The internets love them some Muxtape, the site that lets you upload MP3s and arrange them in a mix without needing any fancy software. I was unconvinced, though Muxfind, a new search engine that lets you search for Muxtapes by the songs inside, does make it easier to find people with similar taste — and to judge them. Try searching for LCD Soundsystem and observe the way a band’s fanbase can align itself with hipsterifically good (Steely Dan, Clock DVA) or just terrifically bad (MGMT, Gorillaz) and see no evil either way. Once again, Web 2.0 reminds us that hell is other people. (http://muxfind.com/)
AN URBAN DILEMMA
Now, before I recommend fashionable clothing chain Urban Outfitters’ Summer Mix to you, know this: I am cheap. And when Urban Outfitters posts a batch of MP3s from M83, Holy Fuck, These New Puritans, Hercules and Love Affair and plenty more on their website for you to download for free, I will happily click on it and recommend it to others.
Should I feel conflicted about such rampant commercialization of indie music? Hmm, dunno — should a hobo worry about the treatment of the cows that went into the half-eaten McDonald’s cheeseburger he just scored in a dumpster? It’s free, dumbasses. Now quick, help me scrape the dirt off this apple pie. (http://tinyurl.com/5d7l3v)
MP3 OF THE WEEK
Kleerup, “Until We Bleed feat. Lykke Li (Mikael’s Cello Version)”: You know him as a Robyn aide-de-camp, but it’s with Lykke Li and a slow-moving cello that Swedish producer Andreas Kleerup manages to seize our hearts. Li deliciously spits out the opening lines’ halting melodrama — “Naked / I’m numb / I’m stupid, I’m staying / and if Cupid’s got a gun / then he’s shooting” — pronouncing every syllable like she might theatrically keel over at any moment. So goth! So cute! (http://tinyurl.com/3n6x6u)