The blog directory is getting closer to the day i added this little nugget of joy to my site, which means soon i will rule the world. Errr… or something. Meanwhile, if you think i should start to allow line-breaks for paragrapahs as long as i still refrain from editting, let me know.
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interscope.com – official homepage
Well, that’s one sign of the times: the Geffen site doesn’t bother with formality, and instead just tells you up front that you’re gonna be hearing mostly about Interscope artists. The main page features an at once revealing and encourage roster of artists. Headlining are the inevitable Eminem, Jurassic 5 (cool group, boring live), U2 (well, at least they didn’t get dropped), and two groups i’ve never heard of. Then there is the second tier of “hip” artists, the ones i know including Enrique Iglesias, Sonic Youth, Mya, and No Doubt (whose new single i actually like). The bottom of the page is encouraging: Black Eyed Peas, Bloodhound Gang, Dre, and Beck. A big “Ewwwww” for having to look at AC radio king Sting, but huge bonus points for having a new Joan Osborn CD lined up!!! Go Joan!!!
TabCrawler – Your Premier Guitar Tabs & Bass Tabs Source
Internet guitar sites inspire a dilemma for me. As we all have figured out by now, i am a major completeness freak and like to own everything by any artist i truly love. As such, i have a total of 12 guitar/piano books by my favourite artists, and a few more on top of that. The books cure my incessant urge to know exactly how to play a song, even if i never will play it exactly. However, internet tab sites give away all of this for free, often straight out of said books. As someone who shelled out plenty of money for those books, but also as someone who tabbed out Tori Amos’s entire last album by ear in a week, i try to provide solid guitar chords for people while still leaving them a reason to buy a book. Or, alternately, i give them something the book can’t/won’t give them. However, guitar tabulature on the internet is even more dangerous than Napster, because it definitely takes away from a market, which is small to begin with. I still don’t know quite how i feel, but i do know that a better market will result in a better product, and i’ll be buying the product either way. Hrmph.
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I like to keep lists of things. Even more, i love to enumerate just how much i love said things on said lists. One such list is that of every CD i own. In times of boredom i go through it and rearrange my collection based on sheer love, whether or not i sing along, replay value, and recent listens. Bonus points are awarded to albums that i often sing or play on guitar. So, that’s what those current CD’s are. Obviously a few favourites got left out due to my ranking system; the days of the immaculate collection have come and gone, but i have been crushing heavily on Madonna recently. Otherwise, Pawn is one of the better CD’s in my collection, choirgirl will never leave the top10, and mulvey and difranco always have one cd on the list. Beautiful Creature is a disarmingly good album, elastica is my lo-fi alternative to garbage when i need a teeny break (oh, and they’re incredible. Do you want to go to their concert with me?), and veruca salt’s cd is just good [at parts]. And, some idiot tv commerical has been playing bowie’s “watch that man,” which is about all it takes to get me to pop in Aladdin Sane.
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But, speaking of Elastica, have you ever listened to their first album? I can’t even describe it to you. First of all, Elastica has no preconceived notions about choruses, bridges, guitar tone, or the length of songs. My favourite song on their album is 1:33 long, and i tend to listen to it in quantities of ten. Their sound ranges from bopping poppy punk, to slow build guitar solos, to songs that are just great. With 16 tracks packed into 40 minutes i can get a little lost regarding the names of the middle eight, but i do know i like every one of them. Especially intriguing (especially when viewed as part of the whole album) is “Indian Song,” which contains (sometimes all at once) a slightly eastern throb, distorted electric guitar riffing, hand claps, slightly multi-tracked vocals, and an rhythm guitar that i can’t quiet put my finger on. Sorta Kula Shaker-y, i suppose. I find it interesting since is launches the album into some of its more punk songs. But i digress. If you are a fan of slightly at-times low-fi rock, UK guitar rock (blur, garbage, sleeper), or female lead bands, go buy this album! If you’re as smart as me you’ll be able to find it used for less then $8, which just adds to the lo-fi vibe. Run, don’t walk! Ahh… and now All-Nighter is on…