The Ladies Chained

Muxtape, Annwn, iTunes

One thing I really like about this newfangled Web 2.0 is how easy it is to upload large things. Back in the old days with the crappy modem-centric infrastructure where a 60 MB hard drive is top-of-the-line, there would be no way for me to upload a bunch of songs for people to listen to. Here it is, my “muxtape“, which is a collection of my favorite music all available online. This doesn’t include music from one band, though, because all their stuff is freely available according to my next paragraph.

This also lets amazing but non-existent bands who have already sold out of every single one of their albums to share all of their music online. Annwn, one of my favorite bands ever, is one such example. They have a marvelous song about Anne Bonney that you really should listen to if you like pirate-related music. And, even now, I still discover new, awesome things from them like a cover of Matty Groves that I am downloading now.

Also: somehow, the idea of being able to buy a song on the iTunes music store completely escaped me until yesterday. Sure, I still like to buy whole albums, especially since most artists I like tend to put out good albums instead of merely good songs; but sometimes I just want one song from one album, despite how good the artist’s other songs are. This was the case with Ed Miller. I really like two of his songs (Prince of Darkness and The Devil Made Texas) but not enough of his other stuff to warrant buying two albums. So, iTunes to the rescue!

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(Music Review) Victims of Irish Music

Victims of Irish Music
Marc Gunn’s Irish & Celtic Music Podcast

Yes, sometimes I do listen to stuff I didn’t pick up from the bargain bin! Yes, sometimes I do write about them! A word of disclosure, though: I got this CD for free for writing this.

This is a great “gateway drug” into Irish music. It’s got a bunch of tunes that even I, who isn’t that familiar with Irish music, find familiar. The playing is good and varied enough that even when I accidentally put a song on a loop for ten minutes I didn’t notice—normally I’d go insane. Overall it’s a great compilation. The energy level is a bit low for my tastes (I describe it as “why am I not drinking a Guinness?”, while my ideal level of energy is “why am I not dancing?”) and it’s certainly not as good as a live rendition complete with drinking and possibly dancing. But, hey, it’s pretty close and it does the trick when you’re driving, working, or in some other situation where you want to warm up for the drinking and the dancing later. In fact, it’s perfect for a high energy background music.

Also, I now know that presidential primaries are much, much more intense if you’re listening to upbeat Irish music while reading up on them.

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