AtomicBaboon!?!

I have been using Songbird to play and manage my music collection. It is a nifty alternative to iTunes that has add-ons for iPod support, Last.fm, Qloud, importing your iTunes library, among many other things. It is supposed to not only manage your music collection but your collection of bookmarks to music stores, music blogs, network media devices and services, and any other bookmarks you choose.

On top of all that, like Firefox, it is built using Mozilla so it supports many of the same features and it is Open source so you can hack on it if you want. Keep in mind that it is still a work in progress though. I haven't had any problems with it but it is not a completed product so if you run into some odd behavior don't be completely surprised. It is however very functional and nice to look at.

It comes with a nice set of default bookmarks and among them is a site called Scissorkick.com which is a blog about interesting and oft unheard of music and artists. So far just about everything I have heard there has been extremely cool by my standards. If you like music that is "Organic, electronic & everything in between" I'll bet my right shoe you'll like what they have on scissorkick.

P.S. I am willing to bet my right shoe because it has a small pebble in it right now that is driving me a little crazy. Of course I could just take the shoe off and remove the pebble but that would make sense.

For you Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) fans out there, the band has their newest album entitled "Era Vulgaris" on their website for your listening pleasure. The official album release is June 12th (next Tuesday). I like it so far, but I like pretty much anything they do to some degree.

Chatter pointed out that there is a new blogger that calls himself "The Secret Drinker" that started The "Dive Bar" Review. That could be an entertaining blog I think.

Have a good Friday.

Here's a pretty funny song: Threes Rev. 1.1

Three things trust above all else;
Your knowledge of your craft,
That someone makes a profit,
And that you will get the shaft.

Yo yo yo crackaz! Getcho hanz on dis! Definitive Swim. Werrrrrd.

Ron over at Chatter posted about The Definitive 200. A list of the top ranked 200 popular music albums that according to them every music lover should own. Of course, as expected, their list is completely wrong. This isn't opinion; It is fact!

Keep in mind that your perception is your reality. So if you perceive things differently than I it may appear to you that I am wrong. However, it is important that you keep in mind at all times that if your perception does not present the same picture of reality that mine does your perception is broken. Now that we have that out of the way...

Here's an example of what is wrong with this list. At #21 we have "Come On Over" by Shania Twain. That right there is a dead give away that this list is already completely hosed. It becomes even more apparent we have a problem when ranked right UNDER Shania is "Who's Next" by The Who. It gets worse when we find "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd (the album to be played at my funeral) ranked way down the list at #79! Not only is Shania ranked higher, but so are albums by Faith Hill and The Dixie Chicks!

Let's look a little further. Searching for Tool in the list brought up only one album; Lateralus at #123. Tool... at #123. They left Ænima completely off the list! Who are these people and what are they trying to do to us? Are they even human? Nine Inch Nails didn't make the list at all.

Radiohead's "OK Computer" is ranked at #111. It is the only Radiohead album on the list... no "Pablo Honey" or "The Bends." You wouldn't want to listen to those! Noooooo... but be sure to pick up "Wide Open Spaces," "Home," and "Fly" by The Dixie Chicks! Radiohead is represented by one album. Tool... one album. JOHNNY CASH... ONE ALBUM!!!! POLICE... ONE ALBUM!!!! THE DIXIE CHICKS... 3 ALBUMS!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!! WHAT!!!???!!! WHO CAME UP WITH... WHY DID... WHAT!!!!????!!!!

There is so much wrong with that list. I could write for hours about it. I've barely even scratched the surface. I just can't take it any more. It's so horrible.

That was a great show. I've gone to some shows at small venues like Remington's before, but this is by far my favorite. It was a good time. Good fun music, and they were taking requests from the audience. They don't play with a set list which I thought was cool. I dig it man. I'll definitely be there the next time they are in town.

J-I-M-B-O!

I'm going to check out the Reverend Horton Heat show tonight at Remington's in Downtown Springfield, MO. Should be interesting.

Mr. Reznor has a new album "Year Zero" coming out 4/17/2007, just under two years since his last major release "With Teeth." He has some strange viral marketing campaign going on for this one. From what I can tell he has put together some sort of story about the near future. The US has bombed Tehran, invaded several other middle-eastern countries, and officially waged a holy war on Islam. There are sightings of God or what is described as God, and other weirdness.

So far there are two of the new songs available for your listening pleasure on the NIN MySpace page. "Survivalism" and "My Violent Heart" The songs remind me of some of the older NIN. Not quite as poppish as the last album.

Year Zero.

Some interesting lyrics from Muse:

Throw it all away
lets lose ourselves
because there's no one left for us to blame
it's a shame we're all dying
and do you think you deserve your freedom?
how could you send us so far away from home
when you know damn well that this is wrong
I will still lay down my life for you
and do you think you deserve your freedom?
no I don't think you do
there's no justice in the world
there's no justice in the world... and there never was

I don't know the story behind those lyrics or the song. I think I understand where the speaker is coming from though... I can't say I know, but I understand.

Well, I've listened to most of the music suggested by Phasedar, Lord of Funkitania in his Amazon Listmania... err... list... entitled "These will give your life meaning, you filthy animal." I don't exactly have the same taste in music as Lord Phasedar, but I found some of it to be pretty decent.

I already enjoy Beck's "Guero," Radiohead's "OK Computer," Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," and of course The Beatles "The White Album" a great deal, so those were gimme's. Of those I hadn't heard before, I really like Ted Leo & The Pharmacists' "Shake the Sheets." It is a good, poppy sounding album. Not always my cup o' tea, but catchy and I have listened to it several times so far. I am trying to think of a better way to describe it, but it is Monday... anyway.

"Castaways and Cutouts" by The Decemberists is a decent album. Again, not the kind of music I usually dig, but good. It has a bit of a country or folk feel at times, with some whiny slide guitar and accordion in it, and the vocals are whiny. It's a slow album that would probably be good to chill too on a warm afternoon while you nap. I mean that in a good way. However, the album is a little flat sounding... the same droning, forlorn sound throughout the album. It's not a bad album, but I don't think it gave my life meaning like Phasedar said it would...

Rilo Kiley's "More Adventurous" isn't bad. It's a little poppy for my taste but there some decent songs with clever lyrics. "Talkie Walkie" by Air isn't my favorite album of theirs. I enjoy their album "Premiers Symptomes" a great deal more, but it is also a great deal different. I don't care for the vocals of "Talkie Walkie", but I don't hate them either. The music is great though.

I am not a huge fan of rap, but there are a few rappers whose styles are undeniably unique, and among them for me is MF Doom. He has a unique voice and style. The mixing/production is done by Madlib who uses a great mixture of old jazz, what sounds like clips from old radio programs, and other odd samples. "Madvillainy" by Madvillain is something worth experiencing if you are a fan of rap at all.

I listened to Bright Eyes, The Fiery Furnaces, and The Shins as well and none of them struck me as all that impressive. They weren't bad, but nothing that made me want more.

Anyway, that's a quick summary of what I thought. I am not great at writing reviews. My descriptions are a bit generic I suppose. I will try to put more thought into my future reviews and see if I can improve a bit. That said, if you want to hear any of these before you decide whether you want to grab them for yourself, drop me a line.

I ran across this list of albums on Amazon: Listmania! a while back called "These will give your life meaning, you filthy animal" assembled by someone who calls themselves "Phasedar, Lord of Funkitania." I'm not sure where Funkitania is, or why I am a filthy animal, but I am going to check out these albums. I have some of them already. I especially like the comment for OK Computer: "This is kind of obligatory. I mean, if you don't have this album...you're kind of...ya know...This is awkward." That is so very very true... there is wisdom in those words.