Sony BMG sued for piracy

By Greg Swan, on March 31st, 2008%

Sony BMG hates piracy so much it sues its customers, installs vicious rootkit malware on their computers (including mine), pays companies like MediaDefender to flood P2P networks with fake music files, creates DVDs so riddled with copyright protection they won’t play in normal DVD players, and oh yeah, supports the power-hungry RIAA.

So I have to laugh when now Sony BMG is being sued for software piracy, and it’s not just a one-time deal.

Via ars technica:

PointDev, a French software company that makes Windows administration tools, received a call from a Sony BMG IT employee for support. After Sony BMG . . . → Read More: Sony BMG sued for piracy

Lili Haydn : Between Places

By Greg Swan, on March 31st, 2008%

Lili Haydn‘s debut, Place Between Places, comes out on Nettwerk Music tomorrow.

Haydn is a singer, songwriter, violinist, human being, etc.

We don’t like this genre of music, but that doesn’t mean you don’t or won’t.

Check it out.

She’s on Jay Leno tonight, but you certainly don’t watch Jay Leno, right?

. . . → Read More: Lili Haydn : Between Places

Annuals : Wet Zoo EP

By Greg Swan, on March 28th, 2008%

Annuals are one of my all-time favorite bands, and the musicians from Raleigh, NC are getting ready to release a new EP, Wet Zoo, on April 1 (Canvasback Music).

The five-song EP starts out with three brand new Annuals track and ends with two tracks by the band Sunfold, which features songs written and sung by Annuals’ lead guitarist Kenny Florence. The entire EP will be streaming next week on AOL Spinner starting on Monday. Annuals will release a new full-length in early fall.

Annuals : . . . → Read More: Annuals : Wet Zoo EP

The Cat Empire : So Many Nights

By Greg Swan, on March 27th, 2008%

Aussie six-piece The Cat Empire are enjoying platinum success in Australia with their latest album, So Many Nights, which hits the U.S. on 4/22 (Velour Music Group).

Here’s the video from the . . . → Read More: The Cat Empire : So Many Nights

Wolfkin : Brand New Pants

By Greg Swan, on March 27th, 2008%

Wolfkin‘s Brand New Pants is highly recommended.

The Danish group has echoes of Kraftwerk, David Bowie (the Bowster, as we like to call him) and tracks like “Coyoacan,”Â which arouse influential suspicions ala The Beta Band’s head bopping Scot rock.

Put that in your pants and rock it. And here’s a taste for ya:

Wolfkin : The Great Divide . . . → Read More: Wolfkin : Brand New Pants

Mario Martin Zelaya : Calafia's Moods

By Greg Swan, on March 27th, 2008%

South Pasedena’s Mario Martin Zelaya sent us his acoustic guitar CD, Calafia’s Moods, that includes fancy latin-influenced guitar work on “Cabrillo Beach” and a stirring cover of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again.” And how can you not love a singer-songwriter who samples Flipper dolphin calls into his songs (“Valcamonica”)?

We don’t have any of those to share, but check out this track:

Mario Martin Zelaya : “Babylon” (mp3)

. . . → Read More: Mario Martin Zelaya : Calafia's Moods

David Dondero and The Entire State of Florida come to MN

By Greg Swan, on March 26th, 2008%

I first met and heard David Dondero play about five years ago in a cramped apartment in Ames, Iowa with a hardwood living room floor serving as a stage. Dondero opened and then joined Son, Ambulance (Saddle Creek’s Joe Knapp) on “stage” with accompanying guitar as Knapp tinkered at his keyboard.

Dondero is so grounded in his songwriting, I would say he’s earthern-based. His second release for Team Love Records, Simple Love, came out last summer, and his current tour with a full band (first time with a band in five years) kicked off last weekend.

The band is dubbed “The Entire State . . . → Read More: David Dondero and The Entire State of Florida come to MN

Counting Crows : Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

By Greg Swan, on March 25th, 2008%

Dropping their first studio album in 5 years, Berkeley’s Counting Crows are back today with Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings (Geffen), and they don’t care if you missed them at all.

And while Mr. Jones may have been snoozing on the porch, Adam Duritz and company weren’t going to end their career with a Greatest Hits album.

Listening to this band brings me back to an awkward, grungy adolescence that includes memories of watching CC on SNL with my friends wired picking apart every aspect of their stage performance.

Overall, you are wondering if this is the same old Counting Crows or a new, . . . → Read More: Counting Crows : Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

Temposhark : The Invisible Line

By Greg Swan, on March 25th, 2008%

UK electropop band Temposhark release The Invisible Line on Defend Music today.

It’s a retro take on electropop, but maybe too retro, with not enough edge to keep me listening. I’m not hearing the darkness and despair that made their earlier peers so successful, and perhaps the sound is too poppy and the lyrics rely too much on repetition of the track title to be lasting.

Stream tracks here and tell me if you agree.

UPDATE: Here’s the video . . . → Read More: Temposhark : The Invisible Line