Venerdì 8 Feb 2008, 13:35

After creating this post I realize it's really long, but seriously read it all. Plus there's free, artist endorsed mediafires that follow.

Last Friday, Benn Jordan, the post rock/IDM fusion artist also known as The Flashbulb, posted his own album on what.cd only one day after it was officially released. For those of you out of the loop, what.cd is a Bit Torrent music community, aiming at replacing the late OiNK tracker. Included in the torrent folder is an HTML file that takes you to a site with the following letter:

Hello listener…downloader…pirate…pseudo-criminal…

If you can read this, then you've more than likely downloaded this album from a peer to peer network or torrent.

You probably expect the rest of this message to tell you that you're hurting musicians and breaking just about every copyright law in the book. Well, it won't tell you that.

What I would like to tell you is that my record label understands that a large portion of people pirate music because it is easier than buying it. CDs scratch easily, most pay-per-download sites have poor quality and ****ty DRM protection, and vinyl is near impossible to find or ship without hassle.
In many cases I wonder why people buy CDs at all anymore. A few like the tangible artwork, some haven't adapted to MP3s yet, but most do it because they have a profound love for music and want to support the artists making it. Kind of restores your faith in humanity for a moment eh?

So, now what?
Like the album? About to go "support the artist" on iTunes?
Well, don't.
Alphabasic is currently in a legal battle against Apple because NONE of our material (Sublight Records included) receives a dime of royalty from the vast amount of sales iTunes has generated using our material.

Want to buy a CD just to show your support?
If you don't particularly like CDs, don't bother.
Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon spike the price so high that their cut is often 8 times higher than the artist's. Besides, most CDs are made out of unrecyclable plastic and leave a nasty footprint in your environment.

If you do particularly like CDs, buy them from the label (in our case, alphabasic.com). After manufacturing costs are recuperated, our artists usually receive over 90% of the actual money coming out of your wallet.
In addition, all of our physical products are made out of 100% recycled material.

Want to show your support?
Go here and browse our library of lossless, DRM-free downloads.
Already have that?
Then feel free to donate whatever you want to your favorite artist. 100% will go directly to them.
Hell, you can even donate a penny just to thank the artist.

If you really like 'The Flashbulb - Soundtrack To A Vacant Life' and want to show your support without it going to greedy retailers, distributors, and coked-up label reps, then click the button below.

If you send us your mailing address, Alphabasic may occasionally send you various goodies (overstocks, stickers, even rare CDs) in appreciation and encouragement for your support.
Thanks for reading.
Who knows if my little business plan here will work to fund new releases, but even failure is better than the crappy label/distributor/retailer system musicians have suffered from for over 50 years.
We hope you enjoy the music as much as we do releasing it.
Finally, if you plan on sharing this release, please include this file. The only reason it is here is to show the listener where he can support his favorite artists!

Benn Jordan
CEO - Alphabasic Records

Here's an excellent interview with Benn conducted by torrentfreak. I thought the title was very interesting. "Pirated by iTunes, Artist turns to Bit Torrent." http://torrentfreak.com/pirated-by-itunes-artist-turns-to-bittorrent-080206/

I think this attitude and distribution strategy is the wave of the future. Music piracy has become too socially acceptable to go away, and artists are seeking compensation in brand new ways. These new ways allow for greater artist profit, and cut out all the bullshit that led to music piracy to begin with (record companies, corporate retailers, etc).

Benn has encourage the free sharing of his music, as traditional means don't really equate to profit for him, and simply asks you to donate directly to him if you support his music or his cause.

Besides all this innovation stuff, this artist has stomped all over my previous favorites and climbed comfortably into my top three. These albums are so incredibly unique. And textured. And sonicly stimulating. It's almost an overload of sound and colors. I highly recommend listening to them in order of release date. Even in only two albums you can hear a very obviously maturity and development of his sound. Kirilian Selections has much more IDM infused into the music, with fast and sporadic e-drums more prominent in the album. Soundtrack to a Vacant Life is much more instrumental and cinematic, with the end goal of creating a soundtrack to his own life. It's being described as modern classical, as the arrangements and instrumentation sound incredibly orchestrated.

Without further ado:

http://www.metaelite.com/kilian_selections_flashbulb.JPG
The Flashbulb - Kirilian Selections
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LRFMO46F

http://www.alphabasic.com/alphamart/alph200_150.jpg
The Flashbulb - Soundtrack to a Vacant Life
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PKOLKFY9
^^^^^
Quick blurb about the new album:
"With over two years in the making, the release that outlived it's original record label is finally here. Benn Jordan gracefully departs from his boundaries in electronica and delivers what some critics are already calling an instant classic. With it's impeccable production and orchestral performances; this epic, cinematic, and audibly breath-taking release will tell a story you won't forget."

Both albums are V0 VBR MP3's.