technical details, so look to AMG for a review.

March 8, 2005 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment 

My Fair Share

My web hosting provider recently sent out an email in which they asked their customers to remove copyrighted mp3s from their servers. Since I do have a few of those sitting around (in fact, I can’t help but think the request was at least partially directed at me), I thought I’d take a look at that intitial email they sent out after I paid for my hosting. Sure enough, they stipulate that customers are not allowed to store such media files on their servers and those who do will have their accounts terminated without refund. Fair enough, but I wish I had known before plunking down the cash for a year of hosting with them. So anyway…it looks like it might be time to find another host.

The music industry’s reaction to filesharing is ridiculous. I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it, either. I spend plenty of money on music. Trips to Sound Garden in Balitmore, for example, yield stacks of CDs and a buck-fifty tab. Or let me loose in the Village in NYC and watch me go. I can spend hours record shopping and drop a couple hundred bucks, no problem. And let’s not forget about mailorder. Thanks to my town’s lack of a good record store, I often have to order stuff online to get what I’m looking for. In other words, I’m a record buyer’s record buyer.

Filesharing has had an effect on my record buying habits—don’t get me wrong. Now that I have an iPod (and have been downloading stuff and ripping stuff from friends), things are changing. I use to go record shopping and sometimes pick up a CD because I like the cover art or the band’s name, a technique which carries a very low success rate. I used to make lists of bands I wanted to check out, find their record at the store (if I was lucky enough to find it), take a quick listen, and decide right then if I might be able to get into it. Now, I’ll have already heard it and can go in with an informed opinion and buy only what I know I’ll like (because I’ve been listening to it for weeks and know that it’s awesome). I’ve cut out the middle man, in a way. Filesharing then, doesn’t keep me from buying music, it just influences what music I’ll end up buying.

But certainly the ability to hear things will have an impact on the amount that I’ll buy, right? By weeding out all those deaf buys and hastily-researched discs (the discs I thought I might like after a brief listen in the store only to find later that I actually could do without them), aren’t I cutting down on purchases quite a bit? No. If anything, I’ll only be cutting down on the amount of records I have to sell. Now everything I buy is a keeper. Plus, the amount of records I won’t be buying thanks to filesharing will be more than made up for by the amount of music I’m being exposed to, also thanks to filesharing. I’m still pretty much the same spendy music fan, just a more informed one.

I dunno, maybe I’m an exception. I haven’t stopped buying stuff and I’m certainly not downloading Metallica or Britney. There are people who only download music, but you know what? The people who don’t buy any music and who download such easily available, mainstream crap probably wouldn’t be spending money on music anyway. These people would likely be satisfied with a shitty tape dubbed off the radio. So who cares? I know, the laws aren’t based on unknown variables or what people might or might not do. But like I said, I’m not going to argue the legalities of this issue. I’m just explaining what I do with filesharing. I don’t see what I do with it as morally wrong.

So there you have it, folks: For me, filesharing is A-OK. These other slobs, however, should be locked up for life. Not necessarily for filesharing, just ya know…’cause they suck and stuff.

March 5, 2005 | Filed Under Music, Personal, Technology | Leave a Comment 

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