Wednesday Whatever

This morning as I was shoving breakfast tofu sausage in my mouth, I read the interview with Nic Offer of !!! that Pitchfork had up and a section of it spawned a desire to address one of Offer's answers. On the topic of file sharing, Offer basically states that he supports it, but then goes on to talk about how he doesn't make any money making music. Now, it's a musician's choice to stay in a band for the excitement over the money of a more stable position, but as someone who also works in the entertainment industry, I think what Offer doesn't go into is that while file sharing promotes his music to a much wider audience than it would have ten years ago, the problem is that A LOT of the people who file share don't purchase the album after they've decided they like it and have played it silly.

I don't really think most people can comprehend how little some artists (especially musicians) make and that what they are doing is theft. As someone who has released a product that people admitted to downloading and getting the full experience from, I have to say that I actually get upset to know that "fans" would rationalize not buying a product from an artist because they either perceive it as money going to business types (who fund us) or because they've got to spend it on stuff they believe it's wrong to steal (like groceries). Sales = interest by business types in future projects and, yes, sometimes even more money for the artists. I think it's fan-fuckin'-tastic that the internet has exposed us to all kinds of music, art, writing, movies, and games that wouldn't have found an audience years ago, but if you've appreciated something by its creators and they're trying to make a living from it, then don't cheap out or you may never see anything by them ever again.

And don't get me started on how most people will crucify you for leaving less than fifteen percent for horrendous service but will download movies, music, and games without batting an eye. Seriously, I can't make sense of it.



Now that the rant is off, here's a link to an artist whose 2006 album I didn't find until recently. The name of the band is Belong, and the album is called October Language. It's ambient music that sounds like the in-between song drones of My Bloody Valentine songs stretched into several minute pieces. The end effect is subtly powerful and the layers of each song hide melodies floating in and out of the haze that make each composition hold up well to repeat listens.

Check out their song "October Language" and others here:

Belong's MySpace site

Tomorrow, join me as I debate the ethics of fueling robots with old people's medicine.