Don’t wanna see an American Edit
Warner sends the lawyers after mashup distributors
Anthony Augustine
Dean Gray Tuesday — gray.alt.fm
— It only took 10 days for the lawyers from Warner Records
to send a cease-and-desist notice attempting to block the
distribution of Dean Gray’s mashup album, American Edit,
after it was posted to the web. Likely a project by well-known
San Francisco mashup DJ Party Ben and renegade producer Team9
(both artists have information about the injunction from Warner
on their sites), American Edit somehow got the attention of
the label even though material from Green Day’s last
album has been frequently used by mashup producers since it
was first released. In fact, Party Ben’s brilliant mashup
Boulevard of Broken Dreams has gotten significant airplay
at mainstream radio stations across the country and was even
played during a major league baseball game. Similar to the
online protest organized when Danger Mouse was threatened
with legal action after the release of The Grey Album, hundreds
of websites will be making the full American Edit album available
for download on Tues., Dec. 13. Other sites will change their
background colour of their web pages in support of ‘Gray
Tuesday’ if they’re unable to host any of the
MP3s. The members of Green Day haven’t issued any official
word, although in past interviews Billie Joe has been supportive
of the concept behind mashups.
Don’t Bomb Us— dontbomb.blogspot.com
— If recent reports out of the U.K. are true and George
Bush discussed destroying the offices of Al Jazeera with Tony
Blair, then the president is a lot more calculating and manipulative
than many believed. In response to the allegations that have
recently surfaced, a group of Al Jazeera staffers have created
a blog to offer another avenue to get their perspective out
to the public.
Beats in Space — www.beatsinspace.net
— Former NYU student and current DFA in-house DJ Tim
Sweeney runs the Beats in Space program, and it may be the
perfect example of how podcasts are changing the way people
interact with the media. Once a regional favourite for anyone
looking to stay on the cutting edge of electronic music, Sweeney's
eclectic yet groundbreaking radio program has become one of
the most high-profile downloads around. Recent guests on the
program have included Detroit legend Carl Craig, Darshan Jesrani
from Metro Area and moody German party rocker Superpitcher.
While Sweeney's program remains available on traditional radio,
it’s only a matter of time before content-hungry satellite-radio
providers start to raid the web for ideas and snap up programs
like Sweeney’s.
Stalking You on MySpace —
www.myspace.com/johnbbeta
— The social networking hub MySpace can be an easy
place to make cyber friends and endlessly waste time, but
it is also becoming an increasingly important avenue for both
new and established artists to promote themselves. Making
good use of the viral marketing effect of MySpace, U.K.-based
‘robot electro drum n‚ bass’ producer John
B has uploaded four tracks to his site, including the outrageously
good Stalking You on MySpace single and an unreleased electroclash-influenced
cut called Fashion. If you head over to John B’s main
site, you can also download a recent DJ mix.
Anthony Augustine is a freelance music and pop culture writer
who spends way too much time in front of the computer. He also
hosts a weekly two-hour electronic music program on CKUW 95.9
FM Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com. |
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