i am happy to inform you that a limited edition of the remedy cd will be in stores tomorrow. it is double disc, one being the remedy cd with one additional track, the radio version of “never let go” which in my opinion is way cooler than the album version, and also a dvd that has 4 live songs from our remedy tour. i genuinely can’t wait for you to see them. they were recorded in atlanta at the tabernacle and new york city at the hammerstein ballroom and are a peek at what’s to come. oh! and i had them include the foreverandever etc... video as it may cause you to smile when you behold it on something other than a computer screen in all of its uncompressed glory. magnificent.



my favorite comment comes from brody and it is this: @jessylindaz - David knows better than to give me best comment. But thanks for noticing

a few other comments i thought were particularly fantastic:

this one submitted by emprise34, he even titled it:

title: overly verbose response to the comments surrounding
the previously released “official bad news” [sic]

i must apologize, and i hope it is not too late. i made a
few assumptions in my happy post about the remedy limited edition release. i
know you to be informed readers that want for nothing outside of greater good
to exist in the world, which is why you and i get along so well, so, i should
have taken the opportunity of this release to inform you what purposes limited
editions serve and to what end they exist and how possibly they came to be and
why in turn you may or may not be interested in them.

i’d first like to say, my hope was to simply inform those
who might care for such a thing, that we were offering such a thing. this
seemed obvious to me. however, i now feel the need to acknowledge a major
fundamental assumption and it was this: that you, being a music lover as
am i, make your musical purchase decisions the same way i do. that is,
obviously, a ludicrous and self centered assumption – to assume we are the
same. i mean granted, there have been signs at times that this was the case,
but never-the-less, it is a flawed assumption. for this i am sorry.

so i shall first describe my personal reaction to artists i
enjoy releasing limited editions of projects i already own.

ok, if say, jimmy buffet (universal crowd pleaser example)
released a limited edition of “fruitcakes” i would not buy it. i own most of
jimmy buffet’s cds. they are pleasant to listen to while sitting in sunshine. they
also make you think of sunshine when it is cloudy and you are in a bad mood. i
like his “jimmy buffet” album best. i would say i mildly like jimmy buffet.

if say, “the frames” (band from dublin whose lead singer is
one academy award winner glen hansard) released a limited edition of “the cost”
(“the frames” latest album) and all they added was a sticker of a beaver on the
front i would buy it. if they released different versions of the cover with
different stickers, with like say a duck, a rabbit, an ox and some type of
amphibian, not a salamander, i would totally buy each of the covers so i would
have all of the animals. i would say i really like the frames.

i am the same way with books. i bought all 3 versions of
dave eggers’ “heartbreaking work of staggering genius”. all that changed was
the cover. one edition completely eliminated a rather large portion of the
first edition and i was pleased to do this, buy the same book again, but with
less in it. i enjoyed it. i also bought all 3 editions of his “they shall know
our velocity”. the second release was re-titled “sacrament” and was exactly the
same as the first except it included an insert from one of the characters in
the book. then it was re-released for imprint distribution and re-titled “they
shall know our velocity!” the difference being the exclamation point in the
title. this was thrilling to me, i kid you not. i am not well.

but this is what i do. when i am deeply moved by an artist i
want to participate fully in all that they are attempting to produce and
distribute. i have been touched and i wish to touch back and this is the means
i have been given to lessen the distance between us.

then there is this: i have knowledge of a few advantages
that limited edition cds afford to artists. i regret that i made the assumption
that these advantages are obvious.

you may have noticed that cds are no longer afforded the
shelf life that they previously were given. this is in large part due to the
devaluation of music, monetarily speaking, and, in small part, due to the
growth of electronic distribution. both of these result in the hard artifact no
longer having the ability to cover the necessary costs for retail stores to
permit it shelf space that could instead hold a twinkie or something useful or
in demand. new releases and a handful of mega sellers are afforded the ever
coveted placement that says, “hey look, over here, you may find something
special,” and stores have no reason or incentive to reorder/restock a cd that
has been available for a good bit of time. a limited edition, however, is
viewed by retail as a new artifact. this means that the shelf life of this item
has been effectively extended, and, for the artist and the person who believes
in and supports this artist and thinks other people should also hear and
support this artist, this is, obviously, a good thing.

now, here’s the punch line: i’m ok with being your “jimmy
buffet”, but i really want to be your “frames”.

we’re trying to make music that pulls at the soul in a
special way and for those of you whom have felt this, thank you for
communicating such by making sacrifices, crazy sacrifices at times, to do so.
we’re blown away and inspired that anything we would do would be useful to you,
or move you, or become something that is special to you in some fashion. this
is both ridiculous and exactly what we’d hope.

for those of you whom we have not had that transcendent
connection, i’ll offer this: i doubt i would take the time to comment on jimmy
buffet’s blog to inform him that i’ll not be buying his limited edition
“fruitcakes” cd or lecture him on the evils of the limited edition. that would
seem to me strange in some way. i’m pretty sure i would feel rather foul
inside if i were to do so and thus i would want to avoid this, the feeling foul
inside. and i’d kinda figure that jimmy would already expect that whoever would
be interested in something like this would buy it and whoever wasn’t wouldn’t
and to tell him that i would be one of those who wouldn’t might be, at best,
unnecessary or, at worst, a bit cruel, maybe, depending on jimmy’s sensitivity.

unless, of course i wished to inform jimmy that i would
really, really like to purchase his limited edition but am currently flat dusty
broke and see no possible means of dollar bill acquisitions on the immediate
horizon, and please, dearest jimmy, let this be no reflection whatsoever on the
abundance of love and happy thoughts i hold regarding you. i’m sure jimmy would
smile endlessly after reading such a thing and wish that he could simply drop a
limited edition fruitcakes cd in the mail to me for being so thoughtful as to
make his day by saying such a thing in the comments section of his blog. yeah,
i’m pretty sure he’d love me forever.
love,
jimmy or glen

and this one, also submitted by emprise34:

i deleted two of murlough23's comments as i felt they did not paint him in the best light. he did reiterate his point that he doesn't think it is proper to make people pay for the same songs again, but in doing so he made a few comments that were unnecessary and not very productive, i think. but to be fair, i'll state again on his behalf. he really doesn't like it when bands, or disney, release limited or special editions of things previously released. he, murlough23, really wants you to know that and then he will feel better. he views himself as sort of a consumer watch dog. he really, really doesn't want me to dupe you into buying the same thing twice; so, if you don't understand that the entire remedy cd is in this limited edition release of remedy, well then, please know that the only thing you are getting for your money is a different version of "never let go" (which murlough23 thinks is a crappy song anyway) and 4 live songs filmed in hd from the remedy club tour (which murlough23 apparently doesn't like live versions of songs 99% of the time, unless he is there, and would just prefer to listen to the studio version) and of course the foreverandever etc... video.
love,
david

and there was this one, also by emprise34:

dearest @murlough23 -

just because i make something does not give you the right to
it nor does it obligate me to allow you access to it. there are things i create
that i do not wish to share with the public at large. the act of creating and
the offering of the result of this act is a fragile transaction and i would
prefer to be selective with what i allow you to participate in as the general
public can be quite venomous and speak quickly without complete information or knowledge or tact or an awareness or concern toward the potential harm they might inflict, as
evidenced by your comment here.

to validate my opinion on this i’ll use as
example your humbly offered suggestion that we should have included the
“better” version of the song on the cd in the first place. this is truly a
fantastic suggestion. near genius, i dare say. why in the world don’t more
bands do that, you know, include the best version of songs on their cd? dang.
that’s such a better idea than including the lesser versions. thank you. we’ll
keep that in mind for future recordings because that is absolute gold. however, in
this case we did not have this particular version of the song until we were
mid-way through our remedy tour and had the great fortune of playing the
song night after night in a live setting. but yeah, freaking heck, we should
from now on include the best versions of songs on our recordings, or, as you
said, just not call the recording finished until we do so.

except we wouldn't have been on tour had we not called the recording finished and therefore would never have created this skull crushing version of the song that we should have included the first time, but i think what you're suggesting is seriously brilliant. please, include more of your thoughts in the comment section of my blog so that
we all my live better fuller lives.

and finally, dearest murlough23, if you'll include a mailing address, i'll be happy to send you the new limited edition (the one you should have just waited to buy) free of charge so you won't hold such bitterness regarding your contribution to our cause.

your humble servant,
david.

and then there was this one, also by emprise34:

dearest @murlough23 -
you frustrate me by making too many jaded assumptions. you have too many issues for me to engage in a healthy exchange. to deny my offer to send you this cd is simply pompous and a direct refute of your claim that i'm not your jimmy buffet. call me shallow, but if jimmy buffet offered to send me a puffy tick i'd be thrilled. i would go to the mailbox waiting for the tick to arrive and when it got here i would say, "hey, jimmy buffet sent me a tick that probably started out puffy but is now sort of dried out and dead." i'm wondering if you enjoy the anonymity the internet offers and therefore refuse to include an address as it makes no sense whatsoever to me that you would refuse the offer of my hand. and, i don't even have a clue where to put "i don't like live recordings." you're just not right inside and we do not appreciate music in the same way.
love,
less than jimmy

and, yes, this is ridiculous, but seriously, this also notable, and from emprise34; what searing, insightful words he pens:

@jenny - yes. send me a message with your address and i'll send you murlough23's cd.
love,
glen

so, i'm in nashville for what is known as GMA week and was asked to blog about it for cmcentral, an online entity that specializes in all things gospel music related. i thought you might enjoy. also, it seems rather important that you comment so that all of the good people at cmcentral notice your attentive reading and response skillz (yes, with a z) and make life for me better in general. i'll probably post a few more times before wed, which is the end of the festivities. here's the link: click here for the official, from my vantage point, behind the scenes of what is called by very informed people - GMA week in Nashville TN. completely awesome.