Greed and Stupidity
So now the RIAA is suing 12-year-old girls for downloading music. And 71-year-old grandfathers. And divorced mothers of teenagers. And anyone else they pick out at random.

Bastards.

You know, there's a lot of great music out there that the RIAA doesn't control. There are literally dozens of great artists all over the world waiting for you to discover them. And if you're like me, one of life's sweeter joys is discovering some brilliant musician or band that you never knew even existed before. There's no need to settle for the pablum the big media companies try to foist on us. I'm not telling you to boycott the RIAA (although it's certainly worth considering); I'm urging you to go out and find all the great music that's out there that isn't controlled by plutocrats who seem to feel the need to sue 12-year-old girls.

How do you know whether something comes from an RIAA member company? Just go here.

Here's a list of some of my favorites to help you get started:

Warren Zevon - The Wind, Life'll Kill Ya
Lori Carson - House in the Weeds (you can order it direct from her website)
Gigi - One Ethiopia
Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo (The Special Remix Edition on Ziriguiboom - if you want the original, email me and I'll burn you a copy)
Gilberto Gil - Refavela
Paco de Lucia/Eric Montoya - Flamenco Romantico
Like Irish music? - check out Green Linnet records. I'm partial to Altan and Wolfstone.
Putumayo puts out great collections from all over the world, as well as individual artists like Oliver Mtukudzhe.
The Texas Music Group brings together a bunch of great Texas labels like Antones and Watermelon records, so you can find Toni Price, Don Walser, The Derailers, and more.

And go out and see some live music. A bigger percentage of your dollar goes to the artist than it does when you buy a CD.