Thursday 6/11

Portugal. The Man
Chairlift

Friday 6/12

(Don Hertzfeldt Retrospective)
Galactic
moe.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2 songs)
Grizzly Bear
Al Green
TV on the Radio
Beastie Boys
Phish
Public Enemy
Crystal Castles
Girl Talk

Saturday 6/13

Jimmy Buffett/Ilo and the Coral Reefer All Stars
Bon Iver
of Montreal (2 songs)
Wilco
The Decemberists
Nine Inch Nails
MGMT

Sunday 6/14

Okkervil River (2 songs)
Merle Haggard (3 songs)
Andrew Bird (2 songs)
Snoop Dogg
Band of Horses
Phish

Here’s a cool cover of Pearl Jam’s ‘Why Go’ by rapper POS. It’s been stuck in my head for the past few days, so I know it’s good. Pearl Jam has been in the news a lot lately, what with the rerelease of Ten and all.

There’s now officially a product available from the extreme amount of material NIN recently released. The best part about this material? It’s high quality and totally free. Free, as in $0, not even a donation asked for free.

There are two albums under the combined name, Another Version of the Truth, Las Vegas and The Gift. All recordings are from live shows, with some of the audio coming from fan mics mixed with soundboard feeds. Both albums incorporate material from The Slip and Ghosts I-IV, which shows stong indicators that this internet-released music is something that’s going to be a permanent part of the NIN discography rather than an experiment in a new business model.

One strange and amazing thing is that there’s a DVD project on the site that aims to get together fans who are willing to produce and distribute burned DVD copies to fans who want such copies. That’s such a new, fresh idea that it’s very notable. Tape trading is something most bands tolerate, but to actively facilitate it is remarkable.

At this point, one has to ask whether Trent and Co. will ever release an album again with no free component to it. There certainly hasn’t been one for the past three releases. That’s extremely laudable, and it’s good business for NIN to boot. Check this out:

Yet again, Trent Reznor proves his love for his fans by releasing to torrent 400GB of raw HD footage of three complete Nine Inch Nails concerts. Not only that, he’s encouraging fans to take the raw footage and do something beautiful with it.

NIN isn’t protecting or hiding their property, and everyone benefits. How many other artists have vaults of this type of stuff that has limited commercial viability? It’s stuff like this that’s definitely better used as a promotional vehicle, because people often find actual value in free content.

The second good piece of news is that Al Franken has taken his first lead in the Minnesota senate race (I saw it live at The Uptake (donate to them!)), and most news outlets seem to be favoring him as the eventual victor. If rejected absentee ballots are counted, I don’t think there’s going to be any question – those are projected to heavily favor Franken.

Update 12/22:

Franken’s still projected to be up by about 50 votes after the primary recount and before the absentee ballots are counted. We’ll know more tomorrow, live coverage at The Uptake.

Death Magnetic – Metallica

A Hundred Million Suns – Snow Patrol

Viva La Vida – Coldplay

The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me – Brand New

Oracular Spectacular – MGMT

This is some good stuff here – all shot in one take, if you pay attention. I found the link cruising on Kaliber10000. Still not sure if it’s offensive, but whatever – life’s too short to waste time thinking about that…

There’s another new, creative commons licensed Nine Inch Nails album out there, titled ‘The Slip’. Trent Reznor and his crew really seem to get where the music industry going and should be. It looks like one of the ways NIN is trying make back their costs on this (and most likely make a small mint as well) is through related concert ticket sales, which are scarce goods. Of course, that’s one good that will be more in demand, too, given that more people are listening to NIN nowadays. Plus, the Ghosts albums were pretty commercially successful, to boot, so there’s a decent chance this one will make some money too.

Bullet For My Valentine – Scream Aim Fire

This is just a great, angry album, and it’s one I wasn’t expecting to be that good. The title track is a great intro to the album, and it rocks hard until the end.

Jack Johnson – Sleep through the Static

Jack Johnson finally gets his hands a little dirty on this album, from a man not typically known for his political views. The great part is that he is able to do this without comprimising his style in any significant manner. This may be his best album to date.

Puzzle – Biffy Clyro

Until this album, I’ll admit to never having listened to Biffy Clyro. They’re a Scottish band, and this album is their best commercial success to this point. I’ll admit to not being much in love with their name, but this really is an album to check out either way.

This is Forever – She Wants Revenge

I’ve never been quite able to get into She Wants Revenge. To tell the truth, I have a hard time distinguishing them from Interpol in the past. However, this album is pretty solid from start to end – check out “It’s Just Begun,” my favorite track.

From Beale Street to Oblivion – Clutch

This one is kind of hard to categorize – it’s political, yet at the same time it’s not too full of itself to have some fun, with tracks like “When Vegans Attack”. Clutch is one of those bands that have been around for a long time, existing at the fringes of popularity – enough to pay the bills mainly through touring, but they’ve not enjoyed any significant mass exposure. This album is one of their most critically successful albums to date, and hopefully will open other doors for the band.

Well, before we get started here, why would we want to boycott the RIAA? Well, as I’ve pointed out before, they are using their intellectual property rights in a way that’s pretty close to extortion. They don’t pay fair wages to their artists (if they pay at all). They use illegal and quasi-legal tactics against universities, ISPs, and individuals. They stifle innovation – they’ve killed Napster and Oink, for example, and they’ve come close to killing ThePirateBay and AllOfMp3. They want you to believe that you don’t own the music you’ve paid for, and that fair use doesn’t exist when it comes to music. They’re also big fans of DRM that cripples the long term value of music (just so you’ll need to buy it twice or more). What about the Sony root kit debacle?

So, how far reaching is the RIAA? According to Wikipedia, about 90% of the music on store shelves is distributed through the RIAA. That’s a lot, unfortunately. The ‘Big Four,’ the largest four companies that pay into the RIAA are Sony BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music, and EMI. In addition, there are over 1600 individual labels, which are detailed here (warning, evil empire link). Strangely enough, there are several labels on the list of labels at the RIAA website that aren’t RIAA member labels, and apparently it’s very tough to get off said list.

So, how does one go about effectively boycotting the RIAA?

Well, the easiest way is to stop paying for music put out by RIAA labels. That doesn’t necessarily mean to download illegally, but to try to find any alternate means to getting your fix. More bands than you’d expect allow tape trading, for instance. If you’re hell-bent on having the latest music without the risk of peer-to-peer download, there are a few ways to limit your exposure – be creative.

You should let your favorite bands know that you’re passionate about this issue. Chances are that they’re not too happy with the RIAA either, for whatever reason. Support acts that are pioneering new and alternative distribution models (REM, Aimee Mann, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead – the list keeps growing). For acts on RIAA labels, let them know why you’re not buying their music, and how you’ll support them otherwise.

NEVER support DRMed music – think of the unfortunate PlaysForSure suckers out there if you need any encouragement here. Go see a live show – you won’t regret it usually, and you’re effectively supporting your favorite artists through alternate means.

Start being vocal – tell your friends how to do the same things you’re up to, and stick by your principles. Show support to people like the EFF and boycott-riaa. Don’t let the lobbying arm of the RIAA unfairly influence our political process – contact your representatives and let them know how you feel. Above all, be creative and don’t give up the fight. Remember, this is a battle that music-lovers can win – when there’s no more money flowing to the RIAA and no more artists signing on, they’ve effectively lost.