99 Problems (With Trying To Share Music)

As you know, little earbuds, I love sharing music. In college I had a brief stint as a radio DJ, and though I had to play certain songs, I was allowed to choose my own music about once an hour. It was brief, but delightful, to both hear my beloved songs as well as share them with the world (or the three college kids listening at the time, but still). I’m very grateful that YouTube exists so that I can share even more music via this blog, and yet, it can be a bit dicey. Sometimes there isn’t a video for a song that I’m looking for, and quite often older links are taken down. Hence I was extremely excited when I saw that Spotify is now an option for sharing songs on WordPress. The videos are a nice addition, but sharing the songs is the most important part in my book.

And so, I created a Spotify account and was all set to embed songs… when I realized that in order to hear the songs that I post, you, the reader, must also have a Spotify account. That wasn’t what I had in mind, and I was very disappointed with this realization. I mean, my whole mission statement is about music’s universality! What about readers who don’t have Spotify accounts, or can’t get them because of where they live? This led to me spending the afternoon seeking out “a better way.” I downloaded a new and experimental program that looked great but is so new and experimental that I couldn’t figure out how to add any songs to my blog. I looked into using my Last.fm account to share songs, then, when I wasn’t satisfied with those results, I looked into even more programs of a similar nature. Finally I signed up for Rdio, which is similar to Spotify, except that you can actually hear a thirty-second preview of the songs I share here if you don’t have a Rdio account. (And if you do have an account, you get the whole song.)

I’m not super pleased with any of the results. I like the idea of Spotify most of all, because I can share directly from my music library (no more fruitless YouTube searches!). Many of my Facebook friends already use it, but I don’t want to exclude anyone who doesn’t. Then there’s Rdio, which has a very nice set-up for sharing entire playlists, but with this option you only get thirty seconds of a song. Better than nothing, I suppose. Or I could stick with the tried-and-true YouTube videos until something better comes along. What do you think? Which version of Hugo’s cover of “99 Problems” works best for you?

Spotify: Looks good, but only useful for Spotify members.
http://open.spotify.com/track/7hN5TKSdRb56uytwIpcUES

Rdio: Nice and sleek, but only thirty seconds? Boo.
http://rd.io/x/QUWwyTfaUf4

YouTube: Good ol’ YouTube. If links didn’t disappear so often, I wouldn’t even bother looking elsewhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmy113gMds0

Gritty Goth-Tinged Rock Gives True Blood: Volume Three Its Bite

Yesterday True Blood: Volume Three was released, aka the soundtrack to season four. Though I may have entered the game late, I am now a 100% dedicated Trubie, so I bought the album as soon as it was available. I’m quite liking it, though not as much as Volume Two. Then again, I’ve been listening to that one for many months, and this album is new, so it might need some time to marinate. I didn’t immediately love the last one, to be honest, but now I do. As for the latest offering, there are some gems that stick out immediately on this new collection of tunes for the southern supernaturals among us.

Nick Cave and Neko Case do a sultry-yet-peppy lil’ cover of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There.” (Quentin Tarantino fans might recognize pieces of the song since Malcolm McLaren did a melancholy take on it for the Kill Bill Vol.2 soundtrack.) Then there’s the Karen Elson/Donovan version of “Season of the Witch,” how very appropriate for this particular season of True Blood. And of course, you can never go wrong with Siouxsie and the Banshees, so I was pleased as punch to hear “Spellbound” during the closing credits of episode eight. However, my current fav track on this album is “Me And The Devil” by recently deceased poet Gil Scott-Heron.

This song has just the right mixture of menace and groove that I come to expect from a gritty southern show about blood and creatures that roam the night. I think that it gives a good overall taste of what season four is about. Speaking of which, I keep reading rave reviews about the current season, but what do you think? Do the witches add or detract from the lives of Sookie, Bill, Eric, and all of our other fav True Blood characters? Which has been your favourite season thus far?

I’m not loving season four as much as season three, but who knows, maybe next week’s season ender will knock my socks off. At any rate, as far as the soundtrack goes, it’s a worthy purchase, in this Trubie’s opinion. The rockin’ cover of “Burning Down The House” by The Used isn’t included, so be sure to find that one separately. True Blood: Volume Three will certainly give you musical food for thought while biding your time until the finale this Sunday, because as every fan knows, waiting sucks.

Steampunk Funeral, Friday Poll

I was watching PopLab on Logo last week, which is the best channel on TV to find new music, in my humble opinion. (Not that any of you ‘net surfers need something as 2001 as television, but Miss Pink likes to be old-fashioned now and then by settling down in front of the tube and finding a surprise or two.) I was thoroughly digging new vids by Kylie and Ke$ha when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Panic! At The Disco music video set at a steampunk funeral. “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” is a gorgeous murder mystery complete with goggles, guns, and golden gears, as seen below:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Young Brendon Urie certainly likes top hats, doesn’t he? But he can pull them off with his roguish Jonathan Rhys Meyers charm, so why not? However, the song itself is… okay. It’s a little bland for my personal taste. It almost gets there with the opening music box chimes and sorty-kinda catchy chorus, but the payoff never quite lives up to my expectations. If it was playing on my car’s radio I might pause to listen, but I’d probably keep searching for an eighties station. I’ve been suckered in by Panic! At The Disco once before with their carnival wedding video for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” I liked the video so much that I began to believe that I actually liked the song, too. But once I had the single alone on my headphones, I became uninterested and skipped it nearly every time it came up on shuffle. However, My Chemical Romance’s lovely ballet funeral video for “Helena” made me go back and listen again, and after a few more viewings I really came to love the song. What about you, dear reader? Can a great video win you over and make you a fan of the song on its own?