by SHANE SINNOTT

Here at the Load-Down, we have a longstanding belief that the RIAA’s habit of suing people who share music online is completely asinine: it’s expensive, stops nothing and puts the RIAA in the role of corporate Goliath to millions of little Davids out there, innocently sharing a little music. It’s more complicated than that, of course, but that’s what you end up coming away with when you read about these guys suing college kids and single mothers.

So it was nice to hear that, a few weeks ago, a defendant was awarded legal fees in a dropped case against the RIAA for the first time. Deborah Foster was sued back in 2004—the RIAA eventually dropped the case, but Foster counter-sued for fees and won last month, when the plaintiffs were ordered to pay $68,685.23. The great part is that a month after the ruling, on Aug 15, Foster had to return to court in an attempt to collect her fees, as the jackasses at the RIAA were still stalling. “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley is here: tinyurl.com/37wvwd.

Tomorrow night, the first of four much-ballyhooed Wolf Parade shows happens at Sala Rossa. The internet (go figure) has been rife with speculation but, thus far, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to expect a new album for a little while yet; members have been busy with side projects, and the standard track leaks that precede an album’s release haven’t happened. But for now, enjoy these old favourites: “Shine a Light” (tinyurl.com/2m9z9q) and “I’ll Believe in Anything” (tinyurl.com/37vv4a).

And for other shows this week, I’m just going to go right ahead and give you some tracks to download, sparing you my descriptions: Professor Murder’s “Champion” (tonight, Thursday, Aug. 23, at Lambi): tinyurl.com/25xpqs; Dirty Projectors’ “Police Story” (Friday, Aug. 24 at Casa del Popolo), from their new album, Rise Above, which is a by-memory recreation of Black Flag’s “Damaged”: tinyurl.com/ywcpfy; Camera Obscura’s “County Mile” (Saturday, Aug. 25 at le National): tinyurl.com/yv8cp9; Stereo Total’s “I Am Naked” (Monday, Aug. 27 at la Tulipe): tinyurl.com/ys3ego. Alright then, go get your tickets.