According to the RIAA, ripping LEGALLY BOUGHT music from a CD to your computer is illegal.

This is the most profoundly stupid court ruling I have heard of in recent memory. Read this, because I guarantee it has an impact on every one of you.

From the Washington Post:
"Despite more than 20,000 lawsuits filed against music fans in the years since they started finding free tunes online rather than buying CDs from record companies, the recording industry has utterly failed to halt the decline of the record album or the rise of digital music sharing.

"Still, hardly a month goes by without a news release from the industry's lobby, the Recording Industry Association of America, touting a new wave of letters to college students and others demanding a settlement payment and threatening a legal battle.

"Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

This is hysterical. With this ruling, the record companies have only managed to further erode their position in the market. Think hard: when was the last time you actually saw someone listening to a portable CD player? No one uses CD players anymore — the CD is inarguably a dead medium, having long been replaced with mp3 players. The only reason people still buy CDs is because they plan to transfer the music to their mp3 players. If ripping a CD was deemed illegal, there would be absolutely no reason to buy a CD anymore. That being said, If this ruling is any indication, it is the RIAA's position that the only way to enjoy music from a CD is to play it on a CD player. According to the RIAA, anything else is a violation of copyright laws.

This is just another example of the record companies refusing to change their business model in the face of an evolving market, instead choosing to cling to the past by abusing the legal system.

Enjoy?

This winter break, I'm finding that I have an unmanagable amount of free time on my hands. Perfect opportunity to record some mediocre music.

Just what I needed (The Cars)

Rhythm and Lead Guitars - Spencer Nelson

Mixed with Apple's Garageband

Saw it on the Youtubes

Here's a mildly upsetting short film that's making the rounds on the internet.

By the way, the song is 'Aviva Pastoral' by Nathan Larson.

For those of you who are staying indoors New Year's Eve...

src=wired.com

Because I am spending this holiday season in Massachusetts, and those aquaintences who tolerated me in High School have long since ceased inviting me to parties, it is very likely that I will be ringing in the new year all by my lonesome.
Fortunately for those of us with very few local friends, Radiohead will be playing a live show which will be broadcast on radiohead.tv and Current TV this new years eve at 12:00 AM.

from Current T.V.'s web site:
"Radiohead will join us to play an exclusive live US TV performance of their new album "In Rainbows" on Current TV, all commercial free. The pre-recorded performance will include all of the tracks from 'In Rainbows' plus some 'other bits' as Thom says."

original story via boing boing

Have a good one.

img. source

Here are a few reasonably legit Christmas songs that you can slip into your family's horrifying Transiberian Railroad/Manheim Steamroller/James Taylor/Dolly Parton holiday mix:

Ohmega Watts - I'll Be Home For Christmas
John Prine - Christmas in Prison
The Flaming Lips - Christmas at the Zoo

...and if you want to be a pretentious, cynical prick...

Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol

Thievery Corporation - New Years Eve, Washington DC

I wish to God I could be there. Anyone in D.C. should go in my stead.

Well done.

This Youtube video featuring various Bush soundbytes arranged to mimic "It's The End of the World" is the most hysterical thing I have seen all day. Watch it.

Worthwhile Listen: Why? - The Hollows

I like lead singer's crass, cynical delivery and deliberate cadance. He almost sounds like an angry and dissilusioned John McCrea... A Bizarro John McCrae if you will. The song itself has the qualities of your basic rock anthem, yet the dark, twisted imagery found in the lyrics makes for a surreal — even disturbing — listening experience.

As I lay me down
to fall asleep,
with my demons dying
and my pilot light weak,
I curse the last 6 months

I've been hiding behind a moustache,
yeah,
and to those last 10 years
I've been hell in a paper moon
well, fuck you.

shine a flashlight in
a hatbox and spin
an empty oyster shell,
and celebrate the hollows


Why? - The Hollows

Listen to quite a few of Why?'s other tracks on their myspace

New theme.

Hope you like it. And before you start breaking my balls about the similarity to "The Hood Internet", It's a Google Blogger theme that we both happen to use.

Paper Planes - Video

I'm posting this because this song invariably brings me joy, and because M.I.A. is a stone fox — most of the time.



Also, here's an interview between Spike Jonze and M.I.A. where she discusses wigs, fake eyelashes, and the dangers of abusing horse tranquilizer.

Who loves Mike Tyson's Punchout?

A single tear of joy falls upon the keys as I write this post.

Download this song immediately

Statik Selektah - Punch Out (feat. Big Shug)

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Pinch - Underwater Dancehall

"...the latest development in British dance music is yet another sound stemming from London's garage scene, a bass-heavy instrumental form rather confusingly known as dubstep.

It's featured on the soundtrack of the recent film Children of Men, a series of albums is hitting the shops this month, crowds are packing out nights from Brixton to Newcastle and DJ-producers are in demand around the world. Dubstep looks set for its moment in the spotlight, if only the wider world can work out exactly what it is.
--The Times, London

I was introduced to this genre very recently through a friend who gave me a track from Burial's Untrue LP. I was blown away by the sonic depth of the piece, with tinny, crackling soul samples expertly meshed with ominous, mile-deep sythesizer riffs set to haphazard, yet steady percussion. It was unlike anything I had heard before, and miles more complex and intriguing than the pure dub reggae I have been listening to of late.

Last night, the good people over at Gorilla vs. Bear posted two tracks from Dubstep artist Pinch's forthcoming album, Underwater Dancehall.
Where Burial's Ghost Hardware has layers upon layers of hissing record samples, the tracks from Underwater Dancehall are far simpler, relying on deep drums, intermittent vocals and bright waves of synthesizer. It all comes together to make for an incredibly heavy, almost bottomless sound. Listening to Brighter Day in particular, I couldn't help feeling almost overwhelmed by the drums, which are so fantastically intense that one cannot help but worry about whether there is any truth to the existence of the dreaded "Brown Note".

All three of the songs I have heard have piqued my interest in Dubstep as a genre, and I look forward to purchasing Underwater Dancehall and Untrue in their entirety. Look for reviews of both albums coming soon. Until then, Listen here to some Pinch (via Gvs.B):

Pinch - Lazarus
Pinch - Brighter Day (Instrumental)

Listen, I made this.

Recorded a new song. Enjoy?




Though the Sun Has Lost its Warmth (Still it hangs there in the sky.)


Guitar & synthesizer by Spencer Nelson

CB Radio recording from Archive.org

Superjail. OMFG.

The most horrifying thing I have ever witnessed on television. I love it.
Apparently Adult Swim has picked this show up for a full season next year.

At once surreal and deeply disturbing. And somehow completely wonderful.

Awesome opening sequence as well, with a robot flying over a surreal and hellish landscape to 10cc's "Rubber Bullets".

Fucking rock, Jailbot.

Part 1:


Part 2:

New Breeders Album Dropping in April

4AD Record Company Press release dated December 4th, 2007.
Today is suddenly a great day.



THE BREEDERS NEW ALBUM -- MOUNTAIN BATTLES -- SET FOR RELEASE ON 4AD APRIL 8, 2008 IN US AND APRIL 7, 2008 IN REST OF WORLD!

4AD is pleased to announce the forthcoming world-wide release of Mountain Battles, the new album from The Breeders on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 (April 7 outside of North America).

The Breeders released their last album - Title TK - back in 2002. Since then, of course, Kim Deal has been part of one of the most highly successful and warmly received music reunions of all time, getting back together with the rest of The Pixies for a series of exhilarating live shows in 2004 and 2005. After that, Kim headed back to Dayton, Ohio to start writing a new record.

Mountain Battles is the result. It's an album which captures all the bittersweet electricity of classic Breeders records like Pod and Last Splash, and which breaks new ground at the same time; classic sounding, yet as relevant and exciting as ever.

Mountain Battles was recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Erika Larson at Stagg Street, Manny Nieto at Manny's Studio, at Refraze in Dayton and by Ben Mumphrey in the Basement.

The Breeders are : Kelley Deal, Kim Deal, Jose Medeles and Mando Lopez; Jose and Mando are both veterans of the Title TK campaign.

The Breeders will be playing live all over the world in 2008. Their schedule includes performances at Canadian Music Week and SxSW and Coachella, plus full tours in the USA and in Europe.

The Breeders are also set to play a full UK tour in April to mark the release of the album.

The Mountain Battles tracklisting is :

1. Overglazed
2. Bang On
3. Night Of Joy
4. We're Gonna Rise
5. German Studies
6. Spark
7. Istanbul
8. Walk It Off
9. Regalame Esta Noche
10. Here No More
11. No Way
12. It's The Love
13. Mountain Battles

Radiohead : In Rainbows (disc 2)

I, uh, 'aquired' the second disc for In Rainbows. Look for a full write-up coming soon.