That Was Quick

In a piece related to the one I posted yesterday, Amazon.com just launched AmazonMP3, which as you'd expect, is their MP3 download store. Amazon says it hopes to be competitive with the iTunes juggernaut. That remains to be seen, but I'll tell you about my encounter with the store.

A large part of the main page is dedicated to Amazon's Top 100 download charts, which at the moment contains everything ranging from Kanye West, Amy Winehouse and Fall Out Boy to The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys. AmazonMP3's biggest claims are cheaper tracks and albums (some more popular songs are only $.89, albums average $8.99) and DRM-free music, a concept iTunes is still trying to get the hang of (iTunes Plus isn't all it's cracked up to be). After perusing the catalog a little bit, I decide to put my first 9 bucks on Eyes Open, the most recent release from Snow Patrol. After downloading their MP3 purchaser application and offering up my credit card info. (Amazon does not yet offer physical store cards a la iTunes), the tracks immediately started to download and were automatically added to my iTunes library. Sure enough all the songs were in a DRM-free MP3 format, making them compatible with every type of digital player. The songs claim to be at 256 kbps, which is comparable to iTunes, but the sound quality sounds a bit fuzzier compared to stuff bought from the iTunes store. Still, a full mp3 album for 9 bucks? By George, I think they've got something.

For added fun, double albums like The Wall and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness are also available for a paltry $8.99, as are a number of albums from iTunes holdout Radiohead (though they're only available as full albums, not individual songs). I'm not willing to totally abandon iTunes yet, but I don't think I'm dealing exclusively in them anymore.

AmazonMP3.com

==TJ==

Why iTunes Has Been (And Will Be) So Successful

An article in Rolling Stone#1035 (the one with Kanye and 50 Cent on the cover) talks about the rise of iTunes as one of the largest music-sellers in the country. With over 3 billion songs sold, its the largest digital music outlet, and accounts for 10% of all music sold in America, behind only Best Buy and Wal-Mart. But the story points out that the record labels aren't too fond of some of Apple's habits; for years the major labels have clamored for a change in the pricing models (the labels want $2.50 for recent and popular songs, and less than $.99 for older tracks) and a break from the $.99 per song, $9.99 an album setup that has made iTunes so successful over the last 4 years. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has met the labels' demands with a glorified "Go Fuck Yourself". As a result, NBC-Universal has cut off ties to Apple, with Universal Music holding the right to pull its music at any time, and NBC opting not to renew its contract to have its hit shows available for download. Representatives for the major labels have compared iTunes business habits to those of Wal-Mart.

Here's where I take issue; iTunes is different from Wal-Mart in that iTunes actually gives a crap about the people working for it, and the people buying their products. When I buy music or TV shows from iTunes, I know I'm getting high quality, yet still inexpensive merchandise that I actually want. Yes, iTunes may not be so friendly to the record labels, but take a look around; not many people are friendly toward the major labels these days. It's this fact that helped fuel illegal downloading, and in turn spawned iTunes. The record labels have no one to blame but themselves for this situation.

And a message to Universal Music Group; who the hell are you to try to strongarm iTunes into upping its prices? The reason you had to turn to iTunes is because people stopped buying your CDs. You don't exactly have room to try to force your pricing habits when those habits have proven to fail. You want to try to launch your own downloading service? Go ahead, good luck with that. I'll stick with the people who actually pay attention to what I want.

==TJ==

Boys Like Girls are good...WHAT!!??

Some quick reviews that got overshadowed by the awesomeness of the Foo Fighters leak last week:

-Going against the advice of Luis from Pretty Much Amazing, I went ahead and picked up the leak of James Blunt's All The Lost Souls. Luis, if you happen to be reading this, you were right. With a few marginal exceptions, its a snooze. If I want to hear a song like "1973", I'll stick with music that came out in 1973.
Ruling on the Field: 3/10
Highlight Reel:...Sad to say there really isn't one. If you really want a taste, I'll give you 1973.

-I've only barely gotten through all of Graduation, but it's definitely something that's gonna get a few more rounds on my iPod before it wears out. This is the only Kanye album I've heard in its entirety, so I don't really have a point of reference, but suffice it to say I'm impressed. Kanye's brand of rap is way more accessible than most of the rest of what the genre is offering up (with the exception of maybe Timbaland).
Ruling on the Field: 7/10
Highlight Reel: Stronger, Can't Tell Me Nothing

-I ruckused the self-titled debut from Boys Like Girls, primarily on the strength of this live version of "The Great Escape" I picked up from iTunes (the link is to the video of the AOL Session. The audio of the same performance is also on iTunes). "The Great Escape" is definitely one of the highlights of the album, but its matched by tracks like "Thunder" and "Five Minutes to Midnight". I don't know if there is a truly good way to do pop-punk, but Boys Like Girls put up something really fun.
Ruling on the Field: 8/10
No Highlight Reel for this because I ruckused it, but I'll try to get an mp3 of that live track up later in the week.

I think that's it for now. Back later with some other goodies.

==TJ==

Foo Fighters: Album of the Year???

If you take the softer disc from In Your Honor, There is Nothing Left to Lose, and the experience gained from the Foo Fighters' recent Skin and Bones "Afoostic" tour and stick 'em in a blender, you get something very close to Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, the sixth studio album from a band that by most accounts should have been nothing more than a small side project (note that the first Foo album was recorded by Grohl and the members of the recently-defunct Sunny Day Real Estate). On this album, Grohl and Co. are back in top form on what may be their best album to date.

2005's In Your Honor double album, while containing some of Grohl's best singing and songwriting to date, also seemed very schismatic, with no apparent connection between the two albums other than some artwork. Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace offers up the best of both worlds, with a stunning mix of balls-to-the-wall guitar and drums with the tuneful qualities that turned "Big Me" into a hit 12 years ago, as witnessed by leadoff track and first single "The Pretender". Strangely enough, this might be the weakest track on the album, with everything that follows it taking fans on a twisted roller coaster of ear shattering drums, wandering guitars, and flat-out beautiful lyrics by Grohl.

With tracks like "Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup is Running", the instrumental "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", and the far-and-away standout "Long Road to Ruin", Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace show us where the Foo have been, what they learned, and a small taste of where they're going. If they didn't before, The Foo Fighters should have everyone's attention by now.

Ruling on the Field: 10/10*
Highlight Reel: "Long Road to Ruin"

*In the interest of remaining professional, I lowered the albums rating to within the scale's parameters. On the first listens this album hit as high as a 14 or 15 on a 10-point scale. Yeah, it's that good.

==TJ==

VLM Just Cancelled All Its Appointments for the Rest of the Day

Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace, the new album from the Foo Fighters, just leaked to the internet.



So much for any real work getting done tonight. Review coming ASAP. NO I will not post the link to the download (violates terms of use for the group from whence I got it, and its just a bit wrong...even I have some standards)

==TJ==

Kanye, 50 set to do battle

For starters, I just started playing a leaked version of Graduation by Kanye West. I'll tell you what I think when I blast through the whole thing, but you should know that "Stronger" has been getting frequent play on my iPod for the last week or so. Both this album and 50 Cent's Curtis are slated for a Sept. 11th release, creating much fanfare and rivalry in the hip-hop world. In a very shady coincidence, both albums also leaked within hours of each other early last week. Fiddy has claimed that he will retire if Kanye sells more albums, a bet I sincerely wish we got in writing. Rolling Stone had the two appear as their cover story, and while the pieces are well worth the read, I was kind of disappointed to find out that the West/50 rivalry isn't nearly as heated as everyone would like to believe. I kind of enjoyed the image of Kanye holding his hands up in victory as he stands on a crying 50 Cent's body curled up in the fetal position. Maybe he's handing 50 a gold watch to help commemorate his retirement too. I dunno.

Last night my roommate handed me a mix of Okkervil River's stuff. I had heard of them insofar that their the new indie band du jour, but don't know much of their stuff. I'm gonna give it a shot a little later, see if maybe the indie kids got something right this time around.

Till then, I offer you a little taste of what I've been listening to in the last week or so:

Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come
Kanye West - Stronger
Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day
Velvet Revolver - The Last Fight
Finger Eleven - Paralyzer
Pearl Jam - Daughter (Live at Lollapalooza 07) [The unedited version that caused a shitstorm last month]

That's pretty much it. Back later in the week, probably with more info on the radio show.

==TJ==

Some Stuff to Chill Out To...

No, I'm not dead. Just been tied up with work and school and the like.

I've been listening to a lot of really chill, acoustic-y type stuff. And since I'm behind on my reviews I think I'll burn some time talking about what I've been listening to. I don't like doing long reviews unless its something big, so these'll be short.

I think just about everyone has heard Matt Nathanson's version of the early '90s hit "Laid", but for some reason he hasn't had much big-time success elsewhere. A few weeks ago he released Some Mad Hope, his sixth studio release. This album might be his best shot at commercial success, led by tracks like "Come On Get Higher", a track well in the running for makeout song of the year, and the leadoff anthem "Car Crash". But outside of these are smooth, chill pop-rock that his fans have come to love. It's not glitzy and you may not remember every song, but its a great cohesive set of tracks that create a decent album.
Ruling on the Field: 6.5/10
Highlight Reel: Come On Get Higher
Matt Nathanson on iTunes

For the past few months I've had "Life Less Ordinary" and "What About Everything?" by Carbon Leaf on my iPod, and both songs got airplay on the old radio show. I finally got around to hearing the album Indian Summer. It's got a bit more spine to it than Matt Nathanson, and it has the tendency to wreak of Matchbox 20, but no one ever said it was crime to write one hell of a hook. Tracks like "One Prarie Outpost" and the Irish-jig-meets-pop-rock meld of "This is My Song" show far more musicianship and inspiration than most anything Rob Thomas has done recently.
Ruling on the Field: 7/10
Highlight Reel: What About Everything?
Carbon Leaf on iTunes

I've mentioned Secondhand Serenade on this blog in the past, but i never did a real review of them. If Chris Carabba were to overdose on Prozac, it would come out sounding like John Vesely, aka Secondhand Serenade. His debut album Awake is made up entirely of songs he wrote for his wife. He's got all the ingredients of an early Dashboard Confessional, but he's also got an absurd amount of harmony in every song, and has already begun to explore a fuller sound with the bonus track "Stay Close, Don't Go". Secondhand Serenade is for all the people who miss acoustic Dashboard or are tired of hearing about unrequited love.
Ruling on the Field: 9/10
Highlight Reel: Maybe; Stay Close, Don't Go
Secondhand Serenade on iTunes

Dude named Brandon Heath had a concert at Arcadia last year. At the time he was starting to find some radio play in the south, but nothing huge. I wrote him off when he came to campus, but finally snagged a copy of his album last week. It opens with two incredible country-rock songs in "Steady Now" and "Simple Man", and the title track "Don't Get Comfortable" shows what he's capable of, but the rest of the album falls flatter, with fewer memorable songs.
Ruling on the Field: 5/10
Highlight Reel: Steady Now
Brandon Heath on iTunes

Finally, last week Las Vegas singer/songwriter Nick Motil played a set here on campus, and his most recent release One of These Days is another example of what good solo artist albums should sound like; simple, unassuming, and just memorable enough to warrant repeated listens. Nothing pretentious or dull about it (looking at you, Ani Difranco and Jack Johnson).
Ruling on the Field: 7/10
Highlight Reel: One of These Days
Nick Motil on iTunes

That's all for now. More mp3s and info on the pending radio show will come in the next few weeks.

==TJ==