More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle…

Wow. I’d just about run Mike Doughty’s previous album, Haughty Melodic, into the ground when I came across his new release last night. I don’t think it quite equals the genius of Haughty (which featured such gems as “Busting Up a Starbucks” and “White Lexus”), but it’s still far better than 99.9% of the crap that passes for music these days.

Golden Delicious. Check it out, especially “27 Jennifers”, “I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress…”, and “I Wrote a Song About Your Car”.  And, of course, the delightfully random “More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle”.

It’s Like That ‘He-Man’ Episode Where Everything Was Upside-Down and Ran Backwards…

Toby “Boot In Your Ass” Keith is a Democrat.

And, oh yeah, he didn’t think the whole Iraq thing was a good idea.

Um…what?

What’s next? Breaking news that Hugh Hefner is gay?

Good Luck With That, Chief…

What’s the deal with the massive, megalithic corporations coming around once a month or so and declaring their latest product du jour the one that will finally stick it to Apple’s iPod (or iPhone or iTunes or…)?

Today’s latest flash of brilliance comes from the combined efforts of MTV (owned by Viacom), RealNetworks (buffering…), and Verizon.  Apparently, they’re planning to go all Voltron on Apple, and will be combining their various digital music stores into one cross-platform monstrosity that no one will use anyway offering.

Okay, come on. Does anybody think for even a moment that this is going to do any more against iTunes than bounce off and fall, broken, to the curb, just like every other challenger?

Here’s the thing. Apple’s on a tear right now. It’s products are slick, attractive, and they work. And while they basically own digital music, they still enjoy that underdog image they’ve gained from being under Microsoft’s heel for so long. The company that knocks the iPod off its perch won’t be Microsoft. It won’t be RealNetworks or Verizon or Samsung or Sony. It will be another underdog, who figures out a better way of selling and organizing digital music.

In the meantime, let’s see how well this latest challenge does once the new iPod launches this September or October. Anybody wanna start a death pool?

Pandora’s Box

Like music?

Want to discover some new artists?

Want free music to listen to during work?

Check out www.pandora.com – enter a favorite artist or song, and the site will create a "radio station" populated with similar songs and artists.

I was skeptical at first and expected it wouldn’t have a very deep catalog, but it hasn’t blinked yet and some of the artists I’ve thrown at it are pretty obscure (Chris Mills, Mike Doughty…).

Dust to Dust…

I believe that best sums up this year’s Austin City Limits festival.

For whatever divine, meteorological, or other reasons, Hurricane Rita veered far to the east, meaning that Austin did not get hit by the feared lashing rain and tropical storm-force winds.  Instead it was sunny and hot and windy.  Very windy, but not the 40 mph sustained winds that everyone was fearing.

The result was that Zilker Park ended up doing a pretty good impersonation of the Dust Bowl, especially as the day progressed and more and more people began showing up.

After awhile, I’d had enough.  ACL is a blast, but being there alone and unable to see the various artists through the slinging dust certainly diminished the experience.

I will stand by the statement I make every year around this time.  Why, oh why don’t they push this back into mid-October?

Rest in Peace, Chris

My tastes in music, much like my tastes in movies, are extremely wide and varied.  I may listen to Ben Kweller, Remy Zero, and John Wesley Harding, but a random gallery of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Clint Black, Dave Matthews, Lyle Lovett, and Chris LeDoux also appear regularly on my iPod.

I just found out this morning that Chris LeDoux lost his battle with liver cancer.  He was 56.

Chris has a special place in my heart and my memory.  His music was one of the things that sustained me as I trudged through my last semester at Vanderbilt, awaiting the return to Texas.  Heck, I even rewrote the lyrics to "Powder River Home".  Yes, I am lame.  I remember driving the circuitous trails out at Percy Warner Park, his music acting as a soundtrack of sorts.  I remember seeing him in concert, and rocking out to his cover of "Life is a Highway" on my way back from offroading in San Antonio.

Today, in tribute, my iPod will be playing only Chris LeDoux.

Your ride lasted a helluva lot longer than eight seconds, Chris.  Rest in peace.

Shuffleboard

Not to be content with a 65% share of the digital music player market, Apple has gone and unleashed a new iPod, a tiny, flash-memory-based thing called the iPod Shuffle.  It’s smaller than a pack of gum.  It weighs less than an ounce.  And it has no screen.  That’s why it’s called the Shuffle.

See, instead of a screen, they figured they’d design a flash-based iPod around the idea of the "shuffle" feature, which plays a selected group of songs in a random order.  I think this is pretty cool, but then again I always listen to my playlists in shuffle mode.

Anyway, this little iPod can play your songs in order or, with the flip of a switch, shuffle them.  And, since the larger 1GB model can only hold about 240 songs (the smaller model is 512MB), the whole shuffle thing isn’t too daunting.  The iPod Shuffle’s tagline, "Life is Random", is nothing short of awesome.

Oh, and, for the ambitious, it can also double as a USB flash drive.

As the already-owner of a regular iPod, I don’t really see why I would need a Shuffle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want one.  This thing would be awesome for mountain biking, hiking, and the other sort of outdoor activities that I do (wait, those two are about it).  Lighter than the iPod, and it’s not like I look at the screen when I’m on the bike anyway…

If you’re so inclined, here’s the LINK to Apple’s iPod Shuffle page.  Good info, but my favorite part of the page is the bullet list of warnings at the bottom (especially number two)

My Headphones No Longer Suck

I replaced my dying Philips headphones with a brand new set of Sony MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones.

For the money (about 1/20th the cost of the outrageous "Ultimate Ears"), they sound really, really good.  I guess I’ve gotten too used to in-ear headphones.

I Have Crappy Headphones

It’s true.  They’re terrible. 

Spend My Time

If I were pressed, I suppose I would say that Clint Black is probably my single favorite vocal musician. A close race, indeed, filled with others such as Chris LeDoux, Dave Matthews, Lyle Lovett, Harry Connick, Jr, and Frank Sinatra. Looking at the sheer range of Clint’s songs, though, from rollicking anthems, to love ballads, to songs of lament, and tongue-in-cheek outings (he does a fantastic cover of Eric Idle’s Universe Song), on average he’s my favorite.

He’s been out circulation now for some time, to be with his daughter as she grows up. His sole effort, a track on a greatest hits CD. Finally, in March, he has a new album coming out, and its title track, “Spend My Time”, has just been released as a single.

Given my constant bemoaning of my own lack of time, this song definitely strikes a nerve, and only reinforces my love of Clint Black that much more.

A brief bit of the lyrics

Funny thing that time
We’re always running out
I’m always losing mine
There’s not enough of it about
And though it’s always here
It will always come and go
The days become the years
That’ll be gone before you know