Hugo’s blog

DreamHost is trying to change the rules of selling online music and movies by introducing a new service: Files Forever. Once somebody has bought a file through this system, he or she can download it again in case the file was lost or deleted, loan it to a friend (though the way loaning works is not clear to me at this point).

This is IMO a good step forward for music and videos. The reason I still buy CDs is because I want to know that whatever happens (more or less), I’ll have access to the songs I bought. I consider them as my ultimate backup: I would not want to have spent €15 for an album and lose it completely (and this makes a lot of sense when you multiply this figure by a few hundreds), so I think that DreamHost’s idea is great.

However, I don’t see them competing with the iTunes Music Store until they have a good interface. It’s a good idea on the paper, but they will need to attract people. Maybe that will be an interesting way to sell songs for small artists who cannot get listed on iTunes (there’s not a lot of local artists there).

It does not solve all the issues of buying music online though. For example, MP3 is the king of electronic formats for music right now, but this may change. So buying a song in MP3 format is nice, but in 20 year’s time, you may want something else. I’m looking forward to the day I can buy not a file nor a physical copy of a song, but the right to listen to it on my own device (portable player, hifi system) and I will be able to get it on the electronic support I want. This is more or less what Yahoo! is getting at with Yahoo! Music Unlimited: people give Yahoo! money, and Yahoo! takes care of bringing the music to people.

As a side note, I saw in comments on the DreamHost weblog a site to buy music online: AllOfMP3. They can definitely compete with iTunes as their interface is not bad and their prices are unbeatable ($2.13 for Continuum by John Mayer!), but the legality of this service is obviously dubious.

I’m looking forward to the first real use of Files Forever.

Vendredi soir, je suis allé à l’Européen voir Ariane Moffatt et BABX. L’Européen est vraiment une salle très plaisante et intime. J’y avais déjà vu Ani DiFranco il y a 3 ans presque jour pour jour, et j’avais été enchanté de l’expérience.

J’ai été vraiment impressioné par Ariane Moffatt. D’une part, je trouve sa musique très plaisante. D’autre part, il semble que cette fille sait tout faire, et tout faire bien : chanter, jouer du piano, de la guitare, de la batterie. Je dois avouer que j’ai été bluffé par sa performance à la batterie. Sa prestation s’est terminée par La Bonne Étoile avec Mathieu Chédid, une version d’une bonne dizaine de minutes à en avoir des frissons. C’était amusant que voir M dans une si petite salle.

La deuxième partie du concert avec BABX était également très bien. J’ai adoré la plupart de leurs chansons, et eu plus de mal avec d’autres, comme On s’amuse. J’ai trouvé la musique de ce groupe très rafraichissante et diversifiée, oscillant entre le jazz et le rock.

Bref, deux artistes que je recommande chaudement.

Des photos sont disponibles sur le blog de Temoicka.

While reading what other people thought of the concerts of dEUS this week in Paris, I discovered, thanks to Isabelle, a fabulous series of photos from the night I saw them.

I would really like to how he manages to get such great pictures at shows. It probably involves a deep knowledge of photography, a lot of talent, and expensive equipment.

As a comparison, my own photos of live music shows are actually not even comparable. Though I did make some progress if you compare my laughable first attempt at capturing a live show in concert venues 6 years ago to more recent attempts (e.g. L2W or Jean-Louis Aubert).

Robert Gil’s photos are really amazing.

Pour une fois, une entrée en français.

Je suis allé voir Cali à l’Olympia mercredi soir.

Il y a un peu plus d’un an, j’avais vu Cali au Bataclan, heureux comme un gamin sur scène, allant dans la foule, et je me suis dit : dès qu’il sera une star, ca sera fini tout ça.

Un an et demi plus tard, dans une salle plus grande, sur des béquilles parce qu’il s’était bousillé le ménisque, Bruno Caliciuri était toujours là avec un plaisir visible, toujours ébahi et joyeux par la communion avec le public, sautant sur une jambe partout pendant 2h30, et se faisant porter par la foule dans toute la salle, jusque tout en haut du balcon, sans passer par les escaliers.

Les versions live de ses chansons sont superbes, et l’ambiance qu’il met dans la salle est magnifique. Bref, un concert de Cali, c’est vraiment génial, et on a vraiment l’impression de vivre une aventure avec le groupe plutot que de simplement regarder des musiciens jouer de la bonne musique.

On a également eu droit à trois invités surprise : Steve Wickham, Daniel Darc et Mathieu Chedid. Bref, une excellente soirée.

I went to see dEUS at Le Grand Rex last night. It was a private concert organized by OUI FM.

It was a good concert, but I think that I am having issues getting over the new line-up in the band. The background vocals are just not as… rough, I guess.

Also, while I think that the new album is a good album, I think it’s somewhat dissatisfying for a dEUS album. To me, it’s lacking some of the wildness of the previous ones.

One could see how Fell Off The Floor or Suds & Soda had much more energy both on stage and in the audience than the new songs, and I don’t think that it’s just because they’re newer.

So it was an OK concert, although a little short. The set list was:

1. Pocket Revolution
2. Cold Sun
3. Instant Street
4. Fell off the Floor, Man
5. Stop-Start Nature
6. The Real Sugar
7. Theme from Turnpike
8. If You Don’t Get What You Want
9. Nothing Really Ends
10. Bad Timing
11. Suds & Soda

My musical discovery of the day: Tierney Sutton , thanks to FIP.

I discovered Christian rock really exists today! A band whose message with “rock & roll is good for the soul” was playing punk rock in front of Notre Dame, with lyrics like “Je vais à la messe, et je me confesse” (“I go to church and I confess”) and cheezy covers. And plenty of people were listening to punk Christian rock.

Funny for a while, but pretty painful after 40 minutes waiting for friends to finish visiting the cathedral.

So Cartman was right: Christian rock is popular.