Just about a week ago, Josh and I actually followed through on something and attended the infamous and first annual DeLoach Peer 2 Beer Party, a crafty name that essentially means ‘young people getting together to copy music illegally whilst bottles of beer sit in ice tubs.’ (Mom, I told you the truth when I said I hate beer, in fact I share Dooce’s philosophy that, “if you’re going to be putting that many calories into your body [it should] at least taste like a chocolate cake”!)

Rozie did a fabulous job with all the food and their house looked (and always looks) SO amazing: think Brandon’s art show, but the medium is interior design. We got to meet a lot of really cool people, whom I hope to see again… I did hear that there were a select few who may not have shown up at the party due to the illegalness of the copying of said music, but let me assure you this was no gathering of powerbooks linked into an evil network solely to pump out multiple copies of entire albums with the intent of scamming ASCAP and our beloved artists. Oh, no. Here each person was asked to bring three songs he/she wished to bless the group with. The songs played during the party and we discussed/listened/mused/laughed and went home with “a” CD** that I’ll honestly say is only encouraging entire album purchases for artists who deserve way more credit than they’re getting on our horrible “radio should be free” payola-run top 40 stations.

Josh and I firmly believe that true peer-to-peer music sharing (with the intent of buying) is a necessity to build a following around bands you would otherwise never hear. So go start your own P2P party, and Google some of these bands while you’re at it (who may or may not have been featured at the D’s party):

My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, Belle & Sebastian, Stars, The Gabe Dixon Band, Electric Light Orchestra, Arcade Fire, Beta Band, Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Josh Rouse, New Pornographers (not what it sounds like), Say Hi To Your Mom, Super Furry Animals, Frou Frou, Hooverphonic, The Streets, Elevator Drops, Hum, Louis XIV, and Great Lake Swimmers.

I can’t wait for the next one…

*A DeLoachism.
**Dear Lawyers: This disc no longer exists, except in the form of playlists that were purchased legally through iTunes. Anything we didn’t buy was disliked and subsequently destroyed.