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Aztec Camera

Oblivious

oh yeah...
http://www.cdbaby.com/megatron

The Clash

The Call Up

The Who

I'm One

Billy Bragg put music to Woody Guthrie lyrics and from the songs I've heard they are good.
Billy Bragg - Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_m7QDckFJQ

I have to say, I'm with Pablo on this one, though with a different intellectual foundation. I'm both a performer and an ethnomusicologist, and I've studied the functioning of oral traditions for my entire professional and academic life. The notion that music is artifactualized and can be sold is entirely a product of our commercial culture; in no other culture around the world that I've ever encountered is a musical performance construed as an "object."

In oral/aural cultures where there is a sense of "intellectual property," the benefits that accrue to the originator of an artwork are in a commensurate coinage: prestige, name recognition, the augmentation of reputation (and hence of economic power). Thus, a song composer in the world of Indian classical music will incorporate a standardized nom-de-plume in a line of song text, thus establishing authorship -- but once the song has been performed and taught, it's been "released" into the world. No royalties are expected from other artists' versions of the song, but it would be considered a terrible breach of professional etiquette for another musician to sing the piece without clearly presenting the original composer's "signature" line.

The entire notion of musical performance as artifact creates an almost intolerable level of cognitive dissonance for me; while I certainly welcome my yearly checks for $3.19 from BMI for radio performances of my pieces, I am by temperament much more of a copyleft type.

Thanks for asking about this.

pablo @ 4:

As an independent artist, I give away more CD's than I sell, I post mp3's on my site, and myspace, without concern for money or royalties.
why?

because I know that now, promotion is key. if people don't know who you are they will rarely buy your disc or come to your show... but if you give them somthing NOW, chances are, they will buy something later.

I see my money in the $300 I make when I play at a club, which I pack, because I send out a myspace notice, and all the fans I have who have downloaded my music pay a cover to get in and hear me live.

would I like to get more money from digital distribution? sure. do I think I ever will?
probably not.

Touring and playing live is where its at for me.

About time Billy Bragg was featured. He's a bloody protest singer for crying out loud.

Billy Bragg & Wilco "Mermaid Avenue I & II." Killer stuff

Here's a little more Traffic,to start your day with. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12fqh-Utws&feature=related
40,000 Headmen

Here's some of the new Joe Jackson cd " Rain"....song titled "The Invisible Man". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52BD_2vRIg&feature=related

Thanks for featuring Billy Bragg - a true champion of "the working man." Way before he was asked to do the Woody Guthrie project that became the Mermaid Avenue albums he was doing some amazing political songs on albums like "Worker's Playtime" and "Talking to the Taxman About Poetry". Songs like "There is power in a union", " Help save the youth of America", "Tender Comrade" and "Chile your waters run red through Soweto" helped to establish him as a capable of making some very important, progressive, political commentary. He also has some great non-political songs like "Little time bomb", "that's the price I pay (for loving you the way that I do", and "Must I paint you a picture" (which you can download free from his website here: http://www.billybragg.co.uk/acatalog/Digital_Downloads.html - you have to jump through some hoops to get it though.)

I encourage everyone to take a listen to Billy and support him if his music appeals to you.

Long time C&L reader, first time commenter. I always feel guilty commenting on US Politics when im Canadian, so I don't.

But I needed to say, Billy rules. I first saw him, for free, in a church basement in 1984. Seen him 25 times (at least) since. The best protest singer of our generation, and 99.9% of people in the US don't know who he is. All of you who haven't heard of him, please get to know him. You won't regret it.

pile @ 26 well said , yes it ( the net ) is our last hope and freedom .

and what if the goverment takes this away from us , thats easy it will be our fault , no it will be your fault , because i demand my freedoms . When the cat is away the mice will play .