Free streaming. Money to the artists. Good stuff.
Archive for the 'TuneStuff' CategoryPage 2 of 11
Here’s to having MLK Day off from work!
Going for my walk/run today in 15 degree (F) temps wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. Until my calf started cramping. That had nothing to do with the cold, though. It was ready to go from the activity earlier in the weekend.
Junk I’ve run across:
- Parkour and free running are - without a doubt - the best thing to happen to action movies since martial arts. This article focuses on one of the American early adopters.
- Last Friday there was news of a car found in bits (along with the three people who were in it) in nearby Louisville. Turns out the car was doing over 100 miles per hour. It also turns out the folks taking the ride were drinking. At least they were “doing what they loved.”
- Leonard Cohen is going on tour after fifteen years off the road. I’m sure he’s past his prime, but I might actually go see him. This live disc is absolutely essential, I don’t care who you are.
- What does it say about me that I think this thing looks like a lot of fun?
- Brozo’s pal and mine, John Croghan, is playing some shows in the near future. I told him he should play “More Than Words” by perennial Boston favorite, Extreme. He said he’d do it if I actually came to the show. I’m gonna do my best, even though it’s way past my bed time.
- Another buddy, Wil Herren, has taken off to Dubai, where the rate of construction is only outstripped by the importing of sex workers (or so I hear). Wil’s off to a great start on his travel blog, even if he might be misusing the “pages” paradigm. The captions on the pics are gold.
- Brozo has the run down of our send-off for Wil, if you’re interested in a bunch of past-their-prime white boys rolling between dive bars in a limo.
- Oh, yeah… Go Pats!
- So, Clinton won Nevada, but Obama got more delegates? WTF? No wonder people don’t bother…
- I’m reading The Golden Compass right now. It’s actually good fun, IMHO. Not sure if I’m all that interested in the movie, though.
- I grabbed Superbad onto my TiVo via Amazon Unbox, though. That’s bound to be just about perfect for one of these nights when the television dial is utterly devoid of worthwhile entertainment.
- Speaking of, anyone have the early word on Breaking Bad? I’ve got it recorded, but haven’t watched it yet.
I suppose if I had to pick one musical artist to call my favorite, Tom Waits would be it. (Last.fm bears me out, too.)
As I remember my childhood, our house was always filled with the music of people like Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Townes Van Zandt. These artists are still at the top of my list, but I always remember the similarly frequent times when the Tom Waits records were out. His voice always gave me pause. It was so different, I’d stop and think “What IS this? Why is it so different from everything else? And why do I like it so much?”
And then there was the cover for the Small Change album with its be-pastied stripper… Now THAT was something for my prepubescent mind to ponder!
And that really is the best part about Tom Waits. He makes you think a bit. He tells wonderful stories in his songs. They may be comical, maudlin, tragic or surreal, but they are all wonderful.
Happy birthday, Tom. May you have many more. Thanks for everything so far.
(And thanks to my favorite homebrewer, David, for pointing out the date this morning.)
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Track o’ the Post: Tango Till They’re Sore from Rain Dogs by Tom Waits, because that album was always the most fascinating/baffling to me when I was young.
Did you know Dickie and the boys are doing a Mighty Mighty Bosstones reunion thing with a series of shows at the Middle East?
The gang is all 40-ish now, but it seems most of them couldn’t find anything else they wanted to do.
This video got me a little misty for my BU days. Like the time I saw the Bosstones tear up the CollegeFest shindig at Hynes Convention Center (probably in 1993…?).
Go get ‘em boys!
When I switched my home computing empire from my dying home-built, full tower PC to my new 24-inch slab o’ sex iMac everything went pretty smoothly. I managed to transfer all the files I cared about over, and Google Browser Sync made setting up my new copy of Firefox so easy I was kind of left with a “that’s it?!” feeling. I left the PC running, but I haven’t had to jump on it yet, so I’m about to rip out the hard drives and toss it.
The biggest part of the move from my perspective was my iTunes library. Firstly, let me say yes, I use iTunes. I know some ubergeeks who scoff at such an idea, but I don’t know what they are trying to do with their digital music that I can’t do in iTunes. Most importantly, I figured out some sweet-ass “smart” playlists that made it easy for me to play the sort of thing that suited my mood at any given moment.
Which brings us to the point. Continue reading ‘Goal Oriented’
May I humbly recommend that you point your web browsing application on over to Saul William’s new album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, which was produced by Trent Reznor (Mister Nine Inch Nails to you) and is available as either a free download in 192Kbps MP3 format or a $5 download that lets you pick between the 192, 320Kbps MP3, or lossless FLAC formats.
Now, if you ask me, $5 is just about the perfect price for an audio experience such as this. That’s pretty much what I paid for the new Radiohead thing, too. It’s even more pleasant when I know the money actually going to the artist.
And not only do you get to feel good about “sticking it to the man” by circumventing the record companies, you’ll also get what I consider a rather enjoyable album. (Added bonus: Somehow the MP3s have lyrics/blurbs that show up on the iPod. This is magic to me.)
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