i can't seem to find the features' mp3 site. i don't know if it was moved, closed, or if i'm just not typing it in right. here's what i thought it was-

http://sweb.uky.edu/klhaut~2/music

any help would be greatly appreciated

This was not a site provided by The Features. It was simply a fan's site. He must have taken it down. Sorry.

I also would like to see it up and running again, but as the features gain popularity It's kinda nice to have something that isn't accessible(sp) to newer fans jumping on the features bandwagon. yeah, so that sounded much more arrogant than I really feel. Perhaps some of you feel this way but can explain it better.

Back to the original question. Last time I checked -a few weeks ago- all of the personal sites from that host were down. Perhaps things will be back shortly?

oh well. thanks anyways.

well, it looks like the school's site is back up. I guess the person who created it decided to take it down permanently. I figured this would happen as the band began to put out high quality material for sale. Ahh well, it'd still be nice to have it back for a day or so, i never got any of the new songs

(Edited by joeywade at 2:44 am on Jan. 20, 2004)

Yeah, only since I got a copy of 11-7-03 (thanks Joey) did I find a lot of Features tracks that I'd want to download from that site. I got about six or seven, but oh well...

You already hit on it with your subsequent post, but just to re-iterate: It's probably better that this site is down now that the popularity of the Features is speading and many "Features virgins" will start looking for downloads out of curiosity. Seeing that the band did not authorize this site, the material contained within is not likely to be the material the band and management want the public to hear as a first introduction to the band.

To reiterate:

It was never my intention to run a "Features MP3 site." The "site" which you refer to was a single web page located on my student web account at the University of Kentucky.

To teach myself PERL, I wrote a CGI script that allowed individuals to anonymously upload MP3s, which would then be automatically indexed by their ID3 tags. There seemed to be some interest on the message board in trading live recordings of the Features--and the band seemed indifferent to this activity--so I let the message board know about my page and invited people to use it for this purpose.

My disk space quota was rapidly exceded, so I had to delete files periodically. I then had to deal with bitchy e-mails from people whining that file X was no longer available, and did I have a copy, etc.

In addition, almost nobody bothered to fill in the correct ID3 tag information on the files they uploaded. So, the index page was a giant mess. Finding anything was difficult. Just to repeat: the cool thing about the script was that it automatically indexed files by ID3 tags. If nobody uses the tags, it kinda defeats the purpose, dontcha think?

As I said before, it was never my intention to run a Features MP3 site. The last time I purged the upload directory, it sat empty for over a month. Seeing as how nobody was using it anymore, I deleted the page entirely. I did not even retain copies of the MP3 files myself. They just weren't that important to me. Any time I want to hear the Features live, I can go see them play.

(Edited by khautala at 5:01 pm on Jan. 20, 2004)

Thanks for everything Khautala! It was great while it lasted. I'm glad I'm not in that category of those who send "bitchy e-mails". Ungrateful bastards!

ditto, I considered your site a treasure trove and since I never knew who to thank before; Thanks! Like Carl said, it was great while it lasted!

I always had mixed feelings about the site. My main problem was that it made some rarities too accessible. Some things are rare for a reason, like the demo version of "Circus" that was on there. I got a track or two off of it, and I was thankful for them.

Well, for what it's worth, I got my friend addicted to The Features through some of the MP3s up there...so it did some good in its lifetime. Thanks, khautala.

Why is preserving a song's rarity so important? I think it's completely irrelevant, unless the band specifically does not want something in circulation. Just because I haven't been a fan since the beginning doesn't mean that I (and relatively new fans like me) don't deserve to hear the rare stuff. Finding "lost" or "dead" songs is fun and interesting, and it provides a good insight into the band's history. I think the only problem with having rare songs in circulation would be someone trying to make a profit from them after the band "makes it big." Speaking specifically of the Circus demo, I think this is one of the best recordings I have, not because of the quality (or lack thereof) but because of the sense of the band's personality conveyed in their earlier days. I've wanted to say something about this for a while, so I guess it all just came out at once...

I wasn't aware the demo of circus was all that rare. It's probably my favorite recording of a features song to date... actually, its my favorite recording of ANY song to date.

I agree. Please clarify, YDDD.

Well having rare things that other people don't have is a good way to prove how better of a fan you are than those people that only have album material. Preferably, you periodically mention this rare stuff you have but refuse to share it with anyone else. That way you can keep your status of being special, and still have something to lord over people's heads.

Ohhhhhhhh kinda like being a Saudi?

To jump to YDDD's defense, when he says that "Circus is rare for a reason" I took it to mean that the band isn't very happy with it. Which I can understand. I actually rather love the recording (though I've cleaned it up as best I can), but it isn't a clean recording, and there are other problems the band might have with it.

Unlike the Mahaffey sessions, "Circus" probably didn't see *any* kind of intense production, so I imagine the band feels like it is out of their hands.

Will

I for one wasn't accusing YDDD of what I stated previously. However I know it true in many cases.

In all this, I will let everyone know first and foremost that I have not ruled out the possibility that I am indeed completely selfish.

Anyway, I just was unclear on the purpose of that site.

Was it a site for Features fans to share the rarest of the rare?

Was it a place for people who were curious about the band to find music?

I saw links to that site from both the White Stripes and Self message boards. I'm sure they were elsewhere. I feel that version 2 of this website does a fine job of providing a curious party with plenty of examples of the Features' music. I thought that poorly encoded mp3s of studio material and live music were poor representations of the Features to be spreading around. If its function was to help new fans, I wish it could have been sensitive about some of those lesser recordings. (That's all I have to add to Wiyum clarifying for me).

My other problem was one that Khautala mentioned, and that is that it was disorganized. I was hoping that it would have an entire set for download from time to time or something like that, but it never came about.

I think I've discussed this all before.

well, I'm guilty for the link on the white stripes message board, but my hands are clean when it comes to all matters dealing with SELF. I love everything the Features have ever done (with the exception of one or two songs) and so it never crossed my mine that others might think of certain songs as bad or not like the band because of an older, unpolished version. However I can definitely see your point, and in hindsight perhaps I shouldn't have posted a link to that page.

Fair enough, YDDD.

For me, the site always seemed to be by Features fans for Features fans, with an emphasis on live recordings and the hard-to-find stuff - kind of a really crude version of the "downloads" section on selfies.com. Definitely not for beginners.

I guess I just thought that if the Features really had a problem with the site or the content on it, they would've taken action.

Well, in any event, thanks for the site, khautala. I definitely picked up some gems there.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 11:56 pm on Jan. 20, 2004)

I agree. While I think it's important to help "preserve" our favorite band's image by being enthusiastic and promotional with their material toward friends and such, I think it's silly to so specifically regulate what gets out there. Being a perfectionist, I can understand a band not wanting some of their lesser material being "outed," but as a music lover/collector, I like to have anything I can get, no matter how bad the quality is. If I were in a band, I would take it as a compliment.

Unless you were hording material for a future boxed set...ahem, ahem.

I'll still buy it.

Or you don't want people to download "Extension Cord" assuming that it's characteristic of your current sound. Come on people, think about it! Whether or not you like the whole catalogue is irrelevant. When a band gets a certain amount of notoriety, they really have to consider their image. They're not selling out, they're making sound business decisions.

I completely and totally agree with you Carl.

It's still a damn good song.