I haven’t done one of these in awhile, and i’m also currently studying for my LSAT (on saturday!) plus finals next weeks,  so I’m gonna try to cram as much musical goodness into one post as humanly possible…

Here’s what you will find within:

1) Friendly Fires + the XX show review

2) Upcoming Gigs to check out in Vancouver

Enjoy!

Friendly Fires and the XX at Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver BC

Rating: 5 out of 5 electric tea kettles!!!

Friendly Fires at the Commodore Ballroom credit: Ashley Tanasiychuk

First of all, I was pretty stoked to hear that the XX were going to be opening for one of my favorite groups ever. Since I heard their cover of the iconic track “You’ve got the Love” by Florence and the Machine I’ve been hooked on these guys, but seriously – I find it hilariously disappointing how the internet and its derivative, unoriginal music “critics” (bloggers) can hype a group to death!  My expectations for this group were waaay too high and I found myself sadly disappointed by a performance that could have been suprisingly sweet if I had not been hyped to death before I even got there.

/Rant

Overall I thought they were good. Solid performance, pretty tight. They had a darker, moodier tone, kind of reminiscent of 80’s goth/industrial rock but with a new wavey twist. I thought at certain points they could have expanded their songs into more jam-like full-on electro danceparty vibes, but they fell short in that department. They never really let go and let us have it. the reserve might have been their downfall in my eyes. When standing on stage in front of 500+ people you’d better give it 110% and risk falling flat on your face. I really wanted to see them bring the jams home and incite a dancefloor riot but they stayed cold and disinterested. lack-luster stage presence is killing this band’s potential. they need someone to light a fire under their butts! I want to see more improvisation, extended dance mixes and heavy-hitting bass-fueled textural sonic orgasms!

(c) Sarah Bastin 2009 www.sarahbastin.net

The Friendly Fires took the stage at about 11:00 and straight from the get-go full-on assaulted the crowd with one rowdy discofied dance track after another. They never let up- not once. The energy of this group is amazing, not to mention their repertoire that is chock full of groovey guitar-heavy funk riffs, non-stop driving disco rhythms and a horn section that knows how to make a track pop. You could not see this band live and NOT get up and shake your ass. They are infectious.

(c) Sarah Bastin 2009 www.sarahbastin.net

They played pretty much all the tracks off their album, but my personal favorites were Jump In The Pool, Skeleton Boy and On Board (during which they pretty much burned the place down). The highlight of the night had to be the encore, which in true rock and roll fashion, they pulled no punches and blasted the crowd with ex-Lover, complete with amazing drum solo lead-out and tea kettle guitar solo! At one point guitarist Edd Gibson entered the crowd and came back sans guitar/tea kettle, which left us wondering – WTF DID HE DO WITH HIS AXE? did he give it to a fan? amazing. mind-blowing. orgasmic. I also have to comment on front man Ed McFarlane, who left us charmed, wet and wanting more. This pint-sized punter is bursting with sex appeal and a stage presence that could outdo Mick Jagger on speed. he never stopped twisting, gyrating, shaking and inciting the crowd to loose their shit. This is an important hint for bands that want to make people dance – you have to lead by example.

I would see this band again and again, and plan to! I hope they make it back across the pond soon!

Check them out on the remainder of their North American tour!

Check tour dates and listen to their tracks on Myspace

Check out the XX on Myspace

Upcoming Shows

Blind Pilot @ The Biltmore with Laura Views, December 03, 8 pm $15 tix @ zulu, red cat

Califone @ the Rickshaw Theatre, December 4th, 9 pm, $12 + s.c. tix @ ticketmaster (boo)

Bowerbirds @ The Biltmore with Julie Doiron, January 23rd, EARLY SHOW! 8:30 pm start, $15 tix @ zulu, red cat

******

To cap this epic post, here’s a link to a vid of me covering one of my favorite bon iver tracks.. “re:stacks”. enjoy!

On November 14th I went to the Atsui Gallery on East Hastings, Vancouver, to see the “Evolution of Inspiration” exhibit, featuring the works of seven local multidisciplinary artists. The exhibit, which opened on November 8th, was based on the theme of science and related fields of inquiry, and was geared to celebrate 150 years since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. The small gallery accommodated 7 pieces, ranging in media from photography to sculpture to needlepoint, all posing unique answers to the following question of Richard Dawkins:

If history had worked out differently, and Michelangelo had been commissioned to paint a ceiling for a giant Museum of Science, mightn’t he have produced something at least as inspirational as the Sistine Chapel? (from The God Delusion)

The idea of finding inspiration in nature, and more specifically, in scientific documentation of natural processes and events, is one that fits into the 21st century paradigm of conventional science as translator/facilitator between man and nature, instead of assisting man to triumph over nature.

Helen Eady - "Discovery Channel"

In Helen Eady’s wood and acrylic “Discovery Channel”, I was treated to some extremely tongue-in-cheek biological illustrations in charming style. The 9-panel piece, which featured hand-drawn ink illustrations of various copulating animals on wild, day-glo colored backgrounds, proposed both the idea of sex as spectacle and the animal as “other”.  The piece made me question why we, as humans, might view animal sex as entertaining/educational. Is it because it is somehow external and removed from the act of human copulation? By what process is the act of sex imbued with higher or lower cultural value? These questions invoked much thought and discussion about the significance of biological functions and the roles they play in artistic representation.

Verena Kaminiarz - "May the Mice Bite Me If It Is Not True"

The second piece I examined was Verena Kaminiarz’s series of plaster death masks. “May the Mice Bite Me If It Is Not True” involved a process-based art form—the raising of 4 disease model mice, to be used in scientific research, and documenting the trials of their short lifespan. The disease model mice function as a medium for experimental portraiture, and the plaster masks remain in memoriam to the animal sacrifice that took place in order to assist science. The 8 death masks shift perceptions from objects of biological science to subjects of cultural inquiry. The attempt to question and blur our understanding of the boundary between species, and also between humans and animals, is a successful one.

jesse gray - long division I

The third piece I wish to highlight is Jesse Gray’s Long Division #1 and #2. This artist used collection and archiving most effectively to investigate the invisible histories of discarded consumer objects. Using post-consumer waste, such as circuit board resistors, copper wire from telephones, panes of glass from discarded windows, and reworking these separate components into abstract organic forms, like dividing bacteria, provoked a thoughtful contrast between the organic and the inorganic, the macro and the microscopic.

Jesse Gray - Long Division II

The piece succeeded in symbolically representing the analogies and anomalies of the process of manufacture by nature and man, and making a powerful statement about the injustice inherent in the politics of commodity production.

The show overall presented a number of interesting themes, amongst them: thought-provoking and sometimes shocking juxtapositions of content; exposition of paradoxes present in scientific ideas; and art that illustrates the discoveries and objects of science as receptacles of cultural and personal memory.  The show also questioned the manner in which material reality surrounds us, is influential, and is influenced by the people and creatures that inhabit it.

Many of the pieces exposed how the artistic process mirrors process in nature, and how both can be understood and comprehended via the scientific milieu. The show reminded me of art that might grace the walls of someone like Darwin or Dawkins, as it reflects in visual form a lot of the same subject matter they reflect on in their respective writing. An attention to detail, without losing sight of the place of the individual within the macrocosm is necessary to view each piece, but without the context of the whole exhibit one gets the impression that something valuable would be lost, that one could not add or take away anything without ruining the delicate balance of playful curiosity, puzzling paradox and dizzying epiphany this exhibit achieved.
*************************
“Evolution in Inspiration” runs until November 28th, at Gallery Atsui, 602 East Hastings, Vancouver, BC. Contact info@galleryatsui.com for more details.

Plato claims no man exercises true justice in the harming of another sentient being, and I am prone to agree with him. The effects of corporal punishment on children have been documented for quite some time—low self-esteem, decreased empathy to others, violent behavior and even recently, scientific studies that show beating children actually lowers their IQ. Opponents of anti-spanking legislation argue that corporal punishment is simply an example of “loving” parenting, and beyond the jurisdiction of government legislation. Those raised in earlier generations, when corporal punishment was the rule and not the exception, may cite their own well-adjusted natures as proof of its innocuousness, if not efficacy.  But the use of corporal punishment has much farther-reaching implications than just the multitude of adverse effects on individuals—the underlying question here is whether we want to live in a society of laws, or a society of virtue. If we choose to employ corporal punishment in the discipline of children, we are teaching them to become citizens of, and proponents for, a society of laws—which runs the risk of turning our world into one that forgets the value of justice, virtue and freedom.

A society of laws is one characteristically based on conformity, fear of failure, shortsightedness, and absolute control based on fear and retribution. Disobedience poses a serious threat to this system, and therefore is dealt with swiftly and forcefully, with no thought to the future consequences of that action. It operates under the gross misconception that punishment is an adequate deterrent to immoral behavior, but people motivated by avoidance of punishment will still act unjustly when there is no threat of being caught. Therefore the severity of control and punishment must continually increase under a system of laws in order to maintain its rule. This kind of system, where motivation to act justly is through fear of punishment, rather than upholding of virtue, can only lead to the eventual reduction of a democratic and free society into despotism and tyranny.

Furthermore, I posit that children raised in a conformist society of laws pose a greater risk to all than those raised in a culture of virtue. Forced obedience to laws will result in citizens unable, and perhaps even unwilling, to think for themselves. This lack of both an individual and cultural moral compass is what makes horrific tragedies like Nazi Germany and its practices of mass genocide possible.

Conversely, in a virtue-based society the focus is on the long-term higher outcomes for all; failure is viewed as a natural and necessary consequence of progress, and therefore, disobedience is not seen as a threat to the security of its rule. Freedom of choice is present for those living in a society of virtue, and the naturally discovered consequences of acting without virtue are an effective deterrent in themselves. The power in this system lies in the compelling force of virtue as it acts within each citizen individually, and is manifested in the fabric of society at large.

In light of this argument, I would ask you—do you want a society where children are raised to become citizens who mindlessly follow rules or who act according to higher forms of virtue? I think that the answer to this question lies in the acknowledgement of a collective desired outcome. If we wish to live in a truly free and just society, we must act in accordance with the principles of virtue, and this action must begin with the means by which we educate and discipline our children. Spanking is wrong, not only because it harms children, but because of its destructive implications for the future of democratic society.

While i personally have a love/hate relationship with the online phenom known as YouTube, it undoubtedly has served to provide a launch pad for some amazing and very deserving independent artists. Recently I was tipped off by Wired.com’s article on Malaysia wunderkind Zee Avi, a self-proclaimed “minimal postmodern romantic storyteller,” who has been launched to world-wide acclaim after being discovered by manager Ian Montone (MIA, Vampire Weekend, White Stripes,  Raconteurs). Her video of an original Christmas song went viral (it has received over 800,000 views to date!) and since being “discovered” has released her self-titled studio debut on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records.

She effortlessly blends old school jazz vocal chops with a campy modern  pop sensibility. Her sweet melodic style paired with slightly melancholic and clever lyrics create a juxtaposition of themes that in any other artist would sound contrived or pretentious- but not Zee. Her humble beginnings, paired with obvious years of practice have resulted in an album of finely crafted tunes that is both refined and yet pleasantly down-to-earth at the same time. Even the most elementary of listeners will be able to pick out the subtle (and not so subtle) nods to jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James.

The combination of jazz vocals with folk/pop compositions and insightful writing results in an album that will have you spellbound and charmed at first listen, and as you listen to the compelling voice of this talented young singer you will hear the years of hard work that must have gone into honing this sound. It is organic sounding and natural, which I really enjoy. The instrumental backing is minimal and highly complimentary, mostly relying on Zee’s competent guitar skills and acoustic instruments.

“Bitter Heart”

My choice cuts off the album are: Tracks 3 – Honey Bee and Track 10 – Darlin’ It Ain’t Easy.

Head over to iTunes and buy this amazingly talented musician’s album!

For the summer I have been working at the Pacific Rim Visitor Center up in Ucluelet, BC- a well-deserved break from the hectic pace of Florence and city-living!

I will be updating the PRVC blog a lot more regularly so check it out!

cheers!

credit: Nigel Brooks Peer

When the Olympic Games come to town, often the sounds of patriotic anthems, fanfare and athletic competition are overshadowed by the louder calls for peace, equality and social justice. History has shown that where the International Olympic Committee treads, exploitation, repression and controversy are not far behind. While mainstream media outlets in each host city might not have the freedom to cover these issues, an emerging independent media force consisting of citizen journalists utilizing new media technology is laying the groundwork for an alternative source of Olympic coverage featuring alternative narratives, greater transparency and a more inclusive ethos of community participation in the Games.

The 2010 winter games in Vancouver, BC have been no exception when it comes to Olympic controversy. From the very beginning of the bidding process, through construction, and now into the final stages of preparation, there have been individuals, groups and organized coalitions speaking out against the various social injustices associated with the Games. Questions concerning the explicit agendas, underlying motives and practical operations of the IOC, VANOC and the province of BC have been presented in a variety of forms, but often the narratives of communities affected by the presence of the Olympics have lacked coverage by the global media. We, the viewing public, are presented with stories that are localized and do not make the mainstream news outlets, so it’s difficult to know if the world is aware of what is happening here. Sometimes the real stories only come out after the fact, due to lack of media access, coercion of media outlets by sponsor corporations, or even blatant censorship by the host city and its local chapter of the IOC.

Resistance to the Olympic Games is not just a local issue, but a global one. The most recent example of public dissent in the face of an approaching Olympics was the 2008 games in Beijing, China. Touted as an occasion to celebrate the “new face” of China, the mainstream Chinese press was instrumental in projecting the wholesome image of a unified and modern China to the world. But this sentiment came off as a piece of fancy marketing propaganda when images of shocking police brutality and evidence of mass suppression of Tibetan identity appeared in alternative news sources.

When given the bid for 2008, China promised to work with Tibetans to reach a peace agreement, but as the games approached this did not happen. China’s answer to global pressure from individuals, human rights organizations and foreign governments concerning the unethical treatment of the Tibetan people was to, in essence, sweep the problem under the rug, trying unsuccessfully to crush the revolution with heavy-handed military action and continued repression of communication, mobility and protest. The fact that Tibetan athletes were not allowed to participate in the Games unless they renounced their heritage and claimed to be Chinese citizens speaks volumes to the continued repression of their unique cultural identity and social freedom.

China gave a lip-service commitment to allowing freedom of expression and public organization during the games, but the commissioning of government sanctioned “protest zones” were monitored by the military and kept empty. This did not silence the voice of protesters who used guerrilla tactics to stage high-profile actions in the public eye. Students for a Free Tibet used militant tactics to display banners, stage political performance art and bring global awareness to the plight of repressed Tibetans. They used social media tools to coordinate these actions and document them in a way that could not be censored by the Chinese government; in fact, the coverage that made global news was only a small part of the resistance that took place. Students for a Free Tibet utilized international contacts to broadcast these actions, subverting the national censorship of internet media, or what is being called the “Great Firewall” of China.

The 2000 Sydney Olympic games came under mass scrutiny and resistance by citizens concerned with increasing pressures of corporate globalized forces and the commercial exploitation of natural resources under the guise of Olympic development projects. Leading up to the games an increased police presence and militant suppression of dissent was backed by unpopular restrictive legislation.

The government in essence made it illegal for certain anti-globalization and Olympic watch-dog groups to organize, protest and voice their dissent in the face of a highly exploitive, pervasive corporate ownership of the games. This repression created a need for alternative new media that could be used to broadcast the opinions and censored information regarding the questionable business practices of Olympic sponsors and corporate partners.

Protest groups focused on the global capitalist agenda of the games and issues surrounding environmental destruction, human rights abuses and third world debt. In the lead-up to the games, Sydney experienced massive rent increases, boarding house closures, harassment of homeless people, and the violent suppression of public protest. One week before the games were set to kick off, student protesters organized a peaceful protest at the G20 summit in Melbourne to bring attention to the issue of corporatization of the Games by global commercial parties. This is what happened…

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver are being actively resisted and denounced for a number of reasons. This resistance centers on the use of native land to host the games without the consent of BC’s aboriginal citizens, on land that is considered part of unresolved land claims, centuries old. This issue has, in effect been largely ignored by the government and Vancouver citizens, who consider their claim to BC soil to be undisputed and absolute.

Not only is native land being used to host the games, but exploitive and sensationalistic use of aboriginal culture is being used to promote a kind of cultural diversity that does not in fact exist outside the minds of a few professional Olympic marketers. This picture of a peaceful and tolerant society ignores and in essence negates decades of brutal cultural imperialism and government sanctioned marginalization of aboriginal peoples.

Also highlighted by Olympic resistance are themes of the global capitalist agenda, including homelessness, poverty, ecological sustainability, Social censorship and degradation of freedom of speech, as well as limits placed on freedom of assembly/protest.

Currently in Vancouver, the unification of various new media, web 2.0, citizen journalists and cultural documentarians is taking place. This formation of an inclusive independent media coalition seeks to unite both protesters, supporters of the games and citizen journalists to bring a more accessible, informed and diverse range of media coverage, as well as transparency and alternative narratives to an event that has traditionally been lacking in such. They seek to inform the public, provide diverse content that will entertain, intrigue and reflect the diverse voices of this province.

While many journalists are concerned with differentiation of citizen media from “certified” media sources, likewise, many citizen journalists are concerned with separation of themselves from the active voices of dissent, but ultimately the majority of independent media are viewed by VANOC as an equal threat to the agenda of the Games. Active dissuasion and exclusion of new media from Vancouver Olympic venues are forcing alternative groups to unify and coordinate their efforts and agendas to seek active sites of inclusion and cooperation within the community at large.

Contrary to public misconception, the goal of Olympic resistance groups is ultimately greater than simply stopping the games, or hampering their organization. This is not an issue of disapproval of amateur athletic competition, it does not seek to penalize or condemn competitors or imply complicity with the agenda of this globally unethical corporate institution.

The Olympics provide a platform for increased global awareness of critical issues, from unchecked corporate exploitation, to environmental protection, to aboriginal land claims, to cultural imperialism, to human rights and so on. Resistance groups have done, and will continue to do this by organizing, protesting and opposing the Games, utilizing alternative forms of media to communicate more diverse narratives and supplement mainstream media coverage.

Each new era brings fresh offerings to the creative marketplace in the form of cultural goods, be it through the medium of music, film, art, the written word or cross-disciplinary genres. Likewise, technology is constantly evolving, not only changing the way we create art, but also the means by which cultural goods are promoted and disseminated. Two interesting phenomena that bisect in this arena are the emergence of the “mash-up,” and its fundamental ties to the Internet and file-sharing technologies. This has resulted in a truly global cultural movement marked by creative significance, legal controversy and innovation in the means by which music makes business.

The “mash-up” is a music and multimedia style that emerged from electronic music’s tradition of remixing and the practice of “culture-jamming,” meaning any activity that comments on popular culture through subversive means, such as guerilla communication. Artists either upload music from their record collections or download music from the Internet and copy small sections from a song (called a “sample,”) that they manipulate with editing software and combine with other samples to create new songs. A mash-up artist might sample just the drumbeat, a horn, a fraction of a second of many layered instruments, or part of a lyric from a pre-existing source. In other cases the artist might sample all the sung lyrics of a song or a complete instrumental backing track, as American producer Danger Mouse did when he took the vocal tracks from Jay-Z’s The Black Album and layered them over The Beatles’ instrumental tracks from The White Album. A stunning sociopolitical commentary on modern race relations, the album was not only a creative masterpiece, but also quickly went “viral” when it was distributed for free on the Internet. Not Danger Mouse, nor Jay-Z, nor the Beatles made a cent on the project because none of the samples were cleared through publishers or performing rights organizations.  The only people that made any money were the intellectual property rights lawyers who tried, (unsuccessfully,) to sue Danger Mouse for infringement of copyright.
Mash-up artists believe they operate under the protective banner of “fair-use” forms of copyright. “Fair-use” is characterized by the lack of commercial gain from their copies, as well as the non-competitive nature of their derivative works. Originally fair-use was devised so that consumers could make copies for their own personal use, but has come under attack from the entertainment industry, which is quickly expanding the legal definition of “piracy” and “illegal” downloading to include instances of fair-use copying because of the perceived financial losses from such. This hinges on the view that music fans are simply “consumers” in an economical sense, instead of seeing music as a medium that is actively used in a social context. Mash-up artists seek to co-opt commercial products and restore the interactive nature of art to stimulate proactive listening, social engagement and collaborate practices.

Now to Belém do Para, Brazil, where the birth of a new form of remix culture flares at the scene of a Treme Terra Tupinambá sound system party. In the northern regions of Brazil a genre of mash-up music called technobrega (loosely translated as “techno cheese,”) has become popular with the youth. Featuring samples of American pop music from the 80’s and 90’s backed by calypso beats and Portuguese vocalists, producers labor in bedroom and basement studios, using similar technologies and techniques as American mash-up artists to create this syncretic style of dance music. Because of the lack of American entertainment products in the Brazilian marketplace, the majority of raw material for remixing comes from pirated songs from street market vendors, Internet sites and file-sharing P2P networks. Due to the absence of local enforcement of copyright law and limits on international regulation of such, there is a distinct lack of legal recourse for these producers when they download, edit and re-sell their derivative creative works.

One of the most interesting aspects of this Brazilian remix culture is the new model of music distribution, performance and profit that has grown out of a culture traditionally reliant on piracy for access to cultural products. Because extensive networks of street music vendors already exist, the producers of technobrega have a built-in and familiar system of distribution for their music. These vendors, who not only act as sales points and mechanical duplicators of musical products, also serve as a means to popularize and create consumer demand. Once in the marketplace, chances are the song will be featured at one of these large “sound system” parties, where thousands of teenagers and young adults go to dance, socialize and hear the latest technobrega releases.

The “sound system” crews are fiercely loyal and competitive, with not only profit but prestige gained by the size, volume and quality of their productions (via their access to new remixes, extensive P.A. systems, stage set-ups, video/light shows, dancers and live performers.)  Many times particular sound crews will have affiliated producers and musicians who they support and promote, introducing new systems of artist patronage. This business model recognizes the use of the musical product basically as an advertisement for the parties, with less emphasis on the value of mechanical copies and more focus on the greater profits gained from admission fees, concession sales and corporate advertising present at their events. The sound crews also release the soundtrack from the party to the audience so they can have a recorded version of the show, a marketing tactic employed in Brazil almost 4 years before labels started doing this in the US.

Around the globe, mash-up artists such as Diplo, 2 Many DJ’s, and Girl Talk continue to sell massive amounts of digital downloads via new models such as “pay what you can” and value-added “special” edition releases, featuring not only complete albums, but alternate versions, b-sides, celebrity remixes, video mash-ups and exclusive band merchandise.  These special features are included to counter the perception that the value of recorded music has declined—a phenomenon illustrated in consumer behavior and ultimately, the bottom line.  Record companies are starting to see that people aren’t willing to pay what they once did for music, and that they can never compete with free.  Piracy can in some cases be shut down or penalized, but it will never be destroyed. The global reach of the Internet along with the nature of its users ensures that the destruction of one P2P network will only inevitably result in 3 more popping up somewhere else.

Girl Talk’s Greg Gillis suggests social factors as partially responsible for the decline in consumer engagement with the current music industry business model. The experience of buying albums from a physical store, as was the norm up until about the mid-90’s, is now something alien to most young people. The result—a whole new generation that has never experienced the adolescent thrill and romanticism of buying a record and all that comes with physically consuming a tangible product. This cultural tradition of individualistic music consumption has effectively become obsolete for one of the largest consumer markets in the developed world, and the entertainment industry has been painfully slow to adjust, even though consumer trends indicated a new model was needed many years ago.

labels and independent artists must participate in adding value to their products via benefits or technologies that can’t be downloaded, as well as rethinking the basic structure of their distribution systems. The shift from the “meat-space” marketplace to the virtual one dispenses with many of the inferred benefits of selling a physical product, and the notion of corporate control inherent in that system—but it also creates a whole new area of opportunity for innovative, independent artists to establish themselves if they utilize the new leveling technologies available.

Along with new technologies and means of communication comes the re-emergence of symmetrical participation and amateur production. No longer strictly consumers, people are creating digital content that can be easily shared, enhanced by practices of collaboration and contributed for the benefit of a global spirit of creative collectivism. New copyright conventions like Creative Commons serve to foster sharing, collaboration and the creation of derivative works. To follow conservative views that tighter controls are needed for copyright and its enforcement would dramatically reduce potential fair-use of copyrighted material. Not only this, but stricter copyright laws are counter-intuitive when looking at the example of modern technology and global remix culture, which has shown that freedom and access to information drives innovation and creativity.

Counter to this argument, proponents of more militant copyright legislation such as John Kennedy (chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry,) claim “You need copyright as an incentive to create.” This argument hinges on the presumption that artists will not make art unless they are making money off it, but history has proven that artists will make art regardless if they’re getting paid or not. The stereotype of the starving actor or musician does not exist because file-sharers or mash-up producers copied their art. Artists do it for the love of creating and the pleasure in sharing their work with an audience, something they were doing before they entered the commercial industry, and something they will probably continue after. This argument by conservative copyright advocates also operates on the false premise that copyright protection ensures fair remuneration to the creator. The commercial music industry is a great example of the exploitation of musical artists that occurs when negotiating payment for performance, sync and mechanical rights in contract. Often artists receive only pennies per album, or fractions of a cent per song, with the remainder going to their label to “recoup” the costs of production, “investment” in artist development, or to line the pockets of rich record label owners and their overpaid stable of lawyers.

Some solutions to file-sharing and illegal downloads put forward by intellectual property lawyers and entertainment industry lobbyists include the introduction of a blanket/global license in the form of fees included in telecommunications billings that everyone would have to pay in exchange for access to free copyrighted material.  Not only would this would be penalizing those who do not fall under the category of pirates, counterfeiters, bootleggers or file-sharers, but it would be totally ignoring the scale and commerciality of what unauthorized copying is actually taking place. Other solutions include harsher penalties for those caught and convicted of copyright infringement, including fines and jail time for repeat offenders. A lot of industry advocates believe that this will act as a deterrent for the “average” consumer, but this also fails to address the more organized criminal element of illegal copying. Should a college student who copies an album for a friend be subjected to the same punishment as a Mafia-type operating a million-dollar international counterfeiting ring? And how do you suppose detection of illegal copying and downloads will happen? Not by an invasion of our online privacy, surely!

So for now we have an industry desperately grasping to regain control of the marketplace, either by placing levies and Digital Rights Management (DRM,) restrictions on various media, lobbying for international power and exploitation of the basic right to online autonomy, and pursuing harsh legal action against its own supporters. These draconian measures, which signify a resistance to change to a completely new model, are highly indicative of the lack of mobility, innovation and willingness to compromise that characterize the “old school” of the music business. The impact to music fans globally, as well as new forms of cross-genre performance is yet to be fully evaluated—but as more individual cases are brought before the courts I predict we will start to see the unification of various global cultures (such as the remix tradition,) gain momentum and success in defending their rights to fair-use and democratic technologies as supported by the ethos of collaboration and collectivity present in new art forms.

Sources

Marshall, Lee. Music and Copyright. 2d ed. Ed. Simon Frith. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Rosforth (Producer), & Andreas Johnsen, Raf Christensen, & Henrik Moltke (Director). (2007) “Good Copy, Bad Copy” [Motion Picture]. Denmark: LittleMachine Productions.
The Informed Dialogue about Consumer Acceptability of DRM Solutions in Europe (INDICARE). (2005) Digital Rights Management and Consumer Acceptability: A Multi-Disciplinary Discussion of Consumer Concerns and Expectations State of the Art Report. (First Suppliment). Karlsruhe: Natali Helberger, Nicole Dufft, Berlecon, Margreet Groenenboom, Kristóf Kerényi, Carsten Orwat, Ulrich Riehm.

credit: paperTorch

So back in the 60’s my mom and various other flower-children/acid-freaks/deadheads came up with a
fashion aesthetic that is now considered pretty damn cool. Tie Dye and acid dying is back in a
big way, and not only the DIY’ers and American Apparel hipsters are jumping on board – you can
see examples of tie dye’s rebirth on the runway as well – designers such as Emma Cook, Jesse Hill and Karen Walker
have utilized this technique to jazz up everything from sundresses to jeans to vests.

This funky and easy dye style can bring your everyday apparel from boring to BOILING and revive
those yawn-worthy pieces of your wardrobe you might have forgotten.

Here’s how you do it!

First you will need a covered area with a good amount of work space. Throw down an old sheet or some
newsprint to save your floor from dye drips.

Find an old garment or piece of fabric to work with. I chose an old cotton table cloth with a lace

border that will lend itself well to a garment of some kind after it’s dyed.

Tie your garment by creating twists in the fabric and continue twisting until the whole thing is
all bundled up. Secure with elastic bands.

Prepare your dyes. I chose to use two colors. About a teaspoon of dye is sufficient for a small item.
Mix with about a cup of HOT water and stir. Be careful to use different utensils for each color you use.

Next you need to experiment with different techniques of applying the dye to your bundle of fabric or garment.
You can spray, dribble, mist, pour, squirt or submerge your bundle until it is sufficiently colorful
or wont take on any more dye (although I find in my experience that less is more, it creates more
interesting dye patterns.)

to prevent the dyes from bleeding I undo my bundle right away and lie it flat for drying.
If you are pleased with the result then continue on to the next step.
if the garment isnt sufficiently dyed to your liking then repeat the process again until
it is groovy ;D

When the garment is dry, submberge it in a vinegar bath to set the colors. Usually I pour about a cup
of plain white vinegar into a large bowl (about 5 quarts) of cold water and let it soak in the
bath for about 5- 10 minutes. Then you can wash the garment separately with plain detergent in your washing
machine or handwash. Allow to dry… and enjoy ;D

Arrah and the Ferns – Evan is a Vegan (Standard Recording Company, 2007)

“Emo Philips“

AATF span the pop spectrum from the Beatles to Burt Bacharach to the B-52’s with their campy combination of cheerfully up-beat keyboards, crisp electric guitars and 50’s style swing rhythms.
The perfect blend of ear-pleasing pop hooks and kitschy lounge lizard throwbacks are offset by grunge-tastic guitar solos and a distinct sound that ranges from organic folk to post-studio pop.

Evan is a Vegan mixes immaculate pop compositions with skillful low-fi production values to affect an authentic indie garage sound. Arrah’s pitch perfect vocal takes keep it from sounding amateurish or low quality and the discriminating instrument selection avoids a sound that is overdone or contrived.

Their catchy sing-along chorus hooks are paired with unpretentiously ironic and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, resulting in a guilt-free pop listening experience equally suited to chilling out solo or cutting a rug with some chums.

The lyrics of Arrah are a pleasant mix of bittersweet girlish confessions paired with mature insights into love, work, death and the nature of human relationships.
A commentary on the trials of everyday life, the album brings to mind moments spent wandering down sunlight-dappled paths through birch woods, complete with birds singing and cute furry animals.
Far from being saccharine sweet or annoyingly optimistic, Arrah drops the odd strangely macabre line of poetry that leaves the suggestion of a slight edge and self-awareness missing from most lyrical pop compositions.

“Bernadette“

“If I’m alive this time tomorrow, then I’ll have more time to kill. maybe we could rearrange the furniture?”

A stand-out track for me from the album is “Bernadette,” featuring a distinctly bluegrass good-time feel (care of Arrah’s “banjolin,” a hybrid combination of banjo & mandolin!) reminiscent of sunday front-porch jams, home-brewed moonshine and charmingly rural square dances.

Also of note is their (now-defunct) website, prominently featuring unicorns and rainbows… two supremely cool aesthetic motifs.
Unfortunate as their dis-banding is, I feel their defunct status strangely adds to their indie credibility, placing this group well within the undefinable and highly elusive “cache of exclusiveness.”

You can visit their myspace or head over to Standard Recording to purchase “Evan is a Vegan”

happy listening! ;D