Dear XM:

I recently purchased a vehicle that came with XM Radio free for 90s days. I like the idea of commercial free music - I am not interested in Talk Radio, or Howard Stern or MLB so I am only interested in the music part.

Thing is - now that you merged with Sirius you've gotten rid of all your cool music channels and just took on the Sirius channels - which to me are sub par. XM Cafe was excellent - now it's the spectrum and I turned it on today to hear a Bob Marley song off the Legend album - um ya... that album is practically handed out at college orientation - that isn't a "deep track". I want songs I don't know yet, not the same old bullshit I can listen to for free on 93.7 or some similar channel.

So far the only music channels I've found worthwhile are: Area (for some club music), 1st Wave (80s alt rock), and XMU (Indie College Radio). But honestly XMU isn't any better than WERS 88.9 Emerson college's radio station that has been going strong and FREE for 60 years! In fact 88.9 is such a great station I listen to it exclusively M-F during my commute. And 1st Wave is basically my cd collection from the 1980s - I haven't heard a song I don't already own on that station.

If you are going to get me to pay $10 a month for commercial free music I want to hear GREAT music that I haven't heard before. I don't want to hear top 40 pop that is played EVERYWHERE for free already! Or the same alt rock track every free 'alt rock' station is playing.

I know satellite radio is in trouble - I believe the way to get and keep paying subscribers is to offer channels that really are playing deep tracks, not the stuff that is already played on free stations. Otherwise people like me are going to stick to their ipods and commercial free college stations like 88.9.

Favorite Songs of 2008

My long overdue post about my favorite songs from 2008, in no particular order.

You don't know me - Ben Folds with Regina Spektor
Cologne - Ben Folds (really a beautiful and sad song)
Hiroshima - Ben Folds
The Frown Song - Ben Folds
Bitch Went Nuts - Ben Folds
Brainwascht - Ben Folds
Eggington - Ben Folds
Right as rain - Adele
Hometown Glory - Adele
Ballantines - Aimee Mann
Rocky took a lover - Bell X1
Flame - Bell X1
Eve, the apple of my eye - Bell X1
Natalie - Bell X1
Stupid Now - Bob Mould
Who Needs to Dream - Bob Mould
Again and Again - Bob Mould
Old highs new lows - Bob Mould
The silence between us - Bob Mould
Very Temporary - Bob Mould
Flume - Bon Iver
Skinny Love- Bon Iver
For Emma - Bon Iver
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
Lost - Coldplay
The World the people together (come on) - Dandy Warhols
Mission Control - Dandy Warhols
Bixby Canyon Bridge - Death Cab for Cutie
I will possess your heart - Death Cab for Cutie
No sunlight - Death Cab for Cutie
Cath... - Death Cab for Cutie
Long Division - Death Cab for Cutie
Mercy - Duffy
No Hiding Place - Elvis Costello
American Gangster Time - Elvis Costello
My Three Sons - Elvis Costello
Love Complete - The Epochs
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
Ragged Wood - Fleet Foxes
Quiet Houses - Fleet Foxes
Your Protector - Fleet Foxes
Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes
Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson
Over the Rainbow - Ingrid Michaelson
Keep Breathing - Ingrid Michaelson
Can't help falling in love - Ingrid Michaelson
This Lonely Love - Juliana Hatfield
I'm that chick - Mariah Carey. Yes I said it and I'm not embarrassed it's a fun song!
Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket
Touch me and I'm going to scream pt. 1 and 2 - My morning jacket
I'm Amazed - My morning Jacket
Sec Walkin - My morning Jacket
Bag it Up - Oasis
The shock of the lightning - Oasis
I'm Outta time - Oasis
The girl you lost to cocaine - Sia
Thinkin Bout Cops - Slightly Stoopid
Please just take these photos from my hands - snow patrol
I decided - Solange
Love is Noise - the Verve
Judas - the Verve
Rather Be - the Verve
Pork and Beans - Weezer
Let's Dance to Joy Division - The Wombats
Rainy Day Blues - Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
I'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you - Black Kids
L.E.S Artistes - Santogold
Black & Gold - Sam Sparro
Yeah Yeah - Brian Jonestown Massacre
Chip of a Star - Chatham County Line
Catch - Devics
Losing Me - Diego
Pony (it's ok) - Erin McCarley
Wisdom - Gran Ronde
Another Day - Jamie Lidell
Walking on Air - Kerli


Anything I missed out on in 2008 that I should add to my playlist?

Top 10 Albums of 2008

It's all subjective... but here's my list:

1: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2: Ben Folds - Way to Normal
3: The Verve - Fourth
4: Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
5: Elvis Costello - Momofuku
6: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
7: Bob Mould - District Line
8: BellX1 - Flock
9: Aimee Mann - @#25&! Smilers
10: Bon Iver - For Emmma, Forever Ago

Other good albums that don't quite make my top ten, but are worth mentioning:
Adele - 19
Beck - Modern Guilt
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Dandy Warhols - Earth to the Dandy Warhols
Duffy - Rockferry
Ingrid Michaelson - Be OK
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems
Weezer - The Red Album

iTunes follow up

I will give iTunes customer service credit - they apologized and sent a link to me that initiated a download of the song. Now I'm all set. I love when things work out.

Random Thoughts

a whole bunch of random thoughts in one post...

First - today while doing errands I was stuck at a red light in Somerville. I know shocking. But what really annoyed me - is that a pedestrian came up to the light. It's red in the direction she wants to cross so she can go, and even if it wasn't - if no one is coming why not cross? Anyway she pushes the walk button. and then just walks across the street. UM why the fuck did you push the walk if you were just going to walk anyway? Why do people always do this??? Then I continued to be stuck at the red light while no one crossed because she had crossed like 5 minutes earlier at this point. I see people do this all the time. Push the button then walk immediately never actually waiting for the WALK sign. So all the cars get stuck waiting longer. I mean sure if it's a busy road and there's never a break in the cars - clearly you have to press the walk to cross, but I'm talking about the people that press it when no one is coming, or the ones that press it and walk right after never waiting for it. It makes no sense to me.

And on a completely different note... Years ago when the Tir Na Nog was open (*sigh*) in Somerville I used to love to see Ronin Quinn play there and got his cd. He's got the best cover of Rainy Night in Soho - it's so good I can listen to it 10 times in a row and annoy everyone around me - HA. Anyway, I had ripped a whole bunch of cds onto a hard drive and that was one of them. The hard drive died and I lost all the music on it. I was so upset, because some of the cds I had ripped I just couldn't find. I don't know what happened to them, but they were gone. Then the Nog closed and I thought my Ronin Quinn cd was lost forever... Tonight while going through old cds to throw them away I found a copy of the cd - I had burned some mp3 backups to a disc and forgot about it!!!! YEY!! I'm enjoying the cd again. :)

Too bad I won't be in town

For the Bell X1 show @ the Paradise on May 16th.

Loving their new album Flock which I blogged about a few weeks ago. It debuted at #1 on the Irish album charts and is being played pretty heavily on 88.9 WERS. Worth checking out - it's good stuff.

I really love

the Vampire Weekend cd. I think I had them listed in my top albums of 2007, but the more I listen the more I like it. I know it was a little hyped, but I think they managed to live up to it.



Other albums I've been recently digging (if you really care to know):
Bob Mould - District Line
Bell X1 - Flock
Sia - Some people have real problems
Ben Lee - Ripe
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The Epochs - (self titled)
Caribou - Andorra
Everyday Visuals - Things Will Look Up

Tugboat Annie

I'm at work listening to what may be my best playlist ever and it's got a whole bunch of Tugboat Annie on it. I LOVED this band (they broke up in 2001). I wish they would get back together release just one more album. Just one! I need my fix!

This is Blasphemy

I'm watching dancing with the stars (not exactly in real time so I can FF the excessive commercials) and the first dance of the night is Kristi Yamaguchi. She is a phenomenal dancer - BUT the song is Blue Monday by New Order! That is blasphemy.

Amazing New Order songs should NOT be performed by the band on Dancing with the Stars!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I just vomited a little in my mouth.

Record Store Day

Hey this is pretty cool.

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the country will celebrate "Record Store Day."

What's that you ask?

On that day, stores from across the country will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.

Newbury Comics is participating in it - and so is my other favorite indie store: Amoeba Records.

I dig it.

Although who ever did the website.. Come on! The navigation to see all the participating stores is awful - it has to be one of the worst cases of usability I've ever seen. Show some paging - tell users page [#] of [#] some kind of clue. Highlight the letters I'm currently viewing. Show me something. And if you happen to click on one of the letters in the current view - but below the fold, nothing happens! So that said it was sooo difficult to navigate the pages to find out which other local Massachusetts stores are participating I gave up. Anyhow.... I am all about supporting independent record stores and I like the idea. there will also be some live shows at some of the stores, but none are listed so far for Boston.

My Bloody Valentine

After watching Dig! I got to thinking about other bands from the late 80s early 90s I hadn't listened to in a while and I started listening to The Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine.

Great stuff.

Bf asked (when listening to Loveless - only one of the top albums of all time) if I was 'actually listening to music or just noise'? WHAT!? Is he kidding me!? Clearly he is not feeling the emotion of the songs. He is missing out. The entire Loveless album is one to be played track 1-11 all the way through. Maybe you could play Only Shallow and When you Sleep on their own, but it's best to listen to each song in order. The songs have a fantastic dreamlike quality to them that I can't say any other band has created so successfully.

I decided to look them up and see what, if anything, was happening with them. They haven't released anything since loveless and broke up soon after. But I just read they are back together and touring Europe and there is talk of another album coming out soon. What I read said end of '07, but that hasn't happened yet so who knows if they will really release it. I hope they do, but it's going to be hard to follow up such a fantastic album like Loveless.

tour schedule - come to the US!

Fantastic Film: Dig!

Yesterday I watched two fantastic movies and I don't think they could have been any more different.

First movie: a co-worker had lent me the dvd Dig! - which is a 2004 documentary of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre - following them over a 7 year period during the 90s. It chronicles how the Dandies get signed to a major label, have huge success in Europe and mild success in the US (though to me I thought they were 'huge' in my circle of friends). Conversely, it also chronicles how BJM basically implodes on itself and never gets signed to a major label mostly because of Anton's erratic behavior, inability to compromise, and drug abuse. Which is heartbreaking because he truly is an amazing artist.

I've always like the Dandy Warhols (started listening in '96 or '97 - first album I bought from them was 'Dandy Warhols Come Down'), but I hadn't heard of the BJM - although watching the movie I realized I had actually heard some of their songs before. What a fantastic film.

And WOW BJM was a messed up band - although Anton Newcombe is just so amazingly talented. It's a bit sad they never had more commercial success. I checked the website and he's selling all the previous albums for $10 a piece. I think I may have to pick up a few.

I felt that Courtney Taylor-Taylor was a bit full of himself and clearly he is jealous (and in awe) of how creative Anton was/is. On the other hand Anton was so obsessed with making a statement and not bowing to the music industry that it seemed like he sabotaged his own potential success by doing insane things when he KNEW record execs were watching. Yet he was always jealous of the commercial success of Courtney and the Dandy Warhols. Success he probably could have achieved had he behaved just once during a live show.

I find it amazing the amount of drug these people did and still manage to function at all, nevermind write songs and perform them on a regular basis. I assumed I was going to find out some of the folks from BJM had OD'd but they were all still alive during the interviews in 2004 after the release of the film. Namely Joel Gion - super likable, but I was convinced that guy must have not made it because he seemed really high all the time (watching the film I kept expecting him to fall over on stage and pass out, but it never happened) - now he's working at my favorite west coast record store: Amoeba Records on Haight St. and in the band The Dilettantes.

Anyway - I loved this movie and the music. I felt like I really got to know the people in the bands. And WOW never realized before how HOT Peter Holmström from the Dandies is! I watched almost all the additional footage (deleted scenes, interviews after the screening of the film, videos etc) on a 2nd dvd. Great stuff!

Second movie: (and now I'm regretting putting both of these films in one post as it's getting rather lengthly). Ok I need to just make a new post for this...

iTunes pisses me off

So bf gave me an iPhone for my birthday yesterday. YEY! It's very cool overall. I love the visual voicemail and the web capabilities on it. I love the UI, and the ease of usability.

Although I have a few issues with it.

First, it will not let me drag/drop specific songs from my computer onto the phone. I can only sync playlists. This is just annoying. I should be able to drag one song if I want to, why do I have to create a playlist for that one song, then sync it?

Second, if I want to make a ringtone - I can only use songs I have downloaded from iTunes. THEN as if that wasn't enough - iTunes wants me to pay ANOTHER .99 cents to convert the song I ALREADY BOUGHT into a ringtone! That is just bullshit. It's not the cost of the ringtone, it's the principle of the fact that I already freaking bought the song. Why do I have to buy it twice? I have found a way around this by using my own songs, only playing a 30 second clip of them, which I then convert to an AAC file, then change it to a ringtone file, and sync the phone. Voila. It works. A ringtone for free. I'm not saying I'm against for paying for a ringtone - I'm not, but what I am against is paying for a ringtone of a song I already bought! And if I bought a 5 minute song for .99 cents, why is a :30 second clip the same cost? And shouldn't I own the rights of that song already to play it it any way I would like?

Third, I want it to have real gps. Right now it's using three cell towers to calculate where I am. When I'm home it gets me within 3 or 4 streets. Which is ok, but if I'm lost - knowing I could be on 1 of 4 streets isn't all that helpful. Especially if I am lost in oh let's say Boston where there are few street signs - I'm really screwed. But if I viewed it as the middle of the circle - I would be on the correct street (in the case of my house). However, last night when I was in downtown Boston I tried it. and the circle it drew covered: Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Cambridge, Somerville, and Charleston. YA that's wicked helpful thanks. What if I was really lost on Bolyston Street? It had me within a 5 mile radius. Annoying.

Anyway, other than those 3 really annoying things I really like the phone.

American Idol

I love American Idol and hate it at the same time.

Love it because I like hearing new voices and see how these people rearrange the songs and attempt to make them their own - which sometimes turns out horridly.

I like that it exposes younger audiences to different genres, and decades of music they may not normally have listened to. I really loved how David Cook changed up Lionel Richie's Hello last week and made it a cool rock song and then did the same this week with Eleanor Rigby.

But here's what I don't like. I love Jason Castro - how cute is he? but I digress... He did Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah - covered by Jeff Buckley in the 90s.

This is one of my top 10 songs of all time. I thought Jeff Buckley was MY generation's secret and I liked it that way.

Do these young kids really understand the exquisite beauty that is Jeff Buckley's version? Do they really appreciate the Grace album? They are all just downloading that one song - missing out on other fantastic songs like Last Goodbye, So Real, and the title track on that album. This album needs to be played in it's entirety from track 1 to 10. I'm not against Jason Castro and mostly I have really liked the songs he has sung on the show - although for me Hallelujah fell short - no one can do it like Jeff Buckley.

After last night's Beatles episode (the Lennon/McCartney songbook) I wonder if a bunch of Beatles songs will become the top downloads on iTunes? I was surprised how several of the kids singing hadn't heard many Beatles songs. How is this possible? I grew up on this music. My very first album in 1978 was a McCartney album. I treasured it and played it over and over. It still plays pretty well - only 2 scratches on the whole album (mostly I listen to it on mp3 now). But then I realize these kids were born in the 90s! They clearly missed out on some of the greatest music ever. Plus to me, if you want to be in the music industry - don't you have to appreciate all kinds of music? Don't you have to take some music theory? Listen to the greats? Learn the history?

David Archuleta gets up there last night and says I've never liked oldies and I don't know any Beatles songs or like them. With hundreds of songs written by them surely a person can't hate all of them? They changed music. It so many ways they influence what it is even today. They have some of the top albums/songs of all time even today. Yesterday is the most covered song in the world. The world. Which by the way, was a song I thought was right up David's alley. THAT'S what he should have sung last night.

Modern English

So maybe Modern English didn't have many hits, I had After the Snow and mostly only listened to I Melt with You. It was a fantastic song, but now I am annoyed with them. It's on a freaking annoying Taco Bell commercial now. Really? They sold out to Taco Bell? So disappointing!

Digital music has screwed me up

Back in the day when I would buy an album, tape, or cd - I would listen to the album over and over learning each song in the order they were on the album. I examined the album cover and liner notes. I read the song lyrics (if available) as I listened to the song. I knew everything about the album.

Now I either buy the cd and rip it immediately to my computer and never look at the cd again, or I download it off itunes. Which means: that often I have very little idea what the album cover looks like and I never see the liner notes, unless it's a cd I bought and I take the time to really examine them.

And the thing that really screws me up is - I like to play the songs on shuffle, which means I have no idea what the track numbers are. I don't know the order of the songs on the cd, unless I really make a note to play the album in order. I have to really pay attention to even remember the titles of the songs. It's totally different from how I used to listen to music - it's completely screwed me up.

Apparently I 'CAN'Tget it'

One night while listening to 88.9 @ Night I heard a great song about Boston called 'Gotsta Get It' by the hip-hop group Triple Threat. I'm not a huge hip-hop fan, but I like some groups like Gangstar, EPMD, Run DMC - old school stuff like that. And I like Jay-Z and Kanye too. But anyway, this song reminded me of that old school style of hip-hop I used to love so I wanted to pick up the album. You would think that would be easy right? Apparently not.

If this group wants to break out of Boston (they are local) they need to somehow get their album out there. A search on iTunes and amazon turned up NOTHING - these guys should definitely be showing up on these sites. Then I went to Newbury Comics website thinking surely they will carry this local group on their site. Once again - nothing. What's up with that? I am going to try my local Newbury Comics and I hope they sell the album, otherwise where else can a chick get this cd? I googled them and found a sparse myspace page, and an interview with them on wers.org. Not very helpful. What a bummer.

The Grammy's

I've been watching the Grammy's tonight and I think it's the best one I can remember in a while. I'm not really a fan of mainstream pop so usually I think they are crappy. But this year, maybe because it's the 50th anniversary, has had some really great performances.

Alica Keys, Tina Turner, Aretha, Herbie Hancock doing Rhapsody in Blue (which was fantastic), Kanye West and a bunch of other great performances. And how old is Tina Turner now? The woman is still fantastic and looks great - it's amazing.

UPDATE: Herbie Hancock - Album on the year... even more fantastic. It's nice to see people that actually play an instrument win. Actually I just looked at the previous album of the year recipients and they are all pretty good. It's nice to see Jazz up there though for a change.

Best Albums of 2007

#1 of the year:
The New Pornographers – Challengers

Other Awesome Albums IMHO:
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Sara Bareillis – Little Voice
Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate
The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
Modest Mouse – we were dead before the ship even sank
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (technically 2006)
Kanye West – Graduation
Alicia Keys – As I Am
Joss Stone – Introducing Joss Stone
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
Earlimart – Mentor Tormentor
Feist – The Reminder
Ingrid Michaelson – Boys and Girls
John Vanderslice – Emerald City
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Shins – Wincing the Night Away
Shiny Toy Guns – We are Pilots (technically 2006)
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
Juno soundtrack
Ben Lee – Ripe
Ryan Montbleau – Patience on Friday
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
Lilly Allen - alright, still
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
I know lots of people don’t like them, but I do:
Dashboard Confessional – Shade of Poison Trees

Great Singles:
Jenny Owens Young – ‘F*** was I ?’
Metro Station - Shake It
Rogue Wave - Sightlines (off of Spiderman 3 Soundtrack)
Ingrid Michaelson - Keep Breathing (off of Grey's Anatomy 3 Soundtrack)

Other Albums I liked, but I'm not sure I would put them in the 'best' category:
Buffalo Tom - Three Easy Pieces
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Kelly Clarkson - My December (good, but not as great as her last album)
Iron and Wine - the Shephard's Dog
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
The Killers - Sawdust
Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House

Two new artists I like

well I don't know how new they are, but I've just discovered them recently:

Kate Nash - love the song foundations. she sounds a lot like Lilly Allen and I like Kate's British accent in the song.

and Ryan Montbleau Band - love the song 75 and Sunny - WERS has a live recording of this song that is awesome. Now I need to find a way to get that song on my ipod.