Looks like CBS has bought music "scrobbler" Last.FM for about $280 million, or almost $19 per user...
I wonder if they just wanted to bury an online service called Last.fm that's mere name could be suggesting their numerous terrestrial FM properties are living a lie and dying in a haze of faded glory.
I ain't a super duper big fan of Apple and their latest asinine "I Tunes Plus" money gouge announcement about dumping an additional 30 cents per track their way. These "upgrades" are the ability just to use the song how you want, or get it in some higher bitrate resolution. Apparently it's a glitchy software trap cuz either you upgrade all your songs at once for an additional 30 cents, or you'll have to repay for them. Another bogus feature is that once you set your preference settings for $1.29 tracks, you will no longer be offered the .99 cent versions. Plus the 256kb so-called "DRM Free"songs are actually embedded by Steve Jobs minions with your name, email address and other tracking info. In fact the Electronic Freedom Foundation found additional info embedded in the files. EFF theorizes that there might be "
large amounts of iTunes library data" present in every one of those files. And Ars Technica adds that Apple maybe
"has watermarked the AAC encoding itself so that it would be significantly harder for users to anonymize themselves from the files after purchasing."
All in all this clumsy conspiratorial cash grab simply doesn't surprise me... not from the great Jobs, Cupertino's evil Turtle necked reality distortion field bearer.
And to think I wasted several hours this week attempting to download what covert art I could and get my cover art flow views looking all nice when i shoulda just deleted the whole lousy piece of infernal spy & slimeware...oh wait, I own an Ipod that I received as a gift last year and am therefore trapped like millions of others using this interface... never mind...
Let's get on with the music, not the software...
First up...Emusic the great legal indie download service has a free Ian Hunter track up today til about midnight, so get it now... Ian is freaking 68 and even if was just watching Home Shopping Network while sipping Starbucks...he's naturally still rocking way harder than Sir Paul McCartney ever did, especially now that he's shilling for those brands. Plus ex-Hoopler Ian operates on a fraction of the budget, with ten times the street cred...
the song is from his new Yep Roc album "Shrunken Heads"
Technically, ya probably have to be a member to get on the list for this treat...but I think you might be able to take advantage of this daily offer from outside the wall...
Ian Hunter - Words ( Big Mouth)
lemme know if the link worked for ya... if not try this one, it'll take ya to the proper page.
and if i did work, ya might consider the risk free 25 free downloads offer, I took advantage of it last year. Of course I'm such a sucker I did last year, and I'm still hooked on Emusic like crack... but generally happier than a clam. Hey it's only $10 a month, and I get about 4 albums worth of tunes of my choice for that pittance.
Unlike I Tunes, you don't need any specially authorized software, and everything comes at ya in DRM free mp3, for less 30 cents a tune, not a lame 30 cent upgrade...
I'm sure I'll be finding lots of good stuff coming my way this month there, but let's review what went down recently...
I know it hasn't really gotten too hot yet... but Summertime is on it's way, so i'm tossing in a few potental summertime playlist faves fer yer perusal...
As May fades away I do note that it's been a good month for music archiving and purchasing tunes fer moi I suppose...
Been sinking my ears lately into all sorts of cool turf & terrain...
In addition to recent revelations I've been digging like The Mains, Avett Brothers, and Teddybears...I'm always digging in the crates and looking up new finds & friendliness in the depths of the wayback machine. I recently bought a buncha everything from classic old Roger Troutman, Howard Tate, Doug Kershaw, Betty Davis, Bad Brains, Louis Prima and Dave Clark 5 tracks & releases to brand new stuff from old faves like Tim Armstrong, Detroit Cobras, Bebel Gilberto, Mavis Staples and Maria McKee.
I guess I could just skip the hyperbole, and let ya inspect the Mog account
Before I hit a kegger on Friday, I stopped by a Virgin MegaStore on Market that was still open at around 11:00 pm to stock up on party gifts. Of course I got selfish and spent money on my own choices as well, especially when I saw import copies of Amy Winehouse's debut CD Frank onsale for less than the usual $27.00. Then I grabbed a Fairport Convention DBL CD Import I saw on sale, a Transplants CD single, and a couple copies of Way Out by Seattle rapper's Nocturnal Rage and tossed in a copy of a new Motown remixes set ...
Here's a track from a few of those selections for those who are still paying attention...
and some links to other recent releases you shouldn't pass up...
anyhow...
I already had a version of Amy Winehouse performing this cut from some sort of AOL Sessions that was included as a B-side on the F*ck Me Pumps CD5 I got last year, but I'm just too charmed by the ol' static charged ol' vinyl record sound herein to pass up this version...
Amy Winehouse - (There Is) No Greater Love
If yer desperate to get more here's a link to order the import version for about $16.00 at last lookand if ya wanna wait...Amy's US label is crawling at a snail's pace and likely to get Frank out here by late September, a link to preorder it is provided here for about $11.00
Now if yer digging the Winehouse sound, then either yer already a fan of ol 60's soul & pop, or ya need to be getting down with it...
No better place to start that appreciation than with Martha & The Vandellas, and if yer looking for summer fun... then why not a rollicking remix of this Detroit girl group with a lil' Miami flava. While I wasn't enasmored with every reinterpretation on Motown remixed Vol 2, this one gives this Holland, Dozier, Holland classic composistion some seriously salsafied tico tico traction...
Motown Remixed Vol. 2 CD
which just came out this year is an electro-latinized collection...and the whole thang is full of fresh reworkings of some ol' Motown chestnuts. This one here is a remix by David Elizondo that I could imagine kicking up dust on dancefloors from East LA to Northern Spain...Martha & The Vandellas - [Love Is Like A ] HeatwaveDavid Elizondo Mix
Speaking of summer records...
Here's a fun & radio ready rawker that came attached to the new Hellcat release from Tim Armstrong backed with LA's Aggrolites called A Poet's Life...
Tim Armstrong - Into Action
I imagine it could be a good addition to yer sizzling summer soundtrack, and it's onsale online for download...or delivered to yer door in a digi-pak for about $12.00...
Speaking of Summertime, I don't suppose you'll need Joan Jett getting down with Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues in yer speakers will ya?
Well If Ya do...it's right here, recorded at the old Media Sound studios in New York circa 1981 at the request of late Casablanca prez Neil Bogart...
Joan Jett - Summertime Blues
And if yer idea of a party involves hair farming & seriously smoking guitar & other righteous combustibles...
The Hellacopters from Sweden are always a joy to behold in the boombox...
Here's a cut from a Hellacopters sorta not so greatest hits record that Gearhead finally issued digitally awhile back for all the onliners out there that no longer buy music on CD...
Follow the links I've painstakingly provided if you want the rest of these tracks either as downloads or on CD, cuz there's lots more to get...
Download "Heart Of The Matter" (mp3)
from "Cream of the Crap! Volume 1"
by The Hellacopters
Gearhead Records
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy on CD - For $11.49
More On This AlbumThe Pipettes are apparently on tour this summer in the US and doing some dates back home in the UK, and various European metro zones, some of which look entirely unfamiliar to me as well.
Looks like my chance to catch the Pipettes will be at The Rickshaw Stop on June 12 in San Francisco, as apparently Popscene is moving it's location to this club as well. Perhaps i'll go more now that it's no longer in a former bathhouse on the far side of nowhere down south of market...
June
1 - Lee's Palace Toronto, Ontario
2 - Black Cat Washington, Washington DC
3 - First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3 - Mars RED Music (instore acoustic + signing) Haddonfield, New Jersey
4 - Great Scott Boston, Massachusetts
5 - Highline Ballroom New York, New York
5 - Other Music (instore acoustic + signing) NEW YORK, New York
7 - Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
8 - 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota
10 - Casbah San Diego, California
11 - Troubadour Los Angeles, California
12 - Popscene @ Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, California
14 - Chop Suey Seattle, Washington
15 - Plaza Club Vancouver, British Columbia
19 - Shrewsbury Music Hall (benefit for Cancer Research) Shrewsbury
23 - Glastonbury Festival
July
6 - Ruisrock Festival Turku
8 - T In The Park
10 - Lake Festival Nr Klagenfurt
11 - Poolbar Festival Nr Feldkirch
20 - Gurten Festival Berne
21 - Pohoda Festival Bratislava
22 - Benicassim
28 - Storsjoyran Festival Ostersund
August
4 - Electric Garden Festival Kent
9 - Liquid Rooms Tokyo
11 - Summersonic - Marine Stadium Tokyo
12 - Summersonic Osaka
24 - Reading Festival
25 - Leeds Festival
Here's a track recorded live on an XFM broadcast in 2005
Pipettes - Why Did You Stay
Here's something else poppy that popped up on my radar, a midwest noise pop duo called Coltrane Motion who've put out a new release this week entitled Songs About Music.
While the best title so far was "Ex-Girlfriend In A Coma", of the ones I've heard, this one seemed like my fave so far...
Coltrane Motion They Can't Mic The Deep End
Download "They Can't Mic The Deep End" (mp3)
from "Songs About Music"
by Coltrane Motion
Datawaslost
More On This AlbumStay Tuned...
Next Time...perhaps we'll delve into something more topical...
in the meantime
keep on freakin' in the raw whirled...
Buy at 
Buy at 
