Since When Have Grammy Posters Been This Fantastic?

Never. Saw this little item today on NME (my music news feed is currently dominated by British publications and it's Twisted Ear's beautiful fault) and didn't think much of it until it popped up on Pitchfork. Let's face it, if Pitchfork is going on about posters, Seattle has either exploded or the posters are cool...but not too cool, just cool enough to be Pitchfork-worthy. Right. Anyway, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Thom Yorke all have their likenesses made out of the lyrics and names of thier favorite artists, albums and songs.

Part of the story here has to do with the Grammys trying to revamp their ad strategy in light of crappy (gross understatement) ratings in recent years. Last year, no surprise, was the lowest rated since '92. Ouch.

The other interesting portion is that Radiohead's Thom Yorke is involved in this. Radiohead is a notoriously and unapologetically not radio-friendly band, God bless 'em. Commercialism isn't really their thing, but I guess if your album gets nominated for album of the year, a poster might be in order, even if it is for the Grammys which are, as Pitchfork put it, "patently lame."

In any case. I found myself some new artwork for the walls.

Fleet Foxes to perform on SNL

Jan. 17 is looking pretty good right about now. Seattle indie group and occupants of the no. 3 spot on TMI Top 10 Discoveries of 2008, Fleet Foxes will be play SNL this coming Saturday. And you were impressed when My Morning Jacket played. So, do I smell some live blogging? Is my name Jane?

Well...actually.

Stay tuned kids.

Death Cab for Cutie in Free Fall

While cruising Rolling Stone this morning, I saw they posted a link to a blog that has an MP3 of Death Cab for Cutie covering Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" live. Why does it seem that whenever anyone gets their hands on a guitar, they play this song? I don't know. Maybe it's me. Anyway, DCFC does a good job. I was dubious at first just thinking that Petty and Gibbard are two very different voices, but the result was definitely a good one. Have a listen. I can only assume that if Rolling Stone posted it, it's perfectly legal. Wouldn't want to be downloading any Communism, now would we?

The New Tale of iTunes

Apple announced recently that things are going to be a little different in iTunes town starting in April. The good: Steve Jobs and co. have added three more major labels (Sony, Universal, and Warner Music) to their arsenal. The better: DRM-free MP3s (digital rights management that prevents easy copying). The "eh": ITunes is getting rid of its flat rate of 99 cents per song and instead basing pricing on popularity and age. 69 cents will get you an older catalogued tune, 99 cents will get you a regular "new" song and a $1.29 will get you the latest single from the Jo. Bros. (that's right, I can't even bear to fully type out the names of this (Mickey) mouse dropping of a band).

So what does that mean for us? There's never been a better time to have obscure taste in indie music and a love for oldies.

As for the DRM-free business, I could care less. What the implications are of making it easier to copy MP3s, I'm sure I don't know fully, but I doubt this will change much. If someone is seriously concerned with copying music, then you've got to wonder if they paid for it in the first place. Just sayin'.

I've been digging around, reading up on the subject. If preventing piracy is so important, then why would seemingly vital protection be compromised in a business deal? Well, some seem to think that DRM was more of a bargaining chip in the first place, something that could be held on to to wrangle price hikes or whatever else. I can buy that theory. Others think it's been a control issue more than a protective measure. Apparently iTunes was "the last major hold out" regarding the protection on its music. Ex. Amazon has been DRM-free over a year now.

Another article I read pointed out that this weakens the link between iPod and iTunes, meaning people could start going for competing products like SanDisk, or iRiver. That's Apple's problem, but I tend to think that there's way too much brand recognition and built-in status in the iPod to seriously worry about potentially plummeting iPod sales. I could see more of an issue in the inverse, like who cares what kind of coffee you put in your Starbucks mug? But, why would you put Starbucks coffee in a regular mug if that's what you're going for? No doubt, there are better products than the iPod, but in many ways they are lesser-known entities and that hurts. On principle, I sell the average consumer short when it comes to technology. And I make no apologies about it.

Taking a step back though, I think iTunes is going to remain king a long time and as long as they don't do something stupid like stop selling music, there's not a whole lot they could do to screw things up.

Enjoy this excellent illustration.

Pale Young Gentlemen: "The Crook of My Good Arm"

While weeding through some new music, I found a single called "The Crook of My Good Arm" by a group from Madison, Wisconsin called Pale Young Gentlemen. The group is a five-piece deal, featuring a cellist which, incidentally, is in part why I'm mentioning them at all. Despite being from the midwest, Pale Young Gentlemen has got this Eastern European thing going on which is pretty intriguing. Think Gogol Bordello but to a lesser degree, definitely less wacky. Like I said, I think the usage of the cello (and some other strings) is somewhat responsible for the gypsy rock vibe. They sound unique without being gimmicky. You can check them out here, and I believe there's a free download somewhere on the page.

This is Your Teenage Wasteland

I had an interesting little moment yesterday while I was spending some time with The Who on YouTube. After bouncing around from a couple different versions on "Pinball Wizard," inevitably I came back to this one concert performance of "Baba O'Riley" that I've probably watched about 173 times in the past four months. For no apparent reason I got focused in on the opening and I realized that the opening of The Killers song "This is Your Life" is crazy similar, just add in The Killers' vocals instead on The Who's keyboard (I think it's a keyboard. We'll go with that for now). Figured that was worth mentioning. Check it out.

TMI Mini Mix no. 2

Is there a better way to start off 2009 than with TMI Mini Mix no. 2? I can think of none. Last week my friend gave me a copy of an album called The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit, a group from Scotland. I've been spending some quality time with the album and I'm liking it a lot. I put a good deal of stock in what my friend recommends and he's yet to suggest a dud.

I thought I'd build the mini mix around one track called "Old Old Fashioned" which as got this awesome skiffle thing going on and that inevitably brought me to "I've Just Seen a Face" by The Beatles and things just spiraled. Anyway, take a listen. It'll be up all month.

Best of luck in 2009, here's to hoping you've sufficiently recovered from last night.

1. I've Just Seen a Face : Paul McCartney
2. Old Old Fashioned : Frightened Rabbit
3. Long Day : Matchbox Twenty
4. Turn On Me : The Shins
5. The Underdog : Spoon