The Best Line In A Current Song

As much as I hate to admit it, I've been completely taken in by a song from a television show.

You can listen to it here, courtesy of Captain Oats at Silly Pipedreams.

The song played over the tensest moments of this week's Grey's Anatomy, and underscored the action perfectly. But the hook that has drawn me permenantly in is this line:

Life's like an hourglass glued to the table.

Yeah. It is.


If you like what you hear from Captain Oats' sample--or what you heard on Sunday's broadcast--you can spring for the full megillah on iTunes.

Oh yeah. The song is Breathe [2 AM] by Anna Nalick.

Where are the protest songs?

I was just listening to music from the Live Music Archive, which has become my favorite spot for finding music, when I came across Michael Franti and Spearhead -- a band that plays a lot of music opposing Shrub's War. And I was thinking about the current situation in the pop music world and comparing it to the 60s. Things have certainly changed. Popular music used to include provocative songs that confronted the status quo, songs that had a distinct voice and message (Bob Dylan's songs come to mind). The current generation's left with the occasional drab song seeking aid money for Africa or hurricane victims. I get the feeling that radio stations refuse to play any protest song that's any more controversial than a Pepsi commericial. At one point, I was under the mistaken impression that nobody's singing protest songs anymore (or at least no one with talent). But the truth seems to be that commercial interests in the music and film industries have pretty much choked off creativity in the desire for formulaic productions that are gauranteed to make money. For this reason, I'm very optimistic about the current movement away from CDs and tape in favor of MP3s, and the Live Music Archive in particular. Michael Franti and Spearhead has some decent songs among a very eclectic mix. Bomb the World is worth a listen. Just about anything in the archive is an improvement over the drivel coming from commercial radio.

Google to acquire Napster?

I'm a big fan of the subscription based Napster; when I saw this from Engadget, I got excited! Perhaps when downloading songs via Google Napster will yield CD covers, liner notes and lyrics embedded with the song? For .99 cents having these items would be a compelling value proposition and give iTunes much needed competition ONLY if in the acquistion there is a partner with a player such as a iPod. Maybe Sony will figure in the mix with a Walkman device...

"The New York Post (read: one of our very best sources for tech news) is claiming to have the exclusive scoop on Google's anticipated foray into digital music. Citing "sources within the music industry," the Post says that Google is "considering an extensive alliance" with the possibility of an "outright acquisition" of once-renegade Napster. Not that this would come as a surprise given the recent launch of Google's Video download service and Napster's struggle to turn a profit off its 500k or so subscribers. One thing's for sure, Napster stands a better chance of success snuggled up to the likes of Google than they ever did with those mad CD burnin' folks over at Roxio... that was just like, so Y2K."