186 - Download While You Can

Radio BSOTS

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This episode's track list (title / artist / source / license):

1. Outer Dark by Wizard Of Loneliness [Business Casual] (CC-BY-SA) (2024)

2. Unfolding by A. Billi Free & Uncle_EL [Eye Mija Productions] (CC-BY-NC-SA) (2020)

3. Evil by Coldreavers [Trippin' The Rift] (CC-BY-NC-SA) (2011)

4. Invade Your Soul by Lavoura [Bandcamp] (CC-BY-NC-SA) (2011)

5. spring by king britt presents scuba [Unfoundsound] (CC-BY-NC-ND) (2008)

Most of my waking moments are spent thinking about music appreciation, sonic curation, and media preservation: not only as separate concepts, but also regarding how they intersect. I recently came to the realization that it's awfully strange that I don't talk about these things more often on the show. And then some strange occurrences in the world of music, podcasting, and online archiving took place over the past month. Suddenly, I had the perfect excuse to express some observations and concerns about it all while sharing some Creative Commons selections with the listeners.

Spotify removing over 500 podcast episodes from their platform because of music isn't surprising, but the fact that the podsafe episodes weren't spared is what's annoying me to no end (particularly considering that this is happening while they continually devalue music and the artists that create it via payout pittances for single and album streams). There was also a story about hundreds of thousands of online hip-hop mixtapes disappearing almost overnight without explanation. If that weren't enough, a recent cyberattack knocked the Internet Archive offline in October, but staff have been providing weekly updates via their blog as services are restored slowly but surely. (For those that need the Cliff Notes version of what's been going on with the Internet Archive, check out this four-minute clip from Fireship's YouTube channel.)

Seeing as how the Internet Archive is one of my go-to sources for Creative Commons licensed music, I had to incorporate a handful of CC cuts into the show to help move things along. "Evil" by Coldreavers is a hidden gem found while digging through the Archive, a brooding piece of downtempo that features a first-hand account from a jilted lover. Released through the Trippin' The Rift netlabel about 13 years ago, it sounds like it hasn't aged a day (and I really need to find out who's responsible for the vocals on this one). Meanwhile, "Invade Your Soul" is jazz-infused electronica from São Paulo, Brazil's Lavoura. The stuttered patterns of the programmed drums have a broken beat feel and I fell hard for this cut right away. Then there's the infectious pop of "Outer Dark" by Wizard Of Loneliness. Between the bright organ sounds, the punch of the snare pads, and the hazy vocals, it's a winner right out the gate. It's just one of many ridiculously catchy tunes being released by the Business Casual label this year and a great example of why I keep coming back to that label to hear more.

The combined forces of producer Uncle El and vocalist A. Billi Free are responsible for "Unfolding," one of those cuts that feels grounded and airborne at the same time. It's left-leaning hip-hop with a lyrical bend towards peeling back personal layers and allowing for growth and vulnerability. The show closes out with some ocean floor deep techno courtesy of master curator, producer and professor King Britt. "Spring" is a song that he recorded under his Scuba moniker for the Philly Time! compilation released on the Unfoundsound netlabel back in 2008.

This episode represents a slight departure from the usual order of things around these parts, but I feel really good about this one. It could be the start of a new structure for future episodes. By all means, please let me know your thoughts on this one and thank you so much for listening.

Theme music by Cy Tru (edited by Macedonia). ID drops from EJ Flavors and Thad Reid.

Other key info: BSOTS show #175 - Does Music Belong In Podcasting? BSOTS show #182 - Life At Camp Lo-Fi: The First Nine Years BSOTS on Bondfire Radio broadcast archives Libsyn's The Feed podcast episode no. 277 Hip-Hop Can Save America - Exclusive: Datpiff Hip-Hop Mixtape Archive Disappears Overnight 2024 Black Podcasting Awards Ceremony Netwaves

The content of this show has been released under a CC-BY-SA license. All works within this show retain their original releases. See the show notes at bsots.com for more information.