by SHANE SINNOTT

I dunno if it’s an age thing or a pretension thing, but I find it really hard to like products that attempt to be cool by using abnormal spelling. So when I received a press release for a new online music store called Loudtrax (loudtrax.com), I felt pretty much whatevs, but then I saw it’s based here, so I went to check it out. Their deal is that they’re the only online music store that focuses on rock, metal and punk. There are no major label releases, surprise, but there are 2,500 independents and the tracks are 99 cents (USD). Album prices seem fair—Trilogie: Toil & Peaceful Life by Molasses (not sure how that’s rock, metal or punk), for example, will run you $9.79. You can get some free preview streams at myspace.com/loudtrax.

Joel Tenenbaum, the PhD student from Boston who was being sued by record labels for zillions after sharing 30 songs over KaZaA (which seems to be a lawsuit magnet, FYI), lost his case a couple of weeks ago. After a few hours’ deliberation, a jury—that seems crazy to me, that normal people came up with this—awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song, for a total of $675K. The RIAA said, “We are grateful for the jury’s service and their recognition of the impact of illegal downloading on the music community.” Tenenbaum says he will have to file for bankruptcy.

It’s known that I’m not the biggest Radiohead fan, but I do want to point you in the direction of a new song they just released on their Web site, “Harry Patch (In Memory Of).” Harry Patch died on July 25 at age 111 and was the last surviving WWI combat soldier. The lyrics are composed of quotes from Patch, who towards the end of his life became a strong critic of the war. You can buy it for £1 from their Web site (tinyurl.com/mw73lo—money goes to Royal British Legion), or stream at tinyurl.com/koe3b5.

Lastly, I’ve been enjoying the joint EP by John Darnielle (of Mountain Goats) and John Vanderslice, Moon Colony Bloodbath, a vinyl-only concept album about organ-harvesting colonies on the moon. Go here to download a show with the new songs: tinyurl.com/cnpn5p.