I’ve been lazy with the blogging as of late. It’s more fulfilling to post stuff like that on Buzzgrinder because people actually comment on it. So I’ll just link you to my top 10 list there and give you (who is “you” anyway?) 11 through 20 with no descriptions:

20. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
19. Eluvium – Copia
18. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
17. Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
16. The Snake The Cross The Crown – Cotton Teeth
15. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
14. M.I.A. – Kala
13. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
12. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
11. Daft Punk – Alive 2007

Here’s the breakdown of what I listened to last month that made me happy. Songza made linking ridiculously easy.

Also, December is going to be a dead month for new music. Guess what that means? More meaningless end-of-year lists! Hooray! Expect several of these from me, just like last year.

1. Sigur Rós – “Í Gær” (Hvarf/Heim)
2. Ray Charles – “What’d I Say” (20 Golden Classics)
3. Bright Eyes – “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” (Cassadaga)
4. Neko Case – “Hold On, Hold On” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
5. Alison Krauss & Union Station – “New Favorite” (New Favorite)
6. Jóhann Jóhannsson – “Part 1 – IBM 1401 Processing Unit” (IBM 1401, a User’s Manual)
7. Damien Rice – “Eskimo” (O)
8. Stars – “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (Set Yourself On Fire)
9. Stars – “Set Yourself On Fire” (Set Yourself On Fire)
10. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Nong Eye Gong” (Ire Works)
11. Opeth – “Ghost Of Perdition” (Ghost Reveries)
12. Jakob – “Pneumonic” (Solace)
13. Daft Punk – “Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger” (Alive 2007)
14. Feist – “My Moon My Man” (The Reminder)
15. Burial – “Archangel” (Untrue)
16. Bright Eyes – “Lua” (I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning)
17. Regina Spektor – “Music Box” (Begin To Hope)
18. Ryan Adams – “Pearls On A String” (Easy Tiger)

Albums that are sticking like glue:

• The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works: It’s everything I hoped it would be, and then some.
• Burial – Untrue: I’m not ashamed to admit that Pitchfork tipped me off on this one. I can’t put my finger on why I like it so much yet.
• Daft Punk – Alive 2007: Best live album I’ve heard in years.
• Jakob – Solace: Great sleeping music.

A few weeks ago, I read Rob Sheridan’s lengthy diatribe about the state of the music industry and his proposed solution to its many problems. The general idea is that the RIAA is killing its own business by using scare tactics, treating its customers like thieves and using its position of power to alter and protect copyright law for its own selfish purposes.

The solution (according to Sheridan): Stop buying music from labels that support the RIAA. Download it for free instead, and then use your money to support the artist directly through merchandise and ticket sales.

That wasn’t a perfect summary, so go read his rant if you have the time. It was both enlightening and concerning.

In the end, I was left with several questions, which I’ll leave with you to ponder as well. If you any answers I would very much appreciate them.

• I subscribe to Rhapsody in order to legally access as much music as possible for a low price. Certainly some of the money I give them goes to the RIAA’s efforts. Is my subscription to their service helping or hurting the situation? Would I be better off using illegal means to sample music?
• As a follower of Christ, is it my duty to follow the law put before me, or is it to recognize the corruption of the law and do what I can to help correct the situation even if my actions would be considered illegal? (I know that this would be easier to answer if we were talking about something more universally significant than music or art, such as human rights or public health.)
• Does “trying before buying” help to improve the problem of there being so much terrible music that still manages to sell well? (In other words, if I only spend money after I’ve concluded that an artist is valuable, does it mean I’m “voting” for the very best and therefore helping only the best artists to succeed?)

These are just a few of the questions that have been spinning in my head for the last few weeks. Right now it’s only a dialog (mostly internal); I don’t want to take any action that I can’t fully justify and support with a reasonable argument. The only “action” I’ve taken so far is to see if what I’m buying supports the RIAA, so I at least have some idea as to where my money is going. In my selfish nature, I know I would love for music to be free and easily accessible, but I refuse to let my own desires get in the way of making a wise decision.

I know it seems like an empty promise, but I’m still working on stuff to write here. It’s just… really big. So it’s taking a while to process and organize my thoughts, especially when so much other stuff is going on in my life at the same time. In the meantime, here’s my monthly playlist for June:

1. Björk – “Hyperballad” (Post)
2. Solarstone – “Seven Cities (Atlantis Mix)” (Ibiza Euphoria 2)
3. Björk – “It’s Oh So Quiet” (Post)
4. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Sugar Coated Sour” (Calculating Infinity)
5. Scorpions – “No One Like You” (Blackout)
6. Rhymefest – “Fever (Dirty)” (Blue Collar)
7. Cary Brothers – “All The Rage” (Who You Are)
8. Panda Bear – “Comfy In Nautica” (Person Pitch)
9. Interpol – “Not Even Jail” (Antics)
10. Fridge – “Harmonics” (Happiness)
11. Ion Dissonance – “The Surge” (Minus The Herd)
12. Bright Eyes – “First Day Of My Life” (I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning)
13. Ryan Adams – “Come Pick Me Up” (Heartbreaker)
14. Eightball – “Drama In My Life” (Lost – Chopped And Screwed)
15. Incubus – “Dig” (Light Grenades)

Time, once again, for the monthly playlist. Time seems to be flying by. Also, I’ll be writing a lot about Coachella very soon. Just you wait.

There’s a lot of Kings Of Leon and P.O.S. on this one. Kings Of Leon was because of the release of their new album Because Of The Times, which is amazing, combined with my excitement to see them at Coachella. And P.O.S. was because P.O.S. is awesome.

1. Kings Of Leon – “Knocked Up” (Because Of The Times)
2. The Chariot – “And Shot Each Other” (The Fiancée)
3. Kings Of Leon – “Four Kicks” (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
4. Ladysmith Black Mambazo – “Amazing Grace” (Journey Of Dreams)
5. Portishead – “Glory Box” (Roseland NYC Live)
6. Ray LaMontagne – “Gone Away From Me” (Till The Sun Turns Black)
7. Kings Of Leon – “On Call” (Because Of The Times)
8. Regina Spektor – “Samson” (Begin To Hope)
9. TV On The Radio – “Hours” (Return To Cookie Mountain)
10. CocoRosie – “Japan” (The Adventures Of Ghosthorse and Stillborn)
11. Kings Of Leon – “McFearless” (Because Of The Times)
12. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Weekend Sex Change” (Calculating Infinity)
13. P.O.S. – “De La Souls” (Audition)
14. The Appleseed Cast – “Rooms And Gardens” (Low Level Owl: Volume 2)
15. P.O.S. – “Safety In Speed (Heavy Metal)” (Audition)
16. P.O.S. – “P.O.S. Is Ruining My Life” (Audition)
17. Sigur Ros – “Milano” (Takk…)
18. Caspian – “Some Are White Light” (The Four Trees)
19. Cloud Cult – “Chain Reaction” (The Meaning Of
20. Saul Williams – “Act III, Scene 2 (Shakespeare)” (Saul Williams)
21. Pedro The Lion – “Foregone Conclusions” (Achilles’ Heel)
22. !!! – “Heart Of Hearts” (Myth Takes)

Part two of four of my evil list-making scheme.

1. Sufjan Stevens
2. Explosions in the Sky
3. mewithoutYou
4. Radiohead
5. The Appleseed Cast
6. Nickel Creek
7. The Dillinger Escape Plan
8. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
9. The Mars Volta
10. A Perfect Circle
11. Andrew Bird
12. MxPx
13. AFI
14. Alison Krauss
15. Project 86
16. Tom Waits
17. Sigur Rós
18. The Faint
19. Chris Thile
20. This Will Destroy You
21. Mew
22. Iron & Wine
23. Coldplay
24. Cloud Cult
25. John Mayer
26. Opeth
27. Joshua Radin
28. Killswitch Engage
29. Incubus
30. Ryan Adams
31. Norma Jean
32. Robert Johnson
33. The Black Keys

Once again, thanks to Last.fm for making this list possible.

Greg Puciato, vocalist for The Dillinger Escape Plan, recently did an interview with Paul Tao of HateSomethingBeautiful.com. He seems to cover pretty much everything: how he joined the band, guitarist Ben Weinman’s shoulder surgery, why they refuse to play Ozzfest, how they hate being pigeonholed into genres, how much he can’t stand Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu, plans for their next album and plenty more.

It’s exciting and insightful to hear interviews from the more talkative artists on the circuit. Puciato speaks what’s on his mind, and quite loudly at times (which I say as something of a warning to the more sensitive of what few readers I may have).

“Bottom line, Dillinger Escape Plan will always be like Calculating Infinity, crazy-ish kind of material, that’s what we do best, but I don’t feel like we need to only do that. If we want to write a country song or an electronic song, we could. It’d be nice so that when I’m forty, I don’t have to scream all the time, you know, break bottles on people’s faces.”

[Link]