Haven’t posted for a couple of weeks, but that doesn’t mean that the world has stopped, just nothing to add much to what’s being said elsewhere…

But seeing that Apple have decided to stomp on the sale of a “customised” iPod… well, what the hell can you say here… This is a regular iPod (okay, a limited edition U2 one), that someone has uploaded a few albums by another band, put a couple of stickers on the pod and the box, and then stuck up on Ebay.

(It doesn’t even include the “U2” single that caused Negativland such grief first time round)

But Apple say “No!” – we think this violates our intellectual property rights (where’s the proof – oh, no-one wants to take Apple to court? Surprise, surprise…). So Apple whinge to Ebay and they pull the auction with a day to go.

So what about things like this? Does this not violate these IP rights that are so important even more? (Look what they’ve done to that thing! And they’ve ripped-off your branding too. C’mon Apple – get those guys!!!)

Or, more importantly, is the endorsement deal that U2 have struck with Apple so damn important that no-one is allowed to take the piss out of it?

(and let’s face it, their new album is one of the most full-on ad campaigns I’ve seen any band rage for years – as LNR says, they really ARE still “The Hype”)

If this is indicitive of Apple’s attitude as they plunge head first into the music industry (“one law for us, one law for you”), there’s going to be some seriously choppy waters ahead, to say the least…

Very sad to hear about the death of John Balance from Coil.

Impatient youths of the sun
Burning with many colours
Flick combs through hair in bathroom mirrors
Fucking with fusion and fashion
Dance in the beams of emerald lasers
Mating on suburban duvets
Come-splattered nuclear breeders
What a time that was…

“Theme from Blue”, Coil.

—

John Peel, Greg Shaw, Dave Godin, ODB, now John Balance… It seems like there’s a cull of maverick genius in process.

We miss you, John.

You don’t bring us flowers any more.

No smart comments from me this time – just pushing a good article about one persons perception of the impact of the iPod et al. (needs a login – get one from Bug Me Not)

A similar article would probably have been written about 20 years ago regarding the Walkman, but there are still a couple of strong points that resonate through, as they would have done 25 years ago, or 50 years ago, come to that…

“…Brant admits to the pressures of such superrichness. He feels obliged to listen for all he’s worth. He doesn’t deny that he may not be listening as well as he once did. If you can listen to everything, you may end up hearing nothing. I sometimes wish half of Brant’s iPod were filled with blank spaces. Music cannot begin or end without silence in front and behind. Unending music is not music.”

I recall Ralf Hutter from Kraftwerk making similar comments in an interview once; he made a point of ensuring that he listened to no music for a period of each day – something I do too, I have to say, although maybe not so consciously: It surprises me sometimes when I notice I’ve been working for a few hours and have completely forgotten to put any music on…

NME.com’s sassy “artist-recognition” advertising deal with Ebay has some unfortunate side effects – as they announce the sad news that the new U2 album has been leaked online a whole two weeks before the release date, the Ebay link at the bottom of the page happily directs the NME reading fan to the sale of several U2 bootleg CD releases they might like to purchase as they wait on Kazaa for their download of the new album to complete.