Stop The Clocks
Things are getting really hectic here in leafblower-land. A few announcements:
1) Bluestate will be returning to the Black Cat on Saturday Sept, 10th. We're working on a special surprise for everyone (and maybe a guest DJ), so stay tuned for news on this as it develops. But don't forget about our gig at Saint Ex next Tuesday in the meantime.
2) I am very happy to announce that I have been asked to sit in as a panelist during the Future Music Policy Summit next month at GWU. To say I'm excited about this opportunity would be an understatement. I'll be part of the How To Podcast and Music Blog panel with the honorable Mike Holden of arlingtonmusicscene.com and none other than my main homey Coolfer. Expect him to toe the corporate line and for me to berate him constantly for it. Hehehehe. Should be fun! :) Now if only I had a laptop so I could live blog the whole thing. *sigh*
My September is shaping up to be seriously busy.
Sept. 09th: Nats v. Braves @ the Bobby
Sept. 10th: Bluestate @ Black Cat
Sept. 11th: Idlewild @ Black Cat
Sept. 12-13: FMC Policy Summit
Sept. 14th: Brett Easton Ellis @ Olsson's Books
Sept. 15th: TBA (but be sure to save the date. For serious)
Sept. 17th: Eric Bachmann (aka Crooked Fingers) @ Black Cat
Sept. 24th: Operation Ceasefire
Sept. 28th: Mark Gardener @ 930
Sept: 28th: Lemonheads @ Black Cat
Sept. 29th: O-motherfucking-Asis @ Merriweather
And this doesn't include the design class I'm taking right now (twice a week) or my upcoming copyediting class, which starts mid-September. I think Across The Narrows is definitely out of the question now.
Unless someone wants to give me free tickets.
Google is starting an IM service, compatible with gmail. I downloaded it and it works! I finally have IM at work. Hooray! Add me to your buddy list. Go here for more info and to download software. Google world domination in 5...4...3...
Hahahahahahahaha. What a load of horse shit. Napster's President thinks Steve Jobs has lured consumers "into a hardware trap" because songs from the iTunes Music Store can only be played on an iPod and the iPod doesn't play songs bought from other online stores. He goes on to rhapsodize, "The dream is that Napster would work on any PC, any player in any territory and work seamlessly." Meanwhile back on planet earth many people are pointing out that:
1) Making people pay a monthly fee for the rest of their life isn't a trap?
2) Napster does not work on Macs. Or Linux boxes. Or many Windows boxes. It only works with Windows XP/2000. I t also only works with IE (not Firefox or any other browser).
3) Many other MP3 players have similar DRM to Apple's iPod, only they are on the Microsoft/WMA side. But I guess this is OK.
Try again douchebag. Funny how all these companies bashing Apple don't have Mac versions of their software. On a related note, I signed up for eMusic last week. It's OK, not great. I'll have a semi-review once I get my thoughts together.
The BBC talks to Martin Carr of the Boo Radleys about Brit Pop. Hear me now, believe me when you buy the record, don't sleep on their final record Kingsize. It's tiggs.
Noel lays down the band's plans for the next album. The short version: "Everyone liked this record, so I'm just going to work on the songs that didn't make this record (Stop The Clocks, anyone?) for the next one and leave all the new songwriting to my brother, Gem and Andy. I'm lazy. We'll take our time on the next record, no rush. I'm lazy. No Greatest Hits until we break up. I'm lazy. Another B-sides compilation with all of our substandard songs from the last few records is on the way. I'm lazy. PS - I'm rich bitch!" In other news, I can't wait to see them next month!
The new Strokes album will be out early next year, and the first single may or may not be entitled "Juicebox". I am VERY interested to hear them mixed by Andy Wallace (one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet) and can already hear the hipster backlash starting now.
Pitchfork hearts the Super Furries and Love Kraft. Yes, I'm completely biased, but this is one of the best things I've ever read on the site. This dude knows his stuff.
I access Napster through Windows Media Player, which requires a plug-in. Though to be honest I don't access Napster very often. Just to look around. I don't subscribe and have never purchased a track there. It's a pretty boring online store. Not as good as Rhapsody. Better than Yahoo, though. iTunes has been looking pretty good lately. The podcast feature is excellent and has got me to use iTunes more frequently (I don't use it to listen to/catalog my music). eMusic is getting much better too, though it still takes too many clicks to find something I want to download.
I'm digging eMusic so far, though I agree with Coolfer. You really do have to poke around a lot to discover the nuggets they offer. Just remember to Save For Later the good stuff or you run the risk you'll never find it again.
congrats to you on the panelist gig...how fun and interesting. (blows party horn loudly)
and, that's an awesome picture of noel...swooooooooooooon. thank you!
That Operation: Ceasefire gig sounds like it could be a rawkin' good time. Might have to hit that up... and, since everyone in the world is talking about it already (even featured on SLAM Online!), I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about the new Kanye record. I'm still trying to get my thoughts in order about it...
Very true, Matt. I have a big list of albums "saved for later" because I know I may not run across them again. That's a valuable feature. I need to start downloading albums on that list before it gets out of control.