Not even two weeks from canceling the newspaper do we find out we almost missed out on one of the concerts we’d drop everything and run to. Pink Martini!
This act of musical euphoria will be taking place June 24, and tickets are going fast. I just might have to get a newspaper subscription again…
The late 90’s was the start of the road tripping era for me. Whether it was to Red Deer or to Regina, music was key in keeping the mood up and in some cases, remembering the journey. At the time, mix tapes were on the way out, giving way to discmans and in-car cd players. On one of my longer trips predating the in-car player, I was using a casette adaptor, and actually had to place my discman on a pillow on the other seat to keep it from skipping due to the car motion. The 48 CD booklet was a must to ensure all your favourite CDs were on hand, as well as some other stuff in case you felt like it.
At about the same time, I recall making an mp3 from a song off one of my CDs. It took an hour to make the one song, and I lost interest in trying to copy the rest of the CD. However it was amazing that I did not have to hunt for the CD any more when I wanted to hear that song.
Thanks to technology advancement over the last decade, it is only a matter of seconds to copy a given song from a CD, ready and waiting for my listening pleasure. Road trips have evolved to airplane trips, and the discman has given way to the iPod (with FM transmitter for those ‘vintage’ car rides). Less clutter. Smaller devices. ALL my music. Wherever/whenever I want to listen to it. I realize that I have not touched my 48 CD book in about three years! Most of the CDs that are in it right now have been in there for even longer.
What is interesting is that more often than not, the CDs that I buy now will only ever get used once or twice. They become part of a collection, and must not fall victim to scratches from CD Drives or getting eaten by my car player. They almost always go directly into iTunes, copy, back to the CD Case, and are placed on the shelf until the end of time. The mp3 becomes the well travelled audio companion.
And if I don’t feel like listening to it, random has a new song ready and waiting, from another CD that is probably hasn’t been touched since it was copied to the computer.
I like to listen to BBC Radio 1 [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/ ] on my Satellite radio every now and then. And I have to say that I like a lot of the BritPop sound that I am hearing. Some of it is a refreshing change from the mainstream music that I like to listen to from this side of the planet. Lately there has been two singers that have caught my attention with really great sound. They have actually started to gain some airtime and attention here, which is promising, and reading other reviews show a potentially strong fanbase.
I instantly loved the Amy Winehouse song "You Know I’m No Good" the first time I heard it, in fact rewinding to hear it over again two more times. The rich deep voice and mysterious style of brass created the perfect feel-good moment.
The other singer, Lily Allen, has some catchy tunes to lay back and groove to. I recommend "Smile", "L.D.N.", and "Littlest Things". Actually, if you get a chance to watch, the music video for "Smile" is very funny.
I have not listened to the rest of the CDs, but I plan to buy them in the near future to check out, and you should too!
Finally escaping the local FM airwaves, I got a Sirius Radio subscription [ http://www.siriuscanada.ca/ ] and have been listening to this for about a month now. Not only has this given me a nice selection of channels to check out on my drive to/from work, but also gives me exposure to different bands and music that I likely would not have heard.
One day I flipped over to the BBC Radio 1 channel that I get [ http://www.siriuscanada.ca/bbcradio1-e.htm ]. The program at the time was local (UK) “brit-pop” bands. This really catchy song came on, and lucky for me that the satellite radio tells you the band and song names. Once home I looked the band on the internet and sampled some more of their music. This band is called the Fratellis, an indie band out of Glasgow, Scotland, and their songs are really catchy! I ordered their CD over eBay (much cheaper than the amazon “import” price) and this is a treat for the ears. Go check them out! I think they may catch on and become popular here too!
You can sample some of their music on their website [ http://www.thefratellis.com/ ] and on their myspace page [ http://www.myspace.com/littlebabyfratelli ].