We just got back from spending a few days in NYC, one of our favorite places in the world. We took along our two boys to introduce them to the city, and they certainly loved it as much as we did.

I’ll be posting a few photos this week, but I wanted to use this chance to play around with the free video software at animoto.com. Still in beta, this web service allows you to upload or retrieve (Flickr, Facebook, etc) a group of photos, set them to any song, and render a shareable video - pretty slick. You can even remix the video if you are unhappy with the results…everything is just a couple clicks.

Anyway, enjoy…

Since we don’t watch TV with the boys very often, we constantly have our iPods plugged into various devices. They have playlists, but mostly they like to listen to our music. So as we made our way through our nation’s birthday, I made sure they heard some songs about freedom. Here are five of them:

• Freedom, by Rage Against the Machine
• Fight the Power, by Public Enemy
• Get Up, Stand Up, by Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Freedom, by Richie Havens (live at Woodstock)
• Freedom ‘76, by Ween (this was just for fun)

The 4-year-old really liked Fight the Power, and I loved explaining why that was important. What’s weird is that I actually think he got it…kids are smart. Since I usually fly my “Don’t Tread on Me” flag the whole 4th of July week, I might as well keep on with the Freedom Playlist…I want my kids to know why this country is important, and why they should stand up against their oppressors when the time comes.

Yesterday, I recovered this sketch from the flyer junkyard.
Bob Evans, Ross Dagly, and Showermast - A winning combination since 1993.

Sweet Home Dunkin’ Donuts

Big boxes keep on coming
Can’t even hardly see my chin
Singing songs about the Northland
I miss Dunkin’s once again
And I think its a sin, yes

Sweet home Dunkin’ Donuts
Where the sprinkles are so blu
Sweet Home Dunkin’ Donuts
Lord, I’m coming home to you

Have a great weekend!

I picked up Nic Harcourt’s Music Lust the other night, and blew through it like an Entertainment Weekly. This collection of music categories is a worthy guide for rock’s uninitiated, but may seem basic to a music junkie. One section details Manchester UK bands by decade, while another suggests bands with cats and dogs in their names. Huge artists like Hendrix, Zappa, and The Rolling Stones get their own lists, as do niches like Irish music, Motown, and Latin Alternative.

It’s an interesting concept, and I dug in hoping to find a handful of musical leads. I didn’t finish the book with a year’s worth of CD purchases planned out, but I did walk away with a few artists to check out. Here are my notes:

Electronic Pioneers :: Tago Mago, by Can. I should check out Can’s 1971 double album Tago Mago, and their 1972 album Ege Bamyasi. They influenced artists like Gary Newman, Sonic Youth, and Stereolab. Can appealed to me because the paragraph referenced ”Krautrock”, and the author described it as sprawling and experimental.

Hey Ho, Lets Go:Punk in the U.S.A. :: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, by The Dead Kennedys. Released on IRS, and reissued on Cleopatra in 2002. I listened to the DKs on old, 5th generation Maxell tapes, so the clean recording would be a great way to revisit and old favorite.

Livin’ Large: The Big Band Boom! :: Atomic Mr. Basie, by Count Basie. The author notes that Count Basie’s thirties recordings are rough, so it’s best to start off with the 1958 Blue note release “Atomic Mr. Basie.”

Love is a Many-Spledored Thing :: Forever Changes, by Love; released in 1969 on Elektra Records. Nic says they were the West Coast’s best-known psychedelic rock band at the time, but I’m skeptical. This warrants and investigation.

Organ Grinders :: Blue Mode, by Reuben Wilson. released on Blue Note in 1969. I love Hammond B3 organs, and Wilson seemed like this section’s best offering. Mentioning that A Tribe Called Quest sampled his work really sold me.

Ten Albums You Missed :: I marked this whole section, but I’m not sure why. The bands include Spoon, Talk Talk, Azure Ray, The Blue Nile, and Jack Frost. We’ll see.

Music Lust is worth a read, especially if you have trouble finding new music. But at the same time, it’s one of those books that when finished, you want to start writing a better version yourself. On second thought, you may just want to check out a music recommendation site like Pandora.

A sampling style band logo from nearly ten years ago.

I was going through and old stash in the attic, and came across something I hadn’t thought about in years: a CD long box. I had forgotten how big they were, and how much area was devoted to artwork. I remember hanging them in my locker like tiny posters, and on my bedroom wall like hunting trophies. I’m not sure how this “Axis: Bold as Love” box made it into my permanent storage, but I’m stoked to have it.

Long boxes encased CDs during most of the 1980’s, and were eventually phased out during the eco-friendly 1990’s. Now some of the only web references to this lost format are on eBay. While researching this post, I had assumed the boxes were used for security purposes. However, they were actually used to accommodate the 12″ deep record displays common in stores at the time.

Long live the long box!

The 2004 Grand Prix was a random rental, so I didn’t expect much as I drove away from the airport. In fact, I didn’t even turn on the radio. The next day was a different story however, and with speakers thumping I rocked out to Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me.” When this was followed by Def Leopard’s “Photograph”, I had to see what was going on. Sure enough, my console simply said ‘The 80s’, and that’s when it hit me…this thing had XM Satellite Radio.

Over the next four days, I drove around a snowy Toledo bouncing back and forth between decades. A little Frieda Payne with a REO Speedwagon chaser. I really liked this. I even heard some obscure stuff, like that Mick Jagger/Michael Jackson duet from the 80s…I was literally in a State of Shock.

I didn’t get a chance to explore the other channels, though a brief scan revealed bluegrass, country, top 20, jazz, and just about everything else. I wish I had more time to ingest this orbital bliss, but my trist ended at the Hertz counter and I headed home. This was a great first impression, and I going to take a more serious look at this service after tha holidays.

I had to get one. No, I actually had to get one. After a day-long clicking seizure, my 4G’s failing hard drive was no more. So, naturally I picked up a 5G iPod as a replacement (Portable Music Withdrawal is powerful stuff…I had no idea.) Anyway, the headline should read, “Love at First Sight, Again”, which is of course completely predictable. It’s sort of like cars or even cats: the only iPod better than an iPod is a brand new iPod.

THE GOOD: The screen is underbilled - it’s shockingly sharp, and immediately changes the way I feel about the device. My photos look bright and crisp - it’s nice having them in my pocket. The video and album art functionality is a nice bonus, but I’m not really focused on that. The PSP-user in me knows the iPod has moved way past the typical DAP, but all the things I loved about the music part are still there. My favorite enhancement is the recognition of Compilations - Thank-you! Managing Podcasts - that I like. It’s smaller, yet more powerful; vibrant, yet longer-lasting - these are all good things.

THE BAD: I’m not sold on the flat front yet. I like the rounded bevel of the 4G - it mades the whole thing feel like a flat pill, and that is strangely appealing to me. The button on the 5G is flat, making it hard to find. When I navigate quickly, the firmware transitions slowly and sometimes get stuck for a moment.

TAKEAWAYS: You can’t go wrong with an this iPod. White or Black, 30 or 60, this thing will do what you want it to. It works well, looks great, and brings with it all of the collateral value of iPodding. Unlike what a pre-bugeye-glasses Bono once recorded, in this case you have found what you are looking for.

It’s official - my family has grown…this much is certain. Little Brother has moved in, cleaned out the fridge, and taken up residence on the couch. Why would I let three guys from NC do this? Simple: They’ve got the chops to keep my earholes happy. I haven’t been this excited about a new hop-hop CD since De La Soul reappeared with ‘AOI Bionix’.

The Minstrel Show reminds me of those early, boundless Native Tongue releases. Righteous poets penning scripts about their life, flavor steeped in the neighborhood instead of record label board rooms, and creative interludes (skits) that actually add to the album. These are real guys, delivering real lyrics, intended for real people. If you have fallen under the trance of studio-formulated acts like 50 Cent, this is not the record for you.

I highly recommend anyone who has an inclination towards De La Soul, Tribe, or The Roots to head on over to the iTunes Music Store and give this album a shot. Their debut, ‘The Listening‘, was an instant classic and worth a peek as well.

After many months of teasing and scoffing at countless fakes, Apple finally revealed the new iPod (video). While the gadget itself looks pretty slick - 16:9 screen, thin, light, and in black - the biggest leap forward here is its support of video. And I’m not talking about the music videos available via iTunes in the past, but actual content that you can throw down a couple bucks for.

For $1.99, you can download an episode of Lost or Desperate Housewives. iTunes even has some Disney content available for the kiddies. This is all well and good, but what amazes me is our affinity as consumers to purchase anything - and this anything apparently includes content that is already widely available for free. Paying for TV?

It seems Apple is betting that people will buy TV in small chunks. I’m sure their strategy is sound - afterall, the iTunes music store has sold 8.9 trillion songs and counting. But I can’t help but think of all the people that will end up buying 24 episodes of Lost for their iPod. While music can be enjoyed regularly over a period of years, the same can’t be said for television programming. It’s shelf life is much, much shorter. Because of this, I envision a future army of people screaming at Steve Jobs much like that paperboy screamed at Lane Meyer, “I want my two dollars” (back)!

Possibly the biggest decision a band can make is coming up with a name. While a geographic moniker may seem limiting, there have been some successes. Some bands name themselves after their hometown, while others just think exotic locales make for sweet looking marquees. Either way, there have been some sweat ones…here are the top 5:

• Chicago
• Boston
• Kansas
• Asia
• America
• The Six Spot: Europe, Alabama, Miami Sound Machine, New York Dolls, LA Guns, Georgia Satellites