Today is a sad day for all of us, because whether you know it or not, our generation, the internet generation, stands for nothing if not freedom of information. Art, music, political affairs, weapons technology--information. What divides us but what we know? If we care about anything, we care about our ability to choose the information that we receive. The freedom of information on the internet unfetters us from the shackles of a corporate dominated media. The only way to guide our political machine away from its kamakaze divebomb into foreign affairs is to be the generation that understands the changes that have taken place within the last century--technological, social, global change--and to modify our beliefs and our behavior to find a maintainable way of life that emphasizes individual autonomy. Music is just the beginning, and it is what speaks to us on the most visceral level. It is the soul of our generation.
Oink.cd, a beacon of communal respect for art and the creative individual on the internet, was shut down today, and the guy who ran it, whom I only know by the name of Alan, is dealing with the legal consequences of allowing people to share their music. How long will it be before we all understand that these bureaucracies are not protecting art, the artist, or our rights? Any true artist wants their work out there, they want to be heard, they want to be seen, they want to be understood by as many people as possible. They are not protecting the artistic individual. They are protecting the businessmen and the tax collectors. They are protecting themselves and their money.
It doesn't matter whether you used Oink or not, this crack-down represents the direction of governmental policy and the growing divide between two different value systems. If you care about music, if you care about art, if you care about freewill which is tied inextricably to freedom of information, today is a very sad day. Hopefully I won't be needing to make another post about this for a long time, but the way things are going, it's not looking good.
The only proper course of action I can think of is to share. Share your music, share your art, share your ideas. They are yours. Connect with other people, don't let money guide your course through life. Don't let anyone stop you.
I can only assume that Basteroid is a combination of the words bastard and asteroid, which both have a grand significance in my life. Quick story: my parents had me about 4 years before their wedding - bastard; asteroid - the only game they had at the sub shop where they met in Chicago. More importantly, Basteroid is Sebastian Riedl who brings the bass so hard that it literally upsets populations of ducks. So fittingly his long player is titled Upsets Ducks out on Cologne label Areal. 'Un Dos Windows' clocks in at 9:36, but if you have the patience it is so rewarding. It starts off calm but then Riedl kills you, innervating all your bouncing parts until he drops it back down at around the 6:30 mark only to hit you with a barrage of bass that will once again smooth out. Downright splendid and bleepy. 'I Want To 3 4' begins in a similar fashion but doesn't let up - minimalist? I say maximalist. Check out some other goodies from the album on his myspace:
