You want to do something interesting? Start a netlabel. Start giving away music. Let those enterprising people who will give away music for free for whatever reason do so. And be picky.

I made a little something tonight, as my wife looked on, giggling. You may judge for yourself what it is, as I believe it’s rather un-classifiable.

What? (MP3)
What? (OGG)

Here’s a little something I composed in Notion. It’s fairly straightforward: violins, violas, cellos, basses, and a xylophone. I call it Brutus Comes Home. Please note that it’s not finished, it is in fact still in heavy development.

So, my iPod Nano 1G is now running Rockbox with the Ipoud theme. Looks good. Plays Ogg Vorbis. Functions nicely. That’s all I really care about.

I’m creating a mixtape. Yes, I know. It’s like I’m 15 again. Yet, it’s a lot of fun: I’d forgotten, really. So here, in no particular order, is The Most Awesome Mixtape Ever.

1. The Consumer Goods, Gunboat Diplomacy
2. Emma Pollock, Paper and Glue
3. Don Caballero, Fire Back About Your New Baby’s Sex
4. Windmills by the Ocean, Untitled 3
5. St. Vincent, Now, Now
6. Sean Hayes, Elizabeth Sways
7. Gold Streets, Richard Parker
8. Long Distance Calling, Aurora
9. Brad Sucks, Making Me Nervous
10. The Lovemakers, Naturally Lonely
11. The Consumer Goods, Gunboat Diplomacy
12. Jesca Hoop, Money
13. The Choir Practice, Red Fox
14. Surrogate, Photographic Memory
15. Passenger, Walk You Home
16. The Most Serene Republic, Battle Hymn Of The Republic
17. Ivydrive, Ocean
18. Hobotalk, Setting Fire To Flame

I’ve been into the Secret Stash again. Pulled out a few goodies, too. Some old, some new, so listen up.

First off, Sean Hayes, Flowering Spade: if you buy one album here, buy this one. Sean Hayes doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as he richly deserves, especially for a disc as indescribable and moving as Flowering Spade. It’s like a combination of bluegrass, singer-songwriter, jazz, band practice, and freestyle improv. And yet, it’s listenable. Who’da thunk.

I wasn’t really expecting anything from Emma Pollock. I dunno. I hadn’t heard any buzz. The word on the street was… well, that there was no word on the street. Still, Watch the Fireworks has managed to work itself into regular rotation mostly because what could have been pretty standard fare has been kicked around a bit, given some fresh melodic and instrumental choices, and sent out into the world to conquer my playlist.

Brad Sucks is apparently just one guy making music because he loves it, releasing his stuff under Creative Commons licenses. You can buy this album or you can download it on Jamendo: either way. Get your hands on I Don’t Know What I’m Doing if you like (or even barely tolerate) electro pop/rock. Most of the songs are very good; I was quite frankly very surprised at the quality of this release.

If I could count the number of people surrounding Sufjan Stevens who have put out an album recently, I’d need at least two hands: they should probably form a collective or something. St. Vincent arises from that storied group, but unlike Sufjan, whose appeal is pretty universal, St. Vincent’s Marry Me is a different beast. Let me put it this way: I like it and you might too. But there’s a giant chance you might not. It’s… unique.

1994 for crying out loud! I’m embarrassed to say my friend Nick was listing to Tegan and Sara long before I ever found them (an anomaly, I assure you), but here they are and I’ve started near the beginning. Call it estrogen rock if you will, but So Jealous is pretty. With nice harmonies. And drums. It’s music for when you’re at work and you need something that’s not going to demand much processing power to tune into.

Last but not clichéd, Bowerbirds’ Hymns For a Dark Horse. Elegant folk. Quiet. Contemplative with sudden outbursts of sound. Emotional. Worth the money.

• I’m listening to the Beach Boys right at this very moment. Check my Last.fm page for more detailed information. I plan to follow Pet Sounds up with Brian Wilson’s SMiLE, though I might break down and find some more recent music first.
• The US government should split into divisions and IPO each one. You know, make it splashy. Why not? If America really values wealth more than anything else, should not those with the most wealth be able to participate more fully in the government?
• I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and then woke up early this morning. Not a good combination. Needs coffee.
• Why is it that when people see a problem with an obvious solution, they decide not to enact that obvious solution? I mean… I just don’t get it.
• Boston Legal is a pretty awesome show. David E. Kelley is a pretty awesome creator of shows.
• I’m especially boring today. That’s it, folks!

Later:

• As it turns out, my cousin Bethany has had a baby girl, and named her Mackenzie (not sure of the spelling!) Hope. Congratulations!
• I’m listening to Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ now. I sense a disturbing trend here.

Good stuff, Canadian stuff, Free stuff:

Iron & Wine’s song Boy With a Coin is so amazingly addictive, I’m trying to boil it down right now so as to make some sort of pill I can swallow or snort or something.

You can download it here; I’m not going to keep this sort of thing to myself.

Here’s a though for all you people who like to say, “I CAN’T IMAGINE THIS SORT OF MUSIC YOU ENJOY WILL BE AROUND IN A HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS HUUUUURRRRRR!”

Have considered how full of hubris that is? How arrogant? How completely self-centred and full of pride? To jump from I do not like this music … to … this music is not of a sort to have any lasting significance? Do you not see the only connection between those two thoughts is… you? Are you really going to set yourself up as the arbiter of what will and will not stand your vaunted test of time?

Have you also considered that the test of time is no test of greatness? It’s only a test of its supposed worth at the time, that many copies were made and thus endure. Or it’s a fluke. Maybe that piece of music from near the beginning of time was a piece of crap; you don’t know.

All you can say is that on average a more popular piece of music is copied more times and is more likely to pass into history intact.

Which leads me to this: you’re not only the arbiter of what will survive by virtue of your own taste, but what will survive from a historical standpoint is what’s popular. Can you see how you’re full of shit?