To Hell in a Handbasket

I just recently started using iTunes Ping, and my first impression was ‘Facebook/Twitter for Music’; pretty neat.  If you have friends on Ping, then you can follow them, and see what they are listening to and/or interested in.  Finding your ‘actual’ friends is pretty easy, since you know there name and often times e-mail, but finding the ‘real’ artists is another matter.  Apple apparently didn’t learn or pay attention to the problem Twitter had a few years ago when it started: fake accounts.  Another neat feature of Ping, is for actual artists to promote other artists.  If you like Trent Reznor or Paul van Dyk, you might want to follow them and see what they are listening to.  But in the event you pick the wrong account, or perhaps the artist doesn’t even have an ‘official’ Ping account, then all you end up doing is following some asshat douchebag who thought he would create an account using the name of an actual artist.

I think the ‘verified’ or ‘official’ account identifier that Twitter put in place should be Enhancement #1 on the Ping backlog.  I’m still liking the service, and will continue to use it, but I’ll stay away from following artists until this gets resolved.

Thanks to all those who offered headphone suggestions. I went with the Sony MDR-EX81LP/B in-ear headphones, and they sound fanstastic. The bass response, midrange, and highs are all crystal clear.  From Johnny Cash to Nine Inch Nails, and from Pink Floyd to KMFDM they sound amazing.  Because of the in-ear sytle, they also do a great job at eliminating background noise.  They also include a special American Idol filter which prevents any of that crap from reaching your middle ear.  They retail for $49.99, but I was able to pick them up from Buy.com for $30.

You can see the product here.  If you are looking for a new set of inexpensive headphones, I highly recommend them.

I just found out from a buddy of mine, that Trent Reznor released a new Nine Inch Nails 36-track instrumental CD yesterday. I just downloaded the free nine tracks and are going to give them a listen; and then inevitably pay for the whole album. The whole instrumental and recording process can be read at the official NIN site, but it sounds like the creative process really synergized and resulted in more material then originally planned.

The wife of a friend of mine just sent me a link to a an animated video of the song, “JCB“, by the UK band Nizlopi. The song has a good melody, and a rather catchy hook which I will undoubtedly be humming and singing for the next couple of weeks. At least I can get a break from Lamb Chop‘s rendition of Norman Martin‘s “This Is The Song That Never Ends” out of my head.

Right now I am listening to Saul Williams’ new album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, and I urge everyone to head over to his site, niggytardust.com and listen for FREE. If you like the album, pay the $5 and support this great poet and musician.