From time to time, I would join eMusic then download a mega load of digital music before canceling my membership. I would repeat this cycle a few months later. However, the selection at eMusic must be getting better lately because I find myself rejoining eMusic every month to seek and download new music.

Last week, I rejoined eMuisc to download a fresh batch of digital music, which consists of the following albums:

• Picaresque by The Decemberists - If you need an introduction to The Decemberists, this is the album to get. After reading rave reviews about this band and their music, I decided to download this album to listen for myself. I was blown away by the band's lyrical tunes along with the wonderful voice of Colin Meloy, the band's lead singer and songwriter. I could not exactly categorize the musical genre that identifies the band. They have a broad range of musical style that ranges from folksy music akin to that of The Thrills to the upbeat indie pop similar to that of The Smiths. Absolutely my favorite album at the present. I highly recommended this album.
• Castaways and Cutouts by The Decemberists - A close second favorite album by the band.
• 18 B Sides by Moby - This is one of the two albums from Moby that features B-sides, which some people consider as rejected stuff that did not make it to the main album. But do not let this negative connotion fool you in believing that this album is infrerior. While the album may not be as refined as the parent album 18, it does have a collection of great dance and ambient songs. The goods news is that all tracks on this album sound quite differently from those on the parent album. Overall the album sounds very refreshing and appealing - the album feels more like a new relese than a collection of B-sides.
• Play: The B Sides by Moby - This album is so-so.
• Ambient by Moby - Somehow I do not like this album that much. It is refined but nothing stands out from this album. My least favorite of the six albums.
• Bellavista Terrace: Best of the Go-Betweens by The Go-Betweens - A compilation of top tunes from an 80's indie band from Australia.

10/17/2006 12:11:01 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

What do you get when you combine traditional tango and with the contemporary electronic sound and house beats? The answer my friend is the music of the Paris-based Gotan Project. Even the group's name reflects their deep Tango roots. The word "Gotan" is rearranged from the word "Tango" - actually according to Wikipedia, the name is the result of an popular Argentinean wordplay involving the reversal of syllables.

I really like Gotan Project's concept of fusing the more traditional Latin music and sometimes jazz with electronica. I am captivated by their elegant use of the accordion and vocals in many of their hits. Despite its immediate appeal to chic listeners, the music of Gotan Project is much broader than you think. World music lovers will certainly be attracted to the group's authentic tango tones. Even if you are not a fan of tango, Gotan Project's music will still appease. Most of their hits are soothing enough to be used as excellent background music. Of course, you will look hip by playing their music.

Ever since I was exposed to Gotan Project music from a chill out music compilation CD, I had been looking to acquire more of the trio's music. I was absolutely elated on Monday to find that all three of their albums are available for download from eMusic. I paid $10 for the three albums and still have enough credits to download other music. The songs are in MP3 VBR format (near CD quality) and can be played with impunity on any digital media devices. You can purchase the music from Gotan Project here. Since I am now a big fan of Gotan Project, I still plan to buy their CDs as they all come with bonus materials (like extra tracks or CDs).

I highly recommend all three Gotan Project's album. Both the debut album, La Revancha del Tango and their latest release, Lunatico are the best while Inspiracion-Espiracion Remix is the weaker of the three. Happy chilling.

9/6/2006 1:20:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

I have been listening the following music albums, which I acquired last week:

1. American Idiot by Green Day
   I have never given a 5-star rating (like that in iTunes and iPod) to every song in an album until I listened to this album. Yes, it is that good and deservingly so - after all it did win the Grammy Award for the Best Rock Album in 2005. In this album, Green Day has demonstrated significant music refinement and maturity while still maintaining the raw style that we hear in Dookie. But what I really like about this album is Green Day's forays into rock operas in grand punk style with a thoughtful theme on today's social woes in America. Wikipedia has a great article on the interpretation of the album's story. This is a great rock album, I highly recommend it.
2. Demon Days by Gorillaz
   Ever since I heard that iPod commercial featuring the song Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz, I have been wanting to get my hands on the actual music CD. I am not disappointed with this CD.
3. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
   The first time I heard of Franz Ferdinand was from the Sony PSP commercial that featured the band's signature rock anthem, Take me Out. I won't call the music album groundbreaking; but being a sucker for post-punk revival music, I consider this album a must-have in my iPod.
4. Live at Stubb's by Matisyahu
   This album features a rabbi look alike singing Reggae - an odd combination but Matisyahu is quite an accomplished Reggae artist. I find this album refreshing since I don't get to hear a lot new Reggae materials these days. The song "King without a Crown" is a masterpiece.
5. Bridging the Gap by the Black Eyed Peas
   I have only listen to this album once so far but I like what I am hearing.
6. X&Y by Coldplay
   My least favorite Coldplay album. It is not that is bad but the earlier Coldplay albums are a lot better.

11/8/2005 12:26:10 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Music

For my friends or blog fans who are into music listening, consider using Audioscrobbler to share your taste of music with the rest of the world.

6/14/2005 8:46:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

I found a really cool music site that allows me to build a profile of my musical taste and share it with the public. Check out my discerning taste for good music.

5/30/2005 1:24:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

I discovered eMusic.com while surfing the web today. Their music selection is very limited. But here's the good news, you get to download songs in high quality VBR (average out to about 256 bitrate) MP3 format. Even better, the songs come without the annoying Digital Rights Management (DRM).

Since a few of my Pixies' albums are in vinyl, I was thrilled to discover that they have the entire discography of the Pixies available for download. I can finally listen to the Pixies on my iPod. Discounting "The Best of the Pixies" album, there are 7 albums from the Pixies available for downloading - Come on Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova, Trompe le Monde, Pixies, and Complete B/Sides. Nevertheless, I spent only $15 to download all 7 albums. How did I do it? Here's how. When you sign up for eMusic, you get 50 downloads for free as part of the trial. You then pay $15 to start the subscription for an additional 65 songs per month. This adds up to a total of 115 songs that you can download in the first month, thereby allowing you to download all 94 songs from the 7 albums. You can cancel your subscription at any time if you don't like the service.

4/24/2005 1:26:04 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

The weekend has been relatively uneventful. I spent most of time working on administrivia stuff like designing business cards, writing emails, etc. Fortunately, John and Jake (aka Kodak) were willing to hang out with me at Toad for some live music. Besides its excellent beer selection, you never have to play cover at Toad despite its outstanding lineup. Last night band was good and their music style is akin to that of the Ramones.

Speaking of music, I have been listening to early 90's music reminiscent of happier times of my undergrad years. My favorite music genre back then was Hair Metal and Alternative Rock. Looking back, it was a pity that Alternative Rock killed Hair Metal. Anyway, here are some of the albums I have been listening to in the past week.

• Surfer Rosa by the Pixies
• Doolittle by the Pixies
• Dirt by Alice in Chains
• Siamese Dreams by the Smashing Pumpkins
• Appetite for Destruction by Guns & Roses
• Incesticide by Nirvana
• Favorites by Enuff Z'nuff
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge by Van Halen (Note that the initials of the album title has a smirking message)
• Ten by Pearl Jam
• Long Cold Winter by Cinderella

3/6/2005 10:05:13 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Music

On the school front, things are getting more exciting in Product Design & Development (PDD) as we get into the product concepts phase of our team's semester-long project.

On other news, I have been long-time musical fan of the Finn brothers who are better known as the founding members of the music groups, Split Enz and Crowded House. So I was delighted when I learned that they will be playing in the Somerville Theater on March 2. Unfortunately, as hard as I tried, the tickets to the gig were completely sold out by Saturday. I am very disappointed and so far my luck in procuring tickets to the shows that I wanted to see this year has been dismal. Anyway, here is the playlist of my top 10 favorite songs by the Finn brothers.

1. Better be Home Soon by Crowded House (Temple of Low Men)
2. I Got You by Split Enz (True Colours)
3. Private Universe by Crowded House (Afterglow)
4. Dont' Dream it's Over by Crowded House (Crowded House)
5. Only Talking Sense by Finn Brothers (Finn)
6. Distant Sun by Crowded House (Together Alone)
7. Recurring Dreams by Crowded House (Afterglow)
8. World Where You Live by Crowded House (Crowded House)
9. Where is my Soul by Finn Brothers (Finn)
10. Last to Know by Neil Finn (One Nil)

2/28/2005 11:57:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Music

I would like to start off today with a quote that goes like this:

That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned;
That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation;
That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes;
That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race;
That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained...

Do you know where I got the quote from? If you guessed Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia’s speech to the United Nation in 1963, you are correct. However, if you guessed Bob Marley you are also correct as the words were popularized in a song called War by him. Bob Marley would have been 60 today; I would like to dedicate this blog to honor a great musician whose music I have come to love. To find out more about the music, life, and convictions of Bob Marley, I did a search in Wikipedia and found this "must-read" article about Bob Marley. Here are some interesting facts I have found about Bob Marley:

• Bob Marley and I share the same birthday - Feb 6th.
• Bob Marley was a devoted Rastafarian. His actions and lyrics about Rastafarianism have been intentional to bring the religion to world attention. For instance, the association with Haile Selassie was no coincidence. Rastafarianism takes its name from Ras (Prince or Duke) Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie's name until he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The faith predicted that a new king with the power of God would rise out of Africa. There are many Rasta terms that are used regularly in Bob Marley’s songs, including Babylon that refers to the white patriarchy that has been oppressing the black race for centuries through economic and physical slavery; I and I is a complex term that referes to the oneness of Jah (God) and every human; Zion refers to either Ethiopia or the whole continent of Africa. Read here for more information on Rastafarianism
• If you haven't noticed, the colors of Rastafarianism is the same as the colors of the flag of Ethiopia
• Finally, Redemption Song is my favorite Bob Marley song, but I have never fully understand the meaning of the song until I searched the Internet for more information. Do you know that Redemption Song was the last track on Bob Marley's final album, Uprising. It was also the last song performed at Marley's final concert. Redemption Song has a spiritual message and is devoid of any Reggae tone (in fact, the only Bob Marley song that is not reggae). The spiritual theme of the song was probably the result of his struggle with cancer. When Bob writing this song in 1979, he was already in a lot of pain from the cancer he was diagnosed earlier. Redemption Song is about his struggle with cancer and his dealing with his mortality. In the song, he urges people that true freedom is only attained by freeing themselves from their self-imposed mental shackles, as clearly shown in this line of the song - "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery". As a metaphor, this song decries racism and celebrates freedom from oppression.

Source: Wikipedia

2/6/2005 1:57:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Music