Why Google Music is Cool (even if it’s not a game-changer)

Google’s music-focused press conference yesterday was surprisingly underwhelming. They released Google Music to the public, which many of us have been using in Beta for the last few months. It’s a cloud-based music service to which you can upload up to 20,000 songs for free, and can listen to them everywhere. They’ve also included a store, and a way to share music via Google Plus. Sounds cool, except for the fact that Amazon has a similar product, but upgrades you to unlimited storage space if you buy any mp3 album through them. And Apple just rolled out iTunes Match, which allows users to upload 25,000 songs to the cloud, and Apple will match those songs (even if they’re stolen) with higher quality versions.

But of course, there’s a catch to both Amazon and Apple. Amazon only let’s you upload mp3s. This kind of sucks, especially if you have a collection of FLAC or mp4 or any other music type. Going through and converting everything is kind of annoying, so that’s out. Also, rumor is that they down-sample everything, so even if you upload a 320kbps version of every mp3 you own, you’re still probably streaming it at 128kbps – an audiophile’s worst nightmare.

Apple is also tricky. Firstly, they’re charging $25 a year for their service. Sounds great and reasonable, but compared the the free options it’s annoying. And their “higher quality” versions of songs means they upgrade your 128 or 190kbps tracks to 256. Not bad, but also ear-grindingly frustrating for those who care about high quality audio.

And then there’s Google. Sure, you can’t download the songs from the cloud. And their store is lacking and doesn’t bring anything new to the table. And their social features are bested by the combination of Spotify and Facebook. Nevertheless, they’re the number one cloud choice for me, and here’s why:

1. There’s an iPhone app
2. You can upload any music file type
3. You can stream high quality audio
4. They have a free, unreleased, Pearl Jam bootleg in their store

That’s basically all I need. Good quality audio that I can listen to anywhere + free Pearl Jam. No, this is not a good system to backup your music – you can’t even download the songs. And the 20,000 song limit will get annoying pretty soon. But for now, I’m flying high and enjoying having a good chunk of my music, anywhere I go.

Ben Harper – Rock N Roll Is Free (live)

Radiohead to Tour in 2012

Radiohead has announced a US Tour in early 2012. Sad for me, it’s focused mainly in the southern half of our country, so unless they add more dates, I’ll be sitting this one out.

Radiohead 2012 tour dates
Feb 27 – Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
Feb 29 – Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Mar 1 – Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Mar 3 – Houston, TX Toyota Center
Mar 5 – Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Mar 7 – Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Mar 9 – St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Mar 11 – Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Mar 13 – Broomfield, CO 1stBank Center
Mar 15 – Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena

Radiohead -Supercollider

Odd Future Slaps Freelance Photographer Amy Harris

Photo provided by Amy Harris

We put up with their homophobic lyrics. We put up with their degradation of women. We put up with their self-hyped teenage bullshit because, that’s what it was: teenage bullshit. Odd Future, the rap group including superstars Tyler the Creator and Frank Ocean, is something of an anomaly in the progressive world of 2011. In a day and age when we’re taking great strides in terms of equality, there are some who’d like to settle back into the dark ages of racism.

Physics For Everyone!

Though this is a music blog, I would be remiss not to mention the excitement in the world of physics that took place yesterday, literally shaking the foundations of the science as we know it.

In short, a group of European physicists measured tiny particles (called neutrinos) that traveled faster than the speed of light. This is pretty big, because science is of the opinion that nothing can exceed the speed of light, and basically everything in science is based on this. Assuming the experiment can be verified and the data is real, this means that physics, namely Einstein’s 1905 Special Theory of Relativity, needs to be reёvaluated (or at least qualified).

Hooray for science!

The Flaming Lips – What Is The Light?

Counting Crows – Einstein On The Beach

Flying Lotus – Physics For Everyone!

R.E.M. – 31 Glorious Years

They were never my favorite band. They were never even in the Top 10. But somehow, they were always an important presence. When I spent middle school only listening to Metallica on 98 Rock, they were there. During the 2-month span that I listened to pop-dance music on 102.7  (back during that 2-month span that it was a pop-music station), R.E.M. was there. When I started going back to my grunge and alternative roots on WHFS and DC101, they were there.

Which begs the question: If a band is hailed as one of the first alternative groups, how the hell did they manage to get played on every single radio station? Wasn’t the music supposed to be alternative?

Deerhoof – 99% Upset Feeling

Grab Deerhoof’s live album “99% Upset Feeling” over at their site now, for free stream and download.

Tracks From Nowhere Near You

There’s been a bit of buzz on the internet about the upcoming charity album “Live From Nowhere Near You, Vol II,” a 3-disc release which will be featuring unreleased and rare material from a number of my favorite musicians. So far two of the tracks have been released/leaked, and they’re shared below. Beneath that is the album information, which you should definitely buy here, since 100% of the profit will donated to charity to help homeless youth.

Eddie Vedder, Julian Casablancas, Josh Homme, and Fabrizio Moretti – Mercy Mercy Me (Marvin Gaye cover)

Isaac Brock – Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office

Lost ten friends we’ll never know

I just found out that on Sunday, a woman died at the Roskilde festival. This is the same festival at which nine Pearl Jam fans tragically lost their lives, eleven years ago. Below I’ve reposted last year’s post about the tragedy. Our thoughts are with this woman’s family, as well as the family of the nine.

It was ten years ago today when everything changed. Ten years ago, when lifelong fears were actualized and tragedy struck.

During early Pearl Jam shows, you could hear Eddie Vedder continually urging the crowd to be careful in the pit.

Is everyone OK in there? Are we all doing OK?

Eddie Vedder – Water On The Road Trailer

Pearl Jam Announcement

“I just wanna scream HELLO!!! My god it’s been so long, never dreamed you’d return…”

Looks like the rumors are true and Pearl Jam will be heading out on the road after the summer comes to a close. Here’s the announcement as I heard it on PJ Radio: