Thursday, January 06, 2005

Speech, Beer and Music

I realized recently that I'm cheap. Apparently I enjoy paying, say, $15 for certain items that many people happily buy for $50 or more. It logically follows that I like paying nothing for things that others would pay something for. But I'm neither a thief nor a complete miser--I demand quality and ask permission. So I was very intrigued when Wil Wheaton posted his bit about Comfort Stand Recordings (don't visit yet--you'll see the link when you're supposed to). I mean, when the Acting Ensign talks, I try to follow along. (Apologies, Wil--I actually liked Wesley Crusher, and, in my world, I'm "just a geek", which means you get to be Acting Ensign. But fair is fair, so that other guy gets to be William Fucking Shatner.)

Anyway, before I get back to Comfort Stand, go visit Magnatune and start streaming some music while you read the rest of this. I highly recommend Vito Paternoster (because Bach on the cello is cool, but Vito's last name is cooler), Lara St. John (because she's a talented young violinist who has the nerve to make classical CDs look sexy), Brad Sucks (because he doesn't, really--is that why it's considered ironic?), and Fluid (because they use the word "mercurial" in a song and their Jesus-Jones-esque sound is considered "retro"--now that's ironic). Now, go, start streaming, and come back. I'll wait.

I hope you took a moment to read a little about Magnatune while you were there, especially the "not evil" part. They're so not evil they're almost illegal, or they would be if it weren't for the majestic and superior Creative Commons license. Magnatune boldly lets you stream music for free, download it for free (if your use for it is non-commercial), or choose to pay for it. They even let you choose the price. I don't know about you, but their attitude and the quality of the recordings and artists makes me really want to pay for music that I can legally listen to for free. And that's way better than illegally listening to music for free that I should have paid for. Oh, and by the way, Magnatune's not evil to artists either--artists get 50% of each sale. That makes me want to pay more than minimum price.

OK, now that you've got something to listen to, let's talk about Comfort Stand Recordings (yes, you can go look now). They offer completely free downloads under a Creative Commons license without even hinting at payment. They also offer (free) quality artwork to download and print your own CD covers and labels. And most of it's weird. Take for example Meet You at the 7-Eleven, a selection of conversations with a guy named Dale at a 7-Eleven in Milwaukee. Better in many ways is Party Fun with Recorders, which is effectively an audio version of Found Magazine. But there's also some interesting and cool music to choose from. I say skip the Acting Ensign's recommendation of Swingin' Singles. Start at the beginning, with Two Zombies Later, especially if you have a fruity rum drink and a hawaiian idol on hand. After you've downloaded & burnt that, put it on while you fetch (in any order) Otis Fodder's Music to Drive Cross Country by, Chenard Walcker's The Lotus Opus, and Edith Frost's Demos. And, OK, go get Swingin' Singles too--it's a nice sample of Comfort Stand's artists (and it's got a nifty remix of "Rock'n Roll Boy", originally heard on Party Fun with Recorders).

So that should keep you in tunes and/or a daze for a little while. In return, I ask one small favor: do as I do and, every now and then, when you're listening to music from Comfort Stand or Magnatune, yell, "Fuck you, RIAA!" and cackle maniacally. Better yet, throw a free music party, invite me over, and we'll do it together.
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