Panning for Gold
I got to thinking recently. Why pay $10 or whatever a month for Spotify or Rdio when I’ve got 30GB of music on my hard drive that I never listen to? The problem is I open up iTunes, scan through the list of artists and think “I hate all this crap.” But here’s the trick: I don’t hate it all. I just forgot about all the good stuff.
So I started an insane project. I am rating every single song in my iTunes library. The short version of this story is that I’m having a blast and finding a ton of great music I had lost touch with.
I love projects like this. While I think Shawn may be insane for doing this, I am also intrigued and may even do this myself.
I currently subscribe to Spotify for $10 a month, which I have often thought of downgrading or canceling all together and getting back to the iTunes model of music. Maybe this is the kick start I need.
Source: morrisonfilm
Blink 182’s New Album, Neighborhoods
I bought the new Blink-182 album yesterday, and have listened to it seven times already. Each listen sounds better than the last.
It’s exactly where you would expect a new album to be in the evolution that has been Blink-182. Neighborhoods is a collaboration we have not heard from them yet. A mix of old Blink, Angels and Airwaves, Boxcar Racer, and even +44. Not to mention Travis’s drums, which are better than ever.
At times, it feels as if two separate bands decided to put their songs on a single album, yet those two bands just happen to make music that goes really well together. It does seem that Tom had a greater influence on the album, as most tracks have the Angels and Airwaves/ Boxcar Racer ring to them, and fewer have the +44 sound. The simplest tell for Blink-182 has always been who takes the lead on vocals. That person usually had the majority of the input on a song. This remains true on Neighborhoods.
Here’s a list of vocal parts per track.
- Tom
- Tom lead with Mark chorus
- Tom and Mark back and forth
- Tom lead with Mark back up
- Tom
- no vocals
- Mark
- Tom
- Mark lead with Tom back up
- Tom
- Mark
- Tom lead with Mark back up
- Mark
- Tom
Granted, I bought the deluxe version of the album. I normally don’t do this, but when it comes to this band, I just can’t help but to get my hands on every piece of their music that I can. Had this not been a vocal list for the deluxe version, Mark would have lost two of his lead songs, leaving the tally at seven songs for Tom, two for Mark and one with no vocals.
This is the second album I have purchased since subscribing to Spotify, as it is not available via the subscription service.
My favorite tracks so far are Natives and Kaleidoscope. Both of which are songs where either Mark or Tom sings the verse, and the other member sings the chorus. I have always been a sucker for that particular vocal arrangement in a Blink-182 song.
Jogging With No Music
As I mentioned yesterday, I was getting ready to go for a jog in the morning, and my iPod Nano wasn’t working. So, I went to use my wife’s iPod and just temporarily sync one of my podcasts onto it, but her iPod was completely out of battery. So I actually had to go out for a jog with no music, no podcast, no entertainment other than the sound of my pounding feet.
It was awkward at first, because I’m usually always listening to something during the day… music while I work, podcasts while I cook or do the dishes, audio books while I drive, etc. So, it took a good seven and a half minute adjustment period to get used to it. But at that point, it was kind of refreshing to be free of distractions and just be able to clear my mind and think.
People usually say I’m crazy when I utter this phrase, but I find jogging to be very relaxing. I know, I’m sweating bullets out there, and huffing and puffing… but there’s nothing else in the world to worry about for that period of time, other than to just run. If ever to found going for a morning jog to be the hardest thing I did that day, then that would be one easy ass day that I had ahead of me.
I actually even found that I was running harder than normal for the most part when I wasn’t listening to music. Probably because there was no other reason to be out there. I wasn’t consuming media. I was just running. And that felt great. So great, that I might continue to go out for silent jogs now and then, even on days that I have the option of actually listening to some music.
Trying Out Rdio
I’m currently trying out Rdio, and so far I’m giving it thumbs up. I was hesitant to try it out, because something about not owning this music bothers me. Not because I feel like I’m stealing, but because I have been buying CDs and mp3s ever since I first started listening to music. I know that the point here is that I could have any song I could think of at my finger tips, and if I buy in, I’ll never need an iTunes mp3 again. But, I want to have the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that the song is mine.
Rdio does offer you the option to buy an mp3 for $0.99 direct from them, but don’t forget, if I like this service beyond the 7 day trial, I will already be paying $4.99 a month to subscribe. So, the additional mp3 purchases seem silly.
I started out listening in the browser, and songs sound crystal clear, there was very little lag time between clicking play and hearing the music begin. The first problem I encountered, was not knowing what to listen to… because I was previously used to having my “go to” albums in iTunes, and just have muscle memory hard wired to start up a Muse, Green Day or Our Lady Peace album without thinking twice.
Next I tried the iPhone app, and as soon as I launched it, it knew exactly what I had been listening to in the browser and queued it up for me. (Very nice touch) It did however immediately pause the song in the browser when I pressed play on the iPhone. That’s fine though, I get it.
My next step was to download the Mac App, which I am currently still using to listen to Weezer’s latest album. Again, it knew exactly what I had been listening to in the browser and queued it up for me. Can’t complain there… but where I will complain, is that since using the Mac App, I have had two skips in the audio when browsing the web as I was listening.
Tonight is my first night using the service, and while I do enjoy listening to whatever I want whenever I want without making additional purchases… I’m just not sure if I listen to enough music on a daily basis to make this a worthwhile investment for me.
There is also an iTunes sync option and a social component to Rdio, where you can follow friends and share playlists… neither of which I have yet to dive into.
Overall, great stuff and I will repeat… I really enjoy having all of the music so easily accessible!
UPDATE (5/19 10:25): First real issue I have come across… I can’t listen to any of this music on my iPod Nano. Perhaps, I can make the additional purchase for the music that I absolutely love (which would all be the best music to listen to when I’m running). Cool thing I discovered… I can listen in the browser on my work PC!
Live Concert Albums Are Great For Running
Live concert albums are the best thing to listen to while running. I used to create a “Running” playlist, put a bunch of high energy songs in and hit Shuffle. That is definitely a close second, and what I’ll most likely do again to when I run out of live albums that I’m not sick of.
The experience of a live concert is exactly what you want when you’re running. The band is always keeping the energy up, keeping things moving, there are no pauses between tracks… and about once a concert, they like to slow things down and take it easy with a mellow song. Which is exactly what you need when you’re running. Instead of taking your lighter out, use that one song break to jog lightly, and when the next song kicks in, it’s right back into high gear.
I’m currently listening to the new Green Day live album Awesome as F**k.
No wonder Rihanna is so popular!
How do you write stuff like this? What did you do, write like one line of this chorus per night for a month or something like that?
And right when I think you’re just going to say “oh baby I’m a…” over and over again for an entire fifteen second chorus, you really mix it up there at the end. Is that kind of like when God rested on the seventh day of inventing the world? You were just so damn exhausted from all of those “oh baby I’m a” lines that you just took a load off, put your feet up and mailed it in at the end there?
In theory I should hate this song… but I love it!
B.O.B. feat Rivers Cuomo “Magic”
