Nine Inch Nails gives me a reason to listen...

Ever since I made the change to XM Radio about 4 years ago, my album buying habits have drastically changed. I used to buy 3 or 4 albums a month, if not more. Now, I'd be lucky to buy 3 to 4 albums in a year. I just don't see that need for me to spend the money on a new album when I can listen to a lot of different music for $12.95 a month

This fact makes Nine Inch Nails latest release all the more exciting. It's absolutely free. Trent Reznor decided to allow you to download the album completely free from the albums web site. All you have to do is supply an email address and you'll have your pick of multiple formats from mp3's up to CD quality. It even includes the album art in a .pdf format.

Just another way a band can get their music out to the masses, especially to people who might not be totally inclined to buy the album because of financial reasons. Even though I like the music Nine Inch Nails makes, I may have never heard the album if it wasn't free. If I never heard the album, would I be writing this post? Probably not...

89X and Rides Again kept me in my car

I was listening to Detroit's New Rock Alternative, 89X, on the way home from a friends house today and a new song caught my ears right before I got out of the car. I liked it enough that I stayed to listen to the entire song before going inside. It was song called Infected from a group named Rides Again, an alternative rock trio out of Ontario, Canada.

Before I started listening to XM Radio, my car radio was typically tuned to 89X. It is actually a Canadian based station that delivers modern and alternative rock to the metro Detroit area. They sometimes feature music that isn't completely mainstream yet, including more local acts like Rides Again.

The song I listened to today really reminded me of Hoobastank with some really great, driving guitar hooks and riffs. What's really funny, is when I went to look up the band, I couldn't remember the name of the group. Their name sounds a lot like Rise Against, so I was looking for the song under their name, obviously with no luck. I finally went to 89X's web site and found what they were playing. The band recently added the song to YouTube:

DJ Armando rocks my commute

I love commercial free radio. I love XM. In the last few months I've been listening to DJ Armando's show, appropriately named Addiction, on the way home from work. His show airs on channel 81, also appropriately named BPM, from 5PM to 6PM and 8PM to 9PM EST. So, even when I have to work the late shift, I can catch him late on my drive home(as I did this evening). I don't know what it is, but I just enjoy listening to electronic/dance music in the car. Just turn it up and thump those speakers. It's great listening to an hour long mix. It definitely makes the drive better. I'm definitely addicted to it.

If you want to check DJ Armando out, he has a pretty cool website. I did find that it has some downloads of mixes he's done. I'm tempted to download a few just to check it out.