Stereo Total and Yahoo! Music

There's really not much news to speak of today, but what news I do have to report I also have a lot to say about, so this could still be a lengthy post. I apologize that I rant so often in this thing. I just like to editorialize. I'm a public relations major; it's what I do best. Anyway, I'll start off first with the review of last night's Stereo Total concert and then proceed to the major headline.

So Stereo Total played last night at Little Brothers with Les Georges Leningrad and Hawnay Troof. I unfortunately don't have pictures of the event due to a forgotten camera (oops!). Hopefully my recap will be colourful enough to stir your imagination.

First up was, to my surprise, Les Georges Leningrad. The Little Brothers website had them listed before Hawnay Troof so I assumed Hawnay would be opening, but alas, I was wrong. Les Georges was very interesting. The three piece hails from Montreal, Quebec, which I found surprising because it definitely sounded like lead singer Poney P was speaking german. Poney was dressed like a zombie version of Alice from Alice in Wonderland, while drummer Bobo Boutin was dressed like the Phantom of the Opera meets nerd and keyboardist/guitarist Mingo L'Indien was dressed as a pirate in pajamas. Their sound was very 80s new wave, with Poney often playing random chords on the keyboard. They were very dancy, but still moderately experimental. My favorite part of their set was the group of kids on the right side of the stage dancing like they were trying to get a spider out of their underwear. You see, I like to dance, as I'll tell you when I talk about Stereo Total's set, but I like to dance to a beat, and they were dancing like spazzes, like they were possessed by demons or something. It was straight from the 80s. They were even dressed like they were from the 80s. It was very entertaining.

The first thing I thought of when I say the name Hawnay Troof was "horny truth." Maybe I have a terrible mind, but that's exactly what it sounded like to me. I was expecting another band, but when all of the instruments were off the stage and this strange looking white dude in a white zoot suit took the stage, I knew it was going to be something totally different. Hawnay was like a one man Beastie Boys. It was kinda like a sing along at some points as he had the audience scream things back and even brought some of us on stage because he said he loved all of us. The guy couldn't stand still for the life of him, and he often rambled on in long run-on sentences about random things that happened to him. It was like he was on speed or something. At any rate, he's probably one of the best rappers I've ever seen live. He hails from Oakland, and he said he's there probably five months out of the year, so you California locals should check him out.

At last, the duo known as Stereo Total mounted the stage, accompanied by a small drum kit, a synthesizer, and two guitars, one shaped like a heart and the other shaped like a rectangle. I was surprised that all of their music came from just that little bit of instrumentation, but they recreated their sound almost perfectly. Francoise Cactus is a chubby little French girl, and she's pretty much the most adorable singer I've ever seen. She makes the phrase, "I am naked," sound as innocent as, "I like puppies." Brezel Goring, on the other hand, is a flamboyant German man who likes to touch his crotch and spank gay men who try to kiss Francoise (no joke, he actually did it). Together they made some of the most fantastic music, and I'll be totally honest, I've never danced so hard in all my life. You can't help but dance to this stuff. The whole crowd, at least where I was standing, was dancing its heart out, shouting in French, German, and English. I think this show may have been one of the most entertaining shows I've ever been to, and I highly recommend going to see Stereo Total in person if you have the chance.

I'm so glad that I chose to go to last night's show. I've been on a show hiatus for a while now due to finances and a lack of a desire to go to shows (sadly), but I think I'm back in the saddle now. Last night was amazing. I'm still feeling it.

And now, our top story...

As I was reading through blogs this afternoon, donewaiting.com directed me to a post by Mark Cuban at Blog Maverick that was indeed very intriguing. In short, it explained how the release of Yahoo! Music Unlimited could have serious effects on the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), especially with regards to their recent lawsuits.

Let's get a little background so we better understand Cuban's logic. Yahoo! Music Unlimited costs only a measly $5/month, cheaper than any other service out there. Actually, I believe there are multiple payment options, but the most popular one is the $5/month option. The RIAA, on the other hand spends thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars trying to enforce copyright laws, and these lawsuits can cost the defendants thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars themselves. So the option is to either pay a buttload of money so that you can download freely or pay $5/month to do it legally with Yahoo! Music. Cuban puts it this way:

The RIAA can no longer claim that students who are downloading music are costing them thousands of dollars each. They can’t claim much of anything actually. In essence, Yahoo just turned possession of a controlled music substance into a misdemeanor. Payable by a $5 per month fine.

Cuban makes a very interesting point when he jokingly says that Utah should put a $5 music tax on everyone in the state so there will be no illegal downloading. I think he may be on to something with that idea. Everyone pays, everyone wins. Why not implement something like that and then just let us use whatever service we want? I guess it's not that simple, but the idea is pretty darn appealing.

The service is admittedly not perfect, but improvements are constantly being made. Ian Rogers, one of the creators of Yahoo! Music, posted in his blog a list of advantages (and disadvantages) to the new service. On the positive side, of course the service is cheaper than anything else available. It can be personalized and works with Yahoo! Messenger to share music with your friends. There are also lots of features, including good bitrates and ogg files. I was skeptical when I first heard about Yahoo! Music since most of the stuff I listen to tends to be obscure, but Rogers assures me that indie labels are being added to the roster of available music, and the network is always adding new music. If you don't like some of the features on it, you can edit them yourself and customize everything. You can even skin it like you would with WinAMP. One of the biggest downfalls right now is that it's not available in a Mac format. I am planning on getting a Mac someday, and if I sign up for this service, which I think I might eventually, I might not be able to access it due to incompatibility. Along those same lines, Yahoo! Music isn't totally compatible with the iPod yet. That's still in the works. But judging from the pros and cons of the service, it does look rather promising.

So if you're looking to do your part to screw with the RIAA, maybe you should invest a few bucks a month into Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

In other news...

Kylie Minogue has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The singer is scheduled to start therapy today in Melbourne, and due to the overwhelming flood of well-wishers, her website has been shut down. Obviously details are few, and I'm glad it's that way because this is a very personal matter. Keep Kylie in your prayers.

As announced by chromewaves, the new X-Men movie has Kelsey Grammar playing the role of The Beast. Now I'm torn. I love X-Men, but I can't stand Grammar. He's just so... stuffy. I hope that he doesn't turn the movie into a reinactment of Shakespeare like he does to a lot of other things he's been in. Also recently cast, Lost's Maggie Grace will play Shadowcat.

An article over at Wired News discusses the new phenomenon of bands promoting themselves on Myspace. I don't think there's anything to editorialize about there. It's pretty obvious.

Upcoming Columbus Shows

5.27 - The Killers w/ Hot Hot Heat and Robbers on the Street - Promowest Pavilion
6.01 - Gang Gang Dance - The Wexner Center
6.02 - The Wrens - Little Brothers
6.03 - Tokyo Rose - High Five
6.08 - Modest Mouse - Promowest Pavilion
6.13 - Iron and Wine - The Newport
6.16 - Comets On Fire - The Wexner Center
6.29 - Black Eyed Peas w/ Talib Kweli - Promowest Pavilion
8.11 - Ben Folds w/ Ben Lee and Rufus Wainwright - Promowest Pavilion
8.31 - Coldplay w/ Rilo Kiley - Germain Ampitheater
9.06 - Of Montreal - TBA

Daily Downloads
from regnyouth:

The Beatles - Abbey Road (link, mp3)
Dresden Dolls - Dresden Dolls (link, mp3)
Reggie and the Full Effect - Greatest Hits 1984-1987 2 3 (link, rar, password = lcpahc)
Reggie and the Full Effect - Promotional Copy 2 (link, rar, password = lcpahc)
Reggie and the Full Effect - Songs Not to Get Married To 2 (link, rar, password = lcpahc)
Reggie and the Full Effect - Under the Tray 2 (link, rar, password = lcpahc)

Today, as I was walking home from class, I was walking by this really typical college guy, and this little finch flew down and landed a few feet in front of him. As the bird scampered away from him, he actually approached the bird and kicked it. I looked at him with utter disgust. People like that deserve to be kicked themselves. See you tomorrow.