Whenever rare, heretofore unheard recordings from our favorite artists “leak” to the internet, we always wonder how the tracks got out there, and it was no different with Karen O’s bedroom demos. Well we may have some answers — from sources close to the situation. Stereogum reader M wrote us this email, with the subject “I am the Karen O demo leak”:
I received the “KO At Home” CD from a friend who found it in Dave Sitek’s old apartment — apparently Sitek up and left one day, leaving behind two suitcases. My friend was going to throw it out with the rest of the junk, but I wanted to give the disk as a birthday present to my roommate. Last night, I decided to make MP3s for myself since I knew I’d never see the CD again once she got it. The tracks were interesting, I thought other fans might appreciate them …This afternoon, the band emailed me via MySpace with the simple message, “What the fuck were you thinking?” And now I feel completely shitty. Because I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to share this rarity, but it wasn’t mine to share. This stuff wasn’t supposed
to be released; just because I stumbled onto it didn’t mean I had the authority to do so.I’m glad most people are appreciative of the files, but I feel like a total dick.
Meanwhile, reader Das sent us a link to YoungLiars.com, which posted this message, allegedly from Dave Sitek:
to whomever found/stole/”unearthed” the demos that karen gave me and posted them on the internet/indierock fireman ….thank you. i am due to learn a new kind of forgiveness. a kind that all of of humanity will need to learn as we betray eachother , hurt eachother, steal from eachother to fill the “content void” that has become the worldwide networks, our worldwide lives . i am not shocked that you are in possession of something you obtained through dubious means….. nor am i shocked that you posted it on the internet and by its very naming acknowledged whom it belonged to … and did not return it to that person. you would surely not return the ‘found wallet” , let the person in front of you know they dropped their passport, nor would you correct the mistake that benefited you at the craftfair/bakesale… because you too are in line to learn this very same lesson… and you surely WILL be betrayed… someone you know will turn you in for this , or someone you dont know will dig through your trash, will obtain your mothers medical records , etc… and you will feel empty… sick to your stomach, as though there is no humanity left … you will CERTAINLY, WITHOUT QUESTION, get out of life what you put into it… what i AM confused about is this :
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU ?
as far as i can see , you havent turned a profit , and i (the person you did NOT return something dear to ) feel the same as i always have about you. you are a tired and confused animal who has no grasp on consequences ( i coincidentally feel that way about ALL of our species since we have outlived our usefullness (1970) ) You gained NOTHING … unless you and those around you who “over look ” these thoughtless acts get a betray-o-rection for swiping at someones belongings and making them public …. but even still…. that boner will go down… your “hard cock idea” will go soft whe you realise that you never got any credit…. never got any money …. never got to highfive someone pretty in the sun for this … it will probably be RIGHT around the time you are getting what you deserved for this . all you got was what you just gave me as i read about it. a heartsickening murmur and an INSISTANCE that we are dumb animals with no purpose and too much free time. we will continue to go to wars , we will die of disease , we will kill our children , we will shame our parents , we will steal from our family, we will poison the land that gives us life , we will deny the existence of the godly, and we will become extinct … this will not help you in the least in your quest to become immortal… if you were brave ( and shorty, i wont hold my breath for this NOWAY ) my door is open to return what ever else you found rummaging through my things without question, and i WILL forgive you….. and if you choose not to , you MUST seek the same forgiveness from yourself… for chipping away at someones security. this is and will always be a matter of the heart to me. you win . now please put the brakes on this before you hurt someone you DO care about.
Identity isn’t an issue; Sitek’s gripe is with M distributing property that (s)he didn’t own. Although M’s obviously remorseful, gotta wonder: Apology accepted? Or too little, too late?
UPDATE: “Reader Das” emailed to confirm that he is in fact Dave, and he posted this apology on YoungLiars:
I APOLOGIZE FOR THE TONE OF THE LETTER I WROTE A FEW HOURS AGO . I HAD THIRTY PEOPLE CALL ME WITHIN AN HOUR ASKING ME ABOUT THIS POST. MY FRIEND PETE THREW AWAY SOME SUITCASES OF MINE. SOMEONE WHO KNEW THEY WERE MINE, WENT THOUGH THEM , FOUND THE DISC, POSTED IT ONLINE… I FREAKED OUT (not thinking it was my suitcases discarded by a friend , which I DO KNOW is ultimately my own fault, but rather ASSUMED (wrongfully) it was from one of many boxes discarded by the firemarshall after a housefire) AND WROTE THIS POST. Since then , the story was told to me, by the person i was NOT VERY ARTICULATELY appealing to … his name is mike. he apologized… He didnt see what that would trigger in me… what affects it would have on me , my friends , and my ever dwindling sanity. i re-read the post , felt like i wrote it out of anger and confusion. i apologized to mike for my tone …. then read about how awful i am on a few websites by people like doing that sort of thing. by flipping out i connected with something i had lost… i am not taking down the post because i want to be reminded how much of an ass i can be, and if i forget , i am comforted by the fact that the blogs… the web… will always be there to remind me. i really do need to get “offline”. in a real way. goodbye online. goodbye blog. thanks mike.
Almost coming to some closure about this, right? Man we should be therapists. We are good.
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“Got a curse we cannot lift
shines when the sunshine shifts
there’s a curse comes with a kiss
the bite that binds the gift that gives
Is it a waste of time, please tell me if you mind
me dipping into useless sentimentality
a rant on how things used to be when this shit was free
I answered my own question, i can hear the crickets yawning”
Lemon Soda wrote:
“Sitek’s response was emotional and out of proportion, sure, and if you ever found out that someone took something personal of yours–pictures you never want anyone to see, or pages from your writing notebooks, or the half-written of your novel-in-progress, or the rough sketches of your comix, etc.–and posted it on the internet where they knew thousands of people would see it, you might not go so far as to respond with just how overwhelmingly angry and hurt you feel, but you certainly might feel it that way too.”
Hey Lemon Soda, the CDR has music on it that’s not even his. He can’t even claim the demos as intellectual property, he can’t copyright them, nothing. They’re not his to begin with. The thing he’s pissed about is that the CDR was in HIS suitcase, other than that, whatever is on that CDR is not his to claim. So, in terms of that, and that alone, his rant was inappropriate and out of proportion.
Where’s the missive from Karen O about all this? How did Sitek obtain sole rights to speak out about this? If she doesn’t care, why the hell should he?
wow. all these ‘hater’ responses are almost as unintelligible and ridiculous as dave’s original post. dave sitek has as much right to throw a fit as we do inserting sticks in our asses about it. good job music loving community.
sitek was totally right the first time around. the part that makes me sickest is when you people criticize the demos, it’s like reading someone’s diary, telling them the writing is bad, and then blaming them for leaving it out. crawl into a hole and die.
Hey jon, the music on the demo is not even HIS.
all this ad hominem, TVOTR-hating bullshit is hilarious. some of you people need to get your heads out of your asses.
Everybody smile!
i’m on team sitek
team sitek
God, I’m surprised Sissytek didn’t try the ol’ You Made Me Drop My Expensive Glasses Ploy on the guy.
If karma is real, and I believe that it is, then Sitek & TVOTR will soon disappear into oblivion only to be remembered as that band that was once good until they became full of themselves and screwed over everyone who helped get them there in the first place. Sitek is an asshole and always has been, this is nothing new. Anyone who has had any interaction with the man-child will tell you so. All I can hope is that now that his fans are aware of what a total ass he truly is they will no longer support him. He does not deserve your praise or your $14.
To those that are defending Dave, don?t bother. He has done much worse to many others and this is only a very small portion of what he deserves.
I love TVOTR’s music and their involvement in the community. None of this would have happened if Dave was a superior shut in. This whole situation only illustrates how uniquely accessible – and vulnerable – and real they are.
Yeah…gee TVOTR totally suck, almost as bad as like Radiohead…or The Beatles or something. Yucky.
david sitek’s writing style is bizzare- i can see where hes coming from though and he did apologise for the over reaction
where can i download all of the songs?
Cool, so we what we learned about David Sitek is that he has been a cocksucking dickhead every since 1970.
1) Not all material made my any artist is great,
no matter how talented the musician.
2) If it meant so much, would not have left it behind.
3) The tone of reply was most likely just to save face.
4) Don’t take things so seriously, that includes yourself.
5) Big words don’t mean anything more to anyone.
6) Being pretentious never gains respect.
7) Dave and “the warbler” won’t find this funny.
Wolf Like Me rocked.