There is something a brewing over at Yahoo, that should get all other MP3 Bloggers attention. For months the debate has raged on whether or not MP3 aggregators are dope or not. I think they are cool as long as they dont link directly to the MP3’s, thats the majorest of all douchebaggery things you can do. Turns out now Yahoo has started parsing out MP3 links from the blogs, and making them clickable links downloading those mp3s right from your site all the while the user never visits your page, to read your opinion on that latest Genesis cover. “What’s the big deal?” you maybe asking yourself, “Hype Machine has been pulling our mp3’s for months” you exclaim. True, but hype machine is just small potatoes compared to the publicly traded deep pockets of Yahoo.

All we need is for Yahoo to wave the flag of MP3 blogging and their new terrific parsing technology, everyone starts to pay attention. My Yahoo RSS feeds go through the roof, millions of blogs pop up out of nowhere, each one trying to out perform the last. One of these neo-bloggers from North Dakota stumbles across the new Britney cd 4 weeks prior to its release, he posts the ENTIRE cd, RIAA takes notice, MP3 blogs become the next Grokster. Okay thats worst case scenario, doesn’t change the fact that direct linking MP3’s makes you a douche.

I kinda like the ABC’s Lost. Actually I really like it, sure some parts are drawn out, last seasons 20 plus episodes could have been wrapped up in about six, but it’s entertaining, somewhat plausible, and well just entertaining. Certainly beats out most dramas on TV that includes Fox’s new crapfest Prison Break, this one is from the makers of 24. I think the producers got confused because it wasn’t actually from the writers of 24, but it seems as though it was written in 24 minutes. Everything about that show is absolutely horrid right down to the crappy hip-hop breakdowns between scenes. Meanwhile lost is playing the sublime Mama Cass song “Make Your Own Kind of Music”, (would they just show the part after Jack says “It’s You” to the hatch guy already) which I have included here, along with a Paul Westerberg cover of the song to make it a bit more digestible for all you staunch indie fans. You will always have choices.

Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind of Music

Paul Westerberg - Make Your Own Kind of Music

So the man Kanye West is everywhere, gracing our tv’s on videos, award shows, pepsi commercials, Bush bashing Katrina Benefits, desperate housewives…. ok maybe the last one isn’t true, but one can dream can’t they. Mass cross promotion is nothing new for the hip-hop “mogol”, but I have to say Kanye is doing things his own way, sure it’s still the obscene hip-hop we have all come to know and grow tired of, but with the help of Jon Brion, he truly made a captivating rap album, first one for me since I was 17. And what really does a 17 year old know about good music? Nothing, that’s what. So, basically that’s what I have been digging lately.

In other news my good friend “Lloyd”, of Five Dollar Day had his album Black Bear reviewed by Stylus, and it got a B, he is pretty psyched about it, as he should be. Me and “Lloyd” played in several crappy bands together, but his solo stuff is pretty good. Check him out on his myspace page. I particularly like the track “Hawks”.

Also Touch That Dial favorites, Leisure have released two more tracks from a recording session this past summer. Combine these with my earlier post, and you can make yourself a nice little EP.

Leisure - A Human, A Robot

Leisure - Direct Hit

Well I really don’t have anything else to say about the earlier post, but I was just rummaging through the old mp3’s and came across this gem of him covering Big Star’s “Thirteen” so I figure I would share it with my friends, you all ARE my friends right?

Jeff Tweedy - Thirteen (Big Star Cover)

Fortunatly only an elite few read this blog, and of those elite few I am asking for some assistance. You see, one Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will be playing some solo dates at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. And you also see these shows will be free as part of the “Wall Stree Rising Concert Series”, which seems to be a pretty kick ass collection of free music, also including Buddy Guy, and Ryan Adams, who will also be playing for free. Which just happens to be the exact price I would pay to see Ryan Adams perform. Now this is where you come in you very distinguished music elitist, does anyone know how one would obtain said FREE tickets to this show? Detalis would be greatly appreciated!

Jeff Tweedy - I’m The Man Who Loves You (Thanks, Gorilla vs. Bear)

… can be found on Stylus today, entitled Soulseeking. It tackels the very subject I was attempting to write about today. As like most bloggers I have a thing in the side bar that lists the albums I’m currently digging or whatever, no one really cares. Some other bloggers find the need to rotate these albums out of there list almost daily, continuously refreshing them to keep up with the latest fad. Everyone would have us believe that they still love The Arcade Fire album, but if you look at anyone’s “On The iPod” list no one still trumpets the fact they are listening to that album. The “Classic” or “Essential” album means nothing anymore, here today and gone tomorrow. As fast as a person can download the next “Best New Music” selection on Pitchfork, Source Codes & Tags can be deleted.

I too for the past five years of my life had been abusing my senses digesting as much music as I could, spending night after night staring at Allmusic.com, collecting influence after influence, tracking followers, and genre maps, which are kind of like a family tree for musical genre’s. All for what purpose? So I can go to a bar and be in complete discomfort as Kenny Chesney blasts away, to say he is a two bit deep throated hack, that they should be playing more Willie Nelson, or Gram Parsons. Needless to say I’m pretty disappointed with music, and music criticdom lately. The truth is when it all comes down to it only the individual can determine what is good and what is shit, and with all of us having varied life expiriences, who am I to say what you will enjoy?

Anyway since I mentioned Gram Parsons again, I’ll post two of my favorite songs by him. “A Song For You”, is a song of wonderous devotion, it sounds supremely sad and sweet, but you can almost hear (see?) Gram smiling as he is singing it “Just so the sun don’t hurt you when you cryyyyy”, as if he is playing it right in your living room on a Friday night, not to bumb you out, but so everyone just has some fun, while playing the only songs he knows how to make. The other track is “$1000 Wedding” probably Gram’s most famous song, includes excellent back-up vocals from Emmylou Harris.

Gram Parsons - A Song For You

Gram Parsons - $1000 Wedding

Have you ever been sitting around with your freinds and have someone say, “I wonder what George W. Bush will fuck up next?” and then something completely catastrophic occurs, or have that very same friend say “When the heck are The Shins goin to put out a new album?”, and then hear about some new hot Shins news like two nights later? And then you think that very same friends has weird Nostradamus-esque powers? Me neither.

Turns out The Shins have finally returned to their studio, which is in lead man James Mercer’s basement (thanks, McDonald’s!) and according to Pitchfork, they will have none other than Chutes To Narrow producer Phil Elk behind the controls yet again. For a band that is so life-changingly popular, they have very little by way of a song catalog, at least a released song catalog, somewhere around 35 songs or so, including those ones they did as Flake Music. Oh well, how many songs do you have?

Here is a repost of a “new” song that they have been performing live, it’s called “Won One Too Many Fights”, and I would assume this song will either be on the new album or at least a b-side. I would hope for “on the album” though, because its a good one. Also I will include the pretty rare “Sphagnum Esplanade” which I believe was already released on the “New Slang” 7 inch. These songs from that live Moonshine Fest show James Mercer did solo back in October of last year, if you didn’t search your bit torrents and get this one by now, go get it because its the bees knees.

James Mercer (The Shins) - Sphagnum Espanade

James Mercer (The Shins) - Won One Too Many Fights

Watch Arrested Development tonight, Please. Yikes now i’m doing commercials! For Fox no less, but I’ll attach my name to this one, Touch That Dial totally endorses Arrested Development, and hopes all you Good American’s do your civic duty and support smart TV. Thanks!

Well this weekend we saw yet another one of my favorite bands fall victim to the clutches of music licensing. This time up we have Grandaddy, which I really appreciate everything they do, but never in my life would expect them to appear in a commercial (I have to stop having such expectations). As I was watching some football game (Go Bears!) this weekend, I hear Jason Lytle’s voice, and as usual my ears perk up upon unexpectedly hearing something familiar, especially in the midst of the testosterone fueled programming. I immediately switch my mind into “what the F@#K?!” mode, but then I see that it’s a new commercial for the new Civic Hybrid, and I sort of pull back a little. It kind of makes sense, Grandaddy, which are mostly known for their eco-friendly, anti-cold-impersonal-technology stance, matched with an eco-friendly automobile. I couldn’t catch which song was being co-opted for the campaign; I believe it was something new, so instead I have included my favorite Grandaddy song ever at the bottom.

Just last week I was pissed off with Stevie Malkmus for whoring his song “Phantasies” to sell dryers or something, following that post I was going to take a stance firmly against music licensing, but then we have situations like this Grandaddy one and I will give it a pass. There is by far too much of a gray area to just outright say it shouldn’t be done. Although I really can’t think of another band that matches up with a product as well as Grandaddy with hybrid cars. Anyone else know of any? Also do you think it’s possible for a band to rise above the level of our silly little internet-blogger-music-snobbery-scene without selling their music to some corporation? Modest Mouse did it for a Mazda Commercial, Shins for McDonald’s, The Walkmen for Saturn, M83 for Pontiac almost every marginally successful “indie” band has sold their music to someone, even My Morning Jacket submitted a song to Aspen Low Carb beer. Has the entry level for commercial radio gotten so high, that the only way to see if your music is “commercial radio” commercially viable, is to prove its “Commercial” commercially viable first?

Grandaddy - Miner at the Dial-a-View

Here’s a Big Lebowski Related post for you, I thoroughly believe that this movie is one of the best comedies made in the last 10 years. It’s just so full of goodness, quotable goodness, and to prove said goodness, here is a link to “The Big Lebowski” Random Quote Generator. For Example:

“You brought the fucking Pomeranian bowling?”

“I haven’t brought it bowling…I didn’t rent it shoes, I’m not buying it a fucking beer, it’s not taking a fucking turn…”

And the reason for this post on a movie that is almost eight years old, is because is stumbled across a My Morning Jacket (YES! another my morning jacket post!) cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me”, thanks to Ekko at berkeleyplace, which if you remember correctly rolled over the opening credits. Also I finally got that exclusive track from the Elizabethtown Soundtrack, which is a pretty sweet slice of Americana, ohh yeah and Elton John, who I said earlier is WAAYYY better than Billy Joel, and if you disagree you’re wrong.

My Morning Jacket - The Man In Me (live, Thanks Ekko)

My Morning Jacket - Where To Begin (Sorry dudes went over the limit.) Buy this album!