My Thermos

As much as it may seem that I am stuck in the past with my musical tastes, it really isn't for lack of trying. I don't go out of my way to try and seek out new artists but between my LaunchCast Radio and the Sirius channels I get exposed to quite a bit.

Mostly it seems I just don't like most of it but occasionally something catches my ear. Late last year I discovered Band of Horses who I just love, and today it was The Blizzard of 78 and their debut Where All Life Hangs. Ok - maybe June of '06 doesn't count as new, but it's newer... and certainly new to me.

It starts with "Show Me" which has a bit of a U2 vibe to it but I won't hold that against them. The music is sloppy and raw but always in a perfectly constructed song sort of way - reminiscent of Wilco in many ways. I'm about 80% through my first listen and am really digging it.

Check them out - you can stream the songs at Last.fm

Looks like they are busy recording a follow up - will surely have to keep on the lookout for that.

Cheers!
SB

I planned on writing something else this evening but it turns out that the Sci-Fi Series Tin Man was on and was oddly entertaining. If you aren't familiar, it's a retelling of The Wizard of Oz. Previous attempts at this haven't fared too well (Remeber The Wiz?) but this was actually rather intriguing.

We watched the original a few weeks back and I believe that my comment to my wife was along the lines of "This is really an awful movie isn't it" - and it really is. Sure, it's a great story, but it's way out there and the acting is just terrible. I've probably watched it every year since I was a child but it seems to have lost it's childhood charm.

So we entered into tonight's episode sort of tentatively but I enjoyed it enough to give it another shot when part 2 comes on tomorrow. I may, against my better judgement, watch Heroes instead and pick this up the next night though.

Maybe I need to read the book again?

SB

We jokingly wonder if it is statistically possible to see Warren Haynes as many times as we have without him having an off night. Between Gov't Mule, The Allman Brothers Band, and Phil Lesh and Friends we have lost count of the exact number, but we agree it has to be approaching 60 or 70.

As we head out to the show we wonder - could this be the night?

Pre-show

We arrived just about 6PM and parked in our usual bank parking across from the venue. It costs us $20 but the train would actually cost us more, and who knows if we could catch the last one home in time. The doors were already open but it was still pretty empty. We usually park ourselves right behind the main floor. There is a raised area behind the railing that gives us a great view without being squished by the masses. Nice view, a railing to lean on, and Gina can see over the crowd in front of her.

We met some nice folks while waiting for the show to start. A family in from Salt Lake shared their Christmas Jam stories while Marc and Tom were locals and fellow music lovers. Is really nice to have fans around. (a big thanks to Marc for the photos here)

Opening Act

I had never heard of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals before they were announced as the opener. I did a quick search on Yahoo and listened to their album, which I enjoyed. Ross from over at RockMusicDaily posted a video of them live though and I knew we were in for a treat. Grace and the band came on about 7:30 and gave us a good hour of straight forward rock and roll, all with a 70's vibe (she even played a flying V at one point). Grace has an extremely strong voice and belts out at a volume inconsistent with her slight frame, reminsicent of Susan Tedeschi in many ways. The musicianship is top notch and they were particularly effective when they extended the songs into some tasty jams.



 

So that is all well and good - but the real show was yet to begin... Continue reading "Gov't Mule Riviera Theatre Chicago 10-26-07" »

So since my last review, I have had a chance to play around with Jango some more. While it isn't as social as I had hoped, once I adjusted my expectations accordingly, I am actually listening a bit more often.

The Good:

I am getting to like the "on demand" type functionality. For example, while listening to Traveling Wilburys just now on my Esoteric Thermos station, it showed me some Dylan songs that were "playing" on other stations. A quick click on "Don't Think Twice..." and it fired right up. Very Nice.

Also, the app actually performs pretty well - very few bufffer dropouts or errors.

Other user stations can be pretty diverse. Allows me to rate stuff not playing on my stations.

The Bad:

Other user stations can be pretty diverse. I know that I just called this a good thing. Sometimes it is a bad thing too though.

My stations are still too limited. I have added songs, added artists, rated songs, etc.. but I still can only listen a relatively short time without hearing repeats.

I can't find any indication if I have rated a song previously, and what that rating may have been. I also am pretty sure it is ignoring my "Never Play This Song Again" rating, something I use judiciously.

There is still no Gov't Mule. I honestly can't, in good conscience, recommend any music service with such a glaring omission.

I don't know how to save or bookmark a station that I like. There must be a way but for the life of me, I just can't do it. Brings up the bigger issue of general lack of documentation or an FAQ.

I can't seem to give away my invites. I still have 7 left and although I get a lot of traffic to my Jango related posts, no one has asked for them.

I still think Jango shows promise. It has some rough edges but that is to be expected in a limited beta period. I would say give it a shot if you get the chance (and if you are among the first 7 to request such a chance in the comments, I'll send along an invite)

SB

I've recently been asked to contribute content to a great new blog called TechFires. Featuring Rapid Fire Reviews of Hot Technology, it is a great place to keep up to date on the cool tech stuff we are finding, all presented to you in bite size chunks. A screenie, some basic info, a link out, and you're done.

Response has been great so far, I'm honored to be a part of it.

SB

Today I got the chance to try out web app Streamy. Streamy is being touted as a place to "Read, share and discuss the best stories on the Web"



Sound Familiar?

Honestly, I'm not much of a Digg guy. I do a daily scan for headlines but I don't spend much time there. I often find the community a bit immature and I ignore the comments entirely. Since I often see Streamy referred to as a "Digg Killer", my interest wasn't all that great.

Today however, I took a quick look at their video and did some quick reading on other blogs:

Jay's - Streamy - The Brainfart Review

Fried CPU - Another Streamy Review

Streamy - We Aren't Digg Killers

The overwhelming theme in all of these reviews, and indeed mine as well, is that Streamy isn't Digg. I don't want to duplicate what was said above too much - these guys really do a great job of covering the product - but I will give a basic overview. Continue reading "Streamy - A First Look" »