The End Of An Era?

I forgot to post a few days ago after first reading this Seattle Times article.  Apparently the artist/label royalty fee for broadcasting a song over satellite radio is considerably higher than it is for conventional AM/FM radio, and even higher for playing a song over the web.  This fee was just recently increased, much to the griping of web radio sites (which are businesses) like Pandora.  

Things wouldn't be so bad, except that where satellite radio and conventional radio stations only broadcast one song at any given time, Pandora's "personalized radio" stations collectively play untold thousands of songs at any given time.  Multiply that number of songs by that incremental fee increase and you can see that the total impact on these sites' ability to make a profit is critically large.

According to the article, Pandora has yet to post year-end marks out of the red, and before the fee hike, 2009 was projected to be the site's first profitable year.  Now they may have to preemptively pull their own plug.  

Pandora is one of the most successful of the free web radio sites out there, and if they can't withstand such a blow, it seems even more unlikely that less popular, similar sites such as Imeem, LastFM, and others, will be able to do so either.

What a colossal tragedy of copyright laws and greed.  I hope this isn't the end of a great invention for discovering and sharing music.

Obamanomics, explained

Yesterday's NY Times Sunday magazine featured an article on Barack Obama's core economic philosophies entitled "A Free-Market-Loving, Big-Spending, Fiscally-Conservative Wealth Redistributionalist."  Written by a economist dude named David Lednhart, this is far and away one of the best pieces of journalism I've read in a long while.  Not only does Lednhart make clear the nuances and complexities of Obama's economic beliefs as distinct from the over-generalized mantras of tax trigger-happy "liberals," he presents them in a way that's highly-intelligent without ever presuming a requisite intimacy with economic and political theory.  

It's a pretty long article, but well-worth the time--particularly in how what lies within may surprise you.  Yet having read it I'm more convinced than ever of Obama's post-partisan abilities.  

Happy reading,

Truitt

Panda Riot Covering MIA

M.I.A.'s  2007 banger "Paper Planes" may have been a little played out even before Pineapple Express co-opted it's hard-hitting bounce, but there's a version by Chicago band Panda Riot floating around that gives a different and rewarding fuzzed-out take on the song.  Not bad, right?

Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

just a little fly by....



whatever gets you thru the night,
johnson!

This Summer's Car- Bike War, or "My Hurry Is More Important Than Your Hurry"

Recent articles from the NY Times, from the Seattle Times, from the Oregonian, and from Newsweek commonly touch on a issue that's become extremely topical in the wake of the "going green" trend and this summer's cycling-favorable weather.  

With more people converting to bikes as a means of alternative and cheaper transportation (especially in Portland, where a nation-leading 6 percent of the population relies on two-wheels), there's also been an increase in the number of (often-violent) confrontations between cyclists and motorists competing for their share of the road.  Here's a video capturing of one of the recent incidents in Portland.

The three articles linked above cover the issue in ample detail, but what's most significant in this debate is that as long as gas prices keep soaring and "going green" options become more viable, the number of people trading in their keys for some handlebars will only continue to rise, further legitimizing the need for more bike-friendly roads and policies.  Obviously, cars will remain the dominant majority for a long time to come, but it will interesting to witness how cities, states, and perhaps even the federal government respond to and accommodate the biking movement.  

Chalk this one up as another case of acting for change versus practicality.  Maybe Barack knows what to do?  

Until then, see you out there on my 1984 Nishsiki.

A Couple Of Things

The absence of Nick's usual daily barrage is leaving this site pretty, well, worthless, so I'm trying to pick up my long-overdue-slack and actually post something.  Also, those Morgan Freeman voiceover commercials have inspired me to add some new features.  With that said, here we go:

First things first.  In addition to the PDX July Podcast, a bunch more songs are up for streaming on the Gold Soundz player.  We're talking T.I., the Duchess and the Duke, Grizzly Bear, Starfucker, and more--all definitely worth checking out.  There's a new podcast for August on the way, too.

I've also set-up a trial run for a new component of the blog, for now called "On Deck, Out Soon." Here you'll find a brief list of some up-and-coming album releases we're looking forward too.  Not that our tastes will always match yours; they shouldn't.  And just because it's new sure doesn't mean its gonna be good.  The idea is that it's impossibly hard to keep up with all the great music constantly coming out these days, so a feature where you can see some of what's on the horizon in one, localized, spot might be of interest.  

More posts on the way.  No joke.

Hiatus

I am going on hiatus for the month of August.

For a good time
Keep your eyes on these sites
worlds greatest ghosts
shaky hands
starfucker
musicfestnw
portland timbers
wilco

FOREST PARK,
johnson!

July PDX Podcast

We just posted a short podcast titled "PDX July Podcast" of music by Portland artists all of which was released or recorded in 2008.  You can find the podcast in the Gold Soundz player top right.

Track One
The Rainy States
"With Fever"
In Basement Air
2:49

Track Two
Worlds Greatest Ghosts
"Mazes & Monsters"
Exercising Demons
3:04

Track Three
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
"Just Out of Reaches"
Real Emotional Trash
4:51

Track Four
The Old Believers
"Betcher Ass"
Eight Golden Greights
3:45

Track Five
Nick Jaina
"One Hand Washing the Other"
Daytrotter Session (off of Seven Stations)
3:48

Track Six
Blitzen Trapper
"Big Black Bird"
EP3
2:48

Track Seven
The Shaky Hands
"Wake the Breathing Light"
Lunglight
4:57

Track Eight
Mattress
"Bring It Round"
Heavy Duty
3:13