itunes top downloads

Have you ever looked at the itunes top downloads? They are the worst songs ever. EVER. Today's list has a couple songs from the soundtrack of High School Musical, which is a Disney kids movie, as far as I can tell. I suppose that one reason the top download list could suck is that people would disproportionally download songs individually from crappy albums. If the whole album is good, you might actually buy it or at least download the whole thing. Other factors are the guilty pleasure download, and the band in the news download. At least, this makes me feel better.

The top albums list is quite different. Yellowcard (the Decemberists new label mates) are on there, which goes along with the band in the news download. Cat Power, too, and she is definitely the best one on the list. Read the New York Times, download the music at Itunes, I guess.

I don't spend a lot of time in the Itunes music store, but I heard DJ Spooky with Dave Lombardo on KEXP, and had to have it. Pretty cool album. Another cool discovery lately is Foibles Hacienda Science Magnet Assembly. It only cost $6 at Street Light in my neighborhood, it came with a photocopied insert, and it was burned on a CDR. Brilliant. My favorite song is Clear Channel bought you. Does anyone know who Foibles is or where he plays?

I H8 N8

I had gotten a bit out of the practice of keeping up with the Decemberists messageboard. Now, however, I use NetNewsWire to subscribe to the RSS feed. It's so much easier than browsing topic by topic. Instead, I can quickly scan new posts, most of which (no offense, Decemberists fans) are not particularly fascinating. At least not now, while things are quiet except for Colin's solo tour (the SF show was great). It's been better during tours or when controversies pop up. The signing to Capitol rumor (prior to the official announcement) was interesting, though the uproar about a song being used in a Hewlett Packard ad (which was pulled when they got the lyrics) was the best one. The Jenny appreciation thread was another favorite.

So imagine my surprise to find one entitled "I H8 N8." I was very put off. What did I do wrong? Who did I piss off? Did I cut in front of a Decemberists fan on Valencia or something? Anyway, it was all positive, and since it has directed a bit more traffic towards this site, I guess I will try and update more often. Maybe I could get an archive copy of the old version up, or maybe just write these self-indulgent bloggy entries every once in a while. Recipes, show reviews, the final word on tacos or coffee. Stay tuned. This site dates back to a time when a few friends and I decided to delve into web design and wouldn't it be fun to have a network of Portland musicians. Eventually, it became almost a resume of sorts, now it's just a blog.

the war on christmas continues

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday!!!

My links...

Well, first of all, that bass below sold right away on craigslist, so I guess I didn't need to post it here at all. Last time I put it on craigslist, I got no serious offers.

The Daily Poll is an email poll that was started by some friends of mine, and is pretty entertaining. It's the kind of thing that is more appealing to people with desk jobs, but still.

Thom Loubet is a guitarist in New York, and we had a couple pretty terrible bands together in college, and I have spent many a night on his couch in New York.

Alana Devich is a funny person in San Francisco. I have yet to see her perform, but will soon.

Yarnboy is run by Jesse Loesberg, who is a writer, but also a knitter. He just knit me a very dapper sweater that he has a picture of on his site.

The gear links are there because I really like Nels Cline web site, and he has a very interesting description of all of his equipment. My equipment is not as interesting as his, and for that matter, neither is my website, but maybe someone cares somewhere, and I am always looking out for the little people.

What I learned on craigslist this week

While I really have no hope for ever organizing musicians in any real sort of way, many people on craigslist apparently believe this is possible. I have been following the "discussion" of musicians who play for free and how this brings down the earning potential of professional musicians, or doesn't. No resolution in sight, but I have learned a lot.

To summarize the discussion (I put it in quotation marks before because it's anonymous and not very civil, so it hardly counts as a discussion, but I don't really like quotation marks, so I'll try to avoid them from now on), someone posted that playing for free reaffirms that music isn't worth paying for and if some people play for free, then how is anyone ever going to make money playing music? Then someone else wrote, "Well, I only play for fun and I have a day job, and worrying about getting paid means you aren't playing for the right reasons." Wow, now the shit storm begins. Some people think that musicians with day jobs drive "real" (sorry) musicians out of work, while others think that people over 35 are bitter and only play in cover bands or play jazz fusion. Some think whiners should move to another city, while others believe we should all get along and decide on pay scales for different gigs. Some people believe it's the audience's fault, and some people think guitar rock is dead never to rise again. Some people actually want to know how much money they should ask for, and some people brag about how much they make. Most posters, except the ones who think we should get along, seem to think that most musicians, club owners, and people aren't very smart, talented, or nice, judging by the names they call them.

A lot of people like to specify their skill level, the number of years they have played music or lived in the bay area, countries they have traveled to, or that they are writing from the real world. These are apparently important rhetorical devices designed to emphasize to the reader just how much validity the writer's opinion has.

So, in order emphasize the valid points I am making here; I am a pretty okay bassist who's been playing for 19 years (23 if you count piano and clarinet), 12 of those professionally. I have lived in the bay area for three and a half years, I have been to lots of countries* on, like, five continents, and I am usually pretty realistic. How do you like them apples!

*in chronological order, more or less: USA, Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil (Yguazu falls only), Argentina (same as Brazil), Ecuador, Korea (airport only), Thailand, England, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Scotland, and Uganda. Some I even went to twice!

come back soon

Look for unexciting new changes to this web site in the near future. Now that I have figured out how to use blogger for natemusic.com, I will be adding and customizing all sorts of information and features. But not today, so come back soon. Cheers.

it's a new year, a new site

Well, we'll see if this leads to any breakthroughs. I am trying to make my website a blog. Seems an easier and more reasonable format than old-fashioned html. Easier to update, and it's just a few of you reading this anyway, no? Hope I can figure it out.