Inspired by this thread: I signed up for eMusic the other day (inspired by another thread, actually) and have been poking around looking for stuff to download, but I realize that I have so little knowledge about current music that i have no idea where to even look. So I will download the next two dozen recommendations available from eMusic, no questions asked. Except, no rap. I hate rap. So what should I get?
Hey - The Pixies Live or some of their studio stuff on Surfa Rosa or Doolittle
The Wind - Warren Zevon his last album
John Mayall’s 70th Birthday party with friends
And for some more recent stuff:
Anything by the Be Good Tanyas
Shout Bama Lama and other rockin’ tunes from the Detroit Cobras
That’s a start
One song per recommendation, please. Sorry I wasn’t clearer about that.
Superchunk’s cover of David Bowie’s “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)” from their Cup of Sand compilation.
I don’t know what your tastes lean toward (since I haven’t heard of the artist you recommended in the linked thread), but I’ll recommend …
Goldfrapp “Ride a White Horse”
Great dance song.
Not finding it on eMusic.
Debaser by the Pixies
Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat) by the Detroit Cobras
Keep Me in Your Heart by Warren Zevon
Rain and Snow by the Be Good Tanyas
Take your choice. The Live Pixies stuff is only available on eMusic and it’s amazing, that would be my one choice if I had only one.
If you like punk rock, check out The Oblivians; most of their stuff is available on eMusic. I’d suggest “Bad Man” as a good song to sample.
I’ll give you my most-listened-to non-rap song of the past three months as measured by last.fm.
[checks last.fm page]
Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Ooh, that’s a good one. Catchy as hell pop-rock. If you don’t like it, you have no soul.
Only Love (the first song on that album) by Harlan T. Bobo. I predict you’ll choose to download the rest of the album after hearing that; I did.
Neko Case - “Deep Red Bells”, from the album Blacklisted.
It’s gorgeous. Kind of a country-folky-gospel hybrid. And what a voice!
I kind of burned my 25 free tracks unceremoniously (used it as an opportunity to give a cheap, quirky gift to El Perro Fumando by grabbing the entire Charlie Brown Christmas album), and didn’t really care enough to continue on with emusic as a paid member. But I did get a few decent tracks in the trial:
Nina Simone “Sinnerman” - Found it on the Thomas Crowne Affair soundtrack. A great track, such soul, great energy, and at over ten minutes, you get your money worth (so to speak).
Ryan Adams “Monday Night” and “Goodbye Honey” from various Bloodshot Records compilations. That’s assuming alt-country does anything for you.
London Symphony Orchestra “Le Sacre Du Printemps” (Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”). Some classical/orchestral music on the site is split up into what comes to many dozens of small tracks, and some is in unwieldy large single files. This was the second. So I got a decent (not the best I’ve heard, but not by a bunch of hobbyists in a local orchestra by a long shot) version of the entire ballet score in one go.
Really?? It’s major label, it should be available anywhere. Oh well.
That’s the trick with eMusic. There are no major labels. They offer just minor and independent labels, and do so at a much lower price break. I think, depending on your subscription level, it can work out to be between $0.25 and $0.40 per song.
Downloaded so far:
Scary Monsters by Superchunk
Debaser by the Pixies
Bad Man by The Oblivians
Only Love by Harlan T. Bobo
Deep Red Bells by Neco Case
Sinnerman by Nina Simone
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives by Voxtrot
Editors - Munich
The new Paul McCartney album is on there.
Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
If you’re in the mood for something well-written try “Breathe (2 AM)” By Anna Nalick.
…which is, Survey Says:
A major label release (Sony).
From their own site:
(bolding mine)
So no Sony BMG, EMI, Universal Music Group, or Warner Group. Which is nearly everything you’ll hear on the radio.