If you want to know what kind of options are available to musicians when it comes to selling recorded music, this Wired article by David Byrne (formerly of the Talking Heads) is an excellent primer. It may also be of value to consumers who are interested in knowing where their money goes.

I picked up the new Coheed and Cambria album today, and it is fantastic. I first discovered them when Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (yes, that’s the real title) came out, and I loved it. Awesome hard prog rock nerdery. I eventually looked into their first two albums; The Second Stage Turbine Blade was miserable — decent lyrics, but boring songwriting and just plain sloppy musicianship. In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3 was a vast improvement in performance, but the songwriting was still nothing spectacular. Good Apollo showed a real improvement in the band, and now No World For Tomorrow is even better.

Nick Raskulinecz is on hand as producer this time around. You will recall him as the producer of the latest Rush album as well; this guy is really impressing me. Although Coheed and Cambria have toned down the rhythmic complexity here, they’re really rocking out more than before.

There are hints of record label stupidity on this album, though. First of all, the album is technically Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 2, but that prefix isn’t listed anywhere on the album cover. I’m curious as to why. Cutting it down to No World For Tomorrow is certainly less of a mouthful, but it is a real deviation from the naming convention of the previous albums. It’s possible this was the band’s decision, but I doubt it.

Another deviation is the fact that the album doesn’t begin with the string section intro that introduced the previous albums. Why not? I know the band was looking to remove some of the prog rock elements, so maybe this was, again, their decision… but my instincts tell me the record label thought they weren’t mainstream enough.

On top of that, there’s a liner note that although Chris Pennie is the official drummer in the band, all drums were performed by Taylor Hawkins, of the Foo Fighters. Dig deeper and you find that their original drummer, Josh Eppard, left some time last year, and was replaced by Pennie, but Pennie was not allowed to record on the album due to “contractual obligations.” I can only imagine the record label bullshit that must have caused this.

Speaking of which, all of the liner notes are online, and the CD comes in a little cardboard sleeve. I’m not unhappy with this, but it’s odd, and it makes the disc look like a lesser product compared to other discs on the store shelf. Is somebody cutting costs here? There’s a deluxe version with an extra DVD and booklet, but I didn’t see the point.

And to top it off, the leading single is the worst song on the album. Who made that decision? It’s not a bad song, per se, but every other track on the album is better than “The Running Free.” “Gravemakers & Gunslingers” would have been a much better choice; it’s just as energetic (if not moreso) and has some truly bitchin’ guitar riffs. People have already been making custom Guitar Hero charts for it.

The result of all these mistakes? Apparently the album isn’t selling well. Which is a shame, because as I said, it’s as good as their last album, if not better.

P.S. - I checked online a little while ago to see if they were coming to Texas any time soon, and it turns out they were playing here in Austin tonight. I couldn’t figure out what time, though, so I rushed down to the venue, and sure enough, they were finishing their last song right when I got there. Oh, well.

XKCD has a point.

The Rocket Summer’s first two albums did nothing for me — in fact, I absolutely hated the single “Brat Pack” from their last album. But what I’ve heard on Pandora Radio of the new album suggests that it is a huge improvement. The sound is bigger and fuller, which is really necessary to truly support his vocals. This particular song is like a rocked-up Billy Joel tune. It’s been so long since I’ve heard a good saxophone solo.

Musician’s Friend has a series of interview videos with Eric Johnson up right now. The “Effects” video is a must-see, not just because of the info it provides, but because of the spontaneous playing he breaks into every few seconds. The man may be known as a guitar wizard, but I still say his songwriting is genius.

So last week saw the end of the first jury trial in the RIAA’s slew of lawsuits against file-sharers, and the RIAA won big. The jury found Jammie Thomas liable for 24 counts of copyright infringement, and awarded the RIAA $222,000 in damages.

C|Net’s Declan McCullagh has a very good writeup on why the RIAA won. To put it succinctly, the woman was obviously guilty, and her defense was abysmal. She tried to put up a front about “IP spoofing” while clearly having no understanding of the underlying technologies. The nail in the coffin was that her account name was identical to her email address and various other screen names and logins. Clearly, she expected the jury to be confused by a little high-tech mumbo jumbo. They were not impressed, according to one juror who spoke out yesterday:

“I think she thought a jury from Duluth would be naïve. We’re not that stupid up here,” he said. “I don’t know what the fuck she was thinking, to tell you the truth.”

Of course, there’s the usual harping about record industry greed from sectors like Slashdot and p2pnet by selfish little trolls who think everything should be free, but it’s hard for any rational person to be outraged by a verdict against someone who was clearly guilty. The only real problem with the case, again deftly explained by Declan McCullagh, is that the $222,000 fine seems excessive. This has left a lot of people arguing that copyright law needs to be changed to address this.

The reason it seems excessive, though, is that it is not a penalty for “illegal downloading,” as the press is quick to call it. Jammie Thomas didn’t get busted for downloading music. She got busted for letting other people download music from her.

None of the RIAA’s lawsuits against file-sharers is really about “illegal downloading,” because there’s no actual law against downloading copyrighted material. The law actually forbids unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works. The connection to “illegal downloading” comes when you realize that every time you download a song from a peer-to-peer network like Kazaa, the program automatically makes it available to other people to download from you. Which means that every downloader is also a distributor.

So while the underlying issue is that people are downloading music without paying for it, the lawsuit is technically about illegal distribution of copyrighted works, and so the penalty seems excessive.

I have problems with the RIAA’s litigous assault because I don’t trust their methods and I don’t believe they accurately weed out offenders from non-offenders. As such, non-offenders get caught defending themselves against a billion-dollar legal juggernaut, and bankrupting themselves and their families just by trying to prove their own innocence.

Now, that’s not the case with Capitol Records v. Thomas, obviously, and I’m not terribly sympathetic toward Thomas because she’s clearly guilty. But I’m also not fond of a legal process that sidesteps the real issue (downloading without permission or payment) in order to nail people on a technicality (illegal distribution). And I am disgusted with the RIAA using the civil justice system to threaten people into submission, without the benefit of legislative or executive oversight.

So I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time we considered criminalizing piracy. I know what you’re thinking, and yeah, it sounds harsh at first. But let’s look at what criminalization will do:

• First of all, it puts the focus on the act of downloading, rather than the act of distribution. Damages can then be calculated based on how many songs the offender downloads, not how many songs he has made available to others. That’s important because you wouldn’t be penalized for music that you’ve purchased legitimately but shared with others.

• Secondly, it allows the punishment to fit the crime. A person who downloads 24 songs can be found guilty of stealing $24 worth of music, basically the equivalent of shoplifting a couple CDs. I don’t know about where you live, but the punishment for shoplifting here is something like a $300 fine. That’s a far cry from $222,000.
• It takes enforcement out of the RIAA’s hands and puts it into the hands of the proper authorities. Criminal prosecution doesn’t involve teams of record industry lawyers; it involves legitimate law enforcement agencies.
• It puts the proper stigma on the crime. Everybody knows that stealing is wrong, but there are a lot of people out there willing to rationalize the act of piracy, and this is largely due to the fact that it doesn’t go on your criminal record. Having the cops show up at your door is a bit more sobering than getting a subpoena.
• In a criminal trial, you have the right not to incriminate yourself, and you must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. These rules don’t apply in civil litigation; reasonable doubt and self-incrimination do not apply.

I realize this suggestion leaves a lot of questions open, but they are not questions that can’t be answered. To put it bluntly, your rights are better represented in a criminal case than in a civil lawsuit. That alone seems enough of a reason to at least consider the option.

I usually prefer to link to live performances rather than music videos, but how can I rob you of the greatest 80s scifi kung fu spaghetti western ever made?

Muse rocked the ACL Festival this year, and if you have the opportunity to see them, I suggest you do. They’re a good, solid rock band. I really have to pick up Black Holes and Revelations…

Well, I attended the Austin City Limits music festival again this year. Three days in the sun gave me a bitchin’ farmer’s tan, but I was surprised at how punishing an experience it was. Friday in particular was exhausting, since I went in for a half day of work before hitting the festival and staying through the end. I was not prepared, physically.

There had been three cancellations… Amy Winehouse dropped out — word on the street is that they tried to make her go to rehab. Rodrigo y Gabriela dropped out citing “exhaustion,” which made me sad cuz I was hoping to see them. But the real shock was when the White Stripes cancelled without citing a reason just four days before they were supposed to headline. This made me happy for two reasons. One, I can’t stand the White Stripes. Two, Muse got their slot — and if you recall, Muse was the most awesome thing I saw last year, but their show was cut short due to Tom Petty being a prima donna. It seemed almost karmic.

Highlights from the weekend included some surprises and some disappointments:

• Béla Fleck and the Flecktones were perhaps the biggest disappointment. It’s not that they weren’t good, it’s just that they broke down every song into masturbatory jazz soloing by each player, and it dragged on and on. And you know you have a problem when the progressive rock fan thinks you’ve gone overboard with wankery.
• The Dynamites (featuring Charles Walker) were good for about ten minutes until we realized they were just copping James Brown and it wasn’t going anywhere.
• Joss Stone had the best backup band I’ve seen in a long time, and it was pretty cool how they started and ended the show with her offstage — it allowed them to introduce her musically, making hers the coolest entrance of the weekend. I’d never been a fan, but I enjoyed her show a lot more than I expected to.
• Björk was delightfully bonkers, as expected. We had to leave her show early due to exhaustion and a massive headache, but I would’ve stuck around otherwise to watch her prance around the stage dressed like Ming the Merciless.
• I didn’t know Paolo Nutini could rock out; all I’d heard was that song that Kate likes so much, about wearing new shoes.
• It takes some real chops to play bluegrass, and Railroad Earth was no exception, blending pristine harmonies without losing that old-time feel.
• Ocote Soul Sounds were a pretty generic latin world beat group.
• I keep feeling like I should have liked Blue October more than I did. The obvious Peter Gabriel influence was great, but I think the obvious Depeche Mode influence didn’t sit with me.
• Trent Summar and the New Row Mob are a perfect example of everything I hate about mainstream country music.
• Zap Mama was shockingly good 80’s style R&B, with some latin influence thrown in.
• Kelly Willis was more enjoyable than I expected, a surprise for such a mainstream country artist. But then, she’s sort of an Austin sweetheart, so I guess it makes sense.
• The Indigo Girls have absolutely gorgeous voices, solid musicianship, memorable songwriting and well-written lyrics, but despite all that I just can’t get into them. I was hoping they’d break out “Peace Tonight,” but no such luck.
• Muse was once again the high point of the weekend. They opened with the greatest 80s sci-fi kung fu spaghetti western ever, and proceeded to rock out for an hour and a half, playing everything I wanted to hear and then some.
• Regina Spektor was just boring at first, but then she got preachy and insulting. Has anyone noticed that those people who want to impress upon you their hatred of organized religion are proselytizing every bit as much as the megaphone-wielding street preachers down on the corner?
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band mostly played standards, nothing to write home about.
• Billy Joe Shaver’s jovial rambling was infectious. And after Regina Spektor, it was kind of refreshing to hear an old school country legend finish his set by singing about Jesus. More amusing was watching those who had relished in Spektor’s performance take offense at Shaver’s. Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?
• Ziggy Marley was another pleasant surprise. I expected all reggae, which I don’t really care for, but he had some straightforward pop and R&B that was fun to hear.
• The Eli Young Band is like Rascal Flatts, only louder. Oddly, their recorded work is more palatable.
• I have no idea why people like the Decemberists. Is it just that they’re weird and dress up like Amish folk?
• Bob Dylan will make you quit smoking. Seriously, his voice sounds like someone took it out back behind the barn and shot it. It sounded like he was in pain. Now, I realize nobody listens to Bob Dylan for his voice; his songwriting is his acclaimed talent. But I’ve never really been a fan. We left after two songs, as I expected we would.

All in all, it was a fun weekend, but it wasn’t as good overall as it was last year. The variety was there this year, but the acts weren’t quite as good. It didn’t help that we didn’t have many friends to pal around with this time around.

It also seemed like the smell of pot was inescapable. I don’t like to begrudge people their vices, but I just don’t want to be around it. Gives me a headache. Dunno if I’ll go back next year. The price keeps increasing and it’s physically exhausting. Depends on who’s playing, and whether my friends want to go. But we enjoyed it this year, and I’ll be looking more into some of these artists.

Apple just released Logic Pro 8, and it looks to be exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Major improvements:

1. They dropped the XSKey, joy of joys! One of the biggest problems with Logic Pro was that the software required this little USB dongle. You couldn’t run the software without it attached to your computer. But if the dongle ever broke or shorted out (an infrequent but very real occurrence), you had to wait until you could get a replacement. I refuse to buy software that doesn’t give me total control over its use — the activation schemes used in Windows are one of the reasons I moved to the Mac in the first place — so I bought the reduced-feature version, Logic Express, which did not have this requirement, and was about $700 cheaper at the time. But now they’ve removed the XSKey entirely. That’s huge, and it ensures that I’ll shell out for the full-featured version of Logic Pro.
2. Single-window interface, THANK YOU! Logic’s interface has been convoluted since its inception. The interface was cleaned up quite a bit in version 7, which made it usable, but it was still pretty unwieldy in comparison to less professional applications like GarageBand. The new interface is a vast improvement — everything resides in a single window, making it easy to reach whatever you need. This has been at the top of my wish list for a while, so I’m incredibly excited.
3. Apple Remote. I’d been looking for a remote transport to make it easier to control my takes from a distance, which is important when you’re recording yourself. I would have never thought to use the Apple Remote for this, but they did. Genius!
4. Price drop! Logic 7 cost upwards of a grand. But now, not only have they bundled in Quicktime Pro and Soundtrack 2 Pro, but they’ve dropped the price to $500. Not only that, but there’s upgrade pricing from previous versions of both Logic Pro and Logic Express… which reduces my own cost to $300.

I just placed my order. I can’t wait to get my hands on this. Of course, this also means I’m one step closer to picking up one of those new iMacs…

First the Dixie Chicks and now these morons. Seriously, what is it with musicians? Can none of them even read?

So they’ve got their panties in a twist because AT&T censored part of a webcast of their performance at Lollapalooza this past weekend. Apparently, in the middle of their set they broke into Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” but with their own lyrics:

“George Bush, leave this world alone / George Bush find yourself another home”

One would think AT&T was doing them a favor by preventing them sounding utterly lame. But I digress.

Turns out AT&T had outsourced the operation and editing of the webcast to a third party, who edited this little tidbit out. Pearl Jam, who is obviously no stranger to half-baked political thought, was quick to criticize, invoking the concept of “Net Neutrality,” another issue they clearly know nothing about. But the real gem comes from guitarist Mike McCready, whose post can be found just below the official statement in that link:

“I don’t however believe that a capitalist corporation such as AT&T has the right to subvert the first amendment of the constitution to which we all are accountable. This happened on the night we played Lollapalooza.”

No it didn’t, you idiot. Maybe you should try reading the Constitution instead of pretending you know what you’re talking about. Here is what the First Amendment actually says:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The First Amendment guarantees that Congress can’t make any speech illegal. All it does is guarantee that you won’t ever go to jail for speaking your mind. It says nothing about being edited by someone else who happens to be hosting your webcast. This is why reading comprehension is part of a basic standardized skills test in most schools. It is impossible for any corporation to subvert the First Amendment because only Congress can enact laws.

The real kicker is that AT&T apologized and is offering to post the unedited video on their site, in order to make amends, saying that the edits were mistakenly made by whoever they hired to weed out obscenity and nudity, and that it was not their intention to censor non-obscene political speech. But apparently Pearl Jam would rather play the victim, arguing that this somehow has something to do with Net Neutrality, which it doesn’t.

Even if the Net Neutrality laws they’re clamoring for were already in place, it would not have changed the outcome. The concept of Net Neutrality has to do with a company like AT&T using control of the underlying infrastructure of the internet to block access to things that AT&T does not own or control. But it says nothing about what AT&T hosts on its own webcast. AT&T would still have the right to edit their own content as they see fit.

Even more mind-bending is the fact that Net Neutrality laws would mean government regulation of communications networks. That sort of puts a damper on McCready’s quoting of Orwell, who argued persuasively against government control of communications in the very book McCready was quoting, due to — you guessed it — government censorship of media. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

Look, if Pearl Jam wants to rage against the machine, that’s fine, more power to them. But don’t pretend to be a victim of some fascist plot just because AT&T exercised their freedom of speech (yes, AT&T’s right to edit what goes on their website is, in fact, freedom of speech). It makes you a hypocrite, and it’s an embarassment to other musicians.

It needs to be understood that artists are not owed a venue. We can say whatever we like, but it doesn’t mean anyone has to give us a place to say it. If Pearl Jam had bothered to read the Constitution before shooting their mouths off about it, they might have understood this.