FISTFULAYEN

Congrats to Brody and Tony (formerly in The Distillers) on the release of the new Spinnerette EP, Ghetto Love (including a video by Liam Lynch for yer iPod). After a couple of live shows these songs started to leak in odd live versions anyway, so everyone gets a few tracks from the upcoming album (which rules) before the holiday. Yeah, they’re releasing this record via our company, Topspin, but I’m writing about it because I love the record, the video, and the peoples.

$5 well-spent. Get on it.

Here’s the video, please stick this on your blog, MySpace page, whateva:

If you add the video to your site, take a screen shot and upload it to this Flickr pool.

Oh and the video you get when you buy it is way better quality than the streaming one above, of course.

ian

TechCrunch ran a story this morning on “Delicious’ new media player”.

This looks like this media player:

http://mediaplayer.yahoo.com/

It’s been available on blogs like Aquarium Drunkard and Aurgasm for many months. Oh, and FISTFULAYEN.

The Drones - Cortez The Killer

It was the brainchild of Lucas Gonze when I brought Lucas and Webjay into the company three years ago. He walked in the door with this idea. As per usual, it took me two months just to get my head around it and then more than 12 months to build enough support in the company to actually build it. But build it we did, first with some very talented MusicMatch engineers and then with some great Web engineers in Santa Monica (big ups to you all!).

It’s very cool in that it is a single line of javascript and reads simple, easy to author, HTML on the page to create the play buttons. The page author needs only add the single line of javascript, then wrap an MP3 link in an href and voila, you have an inline player.

Note that the latest Foxytunes player also inserts this player in the page in a Greasemonkey sort of way. Very very handy. Install the latest Foxytunes Toolbar and then go to a page like http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com.

Neither Lucas nor I are at Yahoo! anymore, but it’s good to see Spiegelman, Stephen, Alex and the rest of the crew are carrying the torch.

I just had to write this to remind myself we really did have a plan for the new Yahoo! “Music” when I left there. With this media player, the public web services, Foxytunes and Foxytunes Planet, and a lessening reliance on licensed content, it’s good to see the train keeps rolling. I know of two other major things we had going on that are still yet to come, right, y’all? BRING IT.

ian

I don’t know Seymour, I have mad respect for the guy, and I’m sure this quote was taken out of context, but dig this quote.

We blew it. The first major music labels were all phonograph manufacturers, but by the time the Beatles came along, most companies were no longer involved in the hardware. Had we remained in control of the hardware, we wouldn’t be hurting as much as we are now. And the iPod would be ours.

Am I crazy or is he essentially saying, “If we’d have stayed in the phonograph business, we could have invented Apple computer!”

Um, no. Even Sony couldn’t figure out how to be Apple, let alone Diamond, Samsung, Toshiba, Dell, iRiver, and, um, Microsoft. Sorry.

Someone please send me Seymore’s address, I’m going to ship him a copy of The Innovator’s Solution. I’m serious.

ian

What a week. Last Saturday we saw Torche at Spaceland then jammed downtown to see Earthless officially bury my ears in Chinatown. Then I traveled to SF on a steady diet of Earthless’ latest live record (HIGHLY recommended), hosted a Topspin meetup, met with friends Erin (of ATC) and Jon (and their lovely boys), Steve and Dalton (who named his kid after me, which is rad) from iMeem, and Ali from iLike before heading back home. Then early this morning we saw a great Web design company in the UK called Outside Line push live a slew of options to purchase the new Paul McCartney/Youth collabo, The Fireman. Yeah, Macca on Topspin! Crazy! Album is good. Get over and buy yours now.

Torche - Healer [Buy]
Earthless - From The Ages (excerpt) [Buy]
The Fireman - Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight [Buy]
The Fireman - Dance Til We’re High [Buy]

Oh and I almost forgot, I finally posted my keynote presentation from the Grammy Northwest MusicTech Summit. I admit I’m surprised at the amount of interest it received, but I appreciate everyone caring, taking notice, taking the time to comment (even the haters), etc. Some of the comments were off-base IMHO but many of them were dead on, particularly the ones asking for more specifics about how you market a band who doesn’t yet have a brand. The truth of the matter is while you can point to a few success stories many more need to be developed. This is what we’re working on every single day at Topspin and we’re definitely not there yet. I won’t be happy until incredible records like Imaad’s and White Denim reach everyone who would like them, no more, no less. That doesn’t mean the albums will be “huge” and they’ll be “huge stars”, but there’s no question that more people would like these records if they knew about them, and the market isn’t terribly efficient just yet. But I do think things are moving in a positive direction and it was great to hear so many people responding to this positivity. Thanks much.

White Denim - Heart From All Of Us [Buy]
Imaad Wasif - Halcyon [Buy]

Lucinda is waking up from her nap, time to stop typing. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Personally, I could use a bit more sleep.

ian

From my favorite Morrssey album:

“But where the president is never black, female, or gay / and until that day / you’ve got nothing to say to me / to help me believe”

If you missed it, buy it now. Seriously. It’s great. I actually just bought that deluxe MP3 edition myself because it wasn’t expensive and I don’t have most of those b-sides.

The last place I saw Morrissey was at the Sly and The Family Stone show at the House of Blues on Sunset. If I saw him now, I’d ask him what his adopted country, America, has to offer him now.

ian

I’ve heard the cliche that my generation would eventually run the country repeatedly throughout my life. Tonight it actually feels like it came true. Instead of a well-connected elderly white war vet our country elected a well educated mixed-race midwesterner. Why? Well, partially because George Bush is the Worst President Ever (TM) but that wasn’t enough to get John Kerry elected (and JK is white), Barack Obama won because he he is an idealist and inspired a nation desperate for someone to believe in again.

I’m not a registered Democrat. I voted Nader eight years ago because I believe it’s my civic duty to vote not based on party but for the candidate whose positions most mirror mine. I didn’t grow up knowing what party my family was (my parents views mirror mine for the most part but my grandparents were/are Republicans). I’ve always been a “throw rocks at both sides” kinda guy and my friends were too. But we subversives came out in force for Obama this election. Those Shepard Fairey posters were a sign of people usually more interested in election reform than the Democratic candidate actually being inspired by a political candidate for the first time in their lives. This is real.

I’m more proud to be an American now than at any point in my 36 years on earth. For me personally Obama or McCain meant feeling a connection to the country I’ve grown up in or really believing hope was lost and our country had been eaten by moralists, fear-mongers, and big business. It’s good to know I’m not alone, that others share the hope of a caring, thinking, feeling diverse America. We have shown the world the American dream is still alive and is still something to covet. Ironically, this is the freedom others used to look up to America for. As Barack said in tonight’s victory speech:

“…from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.”

Now lets get to work. I’m game for Barack’s challenge to get us all working for the good of the nation again instead of strictly going for self. Where do we start?

Chi-city represent:

As of this writing, my (and Axl’s) home state of Indiana has still not yet been called. I did offer to buy a Dr Pepper for every Hoosier if it goes blue, and it looks like I might owe some folks some delicious prune refreshment. Lets check back in the morning to see.

ian

Obama is already inspiring a nation, and he hasn’t even taken office yet. Change, indeed.

Bring on the change.

ian

[View from the cable car, crossing the Golden Gate bridge, 10/11/2008]

I flew up to San Francisco yesterday for the honor of being best man in the wedding of Rob Lord and Patti Roll. It was pretty much perfect, from the cable cars that took the guests to the beach, to the Blue Angels flying over our heads as we crossed the Golden Gate bridge, to the ceremony officiated by Ross, to the incredible food at Chez Spencer, to the human-power-generated dance party led by MC Fossil Fool. A few of us stood up and said a few words about Rob and Patti. Here’s what I had to say:

I met Rob nearly 15 years ago when the web was still young enough those of us doing web music all knew one another. It wasn’t until I visited rob in Sedona shortly after he joined Nullsoft we started to become close. I walked into his apartment, saw a stack of Bowie CDs with Belle and Sebastian’s “If You’re Feeling Sinister” on top, and a friendship was born in earnest. I thought I was flying to Sedona for a job interview, but I was starting one of the most important friendships of my life.

Rob has been a friend, mentor, and a true inspiration. We shared a passion — for music, technology, change — but rob had a breadth of perspective I hadn’t experienced before. Our shared tastes in music and lifestyle made transition from debate or work to fun seamless, something I took for granted then but have a huge appreciation for now. We were a great team, compliments in a bunch of ways, grounded in the same idealism and motivations.

At some point Rob made it his mission to make me successful. He told me I could do things I never dreamed I could, and with his encouragement I even did some of them. He paid my rent for more than a year while we built a company together. His belief in me and generosity is the reason I can afford to send Zoe to MIT today.

Patti, you and I don’t know each other that well yet, but I’ve nothing but glowing reviews of the you I’m getting to know. Rob’s a lucky man. Thanks so much for opening your home to me when I visit the city. I’m looking forward to spending time with you in the years to come.

As I’m sure you know as well as anyone, while Rob has settled a bit in recent years, Rob the idealist remains strong and can be frustrating at times, as former execs from both AOL and Yahoo! can attest (though the fact is both companies would be better off today if they’d has the balls to listen to him then). Still, even though I’ve probably seen Rob at his most difficult, I’ve never seen him motivated by greed or selfishness. Hopefully you’ll be able to appreciate and respect this brilliant and generous person, even when he’s a total pain in the ass. I’ll tell you from experience, this is what it takes.

Personally I feel truly blessed to have Rob in my life and Patti I can only hope your experience is similar and that the two of you compliment each other to make a great but very different kind of team. Congrats and love to you both.

Rob and me at an AOL all hands meeting at Magic Mountain, 1999:

ian

Anyone wanna buy a three week old iPhone 3G, 16GB? You don’t even have to stick with AT&T for two years to get a cheap price. Make me an offer.

But I need to get another phone first. What should I get? Requirements:

• I want to be able to send email. Easily. From my phone. For real. Not in a “yeah you could do that if you have a lot of time to kill and don’t really need to write anything serious” kinda way that’s actually super fucking annoying and causes me to think “eh, I’ll just send that when I get back to my desk because christ almighty I hate typing on this thing,” but in the way I used to clear out my inbox on runways and fire off notes while skateboarding with my Blackberry.
• A decent battery. I don’t want to find myself at the end of the day rationing out my peeks at the phone to see what time it is because my fucking battery meter is red. It’s 2008 and the phone cost $300, keeping a charge from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep shouldn’t be a challenge.
• I want to be able to write text messages without having to backspace over at least one completely garbled word per message.
• Finding a contact should be less than five annoying touches on a touchscreen. Bonus if I don’t have to wait five seconds after every touch.
• It would be awesome to have a phone that didn’t make me stare at a blank screen for five seconds before replying to a text message. Maybe I need to clear out my text message queue or something? Shit is mad slow.

Things I’ll miss:

• MobileMe. Kinda. Yeah, things are out of sync often but just adding a contact quickly out of email and knowing it’ll magically be on my phone later is REALLY HANDY. I don’t know how I’ll keep my contacts and calendar up to date between whatever phone I end up getting and my Macs. Ideas?
• Google maps. I guess I’ll go back to being lost in NYC. But seriously, last time I was in NYC I used the map in the morning to find my way around and then was lost at night because MY FUCKING BATTERY WAS DEAD AND MY PHONE WAS OFF. If I had a Blackberry at least I could have called someone.
• Listening to music while biking and being able to answer the phone on the same headset I’m listening to music on. Then the music starts up again when the call is over. Simple yet handy since the bike is my main mode of transport.
• Pour1Out. Handy app when you need to pour out some liquor for the American economy, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, etc.

But honestly, I think that’s it.

The problem is I have no idea what phone to get. No Windows Mobile, plz. Thinking a Blackberry, but aren’t they about to drop a slew of new phones? Probably a bad time to downgrade to a Curve. And isn’t AT&T going to make me pay full price for changing phones soon? Argh. HALP. HATE MY IPHONE.

UPDATE: My friend Vince told me (via Twitter) that if I’m within 30 days AT&T will take the phone back. I immediately called AT&T and unfortunately time flies and I’m at 35 days. I talked to four different people (actually, two very nice people and two subhumans whose souls have been removed by promotions to “floor manager” at a faceless corporation) and there’s nothing they can do 5 days after the 30 day window. They can’t take it back (they blame Apple) and they can’t give me a discount on a Blackberry, even though it would surely be cheaper than pushing me to take the $170 early term and get a cheap Blackberry on another carrier. So now I have a phone I dislike but a phone company I hate. Good move, AT&T. The iPhone 3G sucks, but you super suck.

So, anyone know if the Blackberry Bold is coming on any other carriers? I’d *love* to pay AT&T $170 and jump ship.

ian

…it can be dangerous. But if you give Twitter two very valid options and let it decide, well, that’s better than our presidential elections have been for a long time.

I asked Twitter to choose between a suit and a Stooges shirt for my panel at Digital Media Forum West today. Apart from two “wear them both” votes, support for the Stooges shirt was unanimous and the suit had no takers. Of course @freshbreakfast was right, I was really just looking to validate my personal choice and not take the blame for it. It was a setup and my Twitter followers played the roll perfectly.

Thank you. See you at DMFW today.

Oh btw, saw My Bloody Valentine last night and it was all everyone said it was. It was also amazing to be able to ride bikes to Santa Monica Civic to see a show. The last thing I saw there was either college night at Santa Monica High or a modern furniture expo. Of course what I wish I’d have seen was this:

Kevin Shields told Travis he might come by Bar Chloe after tonight’s show and play a few tunes. Come on down.

ian