vain, selfish & lazy.

Friday, March 16, 2001

an epitaph for napster: i'd written this piece after my first encounter with the service. it was scheduled to run on freaky trigger, but tom never finished his companion piece, so instead it is my pleasure to bring it to you here. anything to keep me from writing new stuff.

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Maybe about twice a year, there comes a time when I’ve decided that I’m finished with music, that there’s nothing out there left for me to discover. Over the course of the year, I put together a shopping list and it slowly dwindles down to the albums that I don’t want to buy for myself and so they eventually make their way onto Christmas lists for friends and family.
This, then, is one of those times. The small list that I’d constructed for Christmas has mostly been attended to by other folks, with my great thanks, and now the remaining albums are ones I’d buy…well, I wouldn’t buy, but if I see them lying on the pavement, I’d most likely pick them up. What to do, what to do. The other day, I said to both Tom and Josh, “recommend me something that’ll change my life.” Tom and Josh, in their infinite wisdom, suggested that I change my diet and get more exercise, respectively. Having done just that, I find that I have the same problem where music is concerned. Where could I find somewhere to investigate new music without having to pay for something I may not want, and also, where could I find an assortment of outtakes and live tracks from a number of my favorite artists? Enter Napster.

…

The pause, I assure you was necessary, as, in true Pavlovian fashion, the mere sight or mention of that word sends me into a near-catatonic state, drool hanging from chin. I’d been skeptical of it – “it” meaning N****** for my health’s sak—okay, it’s gotten old – for some time: Of course I’ve traded MP3s with friends, with a closely-knit, well-monitored circle, where I could make certain that anyone who downloaded something from me and liked it, did the right thing and went out and bought the album (it also helps that these same friends are just as technologically backwater as myself). Imagine then, this huge nationwide network with no one overseeing things, illegal transactions going down left and right, total chaos. Were these folks merely burning all of these tracks to CDs thereby bringing the music industry to its knees? I decided to take a closer look.

Situations becoming what they are now, I have access to a computer that enables me to access Napster, no firewall to keep me from my destiny. I got myself acquainted with the system and did a sample search, I can’t remember what for now, probably Nick Cave or Scott Walker. Too many results for these searches so I get the maximum 100; I then narrow it down to a particular song, yielding 100 again, with studio versions, live versions, alternate takes, etc. The mind truly boggles at all of the possibilities.

Truly the most difficult part of all of it is: Where to begin? The whole thing is just so massive with so many choices, I truly felt lost. Here I had all of these songs at my fingertips and I was fucked for not knowing what to get. My advice: Start with artists that you like, especially ones that you don’t own their entire recorded output because this may lead you to albums you’ve neglected. Also within those same artists, you’ll find out-of-print tracks, outtakes, live tracks, things that you’d never have gotten your hands on otherwise. Whereas in the real world, you’re at the mercy of the record companies, Napster is cataloging music history as we speak, seeing to it that the music lives on. A beautiful thing, indeed.

The people I’ve come across on Napster are fans, very big fans in most cases. They’re also surprisingly personable, asking about your own affections for a particular band, offering up background info about the tracks you’re getting from them, and suggesting other artists or songs you might want to try out. These are, at least in my brief experience, NOT kids out there trying to make a buck by selling bootleg CDs or just doing this as a fuck you to the system: Like I’ve said myself earlier, a 192 kbps-encoded MP3 just can’t compete with the fulsome sound found on CDs or vinyl, and I’d like to think that this sort of thing still matters to the music fan. (Postscript: Since the writing of this article, I’ve garnered the capability to burn MP3s to CD – don’t worry! Just b-sides and unreleased tracks and out-of-print stuff and imports! – and the MP3 seems to be lacking in the “midrange,” the high and low end of the spectrum being just fine.)

I’m not doubting that “illegal” things are being done with Napster but I think the good far outweighs the bad (prove me right, kids). For my own part, with my 28.8 modem which takes about a DAY to download a song, I don’t think I’m bringing the music industry to its knees and I still think that the technology in general is in an embryonic state, with most people not owning the equipment necessary to beat the “real thing,” i.e. CDs produced by the record companies. It is a rather removed, cold process, without the frissons of finding that rare single in the record shop, but I think Napster is creating its own small joys. Different thrills for a different age, but what remains at the heart of it is the love for the music, and that’s something I think, no matter what our age, we all can still relate to. Its renewed my faith in music’s endless capacity for providing new things to listen to, new ways to change your life daily.

Now you must excuse me, my download is done.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Thursday, March 15, 2001

YAY!: you may have noticed a change in the template, particularly that the "hire me?" link is now gone. reason being that i've officially left the ranks of the unemployed! well, not officially as i will collect unemployment until i go back to work on the 27th. anyhow, i just thought that you should know this and let me extend my thanks to you, the readers, for bolstering my spirits in these trying economic times. of course, you do know this means less updates, but everything comes with a price.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Wednesday, March 14, 2001

okay: am i the only one who's sick to death of these damned "zoom zoom" commercials? i'd really love to string that kid up by those huge fucking ears of his.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss