Back From the Boonies

For the third year in a row, I didn't do a single thing for spring break. I figure, hey, I'm on a roll. Might as well keep it going. Here's the news...

Canadians Crack Down

One of my main reasons for wanting to move to Canada is, sadly, no more. The Canadian federal government took major strides this weekend to ban free downloading of music. Funny, even Businesweek can see that all of these government actions are undermining the independent music industry's ability to reach new listeners, and old ones, too. A recent article pretty much sums up my opinion and clearly the opinion of many many other people on the subject. Here's a tidbit to entice you to read the rest of the article.

Lower courts have sided with the software makers, which assert their so-called peer-to-peer technology is as legitimate as a videocassette recorder or a copy machine... But some artists, including Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, see an upside to file-sharing. "I look at it as a library. I look at it as our version of the radio," Tweedy said. "It's a place where basically we can encourage fans to be fans and not feel like they're being exploited, which is basically what the whole industry is geared to do."

In other news...

Twisting the knife in my heart, Death Cab for Cutie will be making an appearance next month on The O.C., which VH1 claims is "the show that's made them famous." I watched The O.C. for one month and thought I was so hooked and that the show was actually good, but then I realized that it's boring. Plus they picked the wrong actors for just about every role. Granted they're hillarious or whatever, but I don't think a guy in his mid-twenties should be playing a high schooler. It's nothing more than a primetime soap opera guised as a teen drama. I think that's reason enough to be somewhat annoyed by their use (and abuse) of really good indie bands. Ah, I'm ranting. I digress.

The Fruit Bats have returned to the studio and will release their new album, Spelled in Bones, on Subpop on July 26.

For the local kids, did you know that Dave Chappelle lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio? I sure didn't.

Well, folks. Today is Monday, and you know what that means. Yep. Tomorrow's Tuesday. And you know what that means. New albums! Let's see what you may or may not want to buy at the stores tomorrow:
Beck - Guero
The Bravery - The Bravery
Duran Duran - Greatest
Mae - Everglow
The Mountain Goats - Nothing for Juice
Over the Rhine - Drunkards Prayer
Reggie and the Full Effect - Songs Not to Get Married To
Stereophonics - Language. Sex. Violence. Other?

Upcoming Columbus Shows

Today - Dogs Die in Hot Cars w/ Phoenix and Longview - Little Brothers
Today - Duran Duran - Veteran's Memorial Auditorium
4.04 - The Backstreet Boys (Haha!) - Promowest Pavilion
4.07 - Copeland w/ Lovedrug and Acceptance - The Basement (or the Newport... conflicting sources)
4.19 - M. Ward w/ Norfolk & Western and DeVotchKa - Little Brothers
4.20 - m83 w/ Ulrich Schlauss (feat. the Moog documentary prior to performance) - The Mershon Black Box
4.21 - Clem Snide (w/ Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo?) - Little Brothers
5.07 - The Decemberists w/ Willy Mason - Little Brothers

Daily Downloads

Yo La Tengo, Live @ First Avenue in Minneapolis, 6.20.00 (torrent)
Radiohead Acoustic Set @ KROQ (link)
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Dead? (link)

Now Playing: Stars - "Sleep Tonight"