Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

If you've had your ear to the 'Net recently, then you've probably heard about the report commissioned by the Dutch government that finds an overall benefit to society from P2P file sharing. The story was originally broken by TorrentFreak, who obviously loves the news. But as you would expect the story is spreading and people are starting to pick it apart. The folks at Digital Music News have this to say: In reality, file-swapping is mostly a free-for-all. But the report asserted that the broader impact on society was positive, based on the argument that consumers gain more than what labels and other stakeholders lose. The report also rebuffs the claim that file-sharing leads to lost sales at a one-to-one ratio, a method sometimes used by the content industry to calculate overall piracy losses. Why is all this important? For one thing, the report originates from the public sector. This makes the report arguably less biased than were it to come from the RIAA or The Pirat

Most of us know that a few pints of the Bishop's tipple can loosen the attitudes of the even staunchest, most stubborn people (if this were untrue I would never have gotten a date). For further proof one need only look at the recent development of Groove Armada's recording contract with--wait for it--Bacardi. Surprising, I know, but at least it isn't Starbucks. And while they may not exactly be champions of P2P file sharing, Groove Armada is loosening up and saying, "Oh, all right. If you must." Thanks to the internet and the unrelenting thirst for free music many musicians have chosen to pursue unconventional avenues in order to get their songs to the masses. Granted, they're not giving music away like NIN and Radiohead, but Groove Armada is willing to give this whole "sharing" mumbo-jumbo a try. The desire to create a tighter connection with fans played heavily into the file-sharing approach. On bacardi.com, fans are now encouraged to register, do

source: npr online Before the election of Barack Obama, a group of musicians recorded and released a collection of 43 original songs, one for each of the U.S. presidencies. Titled Of Great and Mortal Men, the three-CD set ended with George W. Bush. Now, just in time for the inauguration, the creators have completed their 44th song. For the first 43 presidents, the songwriters behind Of Great and Mortal Men had hindsight on their side. But that wasn't an option this time. "Because I didn't have an actual presidency to write about, the only thing I could write about was his effect on people," songwriter Christian Kiefer says of President-elect Obama. So Kiefer started out by exploring where the country has been. Read the full article and download "Someone to Wake" for free at NPR Online.

Sounds Like: You visited an unpublicized traveling carnival only to hear an exquisite songbird accompanied by the strongman on calliope. RIYL: The Softies, El Perro Del Mar, Jolie Holland, Serge Gainsbourg, The Organ Response: Maybe it's the fog's slow ride through the Pacific Northwest that has me hankering for haunting melodies. Or maybe it's just winter in general. Or maybe it's a little bit of both--fitting since that's the name of Johanna Samuels's debut release. Not that the soft melodies of A Little Bit of Both are in any way dependent on the weather. Her tremolo vocals and "ooh la las" would linger in any season, and the musical stylings are just as suited to June evenings as January mornings. There hasn't been much buzz about her yet, but Stelios Phili at Popsense has nothing but nice things to say about Samuels: At the center of A Little of Bit of Both is the classic theme of love, but Johanna's take on it is refreshingly candid.

With less than a week to go before Barack Obama is sworn in as our 44th president, the musical homages are rolling in. If anyone needs further proof that the former community organizer appeals to a wide swath of the public, they need look no further than the variety of songs being written in his honor. Read the rest of the article on The Boston Globe .

Source: Aversion Music News Radiohead might have escaped Capitol Records' clutches, but that doesn't mean the label's ready to stop making some cash off the band. The first three full-lengths from the British act, 1993's Pablo Honey , 1995's The Bends and OK Computer from '97. Diehard fans will have the opportunity to pick up deluxe two-disc versions of the albums; super-diehard fans can pick up double-disc and a DVD collections. All three expanded editions arrive in stores March 24. Pablo Honey is fattened up by the band's 1992 Drill EP, some songs from a BBC session and the "Creep" single. The Bends' bonus disc contains concert recordings, more BBC sessions and the "My Iron Lung" single, while OK Computer finds a home for still more BBC sessions, as well as the act's three singles, "Kharma Police," "Paranoid Android" and "No Surprises."

Source: Aversion Music News Sonic Youth fans might be able to have a pretty darn good summer. The veteran New York noise-rock act is at work on its follow-up to Rather Ripped (review) (2006, Geffen), which, according to Uncut, is tentatively slated for a June release. The effort's being recording under the working title of The Eternal. Whatever the album's finally called, it'll be Sonic Youth's first album since parting ways with Geffen to ink with Matador Records .

Source: Aversion Music News Remember how during its first season, even if you wanted to purchase legit songs from  Flight of the Conchords , you'd have to resort to taped-from-the-television pirate copies? Not this season. The most famous two-man novelty band to come out of New Zealand, Flight of the Conchords, launches its sophomore season Sunday (Jan. 18) on HBO, and this time around they're not sitting on the songs. The band plans to drop versions of the songs that appeared on television onto download sites the following day, according to  Billboard . The move not only lets click-happy fans strike while the iron's hot, it cuts out all the piracy that floated around as diehards waited for  Flight of the Conchords (review)  (2008, Sub Pop) to hit stores months after the season wrapped up. Songs will, again, be collected after the end of the season for an album to be released by Sub Pop Records.