There’s a scene in High Fidelity when Rob (John Cusack), the day after having emotional get-back-together sex with his girfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), storms out of the Championship Vinyl stockroom and onto the salesfloor. He is completely caught off guard by the music playing over the store’s loudspeakers. It is shockingly good and he has no idea who it is. Read More
Tonight is your last chance to enjoy Arrested Development on network TV. Fox is airing the last four episodes back-to-back in a 2-hour block opposite the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I’ll miss you, you misunderstood sitcom wizard. (tear, tear; sob, sob)
I have a love-hate relationship with iTunes. It really is the most effective, robust music player out there, but I hate that it’s so ubiquitous. Everybody uses it. Everybody’s got an iPod. Well I have much more midwestern stubborness than Apple could penetrate and I want something different.
It seems that my prayers have been (or are being) answered.
The good folks over at DAPReview.net, a great resource, by the way, for digital audio player news, clued me into what they termed the “iTunes killer”: Songbird. Others have called it merely black iTunes, but I have high hopes for this little beast. It’s currently being beta-tested, but you can download the Proof-of-Concept version now.
What appeals to me about this player, besides its not being iTunes, is that you can open any webpage in Songbird and the player will find all available mp3s on a page a
nd give you the chance to play, download, or add them to your playlist immediately. I tried it out last night opening WithoutSound in Songbird and plucked the two Tapes singles Seamus posted a few days ago. It was pretty cool. However, I also tried opening Team-Love’s website to download some of those Jenny Lewis tracks, but Songbird couldn’t find any mp3s. This has more to do with the way Team-Love has scripted the page, though.
So there are some bugs to pick out of Songbird’s feathers, but it’s to be expected with a beta version. Songbird is open-source, based on Mozilla (like Firefox), so expect a wealth of improvements. Also, Songbird plays almost any audio format, including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. Whoo-hoo! If you find the time to download and test-drive the player, let us know what you think.
I’ve been holding off on writing about Jenny Lewis simply because everyone else has been. I mean the Rilo Kiley frontwoman is the cutest, hottest, most adorable thing to hit indie rock since, well, I don’t know when. She’s the Indie It Girl.
All of this would seem like a load of crap if it weren’t absolutely true. Plus she’s got talent and talented friends. In spades.
On her debut solo album, the Watson Twins provide backup vocals, Bright Eyes engineer Mike Mogis helms the boards, and Conor Oberst, Ben Gibbard, and M. Ward stop by to sing along on a cover of the Traveling Wilburys’ Handle With Care.
So it seems weird then that her label, Team Love, would post all but one of the tracks online in 160 kbps mp3s, but who am I to question? I already own the album and you should, too.
- Download almost all of Rabbit Fur Coat. (I recommend The Charging Sky and You Are What You Love)
- Buy Rabbit Fur Coat from Saddle Creek.
If only Jenny had played Daisy Duke. And Ben and Conor could have been Bo and Luke…
Contrary to popular belief, Love is not just the two of us. Nor is it leaving the phone off the hook.
Love is, in fact, a drowsy retarded turtle.
It’s also a seasick hedgehog having undergrown his captain clothes and a hapless fireman whale with a history of depression and a broken blowhole.
At least according to The Fish in the Nice Sweater.
- Read Love is a Drowsy Retarded Turtle by Fish.