Cloudkicker

I just heard about this band called Cloudkicker. They friggen rule, in case you were wondering. This is how I used my cloud to find Cloudkicker.

I wake up, get out of bed, and start making coffee. This happens in real life. Not the cloud. I open my computer. This is where human reality ends and digital cloudcity begins. Hmm, anything good on metalsucks? Oh look, these bands that are pretty good are going on tour. Look at the dates. No one good ever comes to Higher Ground. Who's opening for them? The Atlas Moth. Go to bandcamp page. Listen to first 45 seconds of song until vocals come in. Ok. Not in to The Atlas Moth. Who else? Cloudkicker. Go to Cloudkicker's bandcamp page. First three minutes of song is just ambient nature noise, so skip three minutes and two seconds in. Woa. Pretty good. Go to youtube, where I find Cloudkicker's latest album, Subsume, in its entirety. Press play, exit cloud, wash dishes for 45 minutes while banging my head and reveling in musical happenstance. Dishes done. Dry hands. Pour more coffee. Re-enter cloud. Go to thepiratebay, see if anyone's sharing any of Cloudkickers music. Cloudkicker discography 2008-2013. DOWNLOAD. Six minutes later, transfer eight Cloudkicker albums into iTunes. Put the one I'm most in to on my iPhone so I can listen to it whenever I need to thrash. Send group text to bandmates telling them to check out Cloudkicker because they friggen rule. Put newest album in my google drive and share with bandmates so they can thrash, too. Exit cloud. Pour more coffee. Press play in iTunes and listen to Cloudkicker "Subsume" again, and finish doing dishes.

Man oh man. What would I do without the cloud? I'd have to watch MTV, which I don't even think plays music anymore, to try to hear about new bands.Or, I could stay up way past my bedtime at concerts of bands I've never heard of, probably just to find out that once they start singing, there's nothing left to like. God forbid I'd actually have to BUY music.

Five years ago, this probably would have looked pretty similar. Some of the names different, but the process the same. Maybe myspace instead of bandcamp for the band's website, and any number of file-sharing sites that have since been shut down instead of thepiratebay.com. Anyone remember Mediafire? All of those .zip and .rar files? Those were the days.

People were definately skecpical about the cloud's potential five years ago. This week's articles looked at an angle I had never considered, though: The clouds ability to generate revenue. When I'm using my google drive, I'm not necessarily thinking of who's pockets are filling up as a result. Is the money I pay my internet provider then paying google? Money is confusing. I have my internet account set up so that my bill is taken straight from my bank account every month. I hardly even think about it, and go about my computing assuming that everything is made available for free by some benevolant compu-diety. Clearly, not the case. Who in the one percent is making a killing as the clouds power and accessibility swells?

Also, I can't tell you how many user agreements I've blown right past in the past month. Borrrrrrrinnnngggggg. What's the worst that could happen, right? A few years back, my gmail account did get compromised, and I was denied access to it. Luckily, I was 19 and had dropped out of school and had nothing important in it. The blow would land a little closer to home today, though, if either someone got in to my account or I lost access to it. As I grow up, and my responsibilities grow with me, I stand to lose more if my cloud gets kicked.