After more than a day of trying, I have finally managed to download the new Radiohead album from their website.
For those of you who haven't heard, Radiohead is offering their new album for download from their website - and you get to choose how much you want to pay. If you want to pay nothing, that's OK too (just enter 0.00 in the amount box). You will then get a link to click on which activates the downloading of a zip file containing the 10 track album, called In Rainbows.
You also have the option of buying an expensive CD set if you want that instead.
But the allure of a very cheap / free album has sent millions of people to the website which is resulting in the site slowing to a grinding halt. Pages are frequently crashing and you are sitting in queues for ever and ever waiting your turn. However, if you are calm and patient, you will finally get through in the end.
But what slightly irritated me was the fact that they wanted my name, address, mobile phone number and email address. So I am probably going to get bombarded with spam mail for the rest of my life.
Now that I have the album, I have to say that the music is quite interesting but I wouldn't want to pay full price for it. It's not really my thing. However, far be it from me to turn down something cheap or free!
Radiohead's strategy is similar to Prince's. Prince, who has a very savvy business mind, gave away his last album free of charge with a British Sunday newspaper. Everyone mocked him but he got the last laugh when his concerts sold out completely at huge prices. Now Radiohead must think that the strategy will work for them too. It's the classic case of a "loss leader" - give away the album for virtually nothing but use it to draw people in to buy paid premium products and expensive concert tickets. Getting the person's email address is a canny move too as they can now start relentless email promotional campaigns for the band. Of course it is entirely possible to give fake contact details as you don't have to verify anything in your email. Not that I am advocating anyone doing that but I'm just pointing out that anyone wanting to avoid being marketed to death can easily avoid it if they wanted to.
Could this be what finally shakes the music industry from its apathy? Do artists need to wrestle artistic control back from the music labels and do things their own way? It will be interesting to see if any other big names in music follow the lead of Prince and Radiohead. We could be on the start of something big here. It doesn't bode well for places like iTunes if the artists start demanding the right to set their own prices or give away their work for free.
As someone with manic depression, I can certify that the one and only "cure" is a good dose of Bono medication. Who the hell needs Zoloft when you have something like "Walk On"?
Get your guitar and start playing like there is no tomorrow......
You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been A place that has to be believed to be seen You could have flown away A singing bird in an open cage Who will only fly, only fly for freedom
Today's song was one I originally heard when I watched Kevin Spacey's stunning performance of Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea". "Simple Song of Freedom" was one of the last songs Darin wrote before his premature death and is very politically motivated. Darin campaigned for Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and after their assassinations came "Simple Song of Freedom" which is obviously aimed against supporters and instigators of the Vietnam war and against the military establishment in the US.
The song is still extremely relevant for today as we have Bush and the neo-cons making war in the Middle East and the media being manipulated by big business. It seems that 30 years on, Darin's message of "most of what you read is made of lies" is still very much with us and that politicians haven't really learnt any lessons since Vietnam.
Here's my ideal scene. Home alone, in front of the computer with an internet connection, cup of tea by my side and some good music playing in the background while I write and surf.
Here is one of my most favourite songs ever. If there was ever a song that always gets me on my feet with my guitar in my hands, this is it. Tony Hadley is God!
There are times when I hear a song and I become so captivated by it that I have to listen to it hundreds of times before I get tired of it. It will go round and round my head in a continuous loop but I won't care.
At the moment, that song is Summer Wine by Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon.
Below is a copy from YouTube for your entertainment!
I found out today that Paul Potts is due to release his debut album on July 20th here in Germany. Although I will probably buy it on iTunes.
I am impatient more than anyone for his debut album to be released but that is awfully fast. I mean, he only won the Britain's Got Talent show last month!
I really hope for Paul's sake that they haven't rushed out a botched sub-standard album simply to cash in on Paul's sudden and overwhelming popularity. The enormously talented guy deserves much better than that.
Moving away for a moment from computer-related issues, I wanted to share a couple of classic Scottish songs with you, courtesy of YouTube users with a good taste in music (!). The first one is Dougie McLean's "Caledonia" and the second is The Corries' "Flower of Scotland" (watch out for the matching yellow shirts and tasteful black leather vests!) :
I am one very happy chappie today after I learned that Paul Potts won "Britain's Got Talent". As far as I am concerned, he is an amazingly talented singer and I for one will be buying his debut album as soon as it comes out.
Here's his winning act :
And here's where he finds out he has won :
I have always supported people whom society considers to be "the underdog". Paul doesn't have David Beckham looks or riches (although he won't be short of cash from now on!) and he has hit a few speed-bumps in his life. When he revealed that he had been bullied at school, my girlfriend saw me instantly tense up. This is because I was severely bullied at school and I still bear the mental scars to this day. So Paul is someone who I instantly identify with - he and I are people who people routinely underestimate, ridicule, put down, write off, whatever. So last night, Paul scored one for the Underdog Team and I'll be having a few beers tonight to celebrate.
Congratulations Paul. You truly deserve all the good things that are coming to you.
In my quest to beef up my iPod with new good music, I have been turning lately to a cool new music website called Pandora.
Pandora is a free internet radio station which "streams" songs to your internet browser. This means you can't download the music - you can only listen to it via Pandora. So all you anti-downloading activists out there can calm down before you burst a blood vessel.
What makes Pandora really good is that you can set up your own personal radio station and then you can specify what music you like to listen to. Pandora will then play you other music which it thinks is similar to your tastes. You can rate each song to tell Pandora whether you liked it or not. The site will then use your positive / negative ratings to tailor your future music playlist. So eventually it learns what you like to listen to and not listen to. If you really don't like the song currently playing, you can skip to the next song, just like you would on a CD player.
The sound quality is excellent and there's even a link to buy the song on iTunes if you like it enough to pay for it.
The site has already got me interested in Billy Idol and Def Leppard, both of which I am currently looking at on iTunes.
So if you're stuck for new music to listen to, I recommend you give Pandora a try. The only downside is that due to Pandora's music licence, you can only skip past 5 songs a hour. After that, you have to listen to the song whether you like it or not.
I found out today that Paul Potts is due to release his 
In my quest to beef up my iPod with new good music, I have been turning lately to a cool new music website called 
