Update: Okay, I can see where Apple was going with this, but it's not quite there yet. I was going to try to incorporate it into the blog in much the same way as my Flickr badge (there's a smaller version of this that would fit), but this widget as is has some problems. It defaults to albums, which is a problem since I rarely buy an entire album anymore (the two it lists are well over four months old), and even if viewers are cognizant enough to click "songs" the links therein redirect to iTunes itself, which is a very unwieldy method of listening to music samples. It also displays *all* of the songs I've purchased, even if I ended up not liking them. Optimally, it would use the rating system customers can use to rate songs within their iTunes collection to display only those "3-star" or better selections.

Labels: iTunes

iTunes update, for those acquaintances who mine my stream-of-conscious for new acquisitions:

I bought the new Sarah McLachlan holiday album; as much as I love Sarah, I have to give it an "okay" at best. Maybe it'll go up as the holiday approaches.

"The Mating Game" by Bitter:Sweet is very eclectic, in a jazz/techno way. "Breathless" has been done by several artists (I have a Corrs CD somewhere with it), but this is a very slow, moody version. The Killers and Augustana are on the radio and shouldn't really need an explanation. Cris sent me the recommendation for Helena Paparizou (good pick, Cris). Not quite Shakira, but close enough for comparison. "Mad World" is a slow, beautiful, almost-creepy remake of a Tears for Fears song that was done for the "Donnie Darko" soundtrack and recycled for an advertisement for the "Gears of War" video game (it's on Lisa's "banned" list now, due mostly to the line "I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best the best I've ever had").

The Pink, Ben Folds and Feist songs are good for at least one listen. I found the Alanis songs on a compilation and bought them in a "college reminiscence" mood. "Breath Me" by Sia is probably the standout in this entry; if you only listen to one from this list, try that one. Gilli Moon's "Need You Tonight" is, indeed, a remake of the INXS song, although if you don't know that ahead of time it takes a few lines to figure it out (I didn't know that before I bought it). The Wired All Wrong song was free; I don't think I like it much. I found the Brett Dennen song in a compilation somewhere; he sounds vaguely like Tom Petty if you like that sort of song. I bought the entire Kate Havnevik album and have enjoyed it so far. She's something of an acoustic Imogen Heap ("Nowhere Warm" is my favorite), very good for background music when you're doing graphic design.

Labels: iTunes, music