Grey Tuesday

Grey Tuesday

So, if you haven't heard... DJ Danger Mouse (a guy who reportedly has done gigs wearing a large mouse costume) has mixed a cut-up of Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' White Album to create... The Grey Album.

On a purely critical level, the Grey Album is an interesting reenvisioning of Jay-Z's album but shouldn't be considered a tribute to the Beatles. While the mixes are smart, they are frequently sloppy with the White Album samples. As a an album, it pales to a great number of official releases and really doesn't deserve some of the frothing accolades it is receiving.

But.

It's free.

And.

It's become the centerpiece of a copyright litigation protest called Grey Tuesday, which is occuring right now as I type this. EMI has threatened lawsuits on sites distributing the free musical experiment, and so these sites and many others (maybe on principle, maybe caught up in the excitement) are distributing the album anyway on this day.

However, as neat as it is, I don't think the Grey Album is strong enough a piece of art to become a rallying banner for actual change. And, as I've said before on other issues, the problem is that the protest groups are stirring the muck, but they're not guiding the solution. Grass-roots groups like Downhill Battle do an excellent job of piquing public interest, but they end up losing the long term debate by not engaging law-makers and officials with sensible solutions or interpretations.

But. Hats off to Downhill Battle (and all other Grey Tuesday participants)for standing up to the internet-infamous Cease and Desist letters. Even if there could be better long-term strategies, their short-term efforts are a noble attempt to seize back the power on the internet from corporate powers that are claiming it as their own.