I recently asked Neil Hagerty what his feelings on file sharing were. Here is what he had to say.

-Me 'n the Big Dawg

"I am ok with it, it is like the olde argument about cassettes to me but hyperspaced. It is stealing, I guess, but music is meant to be heard. So I'm not a 'copyfighter' or whatever, if the RIAA wants to try and clamp down, good luck to them. Drag City try to do what they can to protect their files, requesting take downs etc. Sometimes it is easier to just get on iTunes etc and quickly pay 99 cents, sometimes it is not. Sometimes you can afford it, sometimes not. I'd rather that the person hear what they're looking for.

The greatest thing about this to me is the death of the fucking ALBUM. I'll be glad to see that finally replaced by playlists and mix tapes. A world of Greatest Hits!" -NH http://www.howlinghex.com/diary/1552/#1574

There you have it. Piracy is good for artists. Albums are bad for artists and listeners alike. Anyone telling you otherwise is either brainwashed or has a wad of $$ bundled up in some shit publishing company. Viva free universal access! -DC

:::Tyvek "Mutant Love - Live in Hamtramck":::

“Tyvek is rejects! Tyvek is rejects! Tyvek is rejects,” chants Timmy Vulgar, artist, taco chef, and front man of Human Eye and Timmy’s Organism, into the spittle-soaked microphone. Moments later Tyvek rips into “Outer Limits” and closes this marathon set at the Painted Lady in Hamtramck, MI.

Tyvek’s live sound is rife with self-effacement, sabotage, chaos and the attitude indicative of a band that has nothing to lose. They live in a wasteland. They have no prospects. In their world, the apocalypse has already happened but that doesn’t bother them. Actually, they’re glad that everyone is gone so they can do what they want. Here, the reject is celebrated. In Detroit, the world of burnt out buildings, urban deserts, and nothing but sprawl to stretch your legs in, the reject is Adonis and creativity is Zeus. 

I picked this tape up in Ann Arbor, MI, from Shelley, formerly of Tyvek and currently of Swimsuit and Saturday Looks Good To Me. I didn’t know anything about it and I had been under the impression that Tyvek had broken up. I didn’t know it was live and I’m not sure she did either. As she told me, “They [Tyvek] like to release lots of different versions of the same songs…”

Mutant Love contains feedback, off-key singing, drinking, banter, slobbering, and whacked out keyboard runs. Despite the description, this set is actually not technically sloppy in the least bit. Tyvek’s music is composed with the intention of sounding this way. That’s why we writers call them “art punks.” In that regard the performance is really an exemplary relic of the band in their prime and they sound great. Mutant Love is just as good as Fast Metabolism.

Tyvek - Mutant Love: Live in Hamtramck Cassette