| #695 |
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2004 |
Perilous 695 Well it didn’t take long for Dangermouse’s Grey Album to wreak havoc. EMI have forced the issue ordering stores in the US to stop carrying the few thousand copies that were pressed up. But into the breach has stepped the internet with Illegal Art offering the entire thing for download as a way of ‘preserving banned art’. This subsequently triggered Grey Tuesday, an unprecedented bit of web activism where stacks of other sites also offered the same album for download in protest at EMI’s actions. I’ve been reading an interesting book titled Copyrights & Copywrongs by Siva Vaidhyanathan (New York University Press) which details the rise of Copyright and the development of ideas of ‘intellectual property’ in the USA. Its fascinating reading and tracks US Copyright legislation from its initial establishment the US Constituion in the 18th century to current issues. What emerges from the book is the various ways ‘Copyright law’ has been used and manipulated to serve, unsurprisingly, different interests at different times. Disturbingly it highlights how the legislation has shifted from encouraging the public good to now serving an almost monopolistic control of cultural products. And, further, how with patent, trademarks and Copyright being blurred under a banner of ‘intellectual property’, the initial intentions of lawmakers to enshrine public access to printed and recorded materials has now flipped and become more about exclusion, despite replication technologies, especially now with digital replication, offering almost unlimited potential. But surely this is just America, well sadly not. The proposed Free Trade Agreement with the USA will bring our Copyright laws into line with US laws – including the extension of the Copyright period to 75 years (also known as the Disney clause – invoked because the copyright on Mickey Mouse was expiring). Moving on to music and there have been some great releases out recently – mainly because the drought period of December/January for independents is well and truly over. On the local front the debut by Brisbane producer ENS, Warp & Weft (Groovescooter) is certianly worth a listen. An album of mostly dark brooding digital jazz clearly influenced by Amon Tobin and the like, ENS has produced an fine debut although some of the drums are a little flat. In a similar vein are a series of CDR releases from French label Autres Directions In Music (www.autresdirections.net). Currently up to EP number 3, all of which are downloadable complete with artwork from their website, the work from Dudley, Melodium and Depth Affect all inhabit a middle ground between instrumental chopped up hip hop and an quietist electronica. The Dudley record, Seasonal, that they released just before Christmas is excellent and contains some very tasty downtempo beats, and Melodium’s Parthenay mines a more folktronica/Manitoba vein. Download them and see for yourself. Interestingly the Autres Directions manifesto would seem to indicate that value no longer comes from scarcity, but from being bountiful – a distribution strategy aimed not at limitation but free and widescale. This is not just limited to this label or group of artists though, more and more are opting for openness. Frigid, Sundays, at the new venue (@Newtown, 42 Enmore Rd) has Dsico fresh back from New York along with Ollo, then March 14 has a big reggae, dub and hip hop special with Mark O, Sir Robbo, Prince Valium and Clark Nova. Also, in a related vein, the Kid Koala and RJD2 show on April 14th are now on sale at the Gaelic Club. $38.50+bf. Until next time. Yellow Peril (www.snarl.org)  Goto
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