An interesting read in itself, but the linked sources at the bottom are well worth flicking through as well:

A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

[	Tags	|	creative commons, freedom, music	]
[	mood	|	impressed	]
[	music	|	James Ray - "Hi-Tech Overlord"	]

From the Creative Commons blog:

Creative Commons, Warner Bros. Records, and Machine Shop Recordings, are proud to present the Fort Minor Remix Contest, starting today at ccMixter. Fort Minor -- the hip-hop project led by Linkin Park vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda -- is offering the separated audio elements of its hit single "Remember the Name" online under a Creative Commons BY-NC license, so that people all over the world can easily and legally create remixes of the song.

The producer of the winning remix (as chosen by Mike Shinoda) will be awarded a new Technics SL-1200MK5 turntable, courtesy of Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop Recordings.

Visit ccMixter for more details about the contest.

I don't think I've pimped ccMixter before outside of comments; it's a website where artists can license their tracks and remix kits as part of the Creative Commons and acts as a central repository to track collaboration and sharing between artists. It's great if you want people to remix your work, and great if you want to make a name for yourself as a remixer. There are a lot of "mixversations", artists of mutual respect who remix each other's tracks. If you're into remixing, it's a fun place to be.

While it's not the class break I'd like, a famous artist such as Mike Shinoda, and a label like Warner Bros. not only acknowledging but also participating in the Creative Commons, encouraging both creativity and sharing, is a good step. It certainly challenges the assumption that Creative Commons only applies to small indie bands; while most artists taking advantage of the Commons are comparatively small, there's no reason why this should be the case other than the corporate mentality of the Record Industry™. Every chink in this mentality, every artist large or small who joins in the Creative Commons, whether it's Fort Minor, Beastie Boys, David Byrne or Brad Sucks, will help get us away from the defensive, secretive mentality which leads to stupid prosecutions, dangerous legislation, and sinister technology such as trusted computing and Digital Restrictions Management, and towards a more laissez faire world where people aren't treated as criminals by default.

You never know, maybe if Hollywood gets in on the act they'll get rid of those stupid anti-piracy adverts on DVDs. And if you want to get involved, try listening to a cast of Creative Commons-licensed music such as CC365.

[	Tags	|	brad sucks, freedom, music, reviews	]
[	mood	|	impressed	]
[	music	|	Brad Sucks - "Fixing My Brain"	]

Having heard his music on the CC365 blog of Creative Commons-licensed music, along with a remix courtesy of Commons sample-sharing site ccMixter, I decided to check out Brad Sucks more thoroughly, by downloading his album I Don't Know What I'm Doing. I'm very impressed - it's a smooth mix of indie rock and electro, mixed with sardonic lyrics and pounding disco beats. It's what the Scissor Sisters would sound like if they weren't trying to be the Bee Gees (and hadn't massacred "Comfortably Numb", damn them). There's plenty of interesting sounds - "Bad Attraction" sounds like The Beatles meets Pigface, with a hint of Hendrix.

When I have disposable income again, I'll definitely drop a few bucks on his album, which can be purchased directly from Brad or from the Magnatunes label. Have a download, have a listen. Burn a copy and give it to your mates. If you're musically endowed, do a remix or sample his work. Have fun. Enjoy. Oh, and read this interview.

[	Tags	|	freedom, music, reviews	]
[	mood	|	relaxed	]
[	music	|	Krii and Aleks - "Han Ya"	]

I've previously mentioned CC:365, add cc365feed if you want to join in the fun.

( Reviews )

[	Tags	|	freedom, music, reviews	]
[	mood	|	relaxed	]
[	music	|	Trash80 - "Social Silence"	]

I meant to blog about this sooner, but this is about as late as I can leave it before it gets to be too much of a backlog for people. Via the Creative Commons blog I became aware of CC:365, a podcast blog which is offering one Creative Commons-licensed track every day for you to download (sadly in turdy mp3 format instead of the Mighty Vorbis), listen to, and share with your friends.

The page above has a pretty good rationale for Creative Commons. Fundementally it's about addressing the relationship between artists and listeners, backing away from the piracy and terrorism claims which companies like Sony BMG believe allow them to install software that cripples your computer without your knowledge. It's about a set of rules, easy to understand, which give artists choices in how they'd like people to use their art. It's a good thing, in general, and this blog should allow me to hear a lot of new music, produced by artists and labels who respect me as a listener and are hence far more worthy of my hard-earned than most things I'll hear in the chart.

( Reviews, days 1-4 )

If you want to keep up with CC:365 through LiveJournal, simply add cc365feed.

[	Tags	|	dark phase, freedom, music, winscp	]
[	mood	|	sleepy	]
[	music	|	DeathBoy - "Phone"	]

Just as I bemoan the fact that all my ranting never gets me anywhere, I learn that the next version of WinSCP will not require users to accept the GPL, as a result of aforementioned ranting. I'm feeling happy about this, only 29,382 more badly-written Free Software applications to go...

I should also remark, since I've been very lax at doing so, that Dark Phase did me the courtesy of replying to the e-mail I sent about their WMA-only samples. He said that MP3 tracks would soon be available (though there's no sign of them yet), which was good. He also said that WMA files "seem to be becoming a standard for MSPs apart from apple and sony". This may be true, but it's not a good reason to support them. The argument is outlined very well in this article, which is intended to address DRM (which also affects WMA files) but can easily apply to non-open formats. It's all very well saying "well, I can play WMA under Linux now", or "well, I can strip the DRM off AAC files now", but it doesn't change the fact that that situation may change in the future, either through changes in the technology or legislation, and it'll be the people who aren't going along with the crowd who get it in the neck. Sticking up for open formats may not be the easy way, but it's for the best in the long run. There's a cautionary tale concerning a certain propriatery tool on which Linux development became heavily dependent being recently taken away, but that's for another LJ post.

It also turns out that James from Dark Phase is organising a Creative Commons event next week. The synopsis makes it seem pretty opposed to Creative Commons licensing, but with the head of a CC record label on the panel, it may go well. Maybe some copyfighters should go and take notice?

[	Tags	|	activism, dark phase, freedom, gigs, mesaplex, reviews	]
[	mood	|	curious	]
[	music	|	DeathBoy - "Stay Away"	]

As part of my complete failure to update LJ with reviews of things I've attended and read recently, I have failed to mention the Mesaplex gig I was planning to attend a few weeks back with greyeyedeve, despite being asked for an opinion by an anonymous commenter whom I have reason to believe is associated with the band in some way. Mea culpa.

Anyway. Mesaplex live. Good. The Wheatsheaf is a fantastically crappy venue, much like the Camden Barfly, but being in a smoke-filled room packed to the gills with sweaty, lager-swilling students always has a certain appeal. Despite sundry changes in lineup and a few delays, Mesaplex came on as the first act of the evening (rather than the headliner I'd been anticipating) and did their stuff, playing some of the tracks they've made available via the Mesaplex website and a cover of a familiar theme that I just couldn't place. Musically, they were tight, but the vocals were a little unconfident. Hopefully this is something that will improve with time and more gigs.

Sadly, we didn't stay to see headliners The Rock of Travolta, but we did catch part of Smilex's set, who were catchy and energetic without being massively memorable. Still, worth catching live if only for the terrific energy put off by their demented frontman.

Which brings me to the point that Mesaplex are playing the Port Mahon this Saturday; no idea about support, but they're headlining and will be onstage at 10:20pm, which gives me time to watch Doctor Who before I head out. I'm not going to lose any sleep if I don't make it, but I will make an effort to do so.

Update: While researching for this plug over on dreamingspires, I learned via OxfordBands that support is from "excellent electronica 3 piece" Camp Actor and "dark folky electronica" Dark Phase.

Update 2: Bah, Dark Phase's audio downloads are in crappy WMA format. I have sent them the following e-mail:

Dear Dark Phase,

Having heard that you're supporting the rather tasty Mesaplex at the Port Mahon on Saturday, I wanted to listen to your downloadable tracks to see what you sound like. However, you've only made them available in the less-accessible Windows Media (WMA) format, which means I can't listen to them. Do you have plans to make your downloads available in the cross-platform, accessible MP3 or Ogg Vorbis formats? It'd be worth making sure that more people can hear your music, after all.

On a similar subject, it'd probably be worth your while releasing the tracks under a Creative Commons license - this means that your fans can redistribute your tracks to other people on demo CDs and the like, under certain terms that you specify. The band Who Is Elmo Blatch make their demo EP available in such a way that the tracks can be redistributed provided that the redistribution is non-commercial and that the band are credited always. You can check out their website at http://www.whoiselmoblatch.com/ and the Creative Commons licensing scheme at http://www.creativecommons.org/

Hope to see you Saturday,

Dave

One of these days, I'll actually get a reply to an e-mail like this. (Update: I did)