Barenaked Ladies releases kids album...

I was reading Crave, a gadget blog that covers news and reviews of new technology, when I came across this little gem. The blog has added a featured MP3 download to their daily blog entries. Today's download is from the Barenaked Ladies that features a track called "7 8 9". It's from their new kids album called Snacktime, released in May. It's a short track at a minute and 30 seconds, but it's a witty and somewhat charming song about how 7 ate 9, of course. You can download the track for free from music.download.com or you can watch the animated video for the song below. Pretty funny.

R.E.M. dropping their latest album on iLike

I came across a blog post on Techdirt today that talks about R.E.M.'s latest album, Accelerate, and how it will be available on the music social network, iLike, a week before it hits stores. Techdirt referred to an MSNBC article on their blog as they explained how R.E.M. is another example of how music groups are reaching out to broader audience by allowing fans to get their music free or early in new and more dynamic ways than a CD. I mentioned Trent Reznor from the group Nine Inch Nails last week and how he has applied the same business model. I think it's a great way to promote your music and build an even bigger and more devoted fan base.

Although I don't follow R.E.M. that much, I think they have written some great alternative/pop songs that have somewhat defined a generation. One of the songs that I'll always remember from their collection is It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Here they are performing the song live in Toronto:

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.

Nine Inch Nails releases album online

With little pomp and circumstance, Trent Reznor of the group Nine Inch Nails has released a new ablum called Ghosts exclusively online. According to the album website, they've had 3 times the amount of traffic on his site to download the first 9 tracks, which happen to be totally free, and which has also brought the site to a halt as there's too many people trying to download it. I caught the first news of it on Techdirt's web site, which points out how, even though the tracks are free (Reznor even uploaded the first 9 tracks himself to torrent sites), he is still able receive revenue without the music labels help.

So, checkout the new album if you're into NIN. If you're not into NIN, atleast enjoy Johnny Cash's cover of one of Nine Inch Nails tunes, Hurt. It's his last video before his passing. See it below:

Free Song from Switchfoot

It's been a while since this song has been out, but the link is still available if you'd like a song from this San Diego based Switchfoot. They teamed up with Habitat for Humanity during their Fall '07 tour and released the song Rebuild as a free download. You'll have to register to download the song and you can choose to donate to Habitat for Humanity before the download starts. The song also features members of Relient K and Ruth, who were joining Switchfoot on the tour.

It's a great cause and a great song too. Here's the site that explains the cause and the download a little more:

http://www.switchfoot.com/rebuild/