Tokyo Police Club - "Good". Two best friends - we'll call one Samuel and the other Cornelius. Samuel has a mouth and Cornelius does not. Cornelius instead has an electric guitar buckled to his body. Samuel and Cornelius are best friends. Whenever Samuel says something to Cornelius, Cornelius answers by squawk-squealing through his guitar. Whenever Cornelius says something to Samson, Samson gives a little shrug and says something else. When they disagree nothing happens, but when they are in perfect, total, harmonious agreement, the tiles in the roof all say: "HEY HEY HEY HEY", because they're listening in, they're always listening in, the tiles on the roof with their ruddy complexions.
Tokyo Police Club are neither japanese nor police officers. But they have recorded the only song I have heard so far in 2007 that makes me want to crowd surf. (No - to become a professional crowd surfer, launching myself off of stages and high-fiving everyone single person who carries me aloft.) [buy other things]
The New Pornographers - "Adventures in Solitude". [Removed at "the Sheriff"'s request.] We know that the New Pornographers can make pop songs, songs as carefully engineered as the newest high-tech roman candles. But here they make a song that's tender, blushing, more first stars than fireworks. "We thought we lost you," they sing, and in the pauses between each line we don't raise our hands to the sky - we clasp our palms to our chests, remind our hearts to keep beating. The song has three or four parts and each one is amazing. There's slow and there's fast, there's chain-gang doowop, there's pizzicatto, and there's drum-a-tum pinprick happiness spun from the song's fine silver thread. [buy]
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Ravens & Chimes' debut, which I raved about a few months ago, is now available for pre-order at Better Looking Records. You can hear another couple tracks there, too
Posted by Sean at September 10, 2007 4:15 PMFully Agreed on the Tokyo Police Club track. I love it.
Posted by brooks at September 10, 2007 5:10 PMWEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights
on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013
Fax 44-(0)208-323 8080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Hi Sean,
On behalf of Matador Records and The New Pornographers, we would kindly ask you NOT to post newly released New Pornographers links on this site / thread.
We do appreciate that - of course - you are fans of / are promoting The New Pornographers but, by the same token, you must also appreciate that, by posting a pirate copy of the album or tracks from the album pre-release / upon release (or linking to pirate copies), you are potentially causing considerable inconvenience and we are sure that you would not want to be personally responsible (or liable) for all of the resulting damage and disruption.
Thank you for respecting the artist’s and label’s wishes and, if you want good quality, non-pirated preview tracks, “My Rights Versus Yours” and “Myriad Harbour” are being made freely available to fans off the label’s and artist’s official web-sites, (check-out www.matadorrecords.com and www.thenewpornographers.com for full details), which you are most welcome to host / post etc. Unfortunately, the tracks that you’ve selected are not designated, preview tracks and, as such, it would be greatly appreciated if you could remove them asap / substitute them with either or both of the above tracks.
Whilst writing, we’d add that The New Pornographers and Matador Records are not at all against free music BUT, at the end of the day, it should be (and is) the artist’s decision as to whether or not they effectively allow the unauthorized distribution of their album on-line before / upon its release - as it’s THEIR MUSIC !! Thank you, again, for respecting their wishes.
As you will appreciate, this e-mail - containing, as it does, a position that is potentially prejudicial to our clients’ open / formal position - is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients’ accumulated, worldwide rights remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.
With Thanks & Regards,
WEB SHERIFF
Posted by Web Sheriff at September 10, 2007 7:10 PMWeb Sheriff = Shit.
Matador = Shit.
I'm not paying for another Matador release. I can understand Sony Music employing a parasitic goon company like Web Sheriff, but Matador have lost my respect. Cunts. A single track. One fucking track.
Posted by Daniel at September 10, 2007 9:49 PMI was with it until the two exclamation points.
Posted by Mark at September 11, 2007 7:55 PMso maybe we should picket the band for authorizing such horrible legalistic blatherings? their tour / promotion schedule is conveniently (and appropriately, if i do say so) available at billions.com. : please excuse this entirely unnecessary exercise in confused sarcasm.
Posted by boy howdy at September 12, 2007 1:48 AMDear Matador Records,
I'm not sure I've ever heard a song by The New Pornographers. I perhaps never will, though I have not prejudice against them. I agree that you and the band have a right to object to free distribution of album tracks, and I believe Said The Gramophone and other music blogs should respect your wishes. That said, I purchase a lot of CDs. A lot more than the average American. Maybe 25-20 annually? And unless we're talking about a CD I pick up for a dollar at a garage sale, I don't buy a CD without hearing at least four tracks from it. Preferably the whole thing.
The internet is such that if I can't listen to your bands, I can listen to many others, freely, and make my buying choices accordingly.
So I support your right to exercise your rights. But remember that exercising them may have unintended consequences.
thevitaminkid
Posted by thevitaminkid at September 12, 2007 11:03 AMThe really weird thing about that "Web Sheriff" notice is that its language is all about pre-release blah-blah...but the CD's been out for nearly a month now. I can actually understand why a label or band would want to control which tracks are out before release, as taking away from the significance of the actual release - but I don't get the whole "these tracks and these tracks only!" business. Do they really think that all the tracks will eventually show up online, people will dig them up, and then not buy the CD? That seems unlikely - or rather, it seems unlikely that people who either would buy the CD in any event, or those who'd *consider* doing so, would go to such trouble when they could just go to the record store and buy the damned thing. (Or rip a friend's copy. Or the library's.)
At the same time, I don't agree with the people above saying, ooh bad guys, now we're going to boycott the label and the band. Which will do what, exactly - other than allow you to feel all morally pink inside? I think it's a dumb decision - but I do agree it is still their decision.
Posted by 2fs at September 13, 2007 12:07 AMtotally agreed with thevitaminkid.
As a blogger, I do get some things for free, but rarely the records I actually want beforehand. I buy a CRAPload of music, but I'm never going to buy a record if I've only heard one or two songs (unless those two songs are the best songs I've ever heard). I've been burned so many times, it's destroyed my faith in that process.
Quite frankly, a month after the release, this is ridiculous. and P.S. "Myriad Harbor" would make me not want to buy the record. And it's 50% of the "free and available" songs out there.
Posted by drew at September 14, 2007 6:14 PM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
