Autobahn Music Box
I finally got through some of the promo CD's people have been sending me this weekend.
Cut Copy - Bright Like Neon Love
This CD really surprised me. It sounds (roughly) like a live mix of Mylo and recent New Order stuff. TimeOut NY thinks they are the Postal Service crossed with Daft Punk. Either way, it's dancey, house pop with an 80's vibe. It's already been added to the tracklisting of Podcast #4 (hopefully due later this week) and I'm definitely rocking this at the next few Bluestate's. Recommended. They're opening some upcoming dates for Franz Ferdinand (go here for tour dates), so if you're going, be sure to get there early and let me know how they are live. Unfortunately, the only Washington they are going to is Seattle. Here's some goodies for you:
Future (Chromeo Mix) (MP3)
Video for the track "Saturdays"
Levy - Rotten Love
New release from One Little Indian Records. Sounds like Snow Patrol Jr. If you can't wait for their next release, you could do worse than picking this CD up. Brooklyn Vegan saw them over the weekend and compared them to Coldplay, except, you know, they don't suck.
Nouvelle Vague - Self Titled
Not exactly a novel idea; bossanova versions of alt "classics" by the Cure, The Clash, Depeche Mode and the um, the Dead Kennedys. I liked this CD alot more than i thought I would. It has a fun vibe and great musicianship. The kitsch factor is kinda high but if you can get past that, you'll dig it.
The Washington Post had a decent take on comparing the different online music stores over the weekend. They also lamented the loss of Tuesday as album release day and had a nice comparison on Sirius and XM satellite radio.
So in the interests of synergy, here are my thoughts on eMusic. First the obvious. 50 free downloads for signing up. 40 downloads a month for $10. Downloads are in MP3 format and compatible with pretty much anything that plays an MP3. That's hard to beat.
The selection skews decidedly indie and while I'm not floored by the overall selection, there's enough newer stuff and back catalog to at least keep me subscribing for a few more months. Basically I plan on using this as a source to get all the records the cool kids are talking about that Tower wants $14.99 for.
Now then...the bad. First of all, the navigation is atrocious. Unless you do a direct search for a band, browsing by links is very hit or miss and seemingly completely arbitrary. Available downloads are broken down into categories. For example, the main category of Alternative/Punk is broken down into the following subcategories: Alt/Punk Ska, Alternative, Alternative Experimental, Alternative Hard Rock, Brit Pop, Emo, Garage Rock, Goth, Hardcore, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Industrial, Live Alt/Punk, Math Rock, New Wave, Post-Punk, Psych and Punk. Now if someone can just explain the difference between Alternative, Emo, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, and Math Rock I might be able to make some headway. I don't even know what Psyche is.
Users are labeled on the site with names like "EMUSIC-0082973D". Ooooohkay. Would it have been so hard to let people chose their own log ins or go with something a tad less generic? I can't see me wanting to download something I've never heard of just because EMUSIC-00439277F likes it.
A potentially great search feature is the ability to seek out music by label, but this is hampered by poor organization. When you click through to a label, the homepage lists top songs by that label, not top artists. You can also search for albums by release years, in decades, but again, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the order of the results once you click through. Basically be ready to spend some time clicking around to find something.
That being said, eMusic definitely has merits. I've been pleased with it so far. I spent my 50 free downloads on The Streets Original Pirate Material, Echo & The Bunnymen Live in Liverpool, The Wedding Present's Take Fountain and Fosbury by Tahiti 80. They also have albums by Spoon, Arcade Fire, Nuetral Milk Hotel, The National and others. So I would recommend signing up, if only for the freebies.
Apparently Elbow rocked Reading over the weekend. Setlist here. Drool.
Captain Jack Sparrow to interview the Mozzer for a BBC documentary on James Dean.
Johnny Marr working with Humble Rodent? Marr/Brock doesn't have the same ring to it, now does it?
Some people have way too much time on their hands. Others are pissed at Flickr for getting in bed with Yahoo.
Two and a half years after the music business lined up behind the chief executive of Apple, Steven P. Jobs, and hailed him and his iTunes music service for breathing life into music sales, the industry's allegiance to Mr. Jobs has eroded sharply. Because the higher ups at the labels just can't help but bite the hand that feeds them.
eMusic complaints are dead on. Navigating is often painful. Too much clicking. The price, though, makes it worth the effort.
That Post article doesn't lament the end of Tuesdays as new release day. It says that people don't know Tuesday is still new release day. In both physical stores and online stores, new releases still come out on Tuesday. (With the exception of the occasional exclusive.)
That Streets record is fucking fire. I like it better than A Grand Don't Come For Free.
You can change your eMusic ID from the number salad to whatever you like. Just go to your Profile page. I assume more people don't do this because it's not at all obvious.
On that note, here's my complaint: even if you were to change your ID -- say, to Leafblower -- I can't search for you to add you as a Friend. I have to either find a review you've written or do a stupid URL hack to get to your Profile page and add you. Why bother having community features if you can't make use of them?
All that said, I did just get the new New Pornos for what calculates out to $.25 a track.