Ode To Alex
First of all, M. Ward was great. I could say alot but this piece says it so well. If anyone out there is not familiar with M. Ward I urge them to go the Itunes music store right now.
OK, I just practiced what I preach and went and bought his first record.
"You're welcome, M. It's my pleasure to put a dollar in your pocket."
Even though Alex doesn't write, as much as he would like to, he still has a very palpable influence on my offerings and ramblings. I'm guessing that like most of you you get your music, the music on you computer that is, from 4 different sources: My own CD's that I have spent days, if not weeks, converting to MP3 files. (God help me if the Hard Drive ever actually completely crashes)((Speaking of, I should save this post right now)) I also buy alot of stuff from the Apple Itunes Store. I have spent over $1000 dollars there in 2 1/2 years. I especially love reading celebrity playlists. Elijah Wood, people. That's what I'm saying. The third way is MP3 blogs like this one, where you can be totally surprised by some little gem. Something that you would probably never been able to access thru normal channels before 1997. Finally, I get by with a little help from friends.
I have thousands of MP3's on my computer that were given to me by friends. This is such a huge part of my music hunting and gathering that I have whole genres named after my friends. I have a T'Pow, a Michael,a Rozzi, a Steve, and a Blantwettreich.
Blantwettreich is hybrid, a "manimal" if you will, of Alex and his wife.
There are 778 songs in that genre, not counting things that need to be classified in other places like Red Garland and Buddy Holly Demos. That is 48 hours worth of music from Alex (plus wife). He exposed me to Wilco, Bright Eyes, Metric, the Mommyheads, Rilo Kiley, The Old 97's, solo Neil Finn, and Sam Phillips. I vividly remebering hearing Martinis and Bikinis for the first time with Alex, wife Blanton, and M. Arthur 5 years ago:
Baby I can't please you I can't please you
I know you say love when you mean control
You buy the truth and your heart is cold
So you live in shadows
Baby I can't please you
I also heard M. Ward for the first time because of Alex.
Sometimes we steal their music and put into our genres. Arcade Fire is now in Bekkah's genre. Sometimes when a musician has become inextricably linked with Alex that artist is absorbed into Alex's genre. That has happened with Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. I think that happened with Dylan, although I don't really have very many Dylan songs.
Anyway, the last time Alex was here he exposed me to a new treasure. There is a website that is a kind of a search engine for MP3 blogs. It is called Hype Machine. Go there, type in an artist, and then click on read post. It is a very helpful tool in the hunting and gathering of MP3's.
Alex, you've done it again.
Thanks old chap.
OK, I just practiced what I preach and went and bought his first record.
"You're welcome, M. It's my pleasure to put a dollar in your pocket."
Even though Alex doesn't write, as much as he would like to, he still has a very palpable influence on my offerings and ramblings. I'm guessing that like most of you you get your music, the music on you computer that is, from 4 different sources: My own CD's that I have spent days, if not weeks, converting to MP3 files. (God help me if the Hard Drive ever actually completely crashes)((Speaking of, I should save this post right now)) I also buy alot of stuff from the Apple Itunes Store. I have spent over $1000 dollars there in 2 1/2 years. I especially love reading celebrity playlists. Elijah Wood, people. That's what I'm saying. The third way is MP3 blogs like this one, where you can be totally surprised by some little gem. Something that you would probably never been able to access thru normal channels before 1997. Finally, I get by with a little help from friends.
I have thousands of MP3's on my computer that were given to me by friends. This is such a huge part of my music hunting and gathering that I have whole genres named after my friends. I have a T'Pow, a Michael,a Rozzi, a Steve, and a Blantwettreich.
Blantwettreich is hybrid, a "manimal" if you will, of Alex and his wife.
There are 778 songs in that genre, not counting things that need to be classified in other places like Red Garland and Buddy Holly Demos. That is 48 hours worth of music from Alex (plus wife). He exposed me to Wilco, Bright Eyes, Metric, the Mommyheads, Rilo Kiley, The Old 97's, solo Neil Finn, and Sam Phillips. I vividly remebering hearing Martinis and Bikinis for the first time with Alex, wife Blanton, and M. Arthur 5 years ago:
Baby I can't please you I can't please you
I know you say love when you mean control
You buy the truth and your heart is cold
So you live in shadows
Baby I can't please you
I also heard M. Ward for the first time because of Alex.
Sometimes we steal their music and put into our genres. Arcade Fire is now in Bekkah's genre. Sometimes when a musician has become inextricably linked with Alex that artist is absorbed into Alex's genre. That has happened with Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. I think that happened with Dylan, although I don't really have very many Dylan songs.
Anyway, the last time Alex was here he exposed me to a new treasure. There is a website that is a kind of a search engine for MP3 blogs. It is called Hype Machine. Go there, type in an artist, and then click on read post. It is a very helpful tool in the hunting and gathering of MP3's.
Alex, you've done it again.
Thanks old chap.
posted by jEFF at 12:23 PM
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