creative riff

The Pirate Bay was once referred to as the most well-known Bit Torrent tracker website in the world. Everyone from member of the Pirate Party to anarchists to hippies to cheapskates filled their hard drives with every known reincarnation of Mega Man X3. Times were golden as stealing involved a quick search and a tiny download. But like all good things in life it was not meant to be.

Other Bit Torrent tracker websites such as the UK’s OiNK and US’s Suprnova bit the dust after government server raids. The fact that The Pirate Bay continued to exist this long is nothing short of a miracle – The Netherlands’ law almost completely ignored torrent tracker sites until recently. The Pirate Bay moved its main servers to Stockholm with the long term interest in purchasing a small, private island with which to be immune from international copyright law. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out for The Bay as a nine-day trial in Stockholm ended with a guilty verdict for “assisting in making copyrighted material available.” The Swiss court ruled that the four defendants serve a sentence of one year and were fined the equivalent of $3.6 million.

To add greater damage for pirates, software company Global Gaming Factory X AB paid $7.4 million to run the website “legally.” The company intends to utilize the new business model to compensate copyright owners – a Bit Torrent Napster of sorts. How the news will pan out among users is pretty obvious.

According to a statement from The Pirate Bay, “If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to.”

Well, I suppose the pirates will just move back to Coda.fm or Mininova and not notice any difference at all. Why pay when you can just steal the Blu-Raaarrrrrrrry edition? I’m here til Sunday, ladies and gentlefolks.

Source: The Pirate Bay Purchased

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The news of Michael Jackson’s death didn’t hit me at all yesterday. I was too busy being down in the dumps after not receiving $1,000 scholarship grant from H&R Block (not that big of a deal in the long run). So how do I feel 24 hours later? Different. This afternoon I re-listened to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Dangerous and parts of Off The Wall at work. Michael Jackson left a considerable dent on my childhood but in retrospect I’m not sure I enjoy what I remember of him.

It’s hard to hate Michael Jackson, well, it is hard to hate Michael Jackson if you knew him before the mid-1990s. I can clearly remember a VHS recording my dad made of the music video of Jam wherein Michael played basketball in a rundown gym with none other than Michael Jordan. Everything from the fact that I was watching it on a big screen television set to the fact that it was on MTV made him the “man” in my opinion. I grew up listening to Thriller each year during the weeks leading up to Halloween because my dad made a mix tape with assorted “monster-related” songs (i.e. Purple People Eater, Ghostbuster’s Theme, etc.).  The first cassette tape I put in my first home audio player was Sting’s Mercury Falling. The second cassette tape I put in my audio player was Michael Jackson’s HIStory.

Michael Jackson gave me a link to R&B which was a wildly exotic world for me at the tender age of 8 or 9. I grew up loving jazz mainly because I knew that the jazz greats (excluding Kenny G.) were black and that was something I could never be. Michael Jackson gave the world R&B by making it mainstream. Sure, Motown and disco did a lot to help the music genre but it was Michael’s tender ballads and fancy footwork that set the world on fire.

The past decade hasn’t been easy for Michael or the rest of his fan base. I still haven’t listened to Invincible, his last major effort at a career revitalization. To me Michael Jackson stopped being “cool” after his duet with Janet Jackson in 1996’s Scream. The music video, another Jackson tool, shows just how amazing his effect on music was. Who else could command a music video that cost the same as many major motion pictures of the same time period? Michael. His allegations of sexual molestation and constant abuse of pain killers haven’t helped his situation. Nor has his gross negligence of his financial spending (he spent thousands of dollars on candy and ice cream). In short, Michael’s fantasy life may have provided him refuge from his abusive childhood but it only led to his public downfall.

After listening to Thriller today I can officially say that I enjoy every one of the nine songs on that album outside of his duet with Paul McCartney (The Girl Is Mine). I also noticed that the only song where Michael sounds aggressive or angry is Billie Jean (Beat It and Thriller have a distinct tongue-in-cheek to them). I kind of enjoy the Smooth Criminal that inhabited Michael’s earlier efforts. When it came time to preaching his messages of global peace, racial equality and love I don’t think the world was quite ready.

I think Thriller’s The Lady In My Life is the best send-off I can think of for his tumultuous career. Everything from the jazz guitar to the disco-esque keyboards give the song a beautiful sound that almost made me cry. If only Michael evolved that sound instead of heading in a popier direction. Thanks for all you gave us, MJ. You single-handedly proved that disco isn’t dead and that we can never Blame It On The Boogie.

Even When We’re Old And Gray
I Will Love You More Each Day
‘Cause You Will Always Be The Lady In My Life

Stay With Me
I Want You To Stay With Me…

- The Lady In My Life

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Saw this one on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List.”

Free 9 song live album Left Right Left Right Left by Coldplay as a gift to fans.

Album Highlights (after multiple listen sessions yesterday between my sister’s baccalaureate church services):

I: Glass of Water - Loved this one since it was released on Prospect’s March EP. Heavenly.

IV: Strawberry Swing - Clearest link to late-Beatles Harrison. Makes me want to stomach a Prius commercial.

VI: Viva La Vida (crowd goes rightfully nuts) – This needs to be next World Cup anthem. OOOOOHHHH AAAAHHH OOOOHH AAAHH

XIII: Fix You – Oh, Coldplay, you know how to give fans exactly what they want. Best power ballad of all time. Try not singing it at the top of your lungs when listening to it in the car with friends.

Source: Coldplay.com

I’ve been updating and fixing family computers and selling my stuff on eBay among other trivial stuff this week (I also started jogging again. Yay!). You know it has been a long time since your last update when you see that there are 5 plugin updates upon logging in. Whew. I assure you I am alright and will post more often (the beach took it out of me).

Big news this week in the video game world with Rock Band Beatles. The game is shaping up to truly capture the band’s dynamic range. Two videos have popped up thanks to E3. Check both out and try to fight back those feelings rushing back to you. Yeah, we all remember the first time we heard Rocky Raccoon (awesome if only for Paul’s fake Southern accent in the intro) or Paperback Writer. My only question to the developers: will Billy Preston appear during the Get Back sessions? Please add him in with any fake keyboard that you will one day invariably dream up.

Does anyone else thing that Craig Robinson (Dwayne) of The Office looks just like the late Billy Preston (pictured)?

Working hard here tonight to bring you yet another post. This one is actually pretty artsy so prepared to be “wowed” in the most positive sense of that word.

For those who haven’t been on YouTube in the past month or two there is a certain music video that has been making a bit of a splash. Uploaded on January 19, 2009 Oren Lavie’s Her Morning Elegance has gained over 5 million hits. The silky smooth voiced singer is of Israeli-descent and has a new album out now called The Opposite Side of the Sea. Lavie cites his influences as Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. He is also a talented pianist and his recordings include guitar and a string quartet giving his melodies a bit more depth than your typical pop-infused ballad. According to Wikipedia he also is an accomplished playwright with two plays produced in London after his graduation from the London Academy of Music and Dance Arts. He also contributed to the soundtrack for the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Oren Lavie's first studio album "The Opposite Side of the Sea."

Check him out below:

Canada's Of Montreal

I’ve been following NPR’s music blog for a while now and despite their typical unflappable love of the Indie music scene they just posed a great question in their most recent post. In this huge world of music there are many talented acts. Who do you know is loaded with talent but you just can’t quite sync with their musical direction?

A few bands came to my mind when I posted on NPR’s music blog:

A few bands come to mind.

Namely, Muse and Of Montreal.

Muse has often been compared to Radiohead. I once tried to listen to a couple of their albums and it came off as too similar in areas. I have played one of their songs in Guitar Hero III, but it wasn’t too interesting in my opinion. Maybe one day I will sit down and check them out.

My distaste for Of Montreal stems primarily from “Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?” I bought the album but refused to open it before I listened to a few tracks online. Great decision. I took it back to School Kids Records the next day and got my $11 back.

The only other band that comes to mind is The Rolling Stones. I understand that they are like the biggest band ever but their discography is too intense for me. Plus, I am a big Brian Jones fan and I don’t like the sound that Keith Richards took after he left (I am a huge blues fan but I like the psychedelic Stones). They are another band that I would like to listen to when I have the time to appreciate their efforts.

Trent Reznor is the frontman for Nine Inch Nails (NIN).

After posting a few more bands came to mind. Part of me really wishes I could enjoy Nine Inch Nails. The band’s frontman, Trent Reznor has been a huge proponent of the Anti-DRM (Digital Rights Management). He did the soundtrack to the first Quake computer game, yet I can’t enjoy any of his music. I even downloaded Ghosts I-IV after it was announced it was going to be released for whatever the consumer wants to pay and under Creative Commons license. No die.

So who should you enjoy based on your music tastes but can’t stand?

Source: Music You Should Love, But Don’t [NPR]

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It’s all over. My time at UNC is over that is. My general graduation and departmental graduation for my journalism degree was Sunday, May 10. I spent the better part of yesterday unpacking, organizing clothes and finishing out the last episodes of Californication and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I already admit that I am a huge James Cameron nerd so I am hoping [praying] that this summer’s Terminator Salvation doesn’t completely blow.

Driving back from Chapel Hill I had the strange desire to open my senior year high school yearbook. I remembered that I had a senior quote that was “bad ass,” but I couldn’t quite remember what it was. After opening the dusty tome I found that I selected one from John Locke. The funny thing is I think I might actually start watching Lost this summer after enjoying J.J. Abrams’ brilliant revision of Star Trek.

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. – John Locke

In other news, I am wait listed at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brand Center. I have been tasked with writing headlines for the following three brands: NY Times, Lexington BBQ and All-Bran Cereal. Once completed I will hopefully have something to do this fall. I will update with my progress. As of now I have completed my research – now to begin putting finger to keyboard and pen to paper.

As for now, I am attempting one more internship or hoping to find a job in order to fill the time between May and August. I hope I don’t have to take up waiting once more but this economy makes everything so unpredictable.

In the meantime I am dusting off my vinyl collection and jamming out for inspiration. I promises substantive posts will follow in the next few days. Right now I am fighting off a raging headache while listening to the rattling echo of Desmond Tutu’s sermon in my ear. My newest inspirations include:

Wilco’s A Ghost is Born

Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Sketches

Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue

St. Vincent’s Actor

Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak

Sufjan Steven’s You Are The Blood/Dark Was the Night

Despite Pitchfork’s recent review of the Silversun Pickups’ latest effort, Swoon, I am kicking myself for not picking it up at Best Buy for $9.99 today. The band may be the best reincarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins’ distinct ’90s alternative rock blended with the fun of ’70s fuzziness, but “Panic Switch” is alone worthy of your purchase. The rest of the album is some of the most reminiscent rock I have encountered in years outside of The Darkness.

My tagline: Don’t Panic… [Switch] this summer – pick up Swoon and ease into humidity with some sweat-infused ballads. I apologize already.

If you haven’t already listened to Phoenix’s new single “1901″ check below:

There are more than a few remixes on Hype Machine, my favorite being DLID’s. Check it out for yourself –> Phoenix – 1901 (Customised by DLID)