I love keeping track of things. I’m somewhat obsessed with how many times I’ve seen movies, how much time I’ve spent playing video games, and how long albums are (in minutes). The order of it appeals to me. This is why Last.fm is awesome.

Last.fm is an aggregator that charts how many times you listen to things. It’s like the iTunes counter, but since it’s on the Internet, your count survives through computer crashes and OS changes. Mine’s been ticking for a week shy of 18 months now, and I’ve logged 15,640 plays. I’ve listened to the Mountain Goats 661 times, Damien Jurado 444 times, Smashing Pumpkins and Christian folksters Caedmon’s Call 68 times each, and Senses Fail exactly one time. It’s so much fun to use; I highly recommend it to you.

Continue reading

Aaron Robinson and the Lost Verses, Avett Brothers, Caedmon's Call, Damien Jurado, Emotionalism, Hotel Lights, I and Love and You, I Hope Your Ears Bleed, Last.fm, Michigan, Mountain Goats, Novi Split, Pink in the Sink, Smashing Pumpkins, Sufjan Stevens, The Second Gleam

There’s a reason all the Folk Fridays so far have been male-focused: I’m very picky about female vocalists. I think that female vocals lend themselves to pretension more often than male do. Or maybe I just tune out pretentious male vocalists. Either way, I’m choosy when it comes to female vocalists.

Continue reading

female vocalists, Jenny and Tyler, Walker Tower, Weepies

Guess what, guys? If you read below, you’ll get to read about communism, socialism, economics, and rock’n'roll! It’s like a USSR history course! Okay, not really. It’s just what’s happening this weekend in Norman/OKC.

Continue reading

Blue Door, Chevelle, communism, David Cook, Diamond Ballroom, economics, Firelake Grand Casino, rock'n'roll, socialism, USSR, Woody Guthrie, Woody Guthrie Folk Festival

Another weak week for releases, but there are some ports in this storm. But it’s not as grim as last week (which basically looked like an interpretation of No Country for Old Men), thankfully.

Buy: Raditude - Weezer. Weezer’s goofy geek-rock may never be critically acclaimed again (because when you reach the Blue Album’s level of critical acclaim, everything else just pales in comparison), but they’re still making solid pop songs. The Red Album was fun, and Make Believe was really strong as a release, so I have little doubts that this release will offer distorted guitars, pop hooks, and goofy lyrics. I mean, come on. Look at that title. It’s awesome.

/:

Swords - Morrissey. If you like Morrissey’s croonings, you should be super-excited that he’s releasing a new album. If you haven’t heard of him, you should probably check him out, as he’s an icon. If you don’t like him, I doubt that there’s going to be anything new here that’s going to pique your interest. But I do like that the album is called Swords. That’s pretty cool.

Play On - Carrie Underwood. I don’t particularly like Carrie Underwood and her schizophrenic song choices, but there are a great many people who do. And for you, this is like Christmas (see below).

Die:

My Christmas - Andrea Bocelli. I still hate Christmas albums.

Continue reading

Andrea Bocelli, Carrie Underwood, Morrissey, My Christmas, No Country for Old Men, Play On, Raditude, Swords, Weezer