Without Voice » Music

MJ: Economic martyr

shawn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:18:55 +0000

Despite his eccentricities and his alleged scandalous activities, there is one thing we can thank Michael Jackson for other than his music talent: Single-handedly reviving the economy. In a time when celebrities seem to be dying off at an alarming rate (Ed McMahon, Billie Mays, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McNair, etc), only the early demise of Michael Jackson was enough to send the populace out in a panic to purchase his legacy. Eat your heart out, Bernanke.

Audio gratification

shawn — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:47:52 +0000

Despite what Pandora thinks, I have a pretty wide and varied taste in music. My iPod shuffles between rock, country, rap, and even classical throughout the day in my rather eclectic music collection. I’m always on the lookout for new music. These days, however, it’s almost always because I heard it on a TV show or commercial, in a movie or video game, or some other non-traditional means. I almost never listen to the radio anymore and that’s because of one thing: podcasts. Last week when I was without my Celica, not being able to listen to my podcasts was probably the hardest thing to adjust to.

Podcasts can be found on pretty much any topic though it still heavily favors news & technology — the first industries to adopt podcasting. For me, beyond my weekly must-listen in the form of TWIT, the granddaddy and standard-bearer for all tech-related podcasts, I don’t really listen to any other technology related podcasts; I get enough technology in the hundreds of related articles I read every day. As for news, I’ve tried repeatedly to get into the NPR podcasts but I just habitually find myself leaning more toward other podcasts. Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me is always entertaining but more often, I pass the quick trips with ESPN’s PTI and College Football podcasts.

I’m a complete history junkie and, as far as I’m concerned, the history podcasts are the jewels in the world of podcasting. I’m constantly searching iTunes for more quality podcasts along the lines of The History of Rome and The History Network. For longer trips, Christina and I have steadily been listening to the in-depth TPN::Napoleon series. Also, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History is… well, for hardcore history fans… but is also an excellent podcast.

iTunes + iPod + crazy car adapter + podcasts = awesome nerdiness.

Pandora’s Box is smaller than I thought it would be

shawn — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:55:14 +0000

One of the most popular things around the net these days is “personalized” web radio. While the idea isn’t new, the latest crop of sites such as Pandora and Last.FM have supposedly greatly improved their “learning” systems. You start out with your favorite band and it gradually plays music it thinks you’ll like. As you listen to the music, you give it a thumbs up or down and as you listen. Simple, free, and a pretty cool idea all around. Eventually, you’ll be introduced to music you’ll like from artists you’re not familiar with. Unfortunately, my experience hasn’t been nearly as rewarding.

I’ve been messing with Pandora for my iPhone. What’s my favorite artist? That’s easy: Dave Matthews Band. First song, not surprisingly, was a DMB song. No complaints here… It’ll eventually start playing “new” stuff from artists I’ve never heard of soon enough. Or so I thought. In my few hours of Pandora usage, I’ve had exactly three artists played: Dave Matthews, John Mayer, and Jack Johnson. That’s being generous though: It has easily been 80-90% Dave Matthews with only the odd John Mayer/Jack Johnson song thrown in. While I’m not going to complain about getting to listen to DMB, it would be nice to discover other similar artists. That is the point, right?

Update: As I wrote this blog post, Pandora’s ears must have been burning as they threw in a Red Hot Chili Peppers song to ruin my rant.

DMB – 1

shawn — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:33:38 +0000

LeRoi Moore, saxophonist for my favorite band, died yesterday.

Streaming my tunes

shawn — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:06:16 +0000

I already had upgraded to an 80GB iPod fairly recently so I saw little reason to get the 16GB iPhone as I didn’t plan on using it for my music. A feel my decision was a bit prescient now that I’ve installed Simplify Media on my iPhone. This quite cool little application lets you stream your music collection to your iPhone. No limitations, no fee. It even plays music purchased from the iTunes music store. Not only that, it lets you create a buddy list with whom you can share your library with. This is probably the most impressive application for the iPhone I’ve seen so far.

The Conchords Flew Right Over My Head

shawn — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:48:21 +0000

Have you ever come across something that people just claim is “the best”, “the funniest”, etc… but when you check them out, you simply have no idea what they’re talking about?

Many of my closest friends have extolled the hilarity that comes from Flight of the Conchords. They’re basically a comedy-band duo. My friends just can’t stop talking about how funny there are. I don’t know what it is but I just don’t find them funny in the least. Here’s one of their “great” songs. Am I missing something? When did saying something that sounds like something else and then repeating it over and over again become the pinnacle of humor? To be funny, it has to have some context, e.g. “I’m Fucking Matt Damon“, or fully developed lyrics, e.g “Lazy Sunday“.

On another similar note, I recently saw Juno. I enjoyed the movie — I thought it had some funny parts, I appreciated the independent-streak in all of the characters, and I thought the characters themselves were all interesting… and yet, I don’t know why it was considered by many to be one of the best movies of the year. I didn’t get anything out of the movie except for an enjoyable two hours. I have no interest in talking about the movie afterwards, seeing it again, wondering what the characters will do after the movie ends, etc. I feel “one of the best movies of the year” should do some or all of these things.