Digenis.org

I used to be the kind of minimalist guy that preferred barebones software. The bells and whistles weren’t that necessary and a shiny graphical interface was even less important than that. For me, a simple text editor was much better than whatever Macromedia Dreamweaver had to offer. The same went for music players. I’ve tried the whole lot and pretty much came to hate them all.

Then along came iTunes. By the time Apple released it to Windows, there was already a decent amount of buzz generated. I was a bit skeptical at first, but decided to give it a whirl since it would help me get some of the music I couldn’t find here in Russia. At first I was just using it to purchase music.

In the last year, though, it’s really grown on me. I’ve got to hand it to the folks at Apple, unlike my experience with WinAmp, the great new features in each update of iTunes have impressed me.

The latest version is no exception. When I bought the latest Dave Matthews Band CD from their music store, it came with a making-of video and a ‘digital booklet’. This was just one more reason to buy this particular album on the net. It turns out that the digital booklet is just the liner notes in PDF format. Starting with version 4.8 it seems that you can add PDFs to your music library. I have a bunch of mp3s of lectures and sermons with accompanying PDF notes/outlines, so this turned out to be a cool little feature for me.

There’s been a great deal of speculation as to what the future holds for iTunes and its video features. Will they sell music videos or even full-length films any time soon? An insider at Slashdot says, “No”. . .

Also, it was just announced this week that the forthcoming version of iTunes will support Podcasting. It’s not clear exactly how this will be done, but it sounds pretty spiffy.

What are your thoughts about Apple iTunes?

I feel like a blog post, but don’t have a lot of time. I think I’ll just respond to a few memes that have been floating around the net of late. I usually don’t like memes all that much, but I don’t feel like these ones are too pointless.

The ‘baton’ was passed to me by Kelly last week. I’ve stumbled onto some great music by random bloggers’ recommendations, so I figure I can throw out what I’ve been listening to lately and maybe someone will find something they like:

Total volume of music on my computer:
12.5 GB

The last CD I bought:
Actual CD: Green Day - American Idiot
Digital CD: Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up

Song playing right now:
Cleareyed by Glen Phillips

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, U2
Have You Forgotten, Red House Painters
Grey Street, Dave Matthews Band
Nothing Like a Train, Bill Mallonee
Coming to Life, The Normals

Instead of passing the digital baton on, I think I’ll just toss it up in the air and see who catches it. Post a link to your entry in the comments if you decide to continue the meme.

Wow. I’m really getting excited for the latest release from U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It comes out on November 23, but apparently there are already pirated versions floating around the net. If I had internet access at home, I might have tried would have tried to find it. . . I think I’ll stop by Gorbushka on the way home from work to see if it’s on sale there yet.

It’s the band’s first release in four years, and if Vertigo - the first single from the record - is any fair representation of the rest of the album, then I think the buzz that this one is up there with Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree could very well be true.

Blender Magazine’s got a nice write-up on U2 in their latest issue, and the Russian Rolling Stone has reprinted a great 1988 interview with the Edge in their November mag. Anticipation . . .

I popped The Joshua Tree into the CD-player yesterday to tide me over until I can find the freshest U2.

UPDATE: Gorbushka, Moscow’s #1 locale for pirated media has let me down; the U2 album has not shown up there yet. However, the band is streaming the album in its entirety until it’s release to appease folks for the time being and encourage them to wait for the real thing.

I’ve put six new mp3’s in the sidebar today:

Cory Branan – Miss Ferguson
“The angle of her cheek is the math of persuasion. . .” Damn, I wish I wrote that line.

Damien Rice – Cannonball
Okay, after a bazillion recommendations I finally checked this guy out.

Snow Patrol – Run
I know nothing about these guys, but this song is excellent. Kinda reminds me of Pedro.

????? – ???????? ????????
Splin is my favorite Russian rock group and this is one of their best songs.

Versus.X – História de nós dois
A Brazilian band covers Dashboard’s The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most in Portuguese. The lyrics aren’t much of a translation (at least by my interpretation of both songs), but it still fits the vein of DC and is a great song.

Zwan – Endless Summer
This was one my anthems last summer. It’s good enough for this year too.

Hopefully some of it’s new to you. Enjoy!

I’ve replaced the mp3’s in the sidebar today. While last time most of the bands where rather mainstream, this time I’ve chosen a few that you may not have heard of:

Josh Rouse - Directions
Death Cab for Cutie - I Was a Kaleidoscope
Kent - Karleken Vantar
Bill Mallonee - Nothing Like a Train
The Weakerthans - Plea From a Cat Named Virtue

Let me know what you think about the music and, as always, feel free to share any of your own recent new musical discoveries. Enjoy!

At this time of the year, my CD collection seems to grow the most. Here are the most recent additions, my thoughts about them, and one mp3 from each album:

Barenaked Ladies ? Everything to Everyone
Barenaked Ladies have lost it. What ever happened to the introspective, deeply symbolic songs from the Maybe You Should Drive and Born on a Pirate Ship days? Over the span of the last three BNL discs they have gradually disappeared only to be replaced with pop jingles. These guys have always known how to have fun (I?ll never forget their onstage antics when I saw them in concert back in 2001), but they also knew how to write songs about coping with tragedy, death, and so on. Now all we get is lyrics like ?some chimps in hardhats, some chimps a-working on a chain gang / some chimps who love cats, burning rubber in a mustang / a birthday wishing chimp, a chimp in black like a goth / a goin? fishin? chimp, a british chimp in the bath.?

This disc will be going to Disc-Go-Round. Here?s an acoustic version of one of the better songs on the album, Maybe Katie. ETE gets a D in my book.

Dave Matthews Band ? Central Park Concert (3 disc set)
Every time Dave Matthews Band comes out with a new live CD, I have to wonder if it?s worth buying. Afterall, he has about 5 out (not to mention all of the bootlegs floating around), most of which have a lot of the same songs on them. Still, it seems that each disc has its peculiarities as the band spices things up with improvisation and ad-lib. This 3 disc set is no exception; it is unique from the other live sets in its own ways.

It features great renditions of Granny, Don?t Drink the Water, Warehouse, Dancing Nancies, and a cover of Neil Young?s Cortez, the Killer. I give it an A.

Guster ? Keep it Together
I don?t know why it took me so long to discover Guster. People have recommended them to me on various occasions. I?ve even enjoyed the few songs that I?ve heard over the past few years, but for some reason I never looked into the band. I?m sure glad that I finally did.

Keep it Together is a solid CD, but it?s the first six tracks that have kept it spinning in my CD player for the last few days. My favorites are Amsterdam, Diane, Careful, Ramona, and Backyard. I give it an A+.

Jason Mraz ? Waiting For My Rocket Ship to Come
Jason Mraz is a little bit of John Mayer, Dave Matthews, and Matt Wertz all rolled into one and I haven?t decided if that?s good or if that just makes his music the same old hat. That said, I?m sorta disappointed with this CD. It doesn?t live up to its radio singles. Here?s a John Mayerish track called Of Love, In Sadness. I generously give the album a C+.

Something Corporate ? Leaving Through the Window
I absolutely love this CD. It?s such a great mix of piano rock sprinkled with driving guitar parts and passionate vocals. I can honestly say that I enjoy every track of this CD.

Cavanaugb Park is my favorite song here, but I prefer the other version of it that they recorded where the chorus isn?t as overdone. Hurricane, Save Me, and Fall are also great. I give LTTW an A+. Listen to the album version of Cavanaugh Park by clicking here.

Something Corporate ? North
Aside from the twelve great tracks, North is an enhanced CD which features a behind the scenes look at the making of the CD and interviews with the band members. Not as good as Leaving Through the Window, but still a good listen. I give it a B+. Listen to Space.

The Wallflowers ? Breach
I?m slowly making my way to the most recent of the Wallflowers? four records. It?s strange that for being one of my favorite bands, I?ve only heard three of their four discs. Still, I think I am going to give it some time before I try their latest, because Breach wasn?t quite down my alley.

The disc doesn?t flow as well as their first two albums did and I often find myself skipping back and forth to my favorite songs. I give it a C+, mostly because it?s such a step down from the Wallflowers previous work. Here?s Letters from the Wasteland.

With all the talk about Apple iPods in the last few weeks, I quickly began to entertain the thought of buying one myself. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was the most convenient way for me to enjoy music in the upcoming year.

As most of you know, music is a huge part of my life. I am listening to it constantly, whether that means walking around the city or campus with my headphones on, driving with the cds going, sitting behind my computer while the cds provide a soundtrack to my internet surfing, or whatever.

As I am now preparing to return to Russia for a year, I have spent more time and thought concerning what cds I should bring with me than any other items I will need to pack. My collection is huge and I obviously cannot bring them all with me, or even all the ones I want to listen to most. This is a great dillema in my mind.

The solution: the Apple iPod mp3 player.

With it, I can not only bring all of my cds with me, but carry all of them in my pocket at the same time. As reagan more or less put it once, it is a true feeling of power for the music lover to have his whole collection on a device the size of a wallet and readily available within a few taps of the finger.

I bought my iPod on Wednesday, so I am still goofing around with it, customizing things, and organizing my music so that I can access it in minimal time. With a few clicks I was able to transfer all of my MS Outlook contacts to my iPod. The newest iPod software also supports the cyrillic alphabet (something that even a lot of windows based mp3 players still screw up on), so the ID3 tags for all of my Russian music displays properly. It can also put .txt files on the device to make notes to myself or just store important information ( I just put my flight itineraries on there). The iPod truly blurs the line between an mp3 player and a PDA.

Wow. I love this thing.

alanis morissette, under rug swept
all-american rejects
andrew osenga, photographs
ben folds live
counting crows, august and everything after
counting crows, recovering the satellites
counting crows, hard candy
dashboard confessional, swiss army romance
dashboard confesssional, the places you have come to fear the most
don chaffer, you were at the time for love
don chaffer, whole nother deal
don chaffer, what you dont know
goo goo dolls, gutterflower
indelible grace, pilgrim days
john mayer, room for squares
john mayer, any given thursday
sixpence none the richer, divine discontent
steven delopolous, me died blue
switchfoot, the beautiful letdown
the normals, a place where you belong
the normals, coming home
zemfira, prosti menya moya lyubov
zemfira, chetirnadsat’ nedyel tishini