Stay Free! Daily

Negativland in NYC this Thursday

Stay Free! pals Negativland are going to be doing a rare live appearance this Thursday, at the Highline Ballroom here in New York, and you won't want to miss it. The show is modeled after the group's live radio program and has something to do with God. You can find out more about it here and in this excellent Time Out article. Steinsky, who you may remember (or not) from our Illegal Art Exhibit compilation CD, will be opening.

For those of you outside of New York, the group also has dates in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and Charlottesville. Here be the details.

Welcome to Jack's Blog About Commercials I Didn't Fast-Forward Through

Or maybe the rest of the Stay Free team went camping and didn't invite me? Anyway, tonight I fast-forwarded all the way to the end of a commercial, and then went all the way back. Because at the end was the logo for the University of Phoenix, or as I like to call it,
Banner-Ad U. Surely you have seen more than your fair share of Internet advertising for this college offering "web-based education" and 72 "campuses" in 36 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. (Sorry, irony fans: There is a campus in Phoenix, Arizona.) But this ad was on television. Which I am luddite enough to consider real advertising.

Perhaps equally troubling, the commercial is set to the insanely catchy New Pornographers' song "The Bleeding Heart Show." If America's favorite Canadian indie-pop supergroup had to sell out, did it have to be to the University of Phoenix? Though who knows, perhaps they all hold degrees from the Vancouver or Calgary branches.

My head is still spinning. The U. of Phoenix is gaining students, and I'm losing my faculties.

26th Anniversary + 2 Days R.I.P.

Just heard John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" on the radio. Thirty-five years after its release, the song is as moving and relevant as ever this holiday season. But upon this listen, I was struck by a quirk of the opening lyrics: "So this is Xmas/And what have you done/Another year over/And a new one just begun."

Not to quibble with one of our great modern poet-philosophers, but, hey, is it Christmas? Or is it New Year's? Sure, "done" rhymes with "begun." But if the year has already begun…well, you catch my drift. Perhaps "So this is Xmas/And a war we're not winning/Another year almost over/And a new one soon beginning" would've cleared things up. Just my two cents.

If John was still with us, I'd post this as a comment on his myspace page. After thanking him for the add.

GNR C&D

Is it possible to own rights to music that hasn't been made? Axl Rose thinks so.

In homage to (and, if it needs to be said, parody of) the no-longer-eagerly-anticipated Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, Colin Helb and Cornslaw Industries commissioned Chinese Democracy: A Tribute to an Unheard Album. Cornslaw asked artists to create songs based on the rumored song titles on the unseen GNR album and Chinese Democracy: A Tribute, a web-only album composed of original songs, is the result.

It appears that Mr. Rose is spending more time in his lawyer's office than in the studio: Cornslaw Industries has received a Cease & Desist letter (and a cease and desist MySpace message!) from Axl's attorneys.

A friend is worried that she is the only person who cares about Chinese Democracy. She shouldn't be concerned; Axl Rose also cares. Just not enough to release an album.

(Thanks, Colin.)

Bragging Rights

Twenty-plus years ago when I was in high school, Billy Bragg's records prepared me for heartache I would face, and authority I should question, in decades to follow. And although he was not able to brace me for the future of technology and its impact on music, I'm glad Bragg is still looking out for us.

Beatles beaten

In the now-historic trademark battle between Apple Corps and Apple Computer, the computer company was found not liable for violating its trademark license agreement.

Distressingly, the grounds on which Apple Computer won were stupider than anything I could have come up with. The London High Court ruled that iTunes was not a seller of music, but rather "a data transmission service." Is grooved vinyl or magnetic tape any less a data transmission device than an mp3? Doesn't that make Sam Goody a "data transmission service"?

Look for a different opinion from Apple about whether they sell "music" when arguing that they need to implement extreme-DRM at the request of the music industry.

Tchai-cough!-sky

From reading my occasional posts here, you might get the sense I spend the bulk of my time watching TV, eating pizza, and reading Friendster messages from imaginary Russian women. And that's basically the truth. But I do have my "classy" moments. Last night, for example, I took in an evening with the New York Philharmonic. (OK, OK, a friend who was leaving town gave me her tickets, but still.)

The jeans-wearing friend who accompanied me wondered if she was underdressed. I was able to assure her that all was fine, as soon as I noticed a gentleman in the front row sporting a Lou Piniella jersey.

But my purpose today is to open up a discussion with those of you more familiar than I am with classical music performances. Specifically: What is the mad obsession with coughing?!?

In the Playbill, in the User's Guide to the New York Philharmonic, there is a "Quiet, Please" subsection. It states, "We offer you cough drops during winter-month concerts. Please help yourself—helping you feel better, and helping us all to be a quieter audience. Natural Her Cough Drops—Courtesy of Ricola USA, Inc."

OK, fair enough. An attentive, quiet audience is always appreciated. Here's the kicker, though. The music starts up (Weber's Bassoon Concerto, followed by Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Silbelius's Symphony No. 5). We reach a pause at the end of the first movement, and my friend whispers that applause should be held until the end of the entire piece. Applause was the only noise held, however. The audience took the opportunity to cough, hack, clear throats, blow noses, and emit inhuman grunts. From every corner of Avery Fisher Hall arose a repulsive symphony.

Is it psychological? Since we are allowed to cough during that brief window, we must cough? Certainly they weren't collectively holding in coughs for 15-minute stretches? It was surreal. It was gross.

On a completely different topic, and more rhetorically: Of all those Eastern European who write to me on Friendster, how come it has not once been guest violinist Julia Fischer?

Carrie speaking at Rutgers - Thurs. Nov. 3

In the event that you find yourself in New Brunswick, NJ, next week, I'm giving a talk on subliminal advertising (based on my Stay Free! article) as part of the Rutgers Program Council's "Truth in the Media" series:

Rutgers Student Center, Multipurpose Room - 8 pm
Admission is free.

Just sign the summons, kid

The RIAA was thwarted in its attempt to sue a technologically illiterate Michigan mother for allowing her daughter to "allegedly" download songs. So they asked the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for the child so they could sue the kid directly. The judge said no, but in future cases that will probably be the RIAA's first step, and the judge will say yes.

I just pictured Lars Ulrich walking out of the courtroom with a Hilary Duff bank as the young girl cries her eyes out.

(Via Broomeman)

Future of Music Policy Summit in DC, Sept 11-13

The good people behind the Future of Music Coalition are organizing their fifth annual policy summit in Washington DC, September 11-13. Speakers include Stay Free! faves Fred von Lohmann (EFF), Siva Vaidhyanathan, and Kembrew McLeod, not to mention Hank Shocklee, Dan Rose, and scores of politicians and industry reps.

There's lots more info at the Summit website, including a 30-second PSA by George Clinton!