Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler

3/23/2011

Was that a red Swingline I saw a little while ago on Justified ("Save My Love")? It was on Judge Reardon's (Stephen Root) desk. Office Space: hilarious movie. And if you haven't seen Justified you are missing something great. It's a seemingly lazy but menacing slow burn usually leading up to a nerve-wracking conflict. The big bad in the second season is a terrifyingly serene momma who comforts a man she just poisoned and smashes her loyal son's hand with a hammer for making a mistake. This show just keeps getting better.

Only If You Run

3/13/2011

I bought Duran Duran's "All You Need Is Now" from Amazon (which I can't wait for and will now get $6 back on because of the pre-order price guarantee, yay!) and got a free MP3.  So I checked my YouTube playlist of Music I Want and found "Only If You Run" by Julian Plenti.  This song was great on the Stargate Universe episode Sabotage.  Never forgot it.  Ah crap, there was also Mads Langer's "Fact-Fiction."  Well, I'm happy because I've wanted the other one for quite a bit longer.  I might just buy it anyway (nope...Amazon doesn't have it), but I usually want to get the entire album from someone that blows me away from out of nowhere, like Mumford & Sons.  And I don't just go downloading everything, because those 99 cent songs can add up really quickly.  Kinda funny that I'm saying that the day after I won an iPad auction at eBay.  It was a 32gb wi-fi only first gen, but that's still a big purchase.

New In Extremo Music, Plus Why I Loved Lala

3/10/2011

So today I listened to a song - Bleu "Singin in Tongues" - that my uncle recommended on Facebook and saw that it came from ReverbNation.  Since I've never heard of it I went there, hoping for a good Lala replacement.  Since Lala departed (thanks so much Apple) I've tried Mog, Rdio, Last.fm, the worthless Grooveshark, Apple's horrific Ping, and more; all are missing a different crucial piece of what made Lala great, which is very frustrating.  So I go there and search for a few favorite artists, but it seems to mostly be independent bands.  Like Pandora, I'll probably go back there when I'm in the mood for something new, but it won't be my main music site. 

Anyway...getting a bit off track here...I checked for In Extremo and saw an album cover I didn't recognize.  I went to their official site, InExtremo.de, and there was a new album.  What?  Apparently it came out on February 25.  It was around that time that I searched for new music from my favorite German bands and nothing came up.  Maybe I searched Amazon.com instead of Amazon.de.  Guess I'll have to check again for others.  Now it's time to decide: Limited Special edition with DVD concert footage for $25 (€18); the Limited Deluxe edition for $55 (€40); or the Standard edition for $25 and free shipping at Amazon.com?  The Limited Deluxe comes with a 3'x4' flag, so I might just get that one. 
 
Getting back to the music sites: Lala was the best because you could upload all your music and listen to it wherever you were.  What you and your friends listened to would show up in everyone's feed, and recommendations could be made; so you would always have a steady stream of new music waiting for you.  There were ratings and reviews for songs; widgets for other sites; and even music gifting to friends.  I have forgotten more of Lala's features than any other music site I've been to.  Apparently, no one wants to get this formula right, but if you want to be social - i.e. recommend songs, talk to others, and show the songs you listen to in your feed - and get some good free downloads, then use Last.fm. It is the best choice, primarily because you can send what you're listening to from many different sites and media players.

If you want to just listen to music use Rdio, but there's a monthly fee after the trial - no freebies, just previews - and no community aspect, except for the workaround people have going where they talk by posting under an artist/song or create a playlist for people to comment on.  One cool thing is that you can make a community playlist where others can add songs.

If you want to be disappointed go to Mog, which is sad because they were so promising. They do have music, but you have to pay after a short trial. No freebies here either, and no previews. There was a customizable page of your favorite music and you could make it into a simple blog with the posting features, but it wasn't designed to easily build a community. That page is now locked into a plain layout with a terrible design for everyone. It's just depressing because they almost had it right.

So, if you don't mind spending a bit of money and probably a lot of your time, I would say your best option would be the free version of Last.fm for social and the $5/month Rdio for listening if you really need the music browsing functionality that Lala used to have.  Of course, you can't ignore Pandora for finding music similar to your current tastes with little effort.  And I can't even sign up for Spotify since they're not yet available in the US, but I would love to.

Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More

3/05/2011

I know their debut album, Sigh No More, came out in October 2009, but I only recently discovered them thanks to a small blurb in a January or February 2011 issue of Entertainment Weekly.  I don't often agree with others' opinions on music and so I had low expectations.  Rarely do I hear a song by a new artist that leaves me with such certainty that they will be a new favorite, like Rammstein, Meat Loaf, Disturbed, and a few others previously.  And it's even rarer that I'm right about that certainty, because so many albums have only one or two good songs; not even great, just good.  It turns out that there is not a wasted second on this album; all songs are gorgeously and lovingly crafted.

I'm usually one to shy away from anything with a banjo, just like bagpipes, "the missing link between noise and sound" (Danny Bhoy).  Though, in the hands of talent even a banjo can become lovely, compelling, and essential.  "Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you; it will set you free" is one of the most beautiful, lyrical lines I've ever heard, and the music is so joyful and stirring that I listened to the title track probably 30 times in 3 days.  Not all the songs are happy - why should they be? - but every one has at least one perfect moment of brilliance.  This is the first on faith purchase I've made in quite a while and I'll definitely do the same with their next effort.  I just hope it can live up to the majesty that they've created here.