Lala No More

When I wrote about my new favorite music web site back in January, little did I know that, just one month prior, the company I thought they would challenge for electronic music supremacy had already acquired them.

Apple purchased Lala in December 2009, beating out Google in the bidding process, and effectively squashing any potential competition in the process. Today, I received this email notification:

Dear C. Simone,

The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st.

In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple's iTunes Store. If you purchased and downloaded mp3 songs from Lala, those songs will continue to play as part of your local music library.

Remaining wallet balances and unredeemed gift cards will be converted to iTunes Store credit (or can be refunded upon request). Gift cards can be redeemed on Lala until May 31st.

Click here or visit Lala.com/support for more information, or to view Lala's Terms of Service.

Thank you.

Lala

It's a sad day in my world, as I was already getting used to being able to preview just about any album I desired, and purchasing the occasional web album for about a dollar. I had yet to purchase a full album of mp3s, but was also interested in the fact that Lala represented an option that was $2-3 per album cheaper than iTunes, and placed no restrictions on the number of computers I could authorize to play those files.

It's also hard to imagine that one company could purchase another for $85 million—confirming how valuable the acquisition is in the process—then turn around and simply shut it down. There is talk that Apple could have bigger plans for Lala's music streaming technology, but having effectively eliminated the competition, I see no incentive for iTunes to be more price-competitive.

I may not end up listening to the 350 new albums that I was on pace to this year, but I will survive. Thanks to my recent discovery of NPR's Exclusive First Listen, in addition to AOL/Spinner, there are still good sources for streaming new releases. Also, my subscription to eMusic—iTunes’ cooler, cheaper cousin, according to Rolling Stone magazine—provides me with an option to purchase music for about half the price of iTunes, and that service's selection is getting better almost daily.

If there are new music sources that I'm overlooking, please share. I'll be certain to continue to write about any new developments here.

NPR First Listen

Add NPR's Exclusive First Listen to my list of the best web sites for those of us who crave a steady rotation of new music. While AOL/Spinner is the place to go to listen to streaming audio of a dozen or more albums for a week or two after their release, and Lala is great for offering one free preview of just about any song, new or otherwise, NPR's site maintains its own exclusive niche.

For previews of select, upcoming albums, in their entirety, this is the site to go. Among those currently streaming on NPR, until May 4, are the following:

• The New Pornographers - Together
• The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
• Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

Additionally, the following records are in queue to become available for listen during the following dates in May:

• The National - High Violet: May 3-11
• The Black Keys - Brothers: May 10-18

Of course, these are just the albums that show up on my radar. There are definitely others that you may want to check out for yourself. 

Boston Beer Guide

A couple months ago, I began putting together a page listing the best places to find craft beer in and around Boston. This idea was inspired by The Beer Mapping Project, and the page I created includes an area map provided courtesy of that impressive web site, but my intention is to improve upon their coverage of this particular area. As much as I love beermapping.com, considering it touts itself as "...a project by someone who likes knowing exactly where he is and how far he needs to go for good beer," why it includes such lame places as On the Hill Tavern and Powderhouse Pub and Grill—just to name two from my own neighborhood—is beyond me.

Now if either of these places has recently transformed itself to a good beer bar, then I apologize for calling them lame, but I highly doubt this is the case. I do suspect, however, that since The Beer Mapping Project relies extensively on user input, then it's someone who doesn't even know how to pronounce the word bar who is to blame.

But, I digress. My page, of course, will always be a work in progress. Contrary to popular belief, I haven't been able to visit every bar in the Greater Boston area just yet. So, I'm sure there are at least a few that I'm missing, but I think this is a very good start.

The basic idea here is that this is a page that craft beer enthusiasts, such as myself, can use to decide where they want to go find a beer, or what beer they plan to drink when they meet up with friends at a specific place. I recently used it to decide what my first two selections would be when I visited Olde Magoun's Saloon, a neighborhood establishment that is worthy of being identified as a good beer bar.

Because this concept relies on the availability of such information, with exception I've only listed taverns that have good beer selections and a web site that includes a current beer menu. The exceptions I've made are for places I feel confident you could walk into blindly and not be disappointed in what they have to offer. But, of course, I'm a little torn on this, so I reserve the right to change my mind.

If you haven't already discovered it, please check out my Boston Beer Guide (you can also find the link in the upper right corner, just below the left field photo). Since I'm only one person, and I don't frequent such establishments nearly as much as I used to—which is both a good and a bad thing—I’ll take all the help I can get. So, I welcome any and all recommendations as to places I should add to the list, as well as any corrections if you notice before I do that a particular link isn't working.

Best of the Web: Music

A few months ago, I wrote Blogging About Blogs #1, in which I discussed my three favorite beer-related blogs at the time. My intention was to eventually do equivalent posts about baseball and music. But, I don't really have any favorite music blogs, because they're pretty much about reviews, and too much of that tends to bore me.

Instead, I thought I would write about my favorite music web sites. More specifically, I'm going to share with you my current system for keeping current and discovering new music. Considering the constantly changing nature of the world wide web, this is an ever-evolving strategy, but I'd say it's as tried-and-true a formula as I've ever had.

I would have to say it starts with Metacritic, specifically their upcoming release calendar, but also the site's general coverage of new releases. Metacritic aggregates reviews of all forms of entertainment, but I use it strictly for music. Although I said previously that reading a lot of reviews kind of wears on me, I do like the fact that they pull together all of the major reviews onto one page for each album, with brief excerpts of each and links to online versions, if they exist.

I also stay up-to-date with weekly new release emails from allmusic, a site which is also about as close it gets to an internet music encyclopedia, and Newbury Comics, a regional chain of stores that has managed to remain vital despite the failure of so many others in the retail music industry. Of course, I use allmusic for much more than keeping current with new releases, but I don't use Newbury Comics' web site for much at all. I do, however, occasionally take advantage of their low prices on new releases, although these sales frequently only last for one week following an album's release date.

So, every Tuesday—the music industry's new release day—I’m quick to check out the albums I've been anticipating on Lala. As I've already written, Lala is my favorite site for previewing recent releases. But, once I've used up my one free listen for each album, I'll sometimes head over to AOL/Spinner, where typically about a dozen new releases are streaming. They turn these over weekly, so you have to be on top of things, but this week's rotation includes Spoon's Transference and Eels' End Times, both of which just hit the stores today. MySpace is also a really good site for listening to streaming audio, with bands frequently offering a few tracks for preview prior to an album's release.

Last, but certainly not least, is eMusic. My subscription allows me to download 37 DRM-free MP3s per month for $15, about $0.40 per song. Yes folks, that's less than half of what iTunes typically charges. Essentially, it gets me three albums a month for $5 each. My current plan is no longer available, but new subscribers can expect to pay anywhere from $0.40 to $0.54 per download. eMusic's artist roster includes mostly those from independent labels, but they've recently added considerable back catalog material from some of the majors.

That about covers it. This system allows me to listen to a couple hundred new releases per year without spending money on albums until I'm certain that they're worth it. Even then, I'll rarely pay even $10 per, and will only go that high when purchasing the physical CD.

Disco E.L.O.

E.L.O. (aka Electric Light Orchestra) dabbled in disco with their 1979 album, Discovery, most notably on the hit songs "Shine a Little Love" and "Last Train to London." But, the title of this post refers to my recent trip through the E.L.O. discography, thanks in part to Lala, my favorite recent web discovery (pun intended).

Lala allows you to listen to just about any album or song, in its entirety, in your web browser. The catch is you get to listen to each song only once. After that, you have to purchase songs to continue listening to them. Web songs mostly cost ten cents apiece for unlimited plays in your browser, with DRM-free MP3s available for an additional 79-89 cents. That's not quite as great a deal as the 37 songs a month I get for $15 from eMusic, but the selection is considerably better and I love the concept of being able to fully preview before you buy.

If you decide to check it out based on my suggestion, do me a favor and sign up here. I believe I'll get rewarded with a few free songs, but my real reason for promoting the site is that I think it's pretty great so I feel the need to share that information. Also, because I really want to see someone make a serious assault on iTunes' market share.

Returning to the E.L.O. discography, I'm ranking all 12 of their studio albums in order here. That, of course, includes only those that involved Jeff Lynne, not the ridiculous Electric Light Orchestra Part II that pretended to be the real deal from 1988 to 1999.

1. A New World Record (1976) - This album and Eldorado are E.L.O.'s masterpieces. While Eldorado is kind of their Sgt. Pepper's, in that it's more ambitious, A New World Record could be considered their Revolver, just one great song after another, and wins out as my favorite. Rating: 5 stars (on a 5 scale)

2. Eldorado (1974) - When I was listening to E.L.O. as a kid, this one was never even on my radar, although I'm not sure why. So, I was pleasantly surprised when, just a few years ago, I realized how great it is. It has since risen the ladder to the status of my second favorite E.L.O. record. Rating: 4 1/2 stars

3. Discovery (1979) - This would have to be considered my E.L.O. guilty pleasure, in that it's far from their most critically acclaimed work, but still one of my absolute favorites. Rating: 4 1/2 stars

4. Out of the Blue (1977) - Maybe the double album idea was on the overly ambitious side, and it could have been better with a little editing. Regardless, it still ranks among their best, in my opinion. Rating: 4 stars

5. Face the Music (1975) - Most would rank this one a little higher than I do, and it is a very good album. But, to me, it doesn't feel quite as cohesive as Eldorado and A New World Record. Rating: 4 stars

6. Time (1981) - This album was a bit of a drop-off after Discovery. I still think it's a pretty good record, but is definitely my least favorite since the first three. Rating: 3 1/2 stars

7. On the Third Day (1973) - I consider this an improvement over their first two albums, but I don't think it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Eldorado and A New World Record, as some have foolishly suggested. Rating: 3 1/2 stars

8. Zoom (2001) - After a 15-year hiatus, Lynne resurrected the E.L.O. name and released an album that was better than their final two in the '80s, despite its lack of any real knockout tracks. Rating: 3 stars

9. No Answer (1972) - Their debut release was far from their best work, but definitely showed some promise. The album-opening "10538 Overture" is the standout here. Rating: 3 stars

10. Balance of Power (1986) - Things were starting to go downhill after Time, although this one is an improvement over its predecessor Secret Messages, if only because its hit songs are much better, especially "So Serious," one of my favorites among their 1980s material. Rating: 3 stars

11. Electric Light Orchestra II (1973) - This is my least favorite of their earlier albums. "Roll Over Beethoven" misses the mark, so there are no great pop moments here, and most of the more ambitious material doesn't quite do it for me either, with the possible exception of "Kuiama." Rating: 2 1/2 stars

12. Secret Messages (1983) - The '80s provided some serious evidence that E.L.O. was a band on the decline. There are a few solid moments here, but nothing that really compares to Balance of Power's high points, though. Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Blogging About Blogs #1

My new idea of late has been to seek out other blogs that cover the subject matter I'm interested in, and that I write about. Part of my motivation for doing this, I'll admit, is for networking purposes, with the idea being that I'd link to these blogs, maybe send some traffic their way, and this might eventually bring some folks back here as well. But also, I've really enjoyed doing this, and I've begun to discover some blogs that I want to share with my readers.

So, what I plan on doing is finding a few that I really like and, from time to time, profiling these blogs here. In other words, I'll be blogging about blogs. I figure I'll probably focus on one particular subject area at a time, with my three major topics of interest being baseball, music and beer, of course.

Recently, I've been checking out beer-related blogs. Here are a few that have really piqued my interest of late.


A Blog About Beer

The first entry I read on this blog written by a native of Maine—the state that puts all others in New England to shame when it comes to good beer—was titled "Michelob releases new Fall Sampler Pack, but who gives a shit?" I instantly knew I had stumbled onto a site produced by a kindred spirit. It turns out the guy's only 25, but he knows more about craft beer that anyone I know who's that age.

This blog also features a nice little six-part series titled, "How to Drink Better Beer," and has an entire page that's a continuous work in progress on New England's "beer nirvana," Portland, Maine. I agree that the blogger's home city is the best beer city in New England, but I'm sorry BAB, the other Portland is this country's beer mecca.

I also have to thank BAB for turning me on to the blog I'll discuss next, a truly remarkable and ambitious project that anyone can contribute to.


The Beer Mapping Project

The Beer Mapping Project describes itself as "... a project by someone who likes knowing exactly where he is and how far he needs to go for good beer." It utilizes Google's mapping API, a service that adds code to a web page to render locational data, and is free to anyone who is not making a profit or charging users to utilize the maps. Basically, you can use the site to view an area map of brew pubs, breweries, beer bars, beer stores and home brew stores for any location in the United States, as well as 12 other countries. The only caveat is, as you can probably imagine, some of the maps take an excessive amount of time to load.

If you're a fellow beer lover, you can register on the site—for free, of course—and submit locations as well as contribute reviews. Thanks to the blog's registered users, it now includes over 8,000 approved locations throughout the world.

A really great feature of the site is its Beer Trip Planner. While I'm pretty confident in my ability to plan such a trip myself, this takes it to an entirely different level. You search by location name, city or zip code, then build a trip by selecting the places you wish to visit. From there, the planner maps out the locations and provides directions.

While technically a blog, this site doesn't really read like one, but it's such a great idea that I just had to share. Don't leave home without consulting this excellent site first.


Beervana

I don't necessarily agree with all of this blogger's opinions. For instance, he claims that the best brewers in the world work for Budweiser, and that they could brew really great beer if they chose to. Well, I don't doubt that their brewers are capable of producing much better beer than Bud and Bud Light—apparently, according to Beervana, Budweiser American Ale is a good example of that—but I think it's a huge leap of faith to assume they can do something they never have. It's kind of like all the people who claim Ichiro Suzuki could hit for power if he tried to. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to prove it to me first. Personally, I think, in reality Budweiser's competitive advantage is in its quality control of the brewing process, but creatively crafting great beer is a completely different story.

The author of this blog used to write a beer column for Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon's alternative newsweekly (akin to New York's Village Voice and the Boston Phoenix). Despite the previous disagreement, I've got to give him credit for being willing to make a claim that most beer snobs—myself included—wouldn't have the nerve to. Also, I really like the subject matter he writes about, the unobtrusive simplicity of his site, and I thought I'd offset my inclusion of a blog that refers to Portland, Maine as beer nirvana with one that bestows the same honor to Portland, Oregon. You already know how I feel about the latter, so another reason I like this blog is its emphasis on that city.

Apparently, I discovered his blog while we was on vacation, but the older posts he brought back during this time frame are the ones that sucked me in. These included one about the secret shame of cheater pints, which reveals the fact that, shaker pints—the most common beer glass used in pubs—do not hold a full 16 ounces. In fact, they don't even come close. I highly suggest, if you didn't already know this, you check out the article.

A New Spin on Listmania

I received this email yesterday from Amazon.com, promoting their brand new site, still in Beta version, called Unspun. The best way I can think to describe it is it's a community of lists, kind of the Web 2.0 for the Rob Fleming set. It's pretty simple. You can search for lists that already exist, and add your opinions, or create new lists that others can contribute to as well. This could be interesting, or it could turn out to be really lame and frustrating.

I began by searching on "King Crimson", since they've been my latest obsession, and I was quickly able to check out a list called "Favorite King Crimson Album". First thing, I had to do a little cleanup of a bunch of bogus entries, including one that stated "All Other Albums Suck". Plus, I had to edit the title of their debut album. It was listed as The Court of the Crimson King. So, I can already see how this could get annoying. The fact that I could do this also raises the issue that people can remove items that they say don't belong, when they really do. Well, as I said, it's in Beta version.

Anyway, since I'm not really familiar with any Crimson albums beyond the 1980's reincarnation with Adrian Belew, and since I haven't posted a list with no particular purpose in quite some time, here's how I ranked their 1969-1984 discography:

1. In the Court of the Crimson King


2. Red


3. Discipline


4. Starless and Bible Black


5. Larks' Tongues in Aspic


6. Beat


7. Three of a Perfect Pair


8. In the Wake of Poseidon


9. Lizard


10. Islands