The Hippodrome

Kyle Wallace and his team of bloggers over at Analog Scene (and by team I mean me) have found a little tidbit that’s worth repeating here. Downliners Sekt is a Creative Commons licensed band/website that encourages you to share and torrent all their music. Kyle calls it “Radiohead one step further” (without the messy material backlash.)

Although a group making suave electronic beats for free is totally cool, I realize they’re not Radiohead. It’s always good to see polished bands doing this kind of thing, but can we really fault Radiohead for wanting to release some materials with their music?

When I like an artist’s music, I buy the vinyl and go see the artist live. I hope you do the same. I wasn’t a huge fan of In Rainbows, but I don’t blame them for releasing a physical product. We humans like to touch and hold and see without a screen in our faces, so while I still can’t understand why more bands don’t do what Downliners Sekt do, I don’t think the record will ever die.

I’m pretty excited about this. From the official website Record Store Day — it says that a ton of independent record stores across the country, from Newbury Comics to the corner vinyl shop, are invited to participate on April 19, 2008. Rumor suggests that “music, video and gaming will all take center stage with each store doing something different to celebrate including sales, in store performances, demonstrations, swap meets or an ‘afternoon at a record store’ promotion, as well as, provide info on new formats and releases. The goal is to showcase everything that makes an indie store unique.”

And omg omg omg omg, Brett Netson from Built To Spill offers his two cents also!:

“The local record store is a cultural event. Every purchase you make, every day, every year, it is a rich cultural history in the making. Go down to your favorite shop and grab some coffee, a nice pastry and then head in to the record store for the ultimate recorded experience. Maybe see some friends. Next thing you know you just had a nice afternoon.

Go to one of those big box stores and get the full assault.

Bright sterile fluorescent lights and all that fake, old timey crap on the walls that drives home the point that this is an approximation of an experience. You are one of a million cattle herded in and out of those crapholes. This history can easily be rewritten. And you sure as hell won’t talk to anyone there, cause everyone else is just as annoyed, alienated and lost as you are. And, as you get trapped in that endless parking lot it really seals the deal. I have precious memories of my favorite shops and so do many of my best friends. That’s shared history man. And buying my first Velvet Underground record or Love’s “Forever Changes” , or seeing my first “punk show” flyer, takes that whole experience deep into you. That lasts forever. That’s powerful stuff.”

Even if you’ve already seen your first “punk show flyer,” this is a great idea, so let’s all make it work. I know that Hype and Elbows kill, but go buy some independent (or even better, UNSIGNED) merchandise. I’ll see you there!

I just found out via TMT that Insound.com, everyone’s favorite online music retailer, has been bought by Warner’s ADA division (Alternative Distribution Alliance). Mr P points out that this move blurs the line even more between major music distribution and indie distribution.

I’m willing to take it one step further and say that it’s just another step in exposing the fact that there really is no essential difference in the majors and so called “indies.” Granted, there’s a difference in execution between your older brother’s garage outfit and Barsuk, but surprise surprise, when record sales start to head out the door, everyone seems to get a little cozier with the “enemy.”

I honestly spit out my tea when I saw this video. This is Tim and Eric meets Andrew W.K., shamisen style. The best parts are the shots of the refined Japanese gentlefolk nodding in tentative approval. And the breakdown around :50 is priceless.

These guys are seriously signed to Domo, so no drome feature in the cards here. Jokes aside, the shamisen playing is flawless, but seems like an arpeggiator with a “Japanese” patch plugged in. This is kind of a shame when you consider their undeniable virtuosity and the subtlety of the traditional art form.

I don’t really have a problem with the fact that people eat up cheesy music by virtue of one gimmick, but what does sadden me is that The Yoshida Brothers are treated as gods in Japan. They’re far more recognizable than the countless and starving traditional shamisen players who live in anonymity. It’s great that more people will even be exposed to shamisen, but isn’t it a shame that the world works like this?

I just came across an article that Carlo Longino wrote for Techdirt at the beginning of this year in response to the MIDEM conference in France. Faced with the ever controversial DRM option, Longino points out that labels’ “revolutionary” idea to allow consumers to pay extra for DRM free music (as several distributors already do) is just another chapter in the book of mangled music industry logic.

I bring this relatively old news up in conjunction with Jammie Thomas’ recent ridiculous prosecution by the RIAA for $222,00, which was outlined more fully by Kyle Wallace on Tiny Mix Tapes a few hours ago. I found it interesting how these two facts frame the mindset of the corporate music business, and seem to be sardonic (and apocalyptic) capstones on a year that saw major labels flailing their drowning appendages more than ever.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I hope 2008 is a better year for the industry, because 2007 saw enough business as fucking usual to make Carson Daly sick.