Holly Figueroa (O'Reilly) -- 'Everybody Knows' off the album, Gifts and Burdens
A folk/alt-country cover of a Leonard Cohen classic.
Holly's sparse arrangement and folkish twang allow
Cohen's lyrics to gleam against a dark backwoods
background.
REM -- 'Drive' off the album, Automatic for the People
Adele -- 'Hometown Glory' off the album, 19
Susie Suh -- 'Why' off the EP, The Bakman Tapes
I love this chick! She's Korean-American with a sultry
voice deep, smoky and blue. She has two other songs
I really like 'All I Want' and 'Seasons Change' but I've
had those for years. 'Why' is one of her newest songs.
Eddie Vedder -- 'Hard Sun' off the soundtrack, Into the Wild
Radiohead -- 'Reckoner' off the album, In Rainbows
Band of Skulls -- 'Light of the Morning' off the EP, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Irene Cara -- 'Fame' off the soundtrack, Fame
It may be a bit of cheese but that doesn't dilute it's
overall awesomeness. Will only eighties babies like me
recall how wonderful was that movie? The iconic scene
of students pouring onto the NYC streets to dance and
strut their asses off, feeling for all the world like kings?
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Here's a nugget of potential interest: EMusic (of emusic.com) is running several promotional offers -- variations on a large number of free audio downloads plus an audiobook. The deal I got came with a download of Winamp (a media player in the vein of Windows Media or Real Player) and included 50 free songs plus one audiobook for a span of two weeks. Offers on EMusic's site range from 35 to 45 free songs with or without a free audiobook. At the end of two weeks, or once all the free downloads are gone (whichever comes first), EMusic will activate the free account turning it into a paid one. If you have no interest in becoming a paying member be very mindful of the date and/or the number of downloads left in the purse.
What do I think of EMusic's site? Well, it gets high marks for a clean, uncluttered site that is very easy to use. The search function breaks down by general, artist, track, album, even label; however, funnily enough, it does not break down searches by genre which would have been more helpful than a label search, in my opinion. Under each artist is a gallery of comments either from established critics or current users of the site as well as relatively in-depth musical biographies. Although I managed to find 45 of 50 songs to download I did so with the help of my family. There were a number of songs which weren't available -- either because they could only be downloaded if paid for; or EMusic didn't have enough of an artist's discography; or didn't have the artist at all.
While EMusic has the bones of something good, currently it cannot compare to paying/streaming sites like Rhapsody, Pandora (internet radio), or iTunes for sheer access across a large cross-section of music and artists. In particular Rhapsody, which, for a reasonable monthly stipend, allows its users to stream all the music they like, even upload it to their mp3 players, on top of downloading. Pandora offers another unfair comparison since it, too, streams full songs (to EMusic's 30 second blurbs) and provides access to buying a liked song. The only system I know of which compares to EMusic's current setup is iTunes and that behemoth clearly mops the floor with EMusic. But if you are looking for an alternative to iTunes and its rabid protections, then certainly try EMusic -- you'll find just enough music to keep you relatively satisfied if not wholly so, just know you'll need to supplement with another music provider.
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