Click here to listen to Guns n’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion I on Spotify
Because it’s November, and odds are, wherever you are, it’s raining.
Holy cow: this video has been played 66 million times. That’s amazing.
Happy Black Friday, everyone. We hope you weren’t stabbed with a box cutter at a midnight madness sale. You know, like this one.
Click here to listen to San Sebastian’s Relations on Spotify
Behold, the societal plague of the 2050s: aging hipsters.
Actually, this Ontario quintet has some fun with the idea of an older guy getting his swerve on as he leaves his wife at home for the night, steps out with the band, shots are downed and, well, we all know that no good comes from multiple rounds of shots. Especially if you can’t pay the bill. Is the PBR reference innocuous, or a sly dig? We like to think it’s the latter.
Remember when bands used to smile for photographs?
While the video is cute, we would not be featuring it here if we didn’t really dig the song the clip is promoting. “Baby” beats Brooklyn-by-way-of-Madison garage poppers Locksley at their own game, deftly blending crunchy guitars with super-catchy melodic hooks. Singer Mike Veerman sounds a bit like Caleb Followill as well, which makes us wonder how much more we’d like Kings of Leon if they wrote songs this tight and fun.
The ways we enjoy music have changed so much over the last decade that it’s almost impossible to keep pace with the industry. The latest obstacle we had to overcome was the storage problem – where do I keep those gigs an gigs of music I’ve acquired over the years? Now we’re moving away from acquisition altogether, hurtling instead toward a musical world in which we rent someone else’s library month-by-month for a flat fee. And you know what? I love it.
I know. For a lot of music freaks that sort of concession is cardinal sin, but it works for me. I’m not the type to savor rare recordings and unplugged albums. I want quick access to a wide range of music, and that’s exactly what today’s streaming services give me. The good ones also provide some ways for me to discover new music without a whole lot of work. I know, I’m lazy. I’m exactly what true music lovers hate. I’m little more than a parasite feeding off the knowledge and expertise the real fans have taken years to cultivate. But hey, at least I’m aware of it, right?
This post is for people like me, the average music enthusiast. I’ve spent some time with the major streaming services out there and come away mostly impressed. I’ll breakdown the good and bad of each and, hopefully, give you some guidance on your quest for the perfect streaming service.
The Basics
There are some basic criteria we need to be clear on before I talk about specific services. For one, this isn’t exactly an oranges-to-oranges comparison. Each of the major streaming services is trying to differentiate itself from the other. Any streaming service should be able to provide the basics, though, which look a little something like this.
First, selection. When you give up the search for hard copies of music, streaming selection becomes hugely important. Your streaming service should be able to provide music that suits your tastes, and hopefully a few things that don’t. You know, just in case you get bored.
Second, user interface. Both finding and accessing your music should be quick and easy. That’s the whole point of a streaming service – quick, easy access to a vast supply of audio pleasure.
Lastly, access. What’s the point of a streaming service if you can’t access it from multiple devices? If digital music can be on your home machines, your phone and in your car, your streaming service should be able to do the same, preferably with some offline functionality in the event you’re away from an internet connection.
Click here to listen to Billy Joel’s The Nylon Curtain on Spotify
Admittedly, this is not much of a happy hour song, but it’s Veteran’s Day – there aren’t a whole lot of upbeat songs about war veterans and what they endure in order to preserve freedom for the rest of us. Whatever your feelings about war, we should all thank our lucky stars that there are men and women who are willing to do the unthinkable so we can tweet from the safe zone about how miserable our meaningless little lives are. Just sayin’.
While we had our choice of songs on the subject, we went with Billy Joel’s “Goodnight Saigon” for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s one of his best songs, with an unforgettable climbing piano progression. Second of all, he describes the vibe of the soldiers like he was there. Unbridled enthusiasm and naivete became fear, panic and the kind of mental scarring that does not fade with time. He even brings in what are clearly Vietnam veterans to sing the simple but devastating chorus of “And we would all go down together.” Joel has written some enduring work, but this is his most powerful.
For those unfamiliar with this song, may we suggest that you hunt down The Nylon Curtain, the album from which it came, at once. (To make this easier, we included a link to the album on Spotify above.) It is, in our opinion, Joel’s best album by a country mile. Think of it as a giant tribute to the Beatles, and a dark, angry tribute at that.
To listen to All Mankind’s Simple Desire on Spotify, click here.
We rarely miss an opportunity to promote a worthy band from Down Under (see: Midnight Juggernauts, Oh Mercy). Our latest entry is All Mankind, which produced a rather amusing search list when we put their name into a certain music site we frequent which shall remain nameless. The results were almost exclusively death metal bands, something All Mankind is decidedly not.
Look at those boys. Do they look like death metalers? Perish the thought, though the bassist does rock a Jason Newsted-style stance in the clip for their new single “Can You Hear Me.” Think Coldplay with a less polarizing lead singer, or Keane with guitars, and you’re close: the track boasts one of those mile-wide choruses that is begging for stadium love. The clip shows the band on the run from a couple of authoritarians, though why the Man would want to keep down a band like this is anyone’s guess. This song doesn’t want a revolution, and that’s all right.
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