While I’m enthused about the new single by David Byrne and Brazilian Girls that’s being released exclusively on iTunes today, I’m a little bit frustrated by it’s exclusivity (more on that in a minute). I’ve been a fan of Brazilian Girls since their first release in 2005
; their unique amalgam of Latin dance music, hip club stylings, and jazz influences is irresistible, and singer Sabina Sciubba’s poly-lingual antics keep the tunes interesting on repeated listening. It was always a joy at parties when people failed to realize they were headnod-dancing to a tune in which the refrain was “Pussy Pussy Pussy Marijuana”. And David Byrne? Well, as the main mastermind and vocalist of Talking Heads and occasional collaborator with Brian Eno, like him or not, he holds a pretty unique place in contemporary pop. The new tune is pretty fun, it’s an English-language remix of Brazilian Girls’ 2008 tune Losing Myself
that’s been David Byrne-ified so it sounds a little like Talking Heads’ old classic “Life During Wartime”. So here’s my frustration: The new single is being released exclusively on iTunes. I am not (and may never be) an iTunes user, thanks to their shoddy history of DRM issues and insistence that you install a 70MB piece of software before they “allow” you to give them money for the music they’re selling. On top of that, the exclusive preview being offered was via the once-hip (but now a little self-indulgent and steampunk-prone) BoingBoing.net, which linked to a file that was in .wax format. It might as well be in .WTF format, as far as most people are concerned; the linked file might play in Windows Media Player , but most people have told me they couldn’t get it to play at all. I personally found a workaround using the Firefox plugin “FlashGot”. But enough bellyaching, check out the tune, if you can, and here’s the label’s press release. By the way: if you like David Byrne, you might also want to check out the tune Money
from the recent release by N.A.S.A.
Posted by Terry on 03.29.09 12:08 pm
Seriously Ian, the energy you spent trying to get the music somewhere other than iTunes seems counter-productive.
iTunes manages music very well, and gives the user a lot of other options. They also have a new pricing standard which will address your ownership issues.
I love iTunes and have used it for as long as I can remember and with my iPod Touch I actually download songs on it if I am in bed at night and remember a song.
Not to mention how cool the new Genius feature is that creates playlists based on what you like and suggests other music you might like.
I also like David Byrne… a lot… I think I will spend a dollar and enjoy this new song. I’ll let you know how it is and if you are lucky, maybe I will play it in the background when we talk on the phone.
Posted by admin on 03.29.09 1:30 pm
Thanks Terry, but you can keep your iTunes. I know many people who love it like yourself. I simply don’t. I have serious ongoing issues with both Apple and Microsoft’s DRM thinking. Once I have paid for media, I will “M” my own “DR” as I see fit.
I actually downloaded the song, as I mentioned in the piece here. I liked it well enough, and really love a lot of (though certainly not ALL of) David Byrne’s stuff. Hope they do some more collaborating!