Diane Cluck - Macy's Day Bird Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs Jeff Mangum - Live At Jittery Joe's Beulah The Coast Is never Clear The Frames - For The Birds Microphones - Glow, Pt 2 I Am The World Trade Center - Out of the Loop Ted Leo/Pharmacist - The Tyranny of Distance White Strips - White Blood Cell
Honorably Mention Josh Ritter - Golden age of Radio M. Ward - End of Amnesia
EP Apples in Stereo - Let's Go Belle & Sebastian - Sing Jonathan David Stillwater
Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant Diane Cluck - Diane Cluck Mates of States - My Solo Project Harvey Danger - King James Version Mirah - You Think It's Like This But You Really Like It Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullaby The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic Wolf Colonel - The Castle Death Cab For Cutie - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes The Mountain Goats - The Coroner's Gambit
Honorable Mention The Strokes - Is This It? Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Volume 2 Johnny Cash - American III - Solitary Man Songs: Ohia - The Lioness Josh Ritter - Josh Ritter Radiohead - Kid A Richard Ashcroft - Alone WIth Everybody Robin Hitchcock - Robyn Sings Songs: Ohia - Protection Spells Wesley Wills - Rush Hour Be Good Tanyas - Blue Horse Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
EP Belle & Sebastian - Legal Man They Might Be Giants - Working Undercover for the Man
This is the plan. I am going to post my list of the ten best from year year of the decade. I am going to start with 2000 as the first year. I know there are technical reasons that decade starts in 2001, but I think decades also have social starts also. I am picking February 19, 2000 as the start of the decade. It is the day that George W. Bush beat John McCain in the South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary. I think that date opens the door for everything else that happens in the 2000s. That is besides the point.
After I make the top ten list every year, I am going to make my overall list for the 100 best albums of the decade. Yes, there are some albums that might be honorable mention one year, but beat out an album from another year. Let me know what you think.
10 Most Important Music technologies of this decade
How did you get your music this decade? How did you discover music this decade? How did you consume music this decade? My guess is that these questions are different this decade that they were last decade. This decade really changed the way people thought about much. The music industry was not ready for the chances. Here is the list of the most important technologies in my mind. Let me know if I am missing any. The Tech does not need to be new, just to have an impact.
Peer to Peer Networks (Napster, Bittorrent) MP3s MP3 Players (iPod) DRM iTunes iTunes Music Store Myspace YouTube Blogs PodCasts Pandora
96. For The Birds by The Frames 76. The Execution of All Things by Rilo Kiley 59. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver 47. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend 41. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by of Montreal 38. The Glow Part 2 by The Microphones 30. Actor by St. Vincent 27. I Am A Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons 23. The Moon & Antarctica by Modest Mouse 19. Destroyer's Rubies by Destroyer 1. Is This It by The Strokes
And the road a-winding goes From golden gate to roaring cliff-side And the light is softly low As our hearts become sweetly untied Beneath the sun of California one
There are too many things for me to write about this song. How this is the perfect two songs stacked together to make one song. How the length of the song is carried by the dreamy nature of the tune and playing. How the song reminds me of the stretch of the California Highway One between Carmel and Big Sur. How I fell I feel in love with this song while I was traveling alone in Europe. How the first time I heard this song I play it ten times in a row. How the song strikes the perfect cord about being alone. How this song in an amazing ending to an unexpectedly good album. How I cried when I saw them play it live.
We're calling all bed wetters And ambulance chasers Poor picker-pockets, bring 'em in Come join the youth and beauty brigade
We're lining up the light-loafered And the bored bench warmers Castaways and cutouts, fill it up Come join the youth and beauty brigade Come join the youth and beauty brigade
What amazes me still is how they are calling to there listeners. They are calling to the misfits and losers of the world and saying "We are you, You are us." It caught me the very first time I heard this song. They are ending their first album by calling all their fans. it is a brilliant move.
There are lots of songs about California. I have learned that is because California is a millions different things to 40 million people. This song is about my California.
I figured I had paid my debt to society By paying my overdue fines At the Multnomah County library, at the library They said "Son, go join up go join the youth and beauty brigade"
I have been taking part in Aught Music blog. It is an music blog put together by Jeremy Bushnell. The point is for people to write little love notes or appreciations for the songs of the last decade. The project is broken up to be done year by year. We have just finished up 2000. I am sending my posts for 2001 songs that will be posted over the next couple of weeks.
If you like you can see my posts. I would suggest looking through all the posts. There is a lot to look at there. I would recommend it all.
I love the sample of a marble being dropped. I really like this album. It is my favorite Rap album of 2009 so far. I am not sure what that says about me.
This is the song for Kate and My first dance at our wedding. The Lyrics might show you why.
Shooting off vicious collections of words The losers make facts by the things they have heard And I find myself trying hard to defend them
I made decisions some right and some wrong And I let some love go I wish wasn't gone These things and more I wish I had not done
But I can't go back And I don't want to 'Cause all my mistakes They brought me to you
I have some "friends" they don't know who I am So I write quotations around the word friends But I have a couple that have always been there for me
And I missed some fun 'cause I worked through the dawn Expecting your praise when I returned home But I paid the cost 'cause I got left alone for the songs
But I can't go back And I don't want to 'Cause all my mistakes They brought me to you
This song really reminds me of Pavement a lot. That is not a bad thing. I guess that is bound to happen when you have former member of Pavement in your band.
I love when a band tries to be in that space between what I am comfortable with and what I have not heard before. I think that song fills space nicely.
I love when I hear a song that both lyrics and music sound true to me. This song feel like an idea I have been carrier around in my skin for years, but had no way to express. That feeling is something I love about music.
I hate when I hear people compare Antony and the Johnsons to someone else. I want to tell them to slow down and just enjoy that Unique thing that he is bringing to music.
The anger in this song is both compelling and silly. Eminem succeeded because he had this feeling of authenticity. This song really speaks to that authenticity.
What I love about this song is that it reflects both the idea of truth and age. I can see how Bruce Springsteen might find this song to be true about himself. That is when Springsteen is at his best. When he and his listeners are finding the truth.
I listen to that song and it proves to me that the guys from the Gaslight Anthem have spent a lot of time listening to Rock N Roll. I think it does something good for this song.
This is straight ahead punk that boarders on Mindless. If I listened to this every day it would rot my brain, but it is good to mix it up from time to time.
I think this is a perfect example of where my musical taste is right now. Light pop, slightly off mainstream, well crafted, and something no one I know is listening to.
I love this song, but if makes me feel that Black Francis' best days are behind him. There is something here that is past his peak. It would have been great in the early 90s.
For some reason I think I should like the Dirty Projectors, but I don't. I think this song night show way. It has some ingredients I like, but they are mixed wrong.
I remember loving this song when I first heard it, but it sounds dated now. It seems like so much has changed since 2001. It reminds me of a place the world no longer is at.
I think Conor Oberst is the perfect guy for people who like pop structures but more going on under the covers. I think this song is no different. You can listen to the song as a simple pop song or something much more.
Below is my list of the best albums of 2008. I did not rank them, I just grouped them 11-20 and 1-10. Let me know what you think about my list. I know it is different that the Pitchfork list or any other list I have seen. The Meta Critic list is pretty cool. Let me know what you think of my list.
This is a great song. The first time I heard it I thought it was a perfect send up of the Pet Shop Boys. Kate and I sing this song to each other all the time.
You don't measure up to the expectation. When you're unemployed, there's no vacation. No one cares, no one sympathizes. You just stay home and play synthesizers.
I am always thinking a lot about music. I think about what I am adding to my music library and what I am listening to. I have also been thinking about the songs that have come out in this decade. I have over 25,000 songs that have come out this decade. There is no way I can listen to all of it. I need to find a way to listen to music that I might otherwise miss.
So I have decided on a project for this year. I am going to listen to one random song every day. For iTunes I even made a smart playlist to help me. After listening to that song I write something small. Just a little reaction to the song.
I plan on doing it everyday, Or at least every work day. That gives me 250 times to it this year. This means you still have the chance to catch up. Why don't you join me?
Match all of the following Rules
Year - is in the range - 2000 to 2009 Last Played - Is Before - 1/1/09 Check Limit to 1 item Selected by Random Check Live Updating
You might need to throw in Podcast - is - false Genre - is not - Christmas (But I have a lot of Christmas Music)
Jimmy Gownley did a parody of Meet the Beatles as a tshirt using the characters of Amelia Rules. Talking to him he said that he was thinking about doing a new t-shirt for every show he does. I took it upon myself to make a list of album covers I would like to see as Amelia Rules T-shirts. I hope everyone likes the list
Album Covers that should not be done, but I want to see:
1. Michael Jackson - Thriller 2. MC Hammer - Hammer Time 3. Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 4. Nirvana - Nevermind 5. The Police - Synchronicity 6. Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction' 7. Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park 8. Moby - 18 (This might work for Earthdog) 9. Crowded House - Crowded House 10. Prince - Purple Rain 11. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Is it too early for me to be thinking about the best albums of the 00 decade? I hope not, because I have been thinking about them for a while. I know that if I do not think about this list now, I will never get the list done in a reasonable time.
The funny thing, this is the decade that I have been the most interested in music. In the 80s I was very young when it started and could not find music for myself. In the 90s I was very connected to music while I was in college, but after that I all but forgot about music. By the end of the decade I was not listening to anything.
Because of the internet, iPods, and blogs, I really connected to music early in this decade. It has been a great decade for music. There are a lot of bands that I know of that I doubt I would have heard of in former decades. It is true that the music industry has also changed in this time. These bands might have been signed in the past.
I have started working on my list of the best albums from this decade. So far the list has over 100 albums on it. Those are just albums which I have tracks from on my laptop. I think the list will get bigger as I look at all the albums from the decade. I know there are things I must be forgetting.
Of course this means I still listen to albums. I am not sure how many other people are still listening to albums. I keep on hearing how albums are going away, but I have not see it yet. The bands I listen to are still putting out albums. It might be a little while longer before they go away. This might be the last decade for a list like this.
Let me know if you want to do this as a project. I want to know if I can get lists from enough people so I can give more than just my ranking.
Is anyone else going to make a list of the best albums from the 00's? How many albums will you put on your list? How detailed are you going to be about the ranking?
Update: I am defining the decade at 2000-2009. I know the whole zero year thing is in play, but I think it is esthetically better to start on 2000.
I want to the Maker Faire on Saturday. The coolest thing I saw at Maker Faire was Guitar Zero. I love the idea of actually making music using a Guitar Hero Guitar. It is such a cool thing to me. So many people make fun of people who play guitar hero. I think this is a great way to get back at those people.
I know this is late, but I thought this was still important for me to publish this
Best of 2007
Phenomena - Akron/Family Can You Feel It? - Apples In Stereo Shine In Exile - Beat the Devil Fiery Crash - Andrew Bird Detlef Schrempf - Band Of Horses Cherbourg - Beirut Worst Trip - Dr. Dog Sad Songs - The Frames Jesus Saves, I Spend - St. Vincent Oh No - Lavender Diamond Let's Duet - Dewey Cox Pink Light - Laura Veirs Florida - Modest Mouse Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse - Of Montreal Our Mouths Were Wet - Oh No! Oh My! The Ruby Ring Man - Page France Section 23: Get Up And Go - The Polyphonic Spree Turn On Me - The Shins The Shadow Government - They Might Be Giants All My Mistakes - The Avett Brothers These Truths - Luddite Machine
2007 SXSW
HeavyMetal - Bisc1 Robin Zander - The Breakup Society Space Mission - Brute Force & Daughter of Force Teenage Crimewave - CPC Gangbangs Patience - Damien Dempsey Love In New Wave - Electrico Eight Arms To Hold You - The Gear Shaking Like A Flame - Glossary Summer of the Evening - Goldenboy Elephant In White - Hot IQs According To Plan - I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Ozark Empire - Listener Our Eyes Fill Up With Water - Tulsa
2007 New to me
This Is Not The End - Laura Gibson People Get Ready - The Frames Don't Let Me Explode - The Hold Steady Dance For Me - Pony Up! Growin' Old - Pigeon John Borneo - The Fiery Furnaces Postcards from Italy - Beirut Trampoline - Page France Let Me Go Let Me Go Let Me Go - Jason Molina Tangled - The Black Heart Procession Lord Stop The Bar - Our Lady of the Highway Second Option - Caitlin Cary And Thad Cockrell Vervain (Volume 9) - MF Doom Take It Off - Tender Forever funeral face - Suburban Kids With Biblical Names Icebound Stream - Laura Veirs Love And War (11/11/46) - Rilo Kiley New Partner - The Frames Song My Friends Taught Me - Laura Veirs
Note: I have been holding onto this list for too long. I am really late publishing this. Even the Village Voice has already published the Pazz & Jop results. This means I am really late. I know the I have to public this tonight. Even if I do not write about every album, I am still going to public this entry tonight.
Top Albums of 2007
I know this list goes up to 11. That is because it is one higher than ten and sometimes you need to rock that much harder.
I will admit that part of 2007 was really rough for me. Around my May and June were pretty rough for me. Some times just when you need it you find an album to help you through those times. The Avett Brothers Emotionalism was that album for me at that time. The album is incredibility personal and emotional.
The Avett Brothers straddles the country side of Alt. Country, but that is nothing to be afraid of. Any fan of well written songs will enjoy this album. The Weight of Lies and
All My Mistakes has become one of Kate and I songs. It is shows the optimism that comes out even in the darkest moments. The song makes me smile and tear up at the same time.
the Shins - Wincing the Night Away
If there ever is an album to sing to your thinking about a past love, this is it. While this is not as good as the last Shins album, they still give me the feeling that they are getting better.
It is great to hear a band mature right in front of your ears. I listen to Dr. Dog because Peter Conrad cannot shut up about them. Last year he kept on talking about their EP Takers and Leavers EP. If it were not for him, I would not given them a chance. This album is much better than last years EP. This album creates an interesting sound environment. Dr. Dog's has a strong 70's influence without getting lost in the past. Their songs have strong arrangement and simple vocals in just the right combonation. Check out the songs Worst Trip, Old News, Keep a friend, and Ain't It Strange to see what I mean.
From the first note of this album I was gripped hard and not let go. This album is full of pop structures and joyful guitar licks. The opening track, Can You Feel It? is the kind of song that makes me want to put down the windows and drive very quickly. It also gives me one of my favorite lyrics of the year, "Turn Up Your Stereo, Drown out the bullshit on the FM Radio." I know that some people this this record is excessive because its 24 tracks, and some of them are just interludes and connectors. I think that songs like Same Old Drag, Joanie Don't U Worry, Sundial, and Energy totally make it work it.
This album is just full of earwigs. I most have listed to this album ten times the week I got it. Suffer For Fashion, The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, and She's A Rejecter all made me not want to put my head phones down. Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse is the kind of song that makes me want to sing at the top of my lung.
Of Montreal is past the point of being "just one of those other Elephant 6 bands" to being a great band on their own right. they are so good I just want to hear more and more of what they are doing. I doubt they will ever gt the credit they deserve.
The Frames - The Cost
I want to say that The Frames are the most underrated band in the world right now. This was before the song from Once won the Oscar. This means that they might get more attention now. You should still check out The Cost.
They Might Be Giants - The Else
It has been years since I have really liked a They Might Be Giants album. I gave up on them awhile ago thinking my tastes and their tastes no longer matched. I guess that was not true. I do not want to say that these songs sound like their debut album or Lincoln, but you can hear the musical history. I'm Impressed, Take Out the Trash, Climbing the Walls, The Shadow Government, Countrecoup, and Feign Amnesia, are all first class songs. The Mesopotamians is a strange combination of musician frustration and history lesson. Yes, They Might Be Giants is a little smarter than their fans and they are willing to let us know.
Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank St. Vincent - Marry Me
Honorable Mention: Page France - ....And the Family Telephone The Fratellis - Costello Music Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
Special Mention Tim Kite - Over the Counter Culture
This album was not enjoyable, but it was the most challenging. Challenging in the way art that asks the listener to look at them selves should be.
Here are a few of my best of the year mixes. I am not sure what you can learn about my by looking at these links. I think that you can learn something about me by looking at my musical tastes.
I am getting ready to post my top ten of 2007 list and my best of 2007 CD mix. When I see these lists from other people, I wonder what they had listened to during the year. This is the list of everything released in 2007 that I listened to in 2007. I hope it helps when you see the other posts.
Artist - Album Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus Hal Hartley - FAY GRIM Original Soundtrack Beirut - The Flying Club Cup Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter The White Stripes - Icky Thump Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War St. Vincent - Marry Me A.R.E. Weapons - Modern Mayhem The Go! Team - Proof of Youth Blonde Redhead - 23 Pela - Anytown Graffiti My Morning Jacket - At Dawn & Tennesse Fire Demos Package Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin The New Pornographers - Challengers They Might Be Giants - The Else Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love Akron/Family - Love Is Simple Bruce Springsteen - Magic Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls Tim Fite - Over The Counter Culture Panda Bear - Person Pitch Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like This Mirah and Spectratone International - Share This Place: Stories and Observations Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight Luddite Machine - We Build The Destroyer CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Calvin Johnson - Calvin Johnson and the Sons of the Soil The Frames - The Cost Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall 1971 Ted Leo / Pharmacists - Living With The Living Arcade Fire - Neon Bible Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers Son Volt - The Search (Deluxe Version) Dr. Dog - We All Belong Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City The Shins - Wincing The Night Away Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone Page France - ...and the Family Telephone Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond The Fratellis - Costello Music Christian Kiefer - Dogs & Donkeys Richard Swift - Dressed Up For The Letdown The Sea And Cake - Everybody The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army The Clientele - God Save the Clientele The Broken West - I Can't Go On I'll Go On Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis Wilco - Sky Blue Sky The Comas - Spells The State Champs - The State Champs The Rakes - Ten New Messages Crowded House - Time On Earth The Ponys - Turn The Lights Out
EPs
Gomez - Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2006: Gomez M. Ward - To Go Home EP Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP The Decemberists - Live from SoHo (iTunes Exclusive) - EP Oh No! Oh My! - Between The Devil And The Sea
The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.
You got to be kidding me. This is the stupidest thing I have heard the RIAA ever do and they have done some stupid things. This crosses the line. Right now nobody is going to be buying music if they cannot listen to it. If you cut off the iPod you cut off every chance people will buy music at all. People might get away from commercial music all together. You might see the death of the album all together.
Sony BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a song you bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' " she said.
This is over the line. Either the music industry is selling me an individual product which I purchase and can do whatever I want to, like play that product in front of other people without paying a license, or they are selling me an intellectually property and I get to move it from device to device. I can only play one copy at a time, let me do it wherever I am. That is all people are asking for. Until you let people play the content wherever they are, you are not going to see sales improve.
Today I find out that all this might be out of context. The problem is that with everything the RIAA does, no one would put this beyond them.
I have listened to 100 albums this year. About 80 of them have been from 2007 or 2006. I am obsessed with listening to music. There is so much music I have never heard before. I want to spend all my time listening to that. I want to hear the best new music. I want to listening to music that is great.
What should I make sure I hear before 2007 is over? What are you listening to right now? What is going to make your best of 2007 mix?
The other day I was describing Midomi to Eric. For him these website is a version of hell. It is a web site where you can listen to amateurs sings acapella versions of songs. If you want to, you can record your own versions of the songs and post them on the site.
I can best describe this web site as an old fashion time suck. The kind of time suck that have become an art in the age of the internet. I keep on searching for more and more songs. There is something about listening to these songs that is just addictive.
For the most part cover songs are about truth. There is some other truth to that song that you never heard before. Really good covers makes you think something totally different about the original version. It is not that these versions have showed me any new truth about these songs. Most of the tracks you hear either how much the people love the song or how they really want to sing it well.
People are taking about the data embedded in the new DRMless iTunes. People do not have to worry about DRM, but they do have to worry about their e-mail address going with the file. That means if you give your DRM free file to anyone, you have to trust that they will not share it with the world.
This will be interesting to see what happens. I wonder how well people have to protect their files. If I leave my network unprotected and my files get shared every where, will I be responsible? Lets say my computer gets stolen, can I get sued if those files end up on the net? What if someone is being vindictive and shares my files without me knowing? In none of these cases did I share the file. I did not take action with malice of forethought. What would the copyright cops do to me in those situations?
I know that including the email address along with the file is a good idea. I know that this is a reasonable thing for copyright holders to ask for. I just want to make sure that a signal song from one person is going to get out into the open. It is just going to happen. The people who own the copyrights should only go after people who do this all the time.
I have been going to music stories like Best Buy and Virgin music and seeing displays of the 200 essential albums that every music fan must have. I know they are doing it as just a way to sell catalog music. Seeing this displays have made me think about the idea of an essential 200. I wondered what would be on my list and what would be on my friends lists.
To be honest, I know that I could not get many of my friends to sit down and make a list of 200 albums they think everyone should have. What I would like to do is have a number of my friends make a list of their essential 20 albums. If I can get 10 people to play along, I could have a whole list. If you want to play along send me your list. Let see what us normal people think are essential albums
It is finally happened. It looks like one of the major record labels if finally breaking ranks. It appears that EMI will allow their music to be sold on iTunes without DRM. This is not really a surprise. People have been talking about this for months now. People have thought EMI would be the first company to break rank. They are the weakest of the major labels. People have thought that they would be the most likely to take the risk.
Will this be a typing point? This is hard to say. How to listeners, fans, and customers decide what music to buy. It has little to do with where they can buy it or what label the band it on. The number one people buy music is because they like it. If EMI does not release music that people like this will not help them. What it might help is with getting more people to pay for music they might get some other way.
This is a good start. I do not think that we are close to other companies joining EMI. I think that companies are going to resist a lot before they agree to also go without DRM. The number one thing customers can do is vote with our wallets. Lets all go and download songs from EMI when the DRM goes away.
I am on vacation this week, but I am not going anywhere. I am just going to stay home in San Jose. Staying home for a week means that I will be listening to a lot of music. I will either be sitting at my computer with iTunes going or I will be out somewhere with my iPod.
In the last couple of weeks I have bought the new Apples in Stereo and new Modest Mouse albums. This will be a good time to get to know those albums better. I have been buying music at a pretty good clip this year. I need to take some time to listen to it. Since my time is mine over the next week, listening to music sounds like a good way to spend that time.
Some have argued that once a consumer purchases a body of music from one of the proprietary music stores, they are forever locked into only using music players from that one company. Or, if they buy a specific player, they are locked into buying music only from that companys music store. Is this true? Lets look at the data for iPods and the iTunes store they are the industrys most popular products and we have accurate data for them. Through the end of 2006, customers purchased a total of 90 million iPods and 2 billion songs from the iTunes store. On average, thats 22 songs purchased from the iTunes store for each iPod ever sold.
Todays most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full. This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats. Its hard to believe that just 3% of the music on the average iPod is enough to lock users into buying only iPods in the future. And since 97% of the music on the average iPod was not purchased from the iTunes store, iPod users are clearly not locked into the iTunes store to acquire their music.
One of the first big problems here is that the CD has yet to die. When the iTunes Music store launched in 2004 I did not expect to be buying non protected CDs in 2007. Part of that is that all the CD protection schemes have sucked. The worst of all was the Sony BMG XCP. That was so bad that companies might have scurried away from DRM CDs in fear forever.
I think iPods have become so big that most the people I know will not buy CDs that they cannot rip to iTunes. Everyone wants MP3 so they can take their music with them. I would return any CD I could not Rip.
For my friends who do not use iTunes, they usually give me three reasons. DRM is the first reason. Everyone knows that iTunes DRM is easy to beat. All you need to do is burn it to a CD and Rip it again. This is still too much of a hassle. We want it without any DRM. They would also like it better if it was MP3
The second reason is because of the Backup policy. If you buy a song from iTunes and lose it, you have to buy it again. That really sucks. This is an electronic world. If I am really buying the music license I should be able to re-download the song.
The third and maybe more important is the quality of the music. AAC, the iTunes music format, is not a lossless format. For me the discount is not deep enough for me to buy the music in a lossy format. If it is an album I am excited about I will buy the CD. If it is something I just want to try, I will buy it from eMusic. I only buy music from iTunes when I have a gift card.
To be honest I think it is too early to call download music service failures. If they are still in business they are not a failure yet. I know that everyone wants everything to move in internet time, but I think this is a sign that real world time still counts for something. We are still in the first generation of these services. I think that they 2.0 versions might surprise us.
The 2007 SXSW bittorrent is up. This is another good reason to use bittorrent. Better yet it is a totally legal way to get Bittorrent. This is a big way I find new bands. I would say this is one of the highlights of the musical years.
Some year I am going to find a way to be sent to SXSW. Until that happens I will just have to download the bittorrent of the bands that are giving away MP3s. If I like the bands I will buy the album. It is worth downloading even if you do not end up listening to every MP3.
I heard on the radio that the Police are planing a reunion tour. They are getting back together for the Grammys tonight. I have to say that this is a bit of a disappointment. I loved the Police when I was young, but I cannot see an artistic reason for them to get back together. I cannot see what they will do that will be interesting or good for music. I think they are just getting back together for the money.
For a long time they were the Police where the best band that never really got back together. They never put a new album out and they never went on tour. I know they recorded one song, but that is under the bar.
Now the Smiths are the best band to break up and never get back together, that can get back together. I cannot see the Smiths getting back together. I think that Morrissey would never do that. The Clash are already in the Hall of Fame for that. Of course the Clash could not get back together now.
If the Police put a good album out I will eat my words. I just can't see them doing it. I cannot see them making an album anywhere close to Synchronicity or Ghost in the Machine. If they just go on tour you know it is just about the money.
It is time again for my best of the year mixes. I did three mixes this year. I did Best of 2006, New to Me 2006, and the Best of the SXSW 2006 Bittorrent.
Best of 2006 I listened to about 65 albums released in 2006. I know that I listen to a lot of music. That should not surprise anyone. There was a lot of good music that came out this year. This mix only has a fraction of the music I would say it good.
Best of 2006
1. Fraud in The 80s Mates Of State 2. A Certain Romance Arctic Monkeys 3. Gravitys Gone Drive by Truckers 4. E.N.Y House Masta Killer 5. Lost In Boston The Walkmen 6. Girl In A War Josh Ritter 7. List of Baby Names Bound Stems 8. Notion Karl Blau 9. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood Neko Case 10. Montgomery Magnolia Electric Co 11. Chips Ahoy The Hold Steady 12. Woke Up New Mountain Goats 13. The Charging Sky Jenny Lewis 14. Smiley Faces Gnarls Barkley 15. The Competition Kimya Dawson 16. Attraction is Ephemeral Mecca Normal 17. Rubies - Destoryer 18. Rough Jems Islands 19. The Greatest Cat Power
New To Me 2006
No matter how much music I hear, something is always missed. That is why I make this mix. I think it is just as important as the best of the year mix.
New To Me 2006 1. If Im Waiting Jason Anderson 2. Huddle Formation The Go! Team 3. Over and Over - Heavenly 4. So Long Jason Anderson 5. Like A Monkey In A Zoo K. McCarty 6. 1 Corinthians 13: 8-10 Mountain Goats 7. I Wish I Was The Moon Neko Case 8. Section 12 (Hold Me Now) The Polyphonic Spree 9. Small Stakes - Spoon 10. The End Has No End The Strokes 11. Hearts of Oak Ted Leo / Pharmacists 12. Car Trouble All Girl Summer Fun Band 13. You Held the World In Your Arms - Idlewild 14. Madam Truffle Major Organ 15. At The Bottom of Everything Bright Eyes 16. Love Steals Us From Loneliness - Idlewild 17. Off The Record My Morning Jacket 18. The Purple Bottle Animal Collective 19. Parisian Dream Laura Veirs 20. Grounds For Divorce Wolf Parade 21. Sorry Entertainer Daniel Johnson
SXSW 2006
There are so many good bands that I have never heard of before. This is a good way to find some of them. I could spend my whole year just listening to the music from SXSW. I think that is a good thing.
SXSW 2006
1. Walkin On Nails Mac Lethal 2. Binary Girl Mathematicians 3. Memorize The City The Organ 4. Agony Awol One 5. Harvard Hand The Foxymorons 6. Ive Been Lost - +/- 7. Another Seven Year- Aberdeen City 8. na Band of Horses 9. Postcards from Italy Beirut 10. Birmingham The Deaths 11. Girls & Sunshine Dirty On Purpose 12. Hide and Seek The Eighteenth Day 13. Buckeyed Rabbit Grassy Knoll Boys 14. Try Telling That To My Baby The Heavy Blinkers 15. Old Britannia Hey Negrita 16. No Way Out Love of Diagrams 17. Broken Plates Magenta Lane 18. A Captive Audience The Velvet Teen 19. No Good Here Tim Fite 20. Red Drop - The Standard
If people want me to write about every song on this list let me know. I will get started on that entry.
I listened to about 65 new albums in 2006. That means two things, I spent a lot of time listening to music that came out last year and I listened to a fraction of all the music that came out last year. When I say these are the best albums, I mean they are my favorite.
Magnolia Electric Co - Fading Trails
This album was short and concise. With 9 songs at 29 minutes this album is slim, but powerful. With every new album Jason Molina shows his increasing skill in song writing. I think this is the best Magnolia Electric Co album to date.
I will admit that I have other reasons to love Fading Trails also. This album came out slight after a breakup. It was the ex-girlfriend who got me into Magnolia Electric company. This was a great breakup album.
Build to Spill - You In Reverse
This album is full of songs that are ear worms. I hear this album and the tunes do not get out of my head for days. The songs really rock. It is a great album to drive very fast to.
Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
With each new album I am more impressed with Belle and Sebastian. They have grown more than any other band in the last 10 years. Compare Tiger Milk to The Life Pursuit and you will find a band that is writing totally different songs. I am amazed at the way they have been able to change and stay good. This album is good because of how it is different and the same as the other albums.
Cat Power - The Greatest
There are those albums where from the first time you hear it, you cannot put it down. It seems to always in your CD player. One of those albums you listen to for weeks and still do not get enough of it. This is one of those albums.
Josh Ritter - The Animal Years
This album surprised me. I had never heard of Josh Ritter before hearing him on the SXSW 2006 Bittorrent. The album is very complex. I know Peter would say that he is just a whiny guy with a guitar. I love the well written songs and the emotions that he sings them with.
But you need faith for the same reasons that its so hard to find
Gnarles Barkley - St. Elsewhere
This album is tricky and simple all at the same time. I love it becuase it makes me want to dance. It also surprises me. They take simple pop tunes and get every ounce of goodness out of them.
Islands - Return To The Sea
Everyone loves Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over The Sea. For the past two years I have been wondering where all the albums that are influenced by In the Aeroplane Over The Sea. If everyone loves this album why has it made so little impact on other music? The Islands - Return to the Sea is the album I have been waiting for. Any Neutral Milk Hotel fan should check out this album.
Mecca Normal - The Observer
The Observer is like a great movie or a good book. It is a challenging. It is not an album that you put on and rock out too. It is an album you listen to and think about. I know that people do not want to think, but that is that is their problem. This is an album that people should listen to. I think it is challenging and hard to listen to at time, but sometimes that is a really good thing. This is one of those times.
The song writing on this album just amazes me. It is insightful and interesting. The album is about relationships. It seems real in a way other albums do not. For the way the songs describe relationships it is worth listening to. I really get the idea that I understand the woman as being single about about my age.
Kimya Dawson - Remember That I Love You
I know lots of people who will not like this album. Like all K Records bands, you either dig the lo-fi, high emotion, indie ethic or you do not. This album has the feeling of someone grabbing a guitar and pooring their heart out to a microphone. Of the 12 songs on this album, about half of them make the hair on the back of neck stand up. Each time I hear this album I hear something else. Kimya Dawson is an impressive songwriter.
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
This is one of those albums once I hear it, I need to listen to it three or four times in a row. The songs get stuck in my head. I sing them for days at a time. They haunt me like an opportunity I did not act on or a woman I ruined my chance with.
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
This is the kind of album that sneaks up behind you, grabs a hold of you while you are not paying attention, and does not let go. I already love the New Pornographers. This album has just enough elements of the New Pornographers for it to be familiar and just few enough for it to be new.
Mates Of State - Bring It Back
This is the best Mates of States album to date. The song writing has caught up to match their unique sound. The songs work really well as an album.
Karl Blau - Beneath Waves
This album was a surprise to me. There is no song that really stands out. The whole album is just relentless and strong. It has a good combination of pop structures and low-fi production.
Special Mention Joanna Newsom - Ys
I have a hard time saying this is one of the best albums of the year. I want to say it is not really an album, at least in the sense of rock and roll. This is a collection of 5 songs. The shortest song is almost 10 minutes long. It is not like old prog rock albums either. There are no long musical sections. It is a collection of songs trying to be short stories. I am not sure I get this album, but I have been listening to it a lot. It is worth taking a listen to see if it is for you.
Over the past couple of years I have been keeping track of the size of my music collection. I do it in a way I could never measure before MP3s. I like it that I know just how many songs I have. In college I had a 3x5 card for each album I owned on it. I used that to keep track of what albums had what songs. It did not give me this kind of data.
Here are my updated music collection stats:
Number of Songs 1-Jan-04 --- 28206 1-Jan-05 --- 36026 1-Jan-06 --- 41585 1-Jan-07 --- 46470
Size in time 1-Jan-04 --- 78:04:31:04 1-Jan-05 --- 99:01:07:31 1-Jan-06 --- 144:02:05:25 1-Jan-07 --- 156:19:33:52
Day:Hour:Minute:Second
If I listed to music 24 hours a day the last day to start to get through my whole collection would be Friday, July 27, 2007. If I listed to music 18 hours a day the last day to start to get through my whole collection would be Monday, June 4, 2007. If I started tomorrow I would have to listen to my collection 10.6 hours a day listen to it all.
Right now there are people shaking their head wondering why I would care about these number. I do because I can.
It looks like labels might be seeing the advances of music on MP3. I hope that MP3 or open formats like MP3 win out. I looks like music labels might start treating customers like customers. That can only be a good thing. I think it will be good for everyone in the long run. Lets see what happens.
It is time once again for the End Of Year Mix CD Challenge. It is time for all the mix-makers to collect the songs that mean 2006 to them. I am excited to see what mixes people will make. I have a whole bunch of new friends this year. I want to know what they thought of the year in music. If you send me a copy of your mix, I will send you a copy of my mix.
For the Silicon Valley Mix Makers, we have been talking about having a meetup where we can exchange face to face in January. Let me know if you are interested.
I would like everyone to remember, Mix Tapes are Fair Use. (That would still make a good bumper sticker)
I have been thinking about the legendary let to be released Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy. Axl Rose has been working on this album that it will never be released. I think I heard about this idea back when I was in college. Could that be true?
Chinese Democracy has been in production for almost nine years at a cost of over thirteen million dollars, making it the most expensive album ever recorded.
Part of me wants this to be the best album ever. I want it to come out and blow people's doors off. I want it to be unlike anything people expected. I doubt that could even happen not. My guess is that the best this album can be is a small disappointment.
I wonder where Axl went off the tracks with this album. Is there an idea in his head that I cannot find in the rest of the world? Is there a sound in his head that is nowhere else? I wonder if he is just making some other mistake.
I just wanted to tell everyone again that I love mp3tunes. I have been using it to back up my digital music collection. I like it because I have access to all my music from the internet. If the file is not protected, I can play it from a browser. Not only is it a good backup, I can get it from anywhere. I often use it when posting songs to my Vox Music Blog.
There are not that many people using this service. I think that everyone who cares about music should use this service. It is cheap compared to buying hard drives for backups. I am currently the user with the 17th most songs uploaded. The one downside is that it takes a log time to upload music. I think I can get into the top 10 when I am done.
I am not sure if anyone cares or not, but I have started a mostly music blog over at Vox. I can upload MP3s and they stream from the Vox site. I like being able to share music with other people. I was telling my sister Kathy that the internet has made me more interested in Music. I like it not because I can read things like Pitchfork media. I like it because I can read what people like me think about music.
Top 10 Musical Acts who I would pay to see live After seeing Death Cab for Cutie live I figure that it is time to update my list of Bands that I would pay to see who I have not seen yet list. Bands are getting added to this list faster than they are being dropped. That means either I am not true to my word or bands are not touring enough.
Belle & Sebastian Postal Service Mountain Goats Art Brut Ben Folds New Pornographers Cat Power Modest Mouse The Shins Calvin Johnson Joanna Newsom M. Ward Devendra Banhardt
Musical acts I would pay to see again:
The Decemberists Diane Cluck Mike Doughty CocoRosie Wilco
Dream Reunions:
Replacements Pavement Neutral Milk Hotel The Smiths
E-music has just added Drag City Records. One of my favorite albums of this decade is on Drag City Records, Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender. I spend much of my life thinking that the people in the popular media do not experience the world the way I do. I can only think that Joanna Newsom feels the same way. There is a beauty in her music that is easily over looked by convention. Bridges and Balloons, Peach Plum Pear, and The Book of Right-On are all wonderful songs. I can say that her music makes me feel a way that I cannot describe. When I hear her songs I want to turn the volume all the way up and sing from the top of my lungs. You should really check it out for yourself.
"This is unlike the story it was written to be." Joanne Newsom - Peach Plum Pear
All good things must come to an end the bad ones just go on forever Destroyer - Rubies
Every once in a while a lyric really makes my ears perk up. The song writer just captures an idea perfectly. Whenever I hear this line I just stop and think about this idea. No matter what else is going on in my line, the lyrics just stop my brain. That is something I look for in song writing.
