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Problem Solved!
Jul. 21st, 2009 04:06 pmI have my membership at eMusic back, and all I had to do was move to Lincolnshire. Well, move my IP address to Lincolnshire, anyway. They are currently operating under the impression that I am in Grantham. This should be fine as long as they don't ask me where Grantham actually is ...
Mind you, this is a crime I almost hope I get caught at just so I can point out how utterly ridiculous it is that I have to resort to using a proxy server to legally purchase music on the internet.
I download plenty of free stuff, legally and otherwise. I've got no issue taking songs as samples to see if I like an artist, or acquiring tracks that haven't been released commercially. Nor am I very scrupulous about paying royalties to people who have millions of dollars already when I'm unemployed. When it's independent musicians that I know I like, though, I feel that I should support them. Even when I have to defraud their music store in order to do so.
In the interests of spreading free samples of great music, some things I downloaded with my technically illegal account.
Alabama 3: U Don't Dance 2 Tekno Anymore
Best known for the theme song from The Sopranos, these guys are crazy geniuses. This is the acoustic version of the song, from Last Train to Mashville.
Architecture in Helsinki: Hold Music
Tremendously fun local Melbourne band. Be warned, they have real gift for earworms - this one isn't quite as insanely catchy as That Beep, but it'll stick in your brain.
Ben Kweller: Wait
eMusic is particularly good at fuelling my love of covers. This comes from the same Beatles tribute album that proved the soundtrack for my Hiro/Ando vid.
Joseph Arthur: Black Lexus
The person who introduced me to this singer-songwriter said 'he's like Jeff Buckley, only alive.' This seems as apt a description as any I could come up with.
Lemon Jelly: Nice Weather For Ducks
I used to think that electronica wasn't my thing, but these guys single-handedly changed my mind. They're clever and funny and I really enjoy their stuff. And really, what doesn't go better with ducks?
Lil John & the East Side Boys: Get Low
There's a whole essay in whether hip-hop is actually more misogynist than the rest of popular culture or just more up front about it, and the many issues that raises. Since this is just a music post, though, all I have to say is 'to the windooooooow, to the WALL!' Whatever you think of the content, it's a brilliant track.
(If you do feel bad about the lyrics, go watch this also brilliant vid and cheer.)
The Distillers: City of Angels
Hard driving punk lead by Melbourne-born singer Brody Dalle, although as the title implies the song is about Los Angeles. I love her voice.
The Donnas: 40 Boys In 40 Nights
If the Ramones were a girl band, they would be the Donnas. It's always refreshing to hear female musicians singing about sleeping with a different guy on every stop of the tour and taking their underwear as trophies.
The Mountain Goats: First Few Desperate Hours
It's kind of impossible to know where to begin in the Mountain Goats back catalogue; John Darnielle is bewilderingly inventive and fond of folk-rock song cycles. Here's a random slice of genius to get you started.
The Polyphonic Spree: Sonic Bloom
When the Polyphonic Spree came to Melboune I kept walking up to people and saying 'the Polphonic Spree are in Melbourne!' Then they would ask me who the Polyphonic Spree were and I would make a sad face. As Wikipedia puts it: "the Polyphonic Spree is a self-described "choral symphonic rock" group from the Dallas, Texas area. The band generally consists of a 10-person choir, a pair of keyboardists, as well as a percussionist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, flautist, trumpeter, trombonist, violinist/violist, harpist, French horn player, a pedal steel player, theremin player, and an electronic effects person." If that doesn't make you want to listen, I don't know what will.
Thea Gilmore: Mainstream
British singer-songwriter Gilmore is wonderful and comes to you recommended by Neil Gaiman. She does great covers, too, but this is one of her originals. (One of these days, I will sit down and make the New Who vid for this, but the producers keep stubbornly inventing more female characters I want to put in it ...)
Tom McRae: One Mississippi
Speaking of vids, if you watch my Torchwood efforts you'll already be familiar with another British singer-songwriter. He's unusually upbeat on this track, if not exactly cheerful.
Townes Van Zandt: Pancho & Lefty
My favourite country song, for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who knows me.
Special Bonus non-eMusic Track: Tom McRae: La Nuit Je Mens
Not commercially available, this cover of Alain Bashung's song sees McRae in a more typical mood. He sounds dead sexy in French, although I have little idea what he's saying. Babelfish claims that the song contains the phrase 'adjuster of spitz, dynamiter of aqueducts.' Sadly, this seems unlikely to be the case.
Mind you, this is a crime I almost hope I get caught at just so I can point out how utterly ridiculous it is that I have to resort to using a proxy server to legally purchase music on the internet.
I download plenty of free stuff, legally and otherwise. I've got no issue taking songs as samples to see if I like an artist, or acquiring tracks that haven't been released commercially. Nor am I very scrupulous about paying royalties to people who have millions of dollars already when I'm unemployed. When it's independent musicians that I know I like, though, I feel that I should support them. Even when I have to defraud their music store in order to do so.
In the interests of spreading free samples of great music, some things I downloaded with my technically illegal account.
Alabama 3: U Don't Dance 2 Tekno Anymore
Best known for the theme song from The Sopranos, these guys are crazy geniuses. This is the acoustic version of the song, from Last Train to Mashville.
Architecture in Helsinki: Hold Music
Tremendously fun local Melbourne band. Be warned, they have real gift for earworms - this one isn't quite as insanely catchy as That Beep, but it'll stick in your brain.
Ben Kweller: Wait
eMusic is particularly good at fuelling my love of covers. This comes from the same Beatles tribute album that proved the soundtrack for my Hiro/Ando vid.
Joseph Arthur: Black Lexus
The person who introduced me to this singer-songwriter said 'he's like Jeff Buckley, only alive.' This seems as apt a description as any I could come up with.
Lemon Jelly: Nice Weather For Ducks
I used to think that electronica wasn't my thing, but these guys single-handedly changed my mind. They're clever and funny and I really enjoy their stuff. And really, what doesn't go better with ducks?
Lil John & the East Side Boys: Get Low
There's a whole essay in whether hip-hop is actually more misogynist than the rest of popular culture or just more up front about it, and the many issues that raises. Since this is just a music post, though, all I have to say is 'to the windooooooow, to the WALL!' Whatever you think of the content, it's a brilliant track.
(If you do feel bad about the lyrics, go watch this also brilliant vid and cheer.)
The Distillers: City of Angels
Hard driving punk lead by Melbourne-born singer Brody Dalle, although as the title implies the song is about Los Angeles. I love her voice.
The Donnas: 40 Boys In 40 Nights
If the Ramones were a girl band, they would be the Donnas. It's always refreshing to hear female musicians singing about sleeping with a different guy on every stop of the tour and taking their underwear as trophies.
The Mountain Goats: First Few Desperate Hours
It's kind of impossible to know where to begin in the Mountain Goats back catalogue; John Darnielle is bewilderingly inventive and fond of folk-rock song cycles. Here's a random slice of genius to get you started.
The Polyphonic Spree: Sonic Bloom
When the Polyphonic Spree came to Melboune I kept walking up to people and saying 'the Polphonic Spree are in Melbourne!' Then they would ask me who the Polyphonic Spree were and I would make a sad face. As Wikipedia puts it: "the Polyphonic Spree is a self-described "choral symphonic rock" group from the Dallas, Texas area. The band generally consists of a 10-person choir, a pair of keyboardists, as well as a percussionist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, flautist, trumpeter, trombonist, violinist/violist, harpist, French horn player, a pedal steel player, theremin player, and an electronic effects person." If that doesn't make you want to listen, I don't know what will.
Thea Gilmore: Mainstream
British singer-songwriter Gilmore is wonderful and comes to you recommended by Neil Gaiman. She does great covers, too, but this is one of her originals. (One of these days, I will sit down and make the New Who vid for this, but the producers keep stubbornly inventing more female characters I want to put in it ...)
Tom McRae: One Mississippi
Speaking of vids, if you watch my Torchwood efforts you'll already be familiar with another British singer-songwriter. He's unusually upbeat on this track, if not exactly cheerful.
Townes Van Zandt: Pancho & Lefty
My favourite country song, for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who knows me.
Special Bonus non-eMusic Track: Tom McRae: La Nuit Je Mens
Not commercially available, this cover of Alain Bashung's song sees McRae in a more typical mood. He sounds dead sexy in French, although I have little idea what he's saying. Babelfish claims that the song contains the phrase 'adjuster of spitz, dynamiter of aqueducts.' Sadly, this seems unlikely to be the case.