Category: Music

First Ghost Rider Takes Manhattan

O glorious filesharing networks

I am a good law abiding citizen and would never patronize thee

but if I did so

and found a huge ‘rar’ archive full of REM B-Sides

including ones I heard back in the Days of Vinyl and never thought I’d hear again,

like “Ghost Rider, Motorcycle Hero,” and Syd Barrett’s “Dark Globe,”

as well as ones new to me like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and covers of Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan,” and Richard Thompson’s “Wall of Death,”

I would say, “O Filesharing Networks, to thee I am truly grateful, for letting me roll about in musical nostalgia like a pig in manure.

In Extremo

This video is for the many people who thought, “You know, ‘This Corrosion’ by Sisters of Mercy is a GOOD song, but if it was sung by a German ‘Medieval Metal Band’ consisting of blond, sweaty, angry men in leather, wielding harps, bagpipes, and flaming guitars, and breathing fire, then it would be a GREAT song.”

Via Spiderdust.

Post-Election Mosh

Huh. There’s a post-election-theft, I mean post-election version of Eminem’s “Mosh” video. (grab the torrent here if you can.)

I like it but the original video was about voting as a revolutionary power, and it’s clear that with enough chicanery from corrupt Republicans in positions of power (that’s almost redundant these days), you can vote all you want; they’ll just throw votes away or modify vote totals until they get their 51% “mandate.” And the news media won’t dare cover the story seriously.

I guess the new video is kind of about not backing down even in the face of a victory by the bastards. But it just seems these days that there is no hope. They’ve got the power, they’re going to keep the power by any means necessary.

I wish things were like they are in the original video. I wish we had a system where you could actually vote a killer and torturer out of office, where the exploited could rise up and kick out the exploiters.

But things aren’t like that, apparently. We live in the Republican States of America. And are likely to for the foreseeable future.

Hope, and belief in the power of actual democracy in America, are so pre-November 2.

UPDATE:

Actually, to put things a little less bleakly — the little people rising up and fighting the big bad guys is still fighting — and fighting is essentially illiberal. The people who are all about the fighting and killing and getting their way with violence are the conservatives, the Bushies, the Republicans. They believe that you can solve problems by hurting people. This video advocates demonstration, not violence, but it does its best to dress it up in a mood of righteous combat. And there’s the problem. Fighting, force, is never going to be on the side of liberalism, because getting your way by force is essentially illiberal — conservative. You can’t win by playing their game on their field. You just can’t.

Mash the Planet

Mash The Planet:

citizen engineers,

each week i do a series of how-tos here and there about getting more out of the technology we all have, the content we all create and the ways we can use them, share them and learn from them.

now i need your help, you see, lots of record companies like emi, disney and many others are sending cease and desist letters when people take music they listen to and mash it up for their own pleasure, not selling this music, just mixing it, just listening it to they way they want to and creating new works.

awhile ago, dj danger mouse mashed up the beatles’ “white album” with jay-zee’s “black album” and called the result the “grey album.”

anyone who hosted the files, or even “wanted to” was threatened with legal action, now disney wants sent a cease and desist to waxy.org for just linking to the kleptones – a night at the hip hopera – mash ups using music from queen and ton of other sources.

the solution to end this madness?

more mash ups. millions of them. a digital, creative protest.

this is where you come in, i’m going start a how-to series on making your own mash ups, so if you make these, please drop a note on how you do it, what software you use and all that.

let’s unleash a flood of millions of mash ups. with podcasting really taking off, p2p networks, mp3 players everywhere and the nature of music always wanting to be sample, mixed and heard it’ll be hard to stop everyone turning on, tuning in and mashing up.

Gosh, was I ahead of the curve or what?