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Jun 27 2008 ∞
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Today on Tuneage:

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Relative Ways

It was October of 2002.  The Beltway Sniper had just been caught and I, along with my friend Kate, were traveling to a local hippy hangout where we would then board a bus en route to Washington DC to attend a peace rally.  We were running early so on the way we stopped at a used CD store.  After perusing the selection for all of fifteen minutes I had settled upon 3 artists that I had kind of, sort of heard of before.  I settled on …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.  

We rode in a chartered bus all night from Ohio to our nation’s capital and while my cohorts, many of them older, sang their favorite songs of peace and love and happiness there I sat with my red Sony portable CD player listening to a band called …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.  

Love it. This is my experiment album this week, after a few-week-long dry spell.

May 30 2008 ∞

Wilco: Kicking Television, Live in Chicago

This week’s experiment album.

I keep hearing about Wilco — now I’m finally trying them out. So far, so good. Very mellow, overall, especially after a week of Muse’s back catalog.

May 28 2008 ∞
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This is all of the plastic, cardboard, and paper required to deliver me two CDs (shipped from across the country) because they weren’t available DRM-free anywhere.

I ripped the CDs into iTunes. I’ll probably never take them out of their cases again.

May 23 2008 ∞

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America

This week’s experiment album. It sounds a little like what would happen if the Social Distortion singer got into a modern pop-rock band and stopped smoking for 6 months.
May 14 2008 ∞
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This week’s music experiment album is Muse - Black Holes and Revelations. I wasn’t too crazy about most of the album’s preview segments, but a few good tracks stood out, and the rest might grow on me.

This was a gateway-drug purchase from Guitar Hero III, which contains this track, Knights of Cydonia. It got stuck in my head after Bill complained that it was too long. (I’m still at 4 stars on this one. It’s hard.)

May 13 2008 ∞

Music experiment bonus

These won’t count for this week’s music experiment, since they’re from old bands that I already had in my collection, but I’ve bought two more albums:

R.E.M. - Accelerate. This was a nice surprise — R.E.M. has rediscovered their energy, and this is better than everything they’ve made in the last decade. Sidenote: This album is $14 and DRM-only on iTunes, but $10 DRM-free on Amazon.

Ultimate Santana. I admit that I came upon this while searching for Black Magic Woman so I could get to know the song better and maybe, just maybe, finally earn 5 stars on Guitar Hero. But Ultimate Santana is a great way to get a wide selection of his music, including his relatively recent collaboration tracks with modern artists, for those (like me) who didn’t previously have any of his music legally. This is also a great deal — it’s 18 tracks, coming in right below the 74-minute limit of standard audio CDs.

UPDATE: OK, this isn’t such a good buy… Black Magic Woman in Guitar Hero is actually Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, a 5-minute merged song, but Ultimate Santana’s version fades out and ends at 3:16! It’s missing the awesome latter half! Shit.

May 06 2008 ∞
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From Tuneage:

Two Gallants - The Hand That Held Me Down

One of the best live acts I’ve ever seen, Two Gallants takes ‘awkward rock’ to the highest echelon. Looking most uncomfortable and almost upset to be there, Adam and Tyson bang on their instruments (guitar and drums, respectively) as would any punk-rock pioneer. The difference is, however, the depth of their compositions, impressive melodic sense, and Adam’s unique vocal. If I had to, I might just categorize this band as Dylan-Punk, or maybe even Folk-Punk.

This album is this week’s experiment.

Apr 30 2008 ∞
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This week’s experiment album is Widespread Panic’s Light Fuse Get Away. Here’s Space Wrangler, a great 9-minute-long jam.
Apr 28 2008 ∞

New music experiment

My music collection is in desperate need of an update, having stagnated since about 2002 with very little new discovery since then. This is the beginning of my effort to revitalize it.

With the help of Tuneage and other music discovery methods, I’m trying a new experiment:

  • Get at least one new album every week.
  • Each must be from a new band.
  • All music will be legally acquired — either purchased or legally free.
  • Digital downloads will be used as often as possible, but with absolutely no DRM. CDs beat DRM if there’s no alternative.

Last week’s albums:

What’s next?