Marktopia

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t made this a pick yet, so I figured I had to throw it out there.  Pandora is a internet radio service that learns what you like and don’t like in an effort to introduce you to new music.  You start off by giving it an artist you like, then plays a song by them.  After that first song, it makes a guess about another song you might like.  You can then give it a thumbs up or thumbs down to help Pandora learn.  This keeps going as long as you like, occasionally going back to songs you marked with a thumbs up.  The best part, it is all free, with the limitation that it only is available in the US and UK.  If you are a music person and havn’t taken a look at Pandora, give it a whirl.

Every summer there seems to be one song that becomes unexpectedly popular, and is typically a one-hit wonder.  For example, in 2006 we had Hey There Delilah.  You couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing it that summer.  It is a good song, but I bet you can’t stand hearing it.  All of those are defining traits for the Song of the Summer.  Since it is August already and I have been listening to some radio on our travels over the last three weeks, I spent sometime trying to think what this summer’s song is. After some pondering, I have decided on Time to Pretend by MGMT.  Not to say that the rest of their album isn’t decent, but it won’t catch on like Time to Pretend and could prove to be a one-hit wonder.  Now I realize my music world is a bit different than others, so feel free to throw out other songs as your Song of the Summer

On my 6 month recap, there was a commenter that said they has been diaapponted by the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs. Now I have not been a big Death Cab fan and have actually just recently really investigated there past catalog, so I have a different perspective than there long time listeners. That does afford me an interesting opportunity though, where I can make the case for the album to both new and old listeners of the band.

I dare say this is the top Death Cab album, however I doubt many long time fans will agree.  I think the quality of the music is just as good as their previous albums, it is the content and establishment of the songs that works well for me.  Take the first single, I Will Possess Your Heart.  It runs with a 4 minute instrumental intro before getting to the lyrics of a jadded admirer turned stalker.  The 4 minute intro can be read as the normal persuit of a lover, escalating to when the lyrics kick in at which point the person is now a stalker and fully creepy.

Almost more haunting is Grapevine Fires which initially sounds like a family escaping the seasonal fires in California, but on further listens could be the arsonist admiring his work from afar.  The album just aches with common and not so common troubles of the Gen X population living in California.  Does it get a bit drab at times, sure, but this is where the quality of the music really lifts the album up to be really fantastic.  If you have not listened or have given up on the album, I encourage you to take another listen.  You might just find something there that you were not expecting.

A little halfway through the year and I thought I would give an update on albums I have listened to so far in preparations for the top 2008 albums. Here is the list so far:

All India Radio - Fall
Breathe Owl Breathe - Ghost Glacier EP
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth
The Dodos - Visiter
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Jim Noir - Jim Noir
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
Matmos - Supreme Balloon
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
No Kids - Come Into My House
Nomo - Ghost Rock
Portishead - Third
Shearwater - Rook
Sun Kil Moon - April
Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album)

I already have a few albums I am aware of to listen to, listed below, but if there are other ones you think I shouldn’t miss, feel free to add them to the comments.

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Santogold - Santogold

I let the Album of the Week go awhile back because of time and I didn’t make it a resolution for the new year so I didn’t feel obligated to do it.  I also felt guilty with my last design where only one post showed up that it would not get displayed long out there.  With the new design, I figured I could play catch up with the album of the week.  I am still unlikely to post every week, but I will try to do a few albums a month for you.  In the meantime, I will suggest an album for each week since April 16th, the last Album of the Week

April 23: Know by Heart - The American Analog Set

I once told Mattbot that I would like to listen to some new music and he obliged with a bunch of artists I had never heard of.  One of my favorites was the this album.  Softly sung but strong lyrics infiltrate this entire album.

April 30: Hello Rockview - Less Than Jake

A flashback to my short punk/ska days, this album is still a great listen for a little angst with your horns.

May 7: Mary Star of the Sea - Zwan

While I did not love the album by the new Smashing Pumpkins last year, I did love the more obscure album by Zwan, Billy Corgan’s band between Pumpkins stints.  It is meant to be listened to loudly, and I would encourage doing that.

May 14: Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela

A guitar instrumental album, this is simply amazing.  I don’t need to say more, just check it out.

May 21: Dial “M” for Monkey - Bonobo

Nice relaxed electronic music that is interesting enough to keep you listening, but also works as great background music.

May 28: Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie

I decided to buy this even after I couldn’t find someone who recommended it.  It is a little darker than other Death Cab albums but also a little more entertaining.

June 4: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone since I loved the EP so much.  This will likely be one of the contenders for album of the year.

June 11: Rook - Shearwater

If you like Okkervil River, you will love this album.  Will Shelf, the vocalist for Okkervil River, lends his talents to Shearwater once again to make one of the most touching and powerful albums of the year.

June 18: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

For most people, this will need no explanation.  That being said, this album had to grow on me, but when it did, it has become one of my favorite albums ever.

June 25: Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030

An obscure hip-hop album from the year 2000 was re-released with a few more remixes making it an even better value.  This album is set in the 3030 and has sci-fi themes throughout.  For a nerd, hip-hop doesn’t get much better.

July 2: Ghost Rock - Nomo

To commemorate Jazz Fest in Iowa City, I give you a kind of funky jazz sounding album from Nomo.  If you arn’t sure, check out the track Rings as it will give you a good sense of what the rest of the album is like.

For the pick this week, I was inspired by my wife forgetting her iPod at home and not having a source of music for the day.  I looked for a way to share iTunes music from the home computer across the Internet.  After a brief search, I found Simplify Media, a client you install on your machine to share music libraries across the Internet.  It also allows you to share your libraries with up to 30 other people.  It isn’t perfect as it does not bring over ratings for songs, but it does bring playlists along so if you setup some clever playlists on your original machine, you should be all set.  Simplify Media is free to use as well, making it all the nicer.

thesixtyone was a site that I had seen recommended a number of times, but each time I went to it, I didn’t understand it.  Finally after asking a friend who is a member what the deal was, I got it, and I got hooked.  The short description is that it is a site that makes a game out of finding new music.  With your account, you get points to bump songs.  As your bumped songs become more popular, you get more points to bump other songs.  You also get extra points for logging in each day and accomplishing goals like listening to 100 different songs.

Being a Web 2.0 site, of course there is the social aspect where you can keep track of how your friends are doing.  It also has a wonderful interface which allows you to listen to a track and still browse around other parts of the site.  The one drawback for some people is that it is primarily independent artists so you won’t find any top 40 music out there.  That being said, I have already found quite a few new artists that are good.  You can find my profile at http://www.thesixtyone.com/#/mizidymizark if you sign up and want to make a quick friend.

Pick of the Week is my way of highlighting cool/new services and software on the web or the Mac. A few Windows applications might sneak in from time to time, but it will be rare. You can find an archive of services and software at http://www.marktopia.net/tag/potw/.

Of you iTunes users out there, I am sure many are familiar with the visualizations included with the product.  If you like to watch crazy colors zoom around the screen, you will be disappointed with my pick.  iConcertCal is technically a visualization for iTunes, but when loaded, it scans your music library for artists and produces a calendar of events coming up for them.

You set your start location and the radius for it to look at and it will then return shows those artists are performing at.  It will also check for new albums and releases for the artists as well.  If you are into music, I highly recommend checking it out.  It works on both Mac and Windows iTunes and is free!

Pick of the Week is my way of highlighting cool/new services and software on the web or the Mac. A few Windows applications might sneak in from time to time, but it will be rare. You can find an archive of services and software at http://www.marktopia.net/tag/potw/.

I am cheating this week with only an EP, but people need to hear the band Fleet Foxes in any way possible.  Unfortunately until their album comes out, this is the only way possible.  Using lots of reverb mixed with soothing vocals, this will be 20 minutes of joy for you.  As an added bonus, it is available on Amazon MP3 for just $2.99.  If you like music and have 3 bucks, I emplore you to check this out.  I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Album of the Week is my way of highlighting albums both new and old that I think are worth checking out.  You can find an archive of services and software at http://www.marktopia.net/tag/aotw/.

Even with cancelled flights and severe weather, I am managing to post an album of the week.  This week we have Hunky Dory by David Bowie. This is partly inspired by my watching of the BBC series Life on Mars, but this is a fantastic album from start to finish.  I realize that most people are already aware of this, but I am a little late to the party on this one.  In any case, the variety in styles of music combined with Bowie’s unique voice help make this album really stand out.  Sorry about the short post, but use the time you would have been reading listening to this.

Album of the Week is my way of highlighting albums both new and old that I think are worth checking out.  You can find an archive of services and software at http://www.marktopia.net/tag/aotw/.