flackboy.com

We're just plain evil...

Industry trade bodies corrupt absolutely.

If you can't succeed in creating your own laws, or buying politicians outright, why not sue people you decide are a threat?

I stand by my comments at the Digital Entertainment Conference in Glasgow a few weeks back.  The music industry is f--ked.

On a related note, I bought the new Dresden Dolls, Aimee Mann, Devil Doll, A Brokeheart Pro and Feist albums this week.  All online, pretty much all through the artist's own website (or the truly wonderful CDBaby), all DRM free MP3s - and contributed approximately chuff all to the major music labels.

Now if only the music industry could find a model which worked!?!

Winamp - No longer whipping llama ass...

I've been a devoted fan of Winamp for years now.  Ever since the first MP3 files started appearing and playing music on a PC didn't require a CD drive, I've used Winamp for, well, pretty much everything.  It was small, nippy and had some extremely groovy visuals.  However, it's now getting starting to succumb to the 'bloat' phenomenon.  The latest full version (without bundled track/s) comes it at 8.5MB.  Now that doesn't sound like much, but as an MP3 player, that's a fair amount of space.

The problem is, it's now trying to do everything for me.  Shoutcast stations, which were always a definite bonus, have been joined by an integrated browser, auto tagging, song recommendations and all sorts of other additions, which duplicate features from other apps and sites like last.fm, iTunes and so on.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they're trying to do, but there's now a constant battle over CDs, MP3s and every USB device which features even a scrap of memory as applications battle to become the default software.

While I like a lot of the bits and pieces on offer from all of the various programmes (and have spent hours and days considering whether to keep last.fm, mog, pandora, winamp, itunes and the rest), it's now just bugging the hell out of me.

So, I am searching for a nice, simple music player, which will allow me to listen to MP3/OGG/FLAC and so on, WITHOUT offering me free downloads, trying to control my Flash drive or bundling in a browser.

On my old laptop it's simple.  It runs Ubuntu and I use amarok.  However, no Windows version. 

I'm not singling out Winamp either.  I'm also looking for an iTunes replacement.  That's a truly aggravating piece of software for anyone who doesn't conform (or WANT to conform) to their structure or demands.

I'm even considering loading the iPod with Rockbox, just to see what happens.

So much for the quick, simple and convenient digital music revolution.

I'll keep you posted...

Oh Lordi - Arockalypse Now

I'm throwing my hat into the ring and declaring proudly, that I am voting for Finland in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

In an extremely Finnish move, the country has damned the torpedoes of mainstream opinion and entered metal gods 'Lordi' as this year's entry (unlike the UK, where we found a bloke who appears to be a painter and decorator in real life, singing about schoolgirls...)

Lordi however are Metal Gods.  Masked at all times, they're a cross between GWAR and Slipknot.

Their song for this year's competition is 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' - melodic hard rock according to their site and the video alone makes it the *only* choice for music fans.

I can see a certain influence from Tap's classic 'Rock & Roll Creation'.  Here's a snippet from the lyrics:

"The walls come down like thunder
The rocks about to roll
It's The Arockalypse
Now bare your soul"

Classic.  On Saturday, please, vote Finland.

It could get to number 1 and sell millions worldwide, sparking a new metal revolution, scaring the hell out of gangsta rappers and getting Marilyn Manson his own chat show on daytime TV (it's coming, you can feel it).

douze points.