{"id":2364,"date":"2009-10-15T12:08:13","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T16:08:13","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2009-10-16T14:20:36","modified_gmt":"2009-10-16T14:20:36","slug":"41-bonus-downloads-and-nothing-to-spend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/41-bonus-downloads-and-nothing-to-spend\/","title":{"rendered":"41 Bonus Downloads and Nothing to Spend Them On"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n
Is that all there is?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I guess for being an all-around good guy eMusic<\/strong> rewarded me with 50 bonus downloads<\/strong> that I need to use by the middle of November. These are on top of my standard 30 downloads\/month. I’ve enjoyed my eMusic subscription over the last 2 years for enabling me to build a collection of mostly instrumental and foreign non-rock music that I otherwise would rarely take a chance on. For instance, I’ve been able to download everything available by one of my favorite minimalist musicians, Terry Riley<\/strong>, whose music I’ve been collecting since the pre-digital age. As for stuff I otherwise would have been reluctant to take a chance on you may recall my excitement over new additions to my collections, thanks primarily to eMusic: that Ethiopian stuff<\/a><\/strong>, Amon D\u00fc\u00fcl 2<\/a><\/strong>…<\/p>\n

I’ve downloaded just about that entire 20-CD collection of Ethiopian stuff and all of the Terry Riley I could get my hands on that I didn’t already own. I may be crossing the line<\/a> if I go any further than the four Amon D\u00fc\u00fcl 2 (and one Amon D\u00fc\u00fcl) records I’ve already dowloaded. The question for the Hall is, Where do I go next?<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
Sorry to bring you into this, homeboy.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I’m constantly unimpressed with the indie rock selections eMusic suggests that I try, like all those bands with album covers featuring a folk-art painting of a sparrow perched on a branch. Man, that thumb-sucking, hushed-tones crap really needs to be banished to the same eternal $1 bins alongside discarded copies of Asylum Choir II<\/em>. I’ve been tempted to download the new Kurt Vile<\/strong> album that everybody’s raving about, but anytime I check out one of the “Rambling, warped lullabyes from a Philly lo-fi rock troubador’s big coming-out party,” as eMusic describes the album, I’m left scratching my head and feeling like a total schmuck<\/em> for not being able to muster any enthusiasm for a local guy who sounds like a perfectly good dude as both a person and rock lover.<\/p>\n

Because I’ve downloaded my share of instrumental, Eno-ish\/Krautrock\/obscuro prog stuff and garage rock, eMusic is also recommending that I download ’70s audiophile dick music, like Jean Michael-Jarre<\/strong>, and the entire Dionysus Records<\/strong> catalog of stupider-than-I-can-usually handle fourth-generation garage rock. In most cases, no thank you.<\/p>\n

This week I downloaded my standard 30 songs and 9 of my 50 bonus dowloads. That leaves me with 41 bonus downloads and nothing I can find to spend them on. I’m hoping you can help me, Rock Town Hall, choose my last 41 downloads. Can you point me in the direction of an artist or song available through eMusic that I might take a free shot on? The Townsperson who directs me to the best song will be rewarded handsomely! <\/p>\n

A couple of months ago, when eMusic made its deal with the majors, restructured its model, and brought in the catalogs of the likes of The Boss and Outkast<\/a>, I thought I might be able to pick up some more tracks by Classic Rock and New Wave bands that I may have never bought on vinyl in years past, but eMusic still doesn’t carry the likes of the Traffic<\/strong> catalog or late-period Eric Burdon and the Animals<\/strong> – no CD bonus cuts of “San Franciscan Nights”-era outtakes for me! The last time I checked, The Cars<\/strong>, who wouldn’t be bad to have a half dozen songs of, were not available through eMusic, and the only song I wanted to download by The Romantics<\/strong>, “What I Like About You,” which my boys think is cool, could only be downloaded as part of the entire album. Are you kidding me?<\/em> <\/p>\n

If you’re interested, my downloads for the month, which I have not yet had the chance to play, have included a song from a band called Royal Bangs<\/strong> that sounded like early XTC in the 30-second clip I sampled; a 17-track collection of ’60s sunshine pop auteur Curt Boettcher<\/strong> (The Millenium, Sagittarius), Another Time<\/em>; a couple of tracks by someone names Seth Kauffman<\/strong>; an entire album by a duo I’d never heard of before called The Generationals<\/strong>; and the one Hall and Oates<\/strong> song that I wish had been included on their standard Greatest Hits collection, which I own, “How Does It Feel to Be Back.”<\/p>\n

I look forward to your suggestions, Rock Town Hall!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is that all there is? I guess for being an all-around good guy eMusic rewarded me with 50 bonus downloads that I need to use by the middle of November. These are on top of my standard 30 downloads\/month. I’ve enjoyed my eMusic subscription over the last 2 years for enabling me to build a […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[56],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}