Also from WFMU (same link) , check out "Coldest Night of the Year" by Vashti Bunyan if you're into her at all. (And even if you're not - if you find her voice annoying, it's much less so on this song.)

eta: I don't know who she's singing with on this one....

More WFMU, non-Jingle-Cat-related music stuff: On their recommendation I downloaded Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective. If you like Animal Collective you'll probably like this (I love it). If you're not familiar with Animal Collective you could start with this, or maybe Here Comes the Indian. eMusic describes Animal Collective's music as

...captivating, occasionally frustrating releases exploring the fringes and intersecting boundaries of folk, noise rock, ambient drone, twisted psychedelia, and, ultimately, pure melody.

Me, I'm all about the "twisted psychedelia", although those other things are nice too.

I think all their stuff is available on eMusic, except for Strawberry Jam, which I had to get from iTunes.

I'm glad you like Strawberry Jam, Tommy. I hope you check out Feels and Sung Tongs next, because I like both even better than SJ or Here Comes The Indian.

I downloaded Sung Tongs last night. So far I like it OK, but it sounds like something that could grow on me....

Also, check out the video for "Peacebone" (from Strawberry Jam ) - you can get it from iTunes (comes free if you buy the whole album). Or, you know, watch it on YouTube: [link] . It's awesome.

eta: YouTube video looks kinda' dark (poor quality) compared to the iTunes one.

So....

Sometimes I feel like there's nothing hugely great to spend my eMusic downloads on, and other times I discover some amazing band and quickly run out of downloads.

Anyway, What are some good Of Montreal albums? So far I have Satanic Panic in the Attic (which I love to death), and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy (which I like OK.)

Just downloaded The Sunlandic Twins and spent my last two downloads on two songs from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

So, what other albums of theirs are must-haves?

Sunil is a big Of Montreal fan, IIRC. I have not heard the newest one, but it is getting very good reviews.

Venture Brothers Christmas Carols: [link].

Awesome! Wish I'd had the Bowie/Bing parody last week.

Too late for Jon, but they have a version of "The Little Drummer Boy" - by the Jingle Cats.

You obviously didn't have a look at my playlist.

Music producers mixing for MP3

In a fascinating article about trends in sound engineering, Rolling Stone notes that producers are now specifically mixing tracks to compensate for the failings in MP3 -- it seems to me that as a society, we're happy to sacrifice fidelity for ease of use, flexibility and low-cost (see, for example, the trend from landlines to cordless phones to mobile phones to Skype). Designing for that, as opposed to lamenting it -- is a damned good and realistic thing to do.

Producers also now alter the way they mix albums to compensate for the limitations of MP3 sound. "You have to be aware of how people will hear music, and pretty much everyone is listening to MP3," says producer Butch Vig, a member of Garbage and the producer of Nirvana's Never- mind. "Some of the effects get lost. So you sometimes have to over-exaggerate things." Other producers believe that intensely compressed CDs make for better MP3s, since the loudness of the music will compensate for the flatness of the digital format.

Or we could just use higher bitrates....

"Other producers believe that intensely compressed CDs make for better MP3s"

Intensely compressed music is bad, m'kay?

Intensely compressed music is bad, m'kay?

Don't get me started.

The RIAA's new position is that everyone who has ripped legally purchased CDs to their computer is stealing: [link]

Next: everyone who listens to legally purchased music is violating someone's copyright.