ok, so it’s not that exciting, but i felt the need to say a few words about soulseek since it’s been so kind to me this year. i got out of the habit of file sharing about 2 years ago, but this year scarce funds and months of unemployment have thrown me right back into it. since the demise of napster and audiogalaxy, i never really found anything that had much i wanted to hear. i never got all the fuss over kazaa, seemed crap to me. soulseek on the other hand is wonderful and i’m sad i didn’t discover it earlier. as well as getting random stuff i wanted to hear but couldn’t afford to buy, i also managed to find a bunch of stuff that i would have had no other way of hearing ever. i’m talking old random demo tapes, stupid ‘limited edition of four’ 7″s and lots of other obscure live bits and pieces that have somehow surfaced on slsk, and thus made me very happy. here are some highlights:black dice and wolf eyes – chimes in black water vol. 1

caroliner – wine won’t do it, wife won’t do

the champs – triumph of the air elementals

earth – phase 3: thrones and dominions

the heads – relaxing with…

hella – 3 track demo cd-r

khanate – live on wfmu

neutral milk hotel – beauty

neutral milk hotel – hype city

neutral milk hotel – invent yourself a shortcake

sleep – demo

sleep – volume one

sleep – volume two

wolf eyes – strangled in filth

wolf eyes / emil beaulieau – split

i would have had no other way of hearing all stuff had some kind person not decided to share them. i heard yesterday that some record companies had lost a court case where they wanted to be given the names of file sharers, which made me quite happy. i’m sure slsk will go the way of all the others at some point, either shutting down or offering a subscription service, but i’m still thankful in the meantime for all the gems i’ve picked up. i’d be totally happy if the riaa made it so their cds couldn’t be shared, leaving the rest of us to hear the stuff we want. the stuff i would like to hear that’s covered by the riaa is all stuff i could just go out and buy if i ever get that desperate, so it wouldn’t make a huge difference to me and i’m sure countless others if their stuff wasn’t available to download anymore. i wish they could sort themselves out and leave things like slsk alone for those who are just interested in independent stuff.

some handy links:

soulseek

riaa radar

Posted: 12|22|03 at 6:27 am. Filed under: all about us, end of year.
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