Sunday, January 07, 2007

Downloadtastic

I'm blaming it on Eileen - mostly because it's her fault and partly because it's just fun to say 'I'm blaming it on Eileen.' The other day, she posted about emusic's awesome offer of 100 free downloads if you just sign up for their monthly service. You can even cancel anytime - including before you actually even have to pay anything. If you find yourself needing 100 free downloads, you can go here for their offer.

So far my downloads have fed this weird hip-hop obsession I've been having lately. I downloaded a new album produced by Hi-Tek - Hi-Teknology, Vol. 2. It's got a crazy, awesome mix of talent on it. There's Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, Talib Kweli, Dion, Judakiss and a lot more. And, as Eileen so astutely noted when I told her about it, Hi-Tek hails from the 'Nati. The jury's still out on how much I like this album, but I think I dig it. It will take a couple more listens to be sure though.

Downloaded a Talib Kweli album too - Right About Now. It's pretty good too. Talib Kweli is sort of the thinkin' man's flow artist. He pops out some great poetry for sure, but has never really hit it big on the hip-hop charts. It's his rhymes that set him apart if you ask me. People in the business love him though. All the big names point to him as a great artist who deserves more recognition.

Haven't had much time to listen to this one yet, but what I've heard I like a lot. I'm finding that I'm becoming a big fan of Kweli. Everyone who likes them some hip-hop gone likes them some Kweli.

Also picked up 2K6: The Tracks. It's an RJD2 offering. I owe Josh for the RJD2 intro. There are a lot of talented artists on this one too. It's an okay album, but maybe not top of the list. It might grow on me...if this hip-hop kick keeps up.

Downloaded Camera Obscura and TV On The Radio too. Not so much excited by Camera Obscura, but it could just be my mood. Haven't listened to TVOTR yet, but Gregg tells me they're awesome. He's been ready to call them the next big thing since he heard them a while back. I guess a lot of people have been saying that, but I totally missed out on them. This will be my attempt to get on the bandwagon.

And what download frenzy would be complete without some classical music? I choose some Bach for my listening pleasure. Oddly, I've never owned any Bach. Weird. Well, that's taken care of now. I'm hoping it's some good versions. That's the worst thing about classical music. You never really know if you're going to like the interpretation until you buy it and listen to it. I've had some pretty annoying disappointments over the years - Nigel Kennedy, I'm talking about you and your ridiculously pompous work.

I still have 22 tracks to download, so I'm open to suggestions. Let me know if there's something I need to get.

9 comments:

Laura said...

Sounds like a cool idea. How much spam will you get in our inbox after you cancel I wonder?

You have any Scissor Sisters? They're fun. Does the service have any cool imports and stuff? That's always a category lacking on iTunes.

Have fun!

tshsmom said...

Thanks for the tip! Z got a coupon for 25 free downloads from them, with the MP3 player we got him for Christmas. 100 is a MUCH better deal!

I'm not into hiphop, so no suggestions there. My classical taste runs to Beethoven(especially his Pastoral), Grieg, and Dvorak.

thephoenixnyc said...

So what's the catch?

As for not knowing about Classi cal interps, that is a problem, but the preview feature on Itunes can help with that.

Eileen said...

I've checked out the new TV On The Radio album and I can't say I'm very impressed. I just can't get into it. You know when an album makes everybodys top 10 list you really want to like - I just can't agree with them right now.

I haven't checked to see if eusic has the Teddybears album but you should get it if they do. It's really excellent.

Eileen said...

Oh, one more thing. I've had an emusic membership before and cancelled it. No spam and no hassle.

The site features mostly indoe rock bands that are just looking for exposure, not money. The older stuff they have is mostly out of print releases, I think.

S.M. Elliott said...

Can't help much. But I would download every version of "St. James Infirmary" I could find; there's like 50 of them on itunes.

Josh said...

Eileen: I think the TV on the Radio album is one of those where you sort of have to force yourself to listen all the way through a few times, but it's worth it once the songs start to delineate themselves in your mind. I wasn't too into it the first time I listened, but I'm enjoying it much more thoroughly now.

Phoenix: I don't think there's any catch, except that it's a subscription service and if you don't cancel before the 30-day trial is over, you'll get billed for the first month. But that's pretty standard. I think eMusic is just trying to get a customer base. I've been really impressed with it since I got the link from Eileen, mostly because of the pure MP3 format. The NY Times ran a pretty interesting story about iTunes' copy protection as compared to eMusic's lack thereof and how it serves Apple rather than the consumer.

begins with v said...

sadly, I'm not a big downloader...I get frustrated with it...I don't even own an ipod!!! I know, crazy!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love RJD2!!! Check out DJ Riko.

http://djriko.com/ - "Music to Buy Furniture By" is fantastic!

Maybe you might like MF Doom as well...

Kaiser Chiefs are excellent, and of course, The Go Team! is the best band ever.

That is all. :wave: