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London and NYC Club and Concert Listings Download This! (February 2005) Writer: John Kelly Last year I picked a twelve which featured bootlegs of a couple of unreleased tracks. The tracks in question contained samples that had been impossible to clear, so despite the buzz around the music they never saw the light of day. These tracks would have remained in the hands of a few select DJs and probably become sought-after rarities had it not been for the work of an enterprising bootlegger. Rumour has it that said bootlegger had recorded the tracks digitally off an internet radio show, cut and pasted the DJ out and then pressed the vinyl him(her)self. This story, which is easy to believe, illustrates two interesting aspects of the digitally-connected world in which we live. On the one hand, it's the sort of horror story that probably has certain sections of the music business reaching for a 'home taping is killing music'-style PR blitz in an effort to defend their 'embattled' industry. On the other, it hints at one way in which, with a little imagination, we might discover/fall in love with/buy music in the future. First things first, home taping never did kill music - it only fuelled most people's desire to discover/fall in love with/buy music. I've still got a box of old mixtapes and classic radio shows (Norman Jay's original Musiquarium All Winners show from December '90 - if you're asking) that I can never part with. The difference between then and now is that you can now record shows at CD quality and can therefore own something that is pretty close to the original. You can cut it up, put it on your iPod, share it with your friends and, if you so desire, even press your own bootleg of it. This undoubably presents the music industry with a potential problem, because a lot of their income is derived from distribution. But it doesn't necessarily present the same problems for the artist; infact it could represent an opportunity. Any successful radio show creates and nurtures a community, and if the community is cohesive enough it is the ideal place to create a mini-economy, one where musicians and their audience can connect and commerce can take place. All it would take is a forward-thinking radio show to start selling the music they play from a branded website. Yeah, you could run into a million potential conflicts of interest, but if the show has enough integrity it would be revolutionary - the artists would be fed, the audience would be satisfied and the bootleggers would be out of business. In keeping with the theme, instead of putting links to tracks this month we've got something a bit different. As well as a wealth of free tracks on the internet, there is also a seemingly endless selection of DJ mixes available, covering every concievable genre. Here's a selection of some good ones we've found for you to download, and for free. Enjoy! Starting of with this gem from Bill Brewster's excellent djhistory website, here is the mighty Sean P, with his classic blend of disco and soul goodness. Download (scroll down to page to May 2004) I arrived at the mashup party a bit late, but it now accounts for a healthy percantage of tracks in my box. Despite the scene sometimes being swamped by novelty records, there is alot to be said for the DIY ethic involved as well as its enoromous disregard for copyright laws. One of the best is a DJ called Soundhog - you can check out his new mix here... Download (via the wonderful www.boomselection.info) On a jazz tip, here is a classic mix inspired by the seminal Strata-East label. I don't know the name of the DJ but he is really locked into the 'cosmic groove' and has obviously spent alot of time researching his music. Download the mix and then check out the site for a musical education. Download (via freeform.org). PUBLISHED: Sunday 6 February 2005 RELATED LINKS: Download This! December 2004 Download This! November 2004 Download This! October 2004 More Features EMAIL UPDATES! Do you want to receive Know The Ledge update emails? Click here to sign up!	::: RELATED LINKS More Features