What is this world coming to? I happened to notice that the #1 music video on the VH1 countdown is a new song from New Kids on the Block! Do what? When did this happen? Not only am I baffled that someone invested money in their careers, but I’m stunned that this somehow rose to be the #1 music video on VH1. You have to be kidding me! It’s 2008, for cryin’ out loud! Is it April Fools?!
Apple needs to seriously negotiate a way to get most, if not all, of the iTunes Store tracks available as “Plus” (DRM-free) tracks. I don’t understand why Amazon has a deal with all of the record labels to provide high bit-rate, DRM-free music tracks across the board, and Apple does not. I just recently read that Napster has now followed in their footsteps. What is the deal with iTunes? Today, there are still a relatively sparse selection of iTunes Plus tracks. I’m certain that this has to do with some contracting with the record labels, but they need to wiggle their way out of that — if that’s the case.
I love iTunes, and I frequently buy the iTunes cards at places like Target, so I load up on downloads. Despite having credits from those gift cards, I’ve bought my last two albums from Amazon. You browse the music just like any other Amazon product, and use a batch downloader that they provide to get your music (For Mac and Windows). After that, the 256k MP3 files are yours to do as you please. Sweet indeed.
Until Apple offers the same, I’m afraid I’m going to have to continue buying music from Amazon. It’s a shame on Apple’s part, considering iTunes is such a big player. If others feel the same way that I do, they are going to be in trouble some day if they don’t turn this around.
The new Rolling Stones concert movie, Shine a Light, was released to theaters on April 4th. It is also in IMAX! I absolutely had to go. This Monday, Laura and I went and saw it at the IMAX theater in Raleigh. I was very excited about seeing this since I am a huge Stones fan, and I’ve never seen an IMAX concert movie before.
It was absolutely fantastic. I loved every minute of it. If you like the Stones, it is nothing short of a must-see. It is a stunning production. The picture and sound were simply incredible. We sat directly in the middle of the theater, and the sound was nothing short of out of this world. Amazing quality and clarity.
I have been to five Stones concerts, and I have several DVDs from their past tours. Even considering that fact, the setlist played for Shine a Light was incredible. They played a lot of rarities in this movie. Several of them I have never heard them play live. Not anywhere. “She Was Hot” from the early eighties was a fun choice, which they’d never done before on stage, to my knowledge. “Some Girls” and “Far Away Eyes” were both extreme rarities, too. “Loving Cup” was so great to hear them play live, which I think they have rarely ever done. That one was a duet with Jack White, which sounded quite interesting. But the magic moment for me was when they played “As Tears Go By”. Superb!
Still, I wish they played one or two new songs. At one point, I heard them rehearsing the chords for “She Saw Me Coming” from their last album. I was hoping they’d play it, since it is one of the best from that album. They didn’t include it in the set, though. Bummer. Also, I wish they hadn’t played “Satisfaction” or “Tumbling Dice”. They were both unnecessary, considering they are so played out, and this concert was performed at the Beacon Theater, not a stadium. They should have replaced those with something a lot less played. Still, they were solid performances.
The band puts on a great show for this movie. Their age is no secret, and the shots in this movie leave nothing hidden about their wrinkles. In my eyes, their wear and tear are a testament to how long they survived. Even in their 60s, the Stones put on a show that you’d expect to see of someone half their age.
A tip of the hat to Martin Scorsese for directing this masterpiece. I’ll surely buy the DVD when it comes out. If you plan to see it, you must see it in IMAX! Accept no substitute. Trust me.
If you are a Rolling Stones fan, like myself, you have probably already heard about the upcoming movie Shine a Light. It’s a concert movie directed by Martin Scorsese, filmed over two nights in late 2006 at the Beacon Theater, in New York City. The movie is going to be released at IMAX and regular theaters on April 4, 2008! A double CD movie soundtrack is also available!
I have been using iTunes (for Windows) since Laura bought my iPod Shuffle, some time ago. Every aspect of it is so straightforward and simple that I can’t image using anything else to buy or play music. In the past, I had briefly used both the MusicMatch online music store and the Real Rhapsody service. I don’t know if either are still going, nor do I care.
I don’t have to tell you that iTunes is far and away the best online music store. Buying tracks and burning CDs could not be any easier. The selection is huge. Nearly everything I have searched for has turned up on iTunes. I have never used the podcast or video offerings, but I am extremely satisfied with their music selection. The Barenaked Ladies, one of my favorite bands, have dozens of full length live concerts available through iTunes. I was stunned to find the endless songs available. Most important, all music files are high quality and produce very crisp sound. Files are in an encrypted AAC format, and all have a .m4p file extension.
iTunes even got me to organize my music using the library. I keep organized file folders of all my music files, but I never before played songs using a library. I always shied away from using the library in the Windows Media Player. Using iTunes as a library and music player is easy and fun to use. Making playlists and searching for tracks are so simple and intuitive that a caveman could do it.
Granted, if you have an iPod, you’ll get a lot more out of iTunes. The way it syncs with my iPod is literally plug it in and go. The software even automatically updated the firmware of my iPod hardware all on its own. I can’t imagine other services having anything that matches the close knit functionality of the iPod+iTunes combo. But even without an iPod, you can still make great sounding CDs. Most albums are $9.95 as a whole, much cheaper than buying the physical CD. All songs are 99 cents, otherwise. you save a little if you buy the whole album.
The bottom line: If you regularly shop at a different music store, then I pity you.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Rolling Stones fan. I have been since I was about 13 years old, when their Steel Wheels album was released in the year 1989. Since that time, I have been to many of their concerts over the years, all of which have been fantastic.
A very long time ago (the late 90s), I made a small website for Stones fans and called it Undercover, a name borrowed from their not-so-great album released in 1983. I still have the site online today, though it has very varied web addresses over the years. I have added and subtracted a lot of stuff since it was made, and I finally updated it back when I found out they were having a 2005 tour. The site isn’t much, but I made it myself and once spent a lot of time on it, so I keep it online. Currently, it is at stones.blitzcraig.org. It has some tour news, band history, my ticket stubs, links to other fan pages, etc. Check it out if you want. Don’t expect the site to be updated very often, if at all.
I just created a new category titled Music. Obviously, this will contain posts about music related stuff. I really don’t expect to make many posts to this category, but time will tell. I moved the past “Ships and Dip” post to this category, so it will appear older than this announcement in the time line.
I don’t think I have ever posted about music, but I’ll say that I am a big fan of the Barenaked Ladies. Me and Laura saw them in concert together back in 2000, and it was really great. They are an awesome group and I really enjoy their music. If you do too, you may be interested to know they are doing a concert cruise in January 2007. All of the information is at ShipsAndDip.com, the name of the event. They are to perform every night of the cruise. I wish I could afford to do this right now. While on the topic, their band website has been updated and is at bnlmusic.com. Even cooler, the group hosts their own blog at bnlblog.com. Check them all out. Their latest CD came out just a few weeks ago and after I downloaded it from iTunes, I have been back in a phase of playing all of their songs again.