Aurgasm

kids tv + exotica + scandinavian electro

Psapp + The Books + Plink Plank Plunk might be a bit of an addition simplification, but you’ll hear those elements. Cute synth bleeps and bloops, casio rhythms, and all those samples of household items that the hipster kids love oh so much. Although it’s got the construction technique of Jorgen Traeen (who worked produced Sondre Lerche, Magnet and Jaga Jazzist), I’d call the music a bit too cocktail-party-in-outer-space to show up on Grey’s Anatomy or anything mainstream. But being a low brass man, I smile at their amateur euphonium work. Well played.

Frisky, frolicsome, impish, sportive, waggish.
Toy – Golden Fish In Pool
Toy – Rabbit Pushing Mower
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Three weeks ago, I fired off an email to the IFPI, who had ordered a DMCA takedown notice for the entirety of Aurgasm’s music.

Through some back-n-forth, I was informed that the IFPI’s complaint was only addressing three songs, not all of the music. (In particular, they didn’t like the An Pierlé and the Lily Allen music being shared.) I decided to seek permission for those two artists with which I could then file a counter-notification back at the IFPI. I tried getting in touch with An Pierlé’s management at PIAS/Helicopter, but a response never came from the contact points I found. Lily’s representation proved a little more accessible. Although they did give me permission; it was granted reluctantly and only for a week’s time.

Now, since the complaint was regarding three songs, I could reinstate the rest of the music archive. For now, I’m going to hold off on that and continue to post music we have explicit permission to share. I’m going to be making a few upgrades to Aurgasm quite soon that will improve the whole experience for music fans and copyright holders. Stay tuned.

In Other News

I’ve learned that Aurgasm got a shout-out in Britain’s National Newspaper of the Year, The Guardian. We were mentioned in the sidebar about soul music blogs in The Guardian Guide this last Saturday, Nov 19. It’s not online and my local libraries don’t have it, so if any of my British brethren can hook me up with a scan of it, I’d be most appreciative.

Update! Updates!

(11/22) My good man Duncan hooked me up with a scan of the pages. (Thank you!) Check em out:

(11/27) …and we just got in a scan of Southwest Airline’s in-flight magazine Spirits, who ran an article on mp3 blogs. Aurgasm and a few of my excellent brothers were included:

minimalist folk // singer-songwriter

Kelly De Martino is an American born singer-songwriter signed with a French label. She’s worked as an actress in some TV series, films and commercials in Los Angeles, entered the world of fashion in New York City by creating clothing and saving money for leaving for Paris. French press refers to her as etrange et belle Américaine and her minimalist folky songwriting, fragile, seducing voice were already compared to Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and the vocals of Shivaree. In the acoustic version of “Bumblebees” Kelly’s voice sounds so gentle, baring its delicate, sweet and fresh sound.

Simple and nice.
Kelly De Martino – Bumblebees (Acoustic)
more

latin arabian // moroccan

Being that you’re a fully committed Aurgasm reader, you’re no doubt fully fluent in the cuban music subgenre son. Not could you only write a four page paper on how the mountainous geography of Cuban affected the flat city of Havana’s music culture, but you’ve also forced your friends to watch the Buena Vista Social Club movie several times. Well today I’ve got a Moroccan version of Compay Segundo, god rest his soul. Rhany brings the full force of Buena Vista’s “Chan Chan” along with an Arabian twist.

Cuban beauty with Moroccan flair.
Rhany – Chan Chan (Buena Vista Social Club Cover)

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idm // indietronic // abstract instrumental

Mickey Eats Plastic is very kind and friendly duo, Lucz & Bluermutt, from Rome, Italy. With custom-written software they toss together field recordings, guitars, electric bass, synths, and squeak toys into their compositions. Electronic music fans will feel the flavors of Kim Hiorthøy, The Books, and Xploding Plastix in M.E.P’s creations. If you’re not an electronic music fan, these might not twiddle your brain as nicely. The tracks below are off their new album, People Eating Tasty People, which they generously licensed under Creative Commons. (That means its free, kids!)

They say, “We’re simply trying to make nice music.” They succeed.
Mickey Eats Plastic – A Transitorily Abstract Piece Of Music
Mickey Eats Plastic – Every April
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urban soul

Gilles Peterson would be proud of me. Mr Peterson, radio host on BBC Radio 1 and one of my favorite DJs, has an affinity for a particular sound. What is that sound like? These adjectives might get you close: urban, sultry, smooth, jazzy, funky. And all those are perfectly applicable to New Orleans songstress Voice who just dropped a new CD on Toronto’s Public Transit Recordings. A grooving rhythm section and an eccentric tempo curl around Voice’s.. umm”¦ voice. The result is close to the current West Coast soul sound (a la Raul Campos’ Nocturna show on KCRW).

Tight little one for the head nodders and the soul sistas.
Voice – Know Rhythm
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singer-songwriter // urban-folk-blues

If I told you Piers’ producer also worked with Ben Harper and Jack Johnson, you might hold it against him, you might reckon you can predict his sound, or you may hear in his music an attention to detail that surprises you. Not that there’s a lot of musical elements fighting to be heard; we have Piers’ candlelight voice and his Martin 018 complemented by a sparse but perfect instrumentation. (Listen close: Ben Harper and Inara George lend backing vocals.) As luck has it, his tour is hitting New York, Boston and Philly this week; perfect aural setting for your next date. ;-)

A multicultural background that creates a simplicity of sound.
Piers Faccini – If I
Piers Faccini – Sharpening Bone
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Since Aurgasm’s launch over two years ago, I have been putting all of aurgasm’s mp3s in this folder called /tracks/. If you had pulled it up in your web browser, it was a directory listing of all the music I’ve posted for the past 6-8 months. What you may consider a treasure trove for you, the IFPI (essentially a worldwide RIAA) considered it a violation of the DMCA. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is what the RIAA uses to sue dead grandmas without computers, claiming they’re sharing mp3s.

So what happened the other day?

Thursday, the IFPI contacted my webhost and had them remove all the mp3s on my site. No further legal action is being taken (that’s a good thing), but all of aurgasm’s music is gone for the moment.

…and thank you.

I appreciate the outpour of support everyone has given. Fellow bloggers have been educated by my mistakes and supportive of my plight. Aurgasm’s readers have eager to help; offering to document their purchases that came from this site and more. For the moment, be comfortable and sit tight. Things will hopefully return to normal quickly.

So what now?

Aurgasm will continue to feature your favorite music you’ve never heard, but we’ll be thorough in obtaining permission to share the music we need to share. Up to now, a good portion of the music on Aurgasm has been posted with artists’ (or their representatives’) consent, though not all. I am eager to put Aurgasm’s music back online, but need to first get legal consent from all artists to share their wares. I’m in the midst of communications with the IFPI to rectify the situation.

With sage advice from EJ of Loudersoft, I fired off this email to the IFPI this morning:

To Whom It May Concern:

1) I have permission from the record label, PR company or the artist directly for many of the tracks posted on my site. Additionally, some of them are not copyrighted whatsoever, therefore it’s unlawful to claim to represent the copyright for all of them.
2) If there are any specific examples of tracks that you consider to be in violation, you are required under U.S. jurisdiction to provide me with complete and full disclosure of the specific offending items.
3) If you fail to respond to this with the appropriate information on or before November 1st, 2006, I will assume that the IFPI is withdrawing their DMCA complaint, that it has no further merit, and that I am exempt from future action on this claim.

-Paul Irish
http://aurgasm.us

Stay tuned for more music and hopefully less drama. :)

We have received a formal DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice
regarding allegedly infringing content hosted on your site. The specific
items in question are as follows:

The party making the complaint (International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry), claims under penalty of perjury to be or
represent the copyright owner of these works. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §
512(c), we have removed access to the files in question.

lounge vocal jazz // scandinavian jazz

I came home from work grumpy and needed something upbeat. A track I couldn’t ignore. A clever hook I couldn’t help but smile at. Some percussion to make me nod my head and tap my fingers. I found exactly what I needed in Koop’s “Come to Me”. Horns. Cymbals. Hand claps. Classy, seductive vocals. It’s really just jazz, but it’s smooth and clean. When you tire of the syrupy sweetness, “Drum Rhythm A” is a crisp palate cleanser. Both these tracks glide off the new release Koop Islands.

Classic, classy, comfortable.
Koop – Come To Me
Koop – Drum Rhythm A
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