See the music that Google Talk users are listening to. The top 3? Snow Patrol, The Fray and The Killers.
Author: Andrew Raff
Feed me
ear Feeder will scan the music on your computer and then use that data to create RSS feeds containing information about your favorite bands. It’s a clever idea, at the least.
TAR: No Begging or Borrowing
Lesson for all future Amazing Racers, courtesy of the Cho brothers: if, while on a train, you pantomime talking on a cell phone to talk to a ticket agent and book tickets, your opponents might actually get on a cell phone and book tickets. Actually, if you give any opposing team the idea of something to do to get ahead, the opposing team will probably do that.
Flight drama! The last few races have been relatively weak on teams actually having to work the airport to get better flights. It’s good to see teams working the airports.
The simple juxtaposition of perception diverging from reality is entertaining. For example, “We do not think we’re in last” while a “currently in last place” caption is on screen.
And finally, the rules changes for TAR 10 have at least one change for the better. The new NEL penalty is a major improvement. It’s a real penalty affecting time– the most important part of racing. And, it affects teams at the end of the next leg– so, unlike losing time at the beginning of a leg, the penalty won’t be eliminated at a bunch point.
The only drawback of this penalty, as opposed to a time penalty at the beginning of the next leg, is that it is more difficult to explain. The beauty of the Amazing Race is that the rules are all straightforward and easy to understand: Teams of two racing from place to place, solving clues and completing tasks to get the next clue. The last team to arrive is eliminated. That’s it. It’s a simple formula that is difficult to improve upon. The new NEL penalty, however, is logical, and shouldn’t be too confusing to explain in the next episode.
As far as the effect on the tension of finishing the next leg, the NEL penalty could go both ways. If the non-eliminated team arrives in the middle of the pack, with one of the other trailing teams far behind, the trailing team’s demise is not certain until that team hits the mat. However, if the non-eliminated team is in a close footrace to the mat with another team to avoid elimination, that could detract from the drama of the situation.
No matter what happens with the finishes on the next leg, this penalty is a major improvement.
BSG: Wait ’til next week
This week’s Battlestar Galactica shows that sometimes the creative and business sides of television don’t always share the same interests.
For scheduling, a season premier can be a two-hour event. The network can capitalize on the excitement of a highly-anticipated hit show returning to sell twice as much advertising. But having the third episode of the season be a double length episode? Not too likely.
But after watching the first 3 hours of Season 3 over two weeks, the rhythm seems off. Originally, Occupation, Precipice and Exodus were to be the first 3 hours of the season. But when Exodus became too long to fit into a single episode, it was cut into two episodes. On the podcast, Ron Moore noted some of the scenes that were added to flesh out the Exodus story from to a full two hours. So the first four hours of the season will air over three weeks, but the extra hour seems to be in the wrong week.
But, once again, this was a great hour of television which set in motion the events not just of the resolution of the episode, but also the arcs for the season.
What was up with Honey Bunny’s vision?
The Bamboo Kids
The Bamboo Kids show at Magnetic Field on Friday was a good time. Of the new material on Feel Like Hell, “Child Prodigy” is fast and vicious while “Palpitations” is quite catchy. The record drops Oct. 24.
There are a couple more photos from the show in my Flickr photostream.
To-do: Bamboo Kids at Magnetic Field, Friday
Tomorrow night, The Bamboo Kids are having a CD release show at Magnetic Field. The new album, “Feel Like Hell,” will be on Empty Records.
The Bamboo Kids are on the most consistently fun local acts. They’re just playing straightforward top quality garage rock with some edge.
Magnetic Field is one of my favorite venues. They don’t have live music every night, but when they do, it’s usually someone worthwhile seeing. And, it doesn’t hurt that it’s in the neighborhood.
Earl Greyhound
Earl Greyhound may have the best combination of stage presence and performance of any band in NYC. Seriously, they’re that good. The power trio, with Matt Whyte (guitar/vocals), Kamara Thomas (bass/vocals) and Ricc Sheridan (drums) powers through their songs with vigor and volume in a throwback to bands like Zeppelin and T.Rex.
As much as I dug Earl Greyhound the first couple of times I saw them play this year (with the Walk Ons opening at Mercury in January and at a Deli show at Asterix in May), not many of their songs stood out. In both of those sets, the performances were notable, but I didn’t walk out humming any songs. Of course, the Asterix show was a veritable sonic assault from every angle.
But Saturday’s CD release show at The Annex was a revelation. While some of the EG catalog is still searching for a hook, the band played a couple of stand out songs (“All Better Now,” and “S.O.S.”) After listening to Soft Targets a few times, there are enough hooks and style variations. In particular, “It’s Over” and “Yeah I Love You” are lighter and poppier, but don’t forget how to rock.
But, Earl Greyhound are just such great performers that they could play a set of only “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and it would still rock.
Earl Greyhound S.O.S. [Some Records]
Earl Greyhound [Myspace]
Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker, Off to the Races: “Whether or not Earl Greyhound are the Next Big Thing is irrelevant—watching them will convince you that they are.
Kevin O’Donnell, The Village Voice: Hard Targets: The rockneck-inducing splendor of Earl Greyhound.
What about vinyl?
More people are buying their music online, rather than on CD. According to the IFPI, “18 per cent of recorded music sales [are] now being made through digital channels. Digital music sales in the US increased by 84 per cent to US$ 513 million in the first six months of 2006.”
The Colbert of Personality
New York magazine runs a long interview/profile with Stephen Colbert: Stephen Colbert Has America by the Ballots: “The funny thing is, I knew when we were developing this show, we were doing a show that parodies the cult of personality… And yet, if the show was successful, it would generate a cult of personality. It had to. That means it’s working.”
For make benefit movie of Borat
Newsweek: How long before Borat gets sued? Meet the Real People in ‘Borat’: “Given the likelihood that Baron Cohen’s movie will make piles of money—and the loose legalese of those release forms—someone is sure to try taking Borat to court. It’s one of the few lessons in American life that Borat doesn’t learn on screen: in this country, we sue.”