Merge

So another year is coming to a close, and we thought we'd share a quick look back at 2011 and what's upcoming in 2012.  Happy New Year.

First, a somber note.  Some incredible people left us in 2011, they will surely be missed.

Read More...

Last week I talked about how we go about finding new music, and it made me think about how we actually listen to music.  A lot has changed.  I wasn't a big music fan during the 8 track era, granted I was two, but I was around for vinyl and cassettes.  The thing that strikes me the most is how efficient things have gotten.  Back in the day of the cassette tape, you'd listen to the entire side of an album and hope that you had a really cool tape player that automatically flipped to the B side when ready.  If you didn't want to listen to the entire side, searching for a song was hit or miss.  You could fast forward, but what was the likelihood you would land directly on the song you wanted. 

Next came CD's, which were an incredible upgrade.  You could skip tracks with ease, shuffle or repeat, the possibilities were endless.  Even the problem of listening to a different album was solved with the six disc changer. 

Then the MP3 revolution came along, followed closely by the iTunes phenomenon.  Out were the days of lugging 1,000 CD's around, in were the days of carrying thousands of songs in your pocket. 

Today it's the web revolution.  Pandora and Playlist.com allow you choose what you want to listen to, to an extent, where you want to listen to it.  Personally, I use Pandora on my laptop, my blackberry in my car, and through my wife's iPod touch when at home.   Expect iTunes to follow suit and move to the cloud fairly soon as well, hopefu

Read More...

About five or six years ago, I rang the death knell on Rock n' Roll.  Anything on local radio was pretty much trash in my estimation, and finding anything new by any other means just wasn't easy enough to draw me away from my CD collection.  Things didn't change overnight, but it almost seems that way. 

A long, long time ago, say 1999, if you wanted new music, you went to the music store.  Either an Earshot or a big box, buy the CD, and pop it in your car on the way home.  You probably bought the CD because you heard the band on the radio at some point, or saw them on MTV, when they used to play videos.  Essentially you had two (three if you read Rolling Stone or Spin) channels from which to hear about new music.  Things are a little different today.

I love The Black Keys.  You know how I heard about them?  An EA Sports game via Playstation 2 about 4 years ago.  A little embarrassed to admit that, but glad I found them.  How 'bout a band you've probably never heard of, Dirty Sweet.  They are from San Diego and get zero radio play. I found them through the iTunes store looking for new Black Keys stuff and stumbled upon them through the "Listeners also bought..."  One of my favorite bands now.  What about a band I'd never heard of until literally 2 minutes ago, Railroad Earth.  They just popped onto my Pandora station.

The web is making it increasingly easier for bands to get their music to the masses. Long gone are the days of buying a $30 "import" to hear your favorite band live.  Pearl Jam released 72 live CD's about eight years ago after a tour,

Read More...