The Stay Strong Until June 10 Thread

[ellisintransit]

You know what?  On Friday I travelled from Nashville to Columbus to see The Mars Volta.  It was cancelled in January when I went.  Ten minutes before the doors opened for this rescheduled show, they cancelled the show again.  I got completely screwed by one of my favorite bands twice, and they didn't seem to care at all either time.

Saturday morning I got up early to try to figure out what the deal was with the cancellation and as I opened my inbox saw the email from MMJ.  It made me feel like they actually care for us.  And I care for them.  My main reasoning for not downloading the leak is the "christmas morning" aspect.  Nothing compares (for me at least) to the feeling you get trying to soak in all the new music and the artwork and the liner notes and everything else involved.

Seeing that email didn't convince me to NOT download it, but it made me feel good to know that they care about the fans enough to do something.  It sucks knowing that all these people are going to be done with this album by the time it comes out for the rest of us, but that's not going to affect the way I feel when I have that vinyl and/or cd in my hands on June 10th.  

I don't mind the downloaders, and like some others on here, I am totally grooving on the stuff MMJ decides should be heard beforehand.  I did the same thing with Z and it worked out just fine for me.

So...ummm....I guess, early adopters enjoy your leak.  I look forward to two months of blue balls with the rest of you guys in this thread.  Haha.

(Sidenote:  I've seen The Mars Volta 3 times since 2003, and since this year started I've tried to see them  3 more times and they were all cancelled.  I've seen My Morning Jacket 15 times in that same time frame and they have never boned out on me.  But I digress.  Good day.)

[liverustdave]

thoughts on downloading the leak now.... and then promising yourself to buy the album & vinyl & seeing them live?  As long as you keep the promise.

seems like a reasonable compromise between you and the band, if you are worried about ethics and guilt.   It'll work as long as you keep the promise.

they should pull a Raconteurs and just release the damn thing next week.

[InTheZone]

is that a picture of celine dion up there holding that baby? that is kind of disturbing and kind of fixating.  definitely distracting.

[the_wizzard]

Yesterday on my way home I received a text from a friend saying that they sent me a very EVIL email with a very EVIL link.
I told them that it was very EVIL of them to tempt me, but out of respect for the band I was going to attempt the time-honored practice of patience.  
I got home and the whole neighborhood had lost it's power.  Sign?  Perhaps....
It has been a full 24  hours now, full power restored and I am still ignoring the email.  And tonight I have tickets to see The Raconteurs, so I will be busy once again.
I have every intention of using this as a practice in discipline.  I can't blame people for downloading (shit, I may have heard a few albums before their release in my time).  But this time, I am attempting to respect the fact that I have a bunch of songs to listen to from the SXSW show.  Not too many bands do that for their fans.  Thanks MMJ!

please pray for my resolve   ;)

[Angry Ewok]

You'll be fine... Listening parties are coming soon... that'll give everyone a chance to get their fix!

[mjkoehler]

I have no desire to even download the leak. I steal enough shit (mainly older stuff that at this point I am not sure if the artist would ever receive a damn dime of it). I try to avoid DL new stuff, especially by artists I have the utmost love for.

Again, I have no evil urges.

[tomEisenbraun]

[highlight]To sort of put things into perspective here, the single that MMJ e-mailed us [...] is something like twice the size as the compressed version that has been distributed. That is significantly different... you will hear that difference.

This is why [...] I think our resident amatuer journalists look like total morons with their Evil Urges album reviews.

To me, it is the equivalent of downloading a Hong Kong subtitled bootleg of a DVD [...] and critiquing the picture quality of the film.[/highlight]

and do you seriously think that the bitrate is the reason people don't like it?  the mp3 they let us download is a better bitrate than the leak but it's still not CD quality.

Dylan, I have simplified and highlighted the portion of my post that you will need to read again.

I think my comments about our resident journalists has distracted you from what I was talking about. My apologies.

I read that, Brad, thanks.  I just don't agree with it.  People judging how the music moves them is not the same thing as downloading a subtitled dvd... and judging the video quality.  no one is knocking the album based on sound quality.  so it's not the same.  that's my point.  

I'm thinkin it's something similar to not enjoying that pre-release subtitled Hong Kong version because it's not perfect. You know, the subtitles, crappy video, and bad audio don't exactly pull you in like 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround on a 50 foot screen. That said, to enjoy it hunched over your computer screen is not quite the same as in a big comfy theatre.

Can you enjoy it? Sure.

Is it the beautiful experience that you would really want? Debatable. I'll argue no, just because I'd think that any first exposure to something you've been really looking forward to ought to be the most immersing, most beautiful, most powerful. That's unrelated though. The important part here is what's missing from that first experience. Bad audio resolution, along with no liner notes, no physical cd (though that's being phased out a little), and no real solid "I bought this" connection makes the album a bit more dismissable, and it sort of separates you from it, I think.

To give a review of the album from a leaked version is like reviewing that Hong Kong rip of a dvd--it's not complete, and you're missing something in that first listen. That less than perfect audio gives you something else to hear when Patrick is crashing on his cymbals, or the band gets really loud, or Bo or Tommy rock some seriously low notes, or Jim nails that scream in Highly Suspicious and the track breaks up accordingly. Having the track break up on you isn't exactly a good quality audio to go from. Even if it doesn't break up, I'm sure it's got that famous "mp3 shimmer" on the cymbals at the very least. And being compressed to a zip file and decompressed, I can't imagine it's much of a bitrate at all. Anybody know the number? Anything less than 256k is pretty weak.

Summary: Review of the leak is not the same as holding the album in your hands and reviewing it after making that physical connection with perfect quality audio--exactly as the band meant for you to first experience. They've worked hard on this ridiculous album art to give you something to think about even before you've put it in your cd player (or on your turntable).

Good point, Brad.

Sorry for the book, Dylan.

2¢ over.

[BH]

Hey, here's a distraction, Kathleen Edwards on Letterman tonight and She & Him (shizzle and hizzle) on Conan tonight!   Evil what?  ;)

[travisr]

I cannot believe everyone is making such a big fucking deal about the leak and the people that decide to listen to it. Who's at fault for the leak in the first place??
If you wanna wait until June 10, more power to you. How about everyone just mind their own business.
ellisintransit, sorry to hear about your misadventures to see the Mars Volta...that's a total bummer. But speaking of the Mars Volta....I totally bought "Amputechture" at an independent record store on September 11, 2006...a day before it was released in the U.S. They were putting prices on the CDs and they had them sitting out on the counter and I happened to notice it, and I grabbed one and they let me buy it cause everyone they have on display with a price on it is for sale. I listened to it on the ride home, so I TOTALLY ripped off the band. I probably wasn't suppose to hold that disc or smell that booklet until the 12th. That will get 'em!

[bethofftherecord]

Holy crap have I missed a lot of stuff going on the forum lately!  Lots of stuff is going on for me and of course, I miss all the excitement.  

I will stay strong.  I have not leakage desire.  Feel sorry for the moderator and all the people who this causes problems for.  I'll buy like 5 copies, many concert tickets, and much merchandise to make up for it (well, I would do that anyways  ;)).

Looking forward to new album.  Until then I'll just have to dig on something else.  

I miss having more time for the forum!  After I move and I don't know anyone, you guys will probably get sick of me.  hahahaha.

[ycartrob]

[folieadeux322]

So Evil Urges has, unfortunately, leaked.
This is the thread that will help the strong among us survive until June 10th.
We will not cave. We will wait to hear the full glory of Evil Urges until that beautiful disc is in our hands.

There is nothing unfortunate about it!

Listen to it, enjoy it, and buy it when it comes out.

[CTdeadhead]

Hi folks, my name is Mark and I am a Jacketoholic... ;D

In all seriousness...I am choosing to hold out just because I don't want my first listen to be shitty quality so here's what I did to prove a point to myself.  I of course got the original mp3 from the band the other day.  Last night I grabbed the leaked version of the disc from usenet...and it was in 160 kbps fwiw.  

I took only the first track and took a good listen of the two side by side with my Etymotic Er6 noise reducing earphones.  the leak sounded incredibly tinny.  Like a stream.  The official sounded warm and full.  then toggled back and forth between the npr stream of Touch Me and the leaked mp3 and they were about the same quality.

I am old fashioned so I have no problem waiting but I thought I would share that for those that need a boost in moral.  Remember, you've got to work it to make it work ;)

[Ghosts_on_TV]

Hey, here's a distraction, Kathleen Edwards on Letterman tonight and She & Him (shizzle and hizzle) on Conan tonight!   Evil what?  ;)

I'm Dave and I'm waiting too.  :) SHe and Him were great. Yo La Tengo backing them up and was that Stefanie Drootin playing bass? (She is in The good life, and sometimes in Bright Eyes.)

[BH]

Hey, here's a distraction, Kathleen Edwards on Letterman tonight and She & Him (shizzle and hizzle) on Conan tonight!   Evil what?  ;)

I'm Dave and I'm waiting too.  :) SHe and Him were great. Yo La Tengo backing them up and was that Stefanie Drootin playing bass? (She is in The good life, and sometimes in Bright Eyes.)

Nice!  I didn't make it up that late but I have it recorded for tonight.

[Ghosts_on_TV]

Hey, here's a distraction, Kathleen Edwards on Letterman tonight and She & Him (shizzle and hizzle) on Conan tonight!   Evil what?  ;)

I'm Dave and I'm waiting too.  :) SHe and Him were great. Yo La Tengo backing them up and was that Stefanie Drootin playing bass? (She is in The good life, and sometimes in Bright Eyes.)

Nice!  I didn't make it up that late but I have it recorded for tonight.

Radiohead are on Tonight. From London though. They are not actually there.

[BH]

Hey, here's a distraction, Kathleen Edwards on Letterman tonight and She & Him (shizzle and hizzle) on Conan tonight!   Evil what?  ;)

I'm Dave and I'm waiting too.  :) SHe and Him were great. Yo La Tengo backing them up and was that Stefanie Drootin playing bass? (She is in The good life, and sometimes in Bright Eyes.)

Nice!  I didn't make it up that late but I have it recorded for tonight.

Radiohead are on Tonight. From London though. They are not actually there.

Excellent.  It's funny I was never a Radiohead fan (didn't have an opinion either way) but I bought In Rainbows and have been listening to it constantly lately.  Now I have to go back in time and starting buying up the back catalogue.  Uhgg!$$$

[ms. yvon]

megalicious:  stay strong, y'all

;D ;D

staying strong!

distracted myself to day by buying tickets to see jonathan richman's FOUR NIGHT RESIDENCY in los angeles in june.  :D :D :D

and binge viewing/listening okonokos at work.

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

i never thought i'd say this, but it's getting to the point where i'm kind of wishing we'd go back to the simple days where people discussed jim's beard length, choice in footwear, or his preference of dark over milk chocolate.

i'm gonna go listen to some more 10cc and slam some tacos. 2k8, don't hate

[ms. yvon]

i had fish tacos for lunch today!  IT'S A WAVE IN THE AIR!

also:  will be heading over to buy a cappuccino in a few minutes.

topics for discussion:  
-patrick's choice of footwear when performing

-what type of carpeting would each band member be, were they each a type of carpeting?