Tokyo Police Club
TPC
Scene Point Blank: What are your top five albums that were released in 2007?
- Radiohead - In Rainbows
- Okkervil River - The Stage Names
- Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
- The National - Boxer
- Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Scene Point Blank: How will you remember 2007? (In terms of music)
I'm sure that when I'm an old, grumpy man, I'll have forgotten what year anything was released. Hell, I'm already pretty fuzzy on the release dates of most of the records I own. But looking back on the year now, the main theme is certainly the continued transition of the whole industry from its old ways to some new territory that no one knows about yet. So we'll see how that plays out...
Scene Point Blank: What kind of impact do you think donation-based releases like Radiohead, Saul Williams, etc? will have on the record industry?
Probably not as much of one as people are expecting. Not yet, anyway. I think we'll see the major labels start to lose ground a bit. The really big bands, like Radiohead, may start experimenting with self-releasing their music, and the indie labels will continue to gain footing the way they have been recently. But mostly, things will probably stay the same.
Scene Point Blank: 2007 saw the decommissioning of two prominent file-sharing groups - Demonoid and Oink. What kind of impact will the increased crackdown on file-sharing have on the record industry? Did it personally have an effect on you?
I don't download music anymore so it meant nothing to me. What a waste of time and resources by the record industry, though. It seems obvious by now that file-sharing isn't going to go away, and all these stupid lawsuits and legal actions just make the whole industry look like idiots. Hopefully soon someone will figure that out and start working on productive ways to make file-sharing work for everyone. Or maybe we'll just all hire more lawyers. Hooray!
Scene Point Blank: What can we look forward to from your band in 2008?
A new record and lots more touring.
Scene Point Blank: What three records are you looking forward to most in 2008?
Chinese Democracy, baby.
