Another Opinion Among Many

My answer is, “Yes!” I’ve always liked Weird Al Yankovic. I remember back in the ‘80,s when MTV was just starting up, there was a Canadian music video show called Video Hits with Samantha Taylor as host. At the time, video was hailed a the killer of radio. Obviously, that didn’t happen, as radio stations are still around. If anything, there are more now than before. Video Hits wen by the wayside, though, as the Much Music station was originated.

The reason for this story is something that I discovered on a little site known as YouTube. You may have heard of it in passing. While I was cruising the videos (thanks to being fortunate enough to have a high speed internet connection available), I found the newest Weird Al song, Craigslist. I’ve never come across a better parody artist than Weird Al. The man is a genius.

Craigslist is not as “in your face” funny as some of his previous songs, like ‘White and Nerdy”,  “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi”, or “Eat It”, a takeoff from Michael Jackson’s “Beat it”.  Craigslist still has the dry quips and really doesn’t mimic any one Doors song. Its definitely got the right backing, though, as Ray Manzarek plays keyboard on the song with his original equipment. Its a cool song. Watch or listen on YouTube. I can’t embed the video this time, as its been disabled by request.

…then why not visit Robot Cousin’s Facebook page and become a fan. Check out Jordan’s new music release, under “My Band”.

Right now, I am listening on Jamendo and I must say that I like what I hear.  You may recall that I wrote about this shortly ago, with a recommendation of Josh Woodward’s The Simple Life album.  Tonight, I am listening to Robin Grey – Only the Missile.  Thanks to Drew’s recommendation of Ruth Theodore’s album, Robin seems to have found this reference and left a comment, letting us know about his own effort.  I am listening now and am totally entertained.  The bluesy, folksy tones of his music is a great match with his voice, which ranges from soft and silky to deep and gravelly to raspy (reminds me of on of my favorite beers, Fuller’s London Pride – rich, deep, complex, smooth, with a slight edge, like that gentle uncle that would allow the kids to jump on him and play with him to exhaustion, who would defend their lives with conviction and courage).  Its tagged: folk, blues, accoustic, ruth, theodore, harmonies

What if you want to listen to music somewhere besides the web site’s flash player? The answer is to listen at sites like Magnatune and Jamendo.  I’ve been frequenting Jamendo more, so I will focus on it right now.  The site allows you to listen to music that ha been licensed with the Creative Commons license, allowing the artist to share their art in any way that they wish.  Read the license (it IS a bit legalese, but worth reading) and see why freedom might be a good thing for you.

The thing that I like about these sites is that they offer you an easy way to download the music that the artists want you to have and if you like it, you can send them some money.  Unlike the model where the recording companies take all of the money for a very long time, and if the album does EXTREMELY well, the artist might see a small slice of it, most, if not all, of the money you “pay” goes to the artist.  This is a much better model.

So, go listen.  Create an account.  Donate to the artists that you like, if you can.  if you can’t donate,spread the word about what you found, so that others can.

My first recommendation is Josh Woodward – The Simple Life.  This is an excellent album with good playing and excellent songwriting.  It’s tagged:pop,rock,indie,accoustic,lyrical

I’m not sure if RT Cunningham cause this or not, but I’ve been a bit more keen to music videos on YouTube.  I have rediscovered a few gems from “America’s Got Talent” winner Bianca Ryan.  Damn, that girl’s got pipes!

Damn! She’s 11 years old! What’s she goung to be capable of at 20?

A while after I won my Sony NW-E403, I discovered podcasts.  I hadn’t really downloaded and listened to very many of them, though.  My usual internet downloads would be the weekly show from UnwelcomeGuests.net and Jeremy’s LQRadio podcast.  I began to sporadically add to these, occasionally having to convert some of the low bitrate files to play on the Sony.  After getting the Creative Muvo V100, that I referred to here, with its 1GB capacity and expanded file playability, I began to search around for other podcasts to listen to regularly.

It turns out that I may listen all week without hearing any music now! So, for those who have been interested in trying out this thing called Linux but need a bit more reinforcement, some of these podcasts might be useful to you.  There are more out there, but I’m just getting into the swing of things.

Here’s the list:

• Linux Reality – I like Ches’s subject matter ranging from newb to experienced
• Lottalinuxlinks – Dave’s chat about Linux – usually from his car it seems
• LQ Radio – Jeremy’s sporadic show about all things Linux
• The Linux Action Show – Bryan and Chris are just zany enough to make them my fave
• Going Linux – Advice for those who just want to use their operating system
• The Linux Install Podcast – Ed Labonte and Ben Cheever install linux and describe what they are doing
• Linux News Log – a new one for me – packed with stuff

I hope that someone finds this to be useful.   I founhd all of these by googling the term “Linux Podcast” and checking the results.  Podcast Alley is a great place to get lost, as is the Lottalinuxlinks page.