Muxtape Taken Offline Due to Unspecified Problems With RIAA, A Bunch Of Dudes Win Bets
By Petey V on 08-19-2008
Muxtape, the online playlist service which launched in March to a user base larger than Germany but smaller than Japan, seems to have run into problems with the RIAA, according to a message posted on the site late Wednesday evening. While it alerts users that "Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA," the Muxtape tumblr insists that "the site is not closed indefinitely" and "no bands or labels have complained."
Many people — including you, me, intellectual property attorney Fred von Lohmann, and site creator Justin Oullette — have speculated as to the soundness of maintaining such a website in the era of RIAA lawsuits and other digital music crackdowns. The optimism of the message displayed on the official site and on tumblr echo Oullette's assertion in interviews that Muxtape's primary purpose is to introduce listeners to new music and that labels and artists have been encouraging when talking to him. Indeed, it appears from the tumblr post that Oullette has been developing a service called "Muxtape for Bands," an as-yet-unexplained feature first hinted at in a tumblr post early last week.
For more details about "Muxtape for Bands," as well as about the issues with the RIAA, keeping an eye on the tumblr page is probably your best bet.
DMBQ Bring Wonder, Blazin’ Hot Rock Jams to Liberal Arts Colleges Across New York This Fall
By Liz Louche on 08-19-2008
I went to see incredible Japanese garage rock band DMBQ once at a record store in Austin, TX, a detour from the usual SXSW showcases and shit. This was the year I discovered Sparks Caffeinated Malt Beverage and ended up consuming enough of the stuff that I thought it would be a good idea to buy every single Siouxsie and the Banshees 7-inch in the store -- and, so, I drunkenly brought up my pile of prizes to the register while the drummer from DMBQ dismantled and reassembled her drum kit without ever missing a beat or failing to kick out the jams. Okay, I didn't technically "see" it. My friends told me about it. It sounded awesome, though!
And now... imagine! You can have this very same sort of magical experience yourself, at one of several DMBQ tourdates planned for this October!
DMBQ -- or Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet, their longer, more difficult to remember full name -- have been around since 1988 in one form or another. They've released albums on Less Than TV, Estrus, and more, and have embarked on many a tour in these here parts. They're loud, they're fast, they're awesome, and apparently they just can't get enough of small New York liberal arts colleges, judging from this tour schedule. Enroll now!
