Huh. That's weird. So you got v2 after all, only it seems that v1 is actually the better cut. When I listened to them on the computer, they both cut off earlier. I don't know why.

VH-1 Country. I've been watching this for a couple months now and come to a conclusion. I get the folks that bitch that it ain't "real country" - it's not. The only bit of Hank in there is their hick accents. But you know what it is? It's power pop with Telecasters instead of Rickenbackers. With better lyrics. Yep. I'm watching folks like Brad Paisley ("Little Moments"), Chris Cagle ("Chicks Dig It"), Terri Clark ("I Wanna Do It All"), Dierks Bentley ("My Last Name"), Keith Urban ("Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me"), Martina McBride ("This One's For the Girls") and...it's just good pop music with guitar bands. Interesting. I've been thinking of New Country as sort of along the lines of sixties Motown. But this is guitar band pop with Tele's.

This is so odd to hear. Hec listening to country?? WTF?? It seems so...wrong, somehow. But there are definitely times when listening to countrypop makes me want to write papers for a class or something. Stuff like when I hear "Thunder Rolls", "Independence Day" and "Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" anywhere close together, and start thinking about abuse, female power, justice...

Plus, there's even country songs about abortion!!! (Well, ok, at least one)

Also, Toby Keith is not just a jingoistic jerk. He's a smarter songwriter than his "let's kick some Arab ass" politics -- he's not your average redneck. He's right in the Merle Haggard mode. (cf., "Okie From Muskogee")

Eh. I put him on my "hate artist love song" slot for the mix, because not only does he have the "Kick Your Boot Up Their Ass" song, he also has the "Justice Was Back When the KKK Lynched People From Oak Trees" song.

Also: Anne, i'll be sending msbelle's mix on to you at some point this week, I swear....this whole "work" thing? Sucks.

Gandalfe, I got the CDs today!

Fantastic! I hope you enjoy mine . . . . And, yes, print the notes out, since I suck big fat weenies and still don't have a working printer.

Random:

The other day I flipped past MTV, and they actually had music videos on (!!!!). I was so surprised, I left it there for awhile. They played this video of a song where the chorus was "I believe in a thing called love", rather...shrieked. And the video was really weird. And looked like something out of the 80s. WTF was that all about? Can anyone explain this song/band/concept to me? It was oddly intriguing.

Kelly Willis is *great*!

Hec, Neil Gaiman has said that Tori Amos has become one of the main inspirations for Delirium, although he created the character before he knew her. She has referenced both Gaiman and the Sandman characters in her songs: [link] -- looks like you'd be especially interested in the B-side "Sister Named Desire."

But there are definitely times when listening to countrypop makes me want to write papers for a class or something. Stuff like when I hear "Thunder Rolls", "Independence Day" and "Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" anywhere close together, and start thinking about abuse, female power, justice...

And at one point, I think I knew all the lyrics to all of those...

They played this video of a song where the chorus was "I believe in a thing called love", rather...shrieked. And the video was really weird. And looked like something out of the 80s. WTF was that all about? Can anyone explain this song/band/concept to me? It was oddly intriguing.

The Darkness!!! Here's what AMG says:

England's the Darkness centers around irrepressible frontman Justin Hawkins (vocals/guitars/keyboards), who, along with his guitar-playing baby brother Dan, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Ed Graham, single-handedly resurrected the rather unfashionable sounds and attitudes of late-‘70s hard rock for an unsuspecting generation.

Following the demise of an earlier, conspicuously synth-pop-based outfit named Empire, the Hawkins brothers sowed the seeds of what would become the Darkness at an impromptu karaoke session on New Year's Eve 1999. Justin's rapturous rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" showed them the way, and the suitably dramatic name of the Darkness was chosen shortly after the arrival of Poullain and Graham. With outrageous stage antics that included gaudy leotards stolen from Steven Tyler's wardrobe, leaps and splits borrowed from David Lee Roth, and an ear-piercing falsetto copped from Freddie Mercury himself, the multi-talented elder Hawkins led the quartet as they spent the next two years slogging it out in London's pub circuit. Though they were immediately singled out as a joke by the notoriously vicious British press, the Darkness' high energy sets, remarkably catchy material and unapologetic worship of old-school rock & roll bombast gradually earned them a fanatical following based on simple word of mouth.

The tide finally began to shift in their favor in August 2002, when the Darkness released their debut EP I Believe in a Thing Called Love through independent Must Destroy Music, won a major talent contest and also scored all-important opening slots with Deep Purple and Def Leppard. Their momentum carried through into the new year, starting with a knockout performance at Austin's SXSW music convention in January, continuing with the release of their "Keep Your Hands off My Woman" single in February (peaking at number 36 in the U.K. chart), and climaxing in their subsequent signing of a major-label contract with Atlantic Records in March. Nothing could stop the Darkness' snowball effect now, and a series of acclaimed festival appearances set the stage for their debut album Permission to Land to debut atop the British charts -- the first time a new act had achieved such a feat since Coldplay three years earlier.

I got Tina's mix! It is *awesome.*

They played this video of a song where the chorus was "I believe in a thing called love", rather...shrieked. And the video was really weird. And looked like something out of the 80s. WTF was that all about? Can anyone explain this song/band/concept to me? It was oddly intriguing.

I saw this when I was in Oxford in September and I was MESMERIZED. I laughed SO HARD. And then I bought the DVD single. I listen to this all the time. I should get their other stuff.

I still think they're a joke, but then I listen to Tenacious D much more than you would think it warrants. Also: what am I listening to RIGHT NOW? "The First Bratwurst of Summer" by Those Darn Accordions! Yeah, I have a high tolerance for jokey music.

What I came here to ask: Has anybody started messing around with GarageBand?

What I came here to ask: Has anybody started messing around with GarageBand?

My poor little 900 mhz G3 iBook isn't quite up to the requirements for GarageBand - but I'm tempted to get it anyway.