“Dear Creative Commoner:

It has been an exciting week in America. Many of us had been focused on this presidential election. Few have had the time to think about the other projects we have that are working hard to do good.

I’m writing today to ask you to think again about one of those projects that will always be important to me — Creative Commons. We’re in the middle of our annual drive. The success of this drive is essential to our ability to run. The vast majority of CC’s supporters, including of course its Board, and current CEO, are volunteers. But the organization depends upon a small number of wildly underpaid staffers, as well as modest infrastructure to keep the system alive.

This is a tough year to ask for support, I know. All of us are facing difficult decisions about what we can really afford to do. But as I looked out at the packed audiences in Hong Kong celebrating the launch of the 50th Creative Commons jurisdiction, I saw again just how critical it is to keep this movement growing. We have made important progress over the year, including most importantly for me, winning theconfidence of the Free Software Foundation so that they will permit FSF licensed wikis (including Wikipedia) to relicense to a CC license. But there is an enormous amount of work left to be done.

Please help us in this. Whatever you can give is important. And if you’d like something tangible in return for your gift, I’m happy to send you a signed copy of my latest (and last in this field) book, REMIX, inscribed however you like. (I’m only going to sign a limited number for this purpose, and we’re going to charge an insanely high price, but if you’re interested, visit here. And if you’re ordering from outside the United States, you’ll get the Bloomsbury Academic version of the book, with the CC license explicit inside.)

I’ve not pestered you much this year. It has been important to me to see this organization thrive when I’ve not been at the center of its work. But Creative Commons remains the work I’m most proud of. And like any parent, it still keeps me awake with worry at night. Please help us make this year another success. Do what you can. Get 6 friends to do the same. We’ve been depending on small donations long before America could spell “Obama.” And we depend upon those donations still.”

Here are the tracks that have just been added to the playlists of our radios. Enjoy!

Pop/songwriting

• Michael Paige “Angel Of Paradise” 
• Staggered Crossing “Burgundy & Blue” 
• Papa Dada “Art Gallery” 
• The Fumes “blahblahblah”

Lounge

• Tracing Arcs “Babydoll (just chillin’ mix)” 
• Amanyth “I Was There” 
• Blue Swerver “Before It’s Over” 
• Smoking After “Solitude”

Rock

• Brad Sucks “Total Breakdown” 
• Houdini Roadshow “Snakepit” 
• Borr “It Can’t Be Me, It’s Gotta Be You” 
• Fruhstuck “Angel”

Dance/electro

• -skoz- “Fly Beat 666-04″ 
• Tet Production “Yepa” 
• Blackleg “Endorfine” 
• I Am This “Sea Of Something”

Hip hop

• Subliminal “Time Is Now” 
• Cartel “Fool by Scholarly Pursuits” 
• Big C “Dreams” 
• Just Plain Ant “God Willin’” 
• Falgas “Fashionvictim” 
• Coehn & Foehrb “Zurueck”

(picture by PetroleumJelliffe)

The first of this series is a remix of UK electro-hip hop mainstay Roots Manuva by überhipsters Hot Chip. It’s waiting for you right here.

Enjoy!

Fronted by pretty vocalist Karina Karinian, Do-Up has only been in existence for a couple of years. But all of its six members were experienced professionals beforehand, which explains how the band evolved so fast. “Our group consists of six enthusiasts who are trying to do something new for music”, explains Vadim Shukurov, in charge of samples, DJing and playing flute in the band, and also its founder.

 Do-Up has been managing alone to pursue a career, touring in all of Russia, organizing their own concerts (including pretty big ones, complete with string quartet and brass section), in spite of a Russian show business industry that “leaves much to be desired. TV and radio popularize short-lived pop musicians that are always in rotation. Really talented musicians are not supported. But the situation will get better.”

Uniting musicians that come from various musical backgrounds, Do-Up prides itself with being “a refreshing cocktail of jazz blended with the latest musical trends”, as well as elements of reggae, lounge and funk. Check out the live EP and 2006 demo that are available on jamendo to see for yourself. 

With its cool, classy music, the band has become a “constant guest” at fashion shows and other trendy events, and even had its own radio show “that has already become something of a cult”. Next on their agenda is a concert with the Ural Philharmonic orchestra. After that, they dream of finally touring Europe…

With their smart, synthesizer-driven pop anthems tinged with new wave influences, Isolated Atoms could easily find their place between Interpol and The Killers in the meanders of contemporary rock. The fact that the band was only formed last February makes  their songs’ maturity, as well as their confidence as to how to manage their burgeoning career, simply amazing.

“We have come along way in a short space of time as an unsigned band, agrees Grant Leon Ashman, the band’s vocalist, from our first gigs to 20 people to our next show with Ladytron in front of 700.”

From Depeche Mode to The Doors and Joy Division, the band’s influences are wide: “we cover a lot of boundaries in the music scene”. But one thing really matters for Isolated Atoms: melody. “A lot of pop creeps in when I’m writing songs, but it’s for the best. We want to write commercial tracks with an edge, pop can be moody and dark too”, explains David Davies, who plays keyboards. Judging from the EP they just published (exclusively) on jamendo, they seem to have already achieved just that.

As for the rest, these four young musicians have things pretty clearly set up in their minds.

“The plan is to carry on getting big shows, keep doing the good promotion we do and make ourselves one of the most professional bands in the country.” Talent and determination; we all know what that cocktail can lead to.

Between Cartel and jamendo, it’s all about love. He says it best himself: “Jamendo opened doors for my music in the international community and will forever be a part of my music strategy.” For one thing, through jamendo, Cartel discovered that his vision of hip hop was more commonly found among music fans outside his own country. “My music nowadays caters to a niche market within the US: those that still care about beats and rhymes. I’m from the golden age of hip hop, with Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, De LaSoul, Queen Latifah… In today’s market, every artists is a copy of the last one and the lyrics have been so dumbed down half of the music is simply bullshit. Overall I think Europe and Japan have a better respect for traditional hip hop than the US where it simply boils down to the money.”

You see, Cartel knows his hip hop. He learned to produce with big names like Large Professor and Chyskillz (who worked on the first Onyx album), collaborated with Randy Allen and Jam Master Jay. In 1997, he came this close to striking it big: “I put out a vinyl EP by East Side Hustlaz that had tremendous potential. But the single we were pushing featured a sample of Patrice Rushen’s ‘Forget Me Nots’, and one month after we released our song, the Beatnuts came out with a song using the same sample. The killer was when Will Smith released ‘Men In Black’ in that same period with the same sample. Our song came off looking like we copied them. A real case of bad timing.” Check it out on the mixtape Cartel released exclusively on jamendo.

Tha Throwback, Cartel’s second album, is another homage to the roots of “true hip hop”, featuring collaborations by “some of the most promising, upcoming MC’s in the game”. It will be available in two versions: as a free download on jamendo, and for $5 from Cartel’s label’s website, Universal Indie Records. A remix contest of one of the tracks is also being launched, whose “winner will be able to contribute a track to the next Universal Indie project”. How’s that for a cool prize?

Two bands, one name (or close). Now let’s see what distinguishes these two Italian artists on jamendo…

FLUYDO

At our request, he sent us a picture of himself with his brand new toy. Thanks Sebastien, and enjoy!

© Heidi de Grier

This Ain’t Hollywood is the second album by Utrecht-based five-piece band Silence Is Sexy. The previous one was released “the ‘normal’ way, with sales that were ok for a Dutch indie band”, explains Pim, guitar player and band manager. This time they decided to go about promoting their music differently, by putting the album up for free download. First on their website and torrent servers, and then, naturally, on jamendo, where the response has been quite positive. “I was impressed by the number of people that use jamendo to discover new music.”

Frank Boeijen, the band’s keyboardist, also plays in The Gathering, probably Holland’s biggest rock export. Silence Is Sexy was born in 2003, has played about 140 festivals and toured with The Automatic, The Dears and, of course, The Gathering. But still, “it’s hard to get our music to the average music listener”. Hence the free album download policy, with their record label’s support. “It’s been downloaded 8000 times already!” enthuses Pim. “We really wanted to reach a bigger audience with our second album.”

With musical nods to Coldplay, Radiohead, U2 and Editors, This Ain’t Hollywood has all the ingredients to make it big. And the band doesn’t lack the necessary energy either. “We hope many people will discover our music on jamendo. Then we would like to tour a lot. After that, make another killer-album. And then start all over again.”

In the meantime, check out the video to This Ain’t Hollywood here