Rolling eMusic Thread 2009

I proposed this on an old eMusic thread today and there was some interest: EMusic - C/D

I just started using the site late last year and have pretty quickly become a raving obsessive fan of it (after years of liking the idea but not being impressed with its selection until recently). Hopefully we can use this thread for something more substantial than just listing off stuff but just to get the ball rolling, here's a list of what I've gotten off the site so far, roughly ordered from favorite to least favorite:

Nels Cline - Coward
Parts & Labor - Receivers
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Bad Reputation
Superchunk - Come Pick Me Up
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
The Nels Cline Trio - Ground
Portastatic - Bright Ideas
Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire
Two Tongues - Two Tongues
8Ball - Memphis All Stars
The National - Boxer
Alex Cline - Continuation
Prodigy - Product Of The 80s
Brainiac - Hissing Prigs In Static Couture
Dinosaur Jr. - Dinosaur
The Gaslight Anthem - Sink Or Swim
Asobi Seksu - Hush
Witch - Witch
The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
Arbouretum/Pontiak - Kale
Statik Selektah - Stick 2 The Script
Thank You - Terrible Two
Ani DiFranco - Not A Pretty Girl
Superchunk - No Pocky For Kitty
Witch - Paralyzed
Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles
Nels Cline and Devin Sarno - Rise Pumpkin Rise
Termanology - Politics As Usual
Wilderness - (k)no(w)here
Firewater - The Man On The Burning Tightrope

yeah i am an unabashed emusic stan.

i've completely cleaned up on emusic, i adore it.

recent dl's of note:
beach house - devotion
still flyin' - never gonna touch the ground
the new asobi record
sviib album + singles
hussy's - super pro
the recently added huge bunch of dfa and related labels stuff
heaps of top hole post punk reissues on ltm and acute

other big recommendations:
charmparticles - alive in the hot spell
all the for against albums they have (which is most of them)
all the section 25 albums (get these NOW)
heaps of stuff on modular (presets et al - though i don't know if these are avail worldwide)
big chunks of the damaged goods catalogue
all the recent wire stuff

etc etc

it's fair to say that 90% of my new music comes from eM downloads

anyone know how financially beneficial eMusic is to participating labels? I'm sure they wouldn't do it if it wasn't good for them, but I almost feel guilty sometimes getting all this music that I'd otherwise be paying way more for on CD, especially in light of recent events w/r/t labels that had Touch & Go distro.

i can't remember the numbers offhand, but i know at least one label (drag city) didn't think it was worth their while

A few labels felt that way. OTOH, a bunch of v. good labels -- e.g., Kompakt, Domino, DFA and Warp -- joined since Drag City left.

I shouldn't like this, I guess, but I totally dig two songs off the new Horace Andy/Ashley Beetle disc: Rasta Don't and Angie (cover of the Rolling Stones song).

Can we embed the :30 eMusic samples? I'll try: Rasta Don't and Angie.

anyone have any recommendations for the black saint label? only thing I've gotten is the old dreams new dreams album and it is pretty sweet.

do i want to hear this 2006 live album by Tears For Fears that eMusic has? I'm tempted but it seems like it should be a bad idea.

This year I've been very happy with:

Colin Lloyd Tucker "Remarkable" and his other emusic album
Robyn Hitchcock "Goodnight Oslo"
Tim Rose "Snowed In"
Pylon "Gyrate Plus"
Air Miami - both demo tapes collections
Judas Priest "Sad Wings of Destiny"
A lot of the LTM stuff
Bunch of Flipper stuff
Bunch of Wire stuff

I wanted to sign up to eMusic for awhile and then Tzadik pulled out (which was my #1 reason for wanting to join).

I've had it for a year now, but the most recent version of Gavin Bryars' Sinking Of The Titanic -- done with Philip Jeck and Alter Ego -- is stunning. Very comparable, I think, to the tone of (and sense of loss and decay in) William Basinski's Disintegration Loops (which are also available on eMusic).

Bonus: It's only one track!

do i want to hear this 2006 live album by Tears For Fears that eMusic has? I'm tempted but it seems like it should be a bad idea.

I hate almost all the re-recordings or live discs or cover albums available on eMusic. So many of them seem like bad karaoke, self-parody, or poor-quality bootlegs.

Daniel Esq, thanks for the Basinski link - hadn't come across him before.

Will work my way through his other stuff, any recommendments?

So far this month:

Gucci Mane - Trap House
Marnie Stern - This Is It....
Harvey Milk - My Love Is Higher...

Sandy: All I know are the DL series, and they're all good (No. 1 is my favorite, FWIW; there was a poll about the series some time ago on ILX).

BTW, a batch of titles from Rounder Records just appeared in the US market. More are expected, but details are vague beyond that. Still, a nice addition.

anyone have any recommendations for the black saint label? only thing I've gotten is the old dreams new dreams album and it is pretty sweet.

Hamiet Bluiett's The Clarinet Family is quite nice. I'm kinda surprised I've heard so few of these myself.

i didn't know disintegration loops were up, i need to get them. (last time i checked basinski they weren't.) and ditto the harvey milk, which i had been meaning to check for.

Harvey Milk = urgent and key.

I don't think Harvey Milk is available in the U.S. market, FWIW.

oh yeah it is, or at least it was

Oh! You're right. Apologies. I thought you were talking about the new one, which isn't on eMusic (I just double-checked the artist page for HM in the US).

Favorite things I've downloaded from eMusic over the last year or so ...

Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
Baroness - Red Album
Boris - Akuma no Uta
Caina - Mourner
Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
Cynic - Traced in Air
Dalek - Gutter Tactics
Dif Juz - Extractions
Dream Death - Journey Into Mystery
Duke Ellington - The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale
Free Form Funky Freqs - Urban Mythology
Harvey Milk - Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men
Gil Evans Orchestra - Live at Umbria
Katatonia - The Discouraged Ones
Lull - Cold Summer
Mastodon - Remission
Miles Davis Quintet - The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are the Sick
Neu! - Neu!
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Painkiller - Execution Ground
Producto - 2
The Mermen - At the Haunted House
Theolonius Monk - Brilliant Corners
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters

let's see, some random stuff i like from my mountain of downloads...

nels cline coward (like i keep saying, everybody everybody should have this)
alex cline continuation
alela diane the pirate's gospel
andrew hill dusk
barbara dane and the chambers brothers
black milk popular demand and tronic
chris mcgregor's brotherhood of breath brotherhood and self-titled
cuong vu pure
dr. alimantado best dressed chicken in town
fotheringay two
glass candy (and the rest of the idib stuff)
karen dalton in my own time
katatonia brave murder day
koo nimo vintage palmwine
nina nastasia (um, everything.)
ooioo gold and green
patty waters patty waters sings
polvo today's active lifestyles
revolutionary ensemble vietnam
scott amendola band believe
skull disco soundboy punishments
sonny sharrock band seize the rainbow
sprengjuhollin (both albums)
taylor swift taylor swift
the aislers set how i learned to write backwards
no-neck blues band qvaris
thee headcoatees punk girls
times new viking (everything)
urinals negative capability

...and a whole lot more. wow they have a lot of good music.

oh definitely meant to mention

vijay iyer tragicomic

which i just got last week and is really good.

nels cline coward (like i keep saying, everybody everybody should have this)
dr. alimantado best dressed chicken in town
glass candy (and the rest of the idib stuff)
skull disco soundboy punishments

Total winners (not dissing the other stuff, just generally unfamiliar with it). I got the Nels Cline on your suggestion, I think, so thanks for that. "(W)ow they have a lot of good music" is right. It's the best (legal) music download service around, for my money.

any recommendations for metal on emusic?

i'm a metal dilettante (and of course it depends on which metal you mean) but i've grabbed stuff by katatonia, torche, high on fire, entombed and pig destroyer.

tipsy i love almost every record on yr list. well done, sir.

Some stuff I've liked in the last year (trying to leave out the most obvious stuff -- CCR, Judas Priest, etc.):

A.K.C. Natarajan - Carnatic Classical
Afrika Bambaataa - Death Mix Live
Aksak Maboul - Onze Danses Pour Combattre La Migraine
Andrew Pekler - Strings + Feedback
Bert Jansch - Best of Bert Jansch
Betty Davis - s/t
Black Moon - Total Eclipse
Bobby Timmons - This Here
Booker Ervin - The Trance
Cast King - Saw Mill Man
Daniel Owino Misiani and Shirati Band - Benga Blast ! ( <3 <3 <3 )
David Tudor - Three Works for Live Electronics
Delarosa and Asora - Agony Part 1
Faraquet - The Whole Thing Over/Call it Sane
Flora Purim - Butterfly Dreams
Francis and the Lights - Striking (but then realized it's available free on his site)
Frank Kimbrough - Play
Fred Hersch - Live at the Village Vanguard
Golden - s/t
Gong - Best of
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep
Gravitar - You Must First Learn to Draw the Real
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Jean Ritchie - British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains
Joe Henderson - Power to the People
Justice - Cross
Kill the Vultures - The Careless Flame
Vintage Palmwine (listed under Koo Nimo but actually various)
Larry Polansky - Theory of Impossible Melody
Lee Konitz - Subconscious-Lee
Lee Scratch Perry - Produced and Directed by the Upsetter
Liquid Liquid - S/t
Masta Killa - Made in Brooklyn
Matmos - Supreme Balloon
Mike Wexler - Sun Wheel
Miles Davis - Conception
Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company - Music by David Borden
Nana Vasconcelos - Africadeus
Paul Bley Trio - Closer
Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall - First Place Again
Paul Jacons - The Legendary Busoni Recordings
Pearls Before Swine - One Nation Underground
Phil Kline - Zippo Songs
Silver Apples - The Garden
Sly and Robbie - Hits 1978-1990
Steeleye Span - Please to See the King
Steve Spacek - Space Shift
Suicide - s/t
Tarentel - Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun
Terry Riley - Descending Moonshine Dervishes
The Alps - III
The Shipping News - Very Soon and in Pleasant Company
Tony Malaby - Tamarindo
Trinity - Shantytown Determination
The Roots of Chicha
Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump
Disco Not Disco 1974-1986
Ethiopiques 4 & 5
From Dakar to Cuba: Swinging to the Rumba
Capoeira Angola from Salvador Brazil
Music of Indonesia Vol 20: Indonesian Guitars
William Parker - O'Neal's Porch
various Shostakovich stuff

whew

The Lagos Jump and Ethiopiques comps are stunning. There's a song on the Lagos Jump disc with this rising, billowing organ every time the song hits the chorus (I think it's the last or second-to-last song). It's kind of breathtaking.

Is Sly and Robbie -- Hits 1978-1990 good?

ZOMES! I say again, Zomes. Asa from Lungfish solo. Z-O-M-E-S.

Is Sly and Robbie -- Hits 1978-1990 good?

― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:01 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Hell yeah. I mean, if you like dancehall-type reggae, it's got a bunch of essential tracks.

Random Good stuff from my emusic downloads:

808 State - Ninety
A Mountain of One - Collection
Loads of madlib/beat conducta/YMQ/DJ Rels stuff
Beppe Lods
Betty Davis (both albums)
Bob Becker - Music for 18 musicians
Chaz Jankel - My occupation
D. Lissvik - 7 trx
Dolle Jolle - Balearic Incarnation (Todd Terje Mix)
El Guincho
Endless Boogie
Fontan - Early One Morning (Studio / Mountain of one remixes)
Holger Czukay - Movies
Varius Idjuts/Rong Music/Bearfunk stuff
Klaus Schulze - variousthings
Lindstrom - loadsa stuff
Michael Shrieve - Transfer Station Blue
millie Jackson - caught up
Moodymann
Morgan Geist
Various Patrick Adams/P&P compilations
The Alps III
TTA - various
Wendy & Bonnie - Genesis
Weekend - La Variete

They have loads of stuff - shames is it is such an arse to navigate. And you cant set up saved searches (and RSS feed that told me everytime a new Prins Thomas remix had been added would be nice).

Lindstrom's "Where You Go I Go Too" showed up today.

tyler, try this "hub" on Black Saint:
http://www.emusic.com/features/hub/blacksaint/index.html

do they not do ridiculous "150 free mp3" things anymore?

I was pretty overjoyed yesterday to find that eMusic has all the 70s albums by Funkadelic and the Stylistics...I'm probably gonna work through both catalogs eventually, but right now am starting with the self-titled debuts by both. I keep forgetting to look for stuff like classic soul, definitely want to hear some more reccomendations in that vein.

there's tons, but one thing to look out for: on 3/31 we'll be putting up all the early '70s al green records. insane!

SWEET

Just got that Holger Czukay album - good stuff.

Also I could probably use all my downloads every month just on good reggae and dancehall.

wow, Al Green! Great news, I've been considering canceling but I'll hold out for this.

matinee records are now on emusic, get in there and get some indiepop up ya

Al Green now up too, all good

Meanderthals on Smalltown Supersound is there now

just found Krallice and Coffins on there last night for metal dudez wanting to fill their allotment for the month. oh, and MSTRKRFT fist of god is there too.

i used up a bunch of my quota this month filling in the holes in my Burzum collection - first time that ive been actively hoping that the emusic royalty payouts are terrible for the artist.

"when it comes to burzum, jjusten recommends piracy"

some recent dl's:

theusaisamonster - space programs (about them a buddy of mine said "it never occurred to me that Lightning Bolt's music required a dab of Butthole Surfers")
http://www.emusic.com/album/The-USA-Is-A-Monster-Space-Programs-MP3-Download/11317577.html

larkin grimm - parplar (controversial SXSW attendee, freakfolk superstar)
http://www.emusic.com/album/Larkin-Grimm-Parplar-MP3-Download/11313106.html

veronica lipgloss & the evil eyes (terrible band name, great band, heir to 8 eyed spy's skronky whine)
http://www.emusic.com/album/Veronica-Lipgloss-And-The-Evil-Eyes-The-Witch-s-Dagger-MP3-Download/11290881.html

look, dog faced hermans! now's yr chance to hear hum of life...
http://www.emusic.com/artist/The-Dog-Faced-Hermans-MP3-Download/11489025.html

I was kinda excited to see Motley Crue's whole back catalog is now on eMusic, I read The Dirt a while back but had never gotten around to actually hearing any of their albums. Did they score some great deal where they retain the rights of their old major label albums or something? I've only downloaded about half of Dr. Feelgood so far, though, it's kind of a pain in the ass to DL an album one song at a time when you don't wanna bother with reissue bonus tracks.

dl'd the Crue too, I'm not expecting genius but I dug the Dr Feelgood singles at the time, and reviews indicate that the earlier records are better, so I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised (or not).

too fast for love is freaking awesome guyz

shout at the devil + theatre of pain are meh

if you want hair metal, go straight from too fast for love to

http://www.emusic.com/album/W-A-S-P-W-A-S-P-MP3-Download/10989487.html

sometimes emusic's "music recommended by x's fans" are completely insane

music recommended by Mötley Crüe fans

predsrule

Who also likes:

* 01 Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper
* 02 British Sea Power
* 03 Mission of Burma

well they're limited by whose records are on emusic, right? how many glam metal bands do they have?

I don't have a count on hand but at first glance they've got a respectable selection

http://www.emusic.com/artist/L-A-Guns-MP3-Download/11569657.html
http://www.emusic.com/artist/Hanoi-Rocks-MP3-Download/11793871.html
http://www.emusic.com/artist/Helix-MP3-Download/11916597.html
http://www.emusic.com/artist/Krokus-MP3-Download/11571566.html
http://www.emusic.com/artist/W-A-S-P-MP3-Download/11692945.html

music recommended by Kix fans

EMUSIC-01D99A0E

Who also likes:

* 01 George Jones
* 02 Merle Haggard
* 03 Hank Williams

shamless but whatever http://www.emusic.com/album/Bunny-Brains-What-Makes-You-Think-You-Can-Save-Yourself-From-Y-MP3-Download/11389560.html

haha i didn't expect that answer, but it's good to know that stuff is available if i ever want it!

xpost

and shameless too..altho late 70's uk punk bands are kool too

music recommended by Krokus fans

runcool60

Who also likes:

* 01 Metal Church
* 02 Millie Jackson
* 03 Robin Trower

^ I like this trio ^

it's so random, they might as well pick these names out of a hat

music recommended by Judas Priest fans

Edward III

Who also likes:

* 01 Charlambides
* 02 Katrina & the Waves
* 03 The Rappin' Duke

^ okay I made that one up, don't go looking for the rapping duke he is not there ^

yeah i mean...i ignore emusic recommendations, but that's just cause i'm used to recommendations on any music site given for any reason, they're pretty much always rong/lol in my experience

wow its sad how excited i am to find out that WASP is available on emusic.

ha, no kidding!

sometimes those affinity features will present something I hadn't heard along similar lines, so I alternately appreciate/ignore them, but emusic's are so oddly bizarre

xp to some dude

here's what i got this month ...

nels cline - coward
charles mingus - presents charles mingus
sonny rollins - saxophone colossus
Franco/Rochereau
peter walker - long lost tapes
a few things from the dark was the night comp

a good haul! now i just need to listen to all of it.

yeah i mean...i ignore emusic recommendations, but that's just cause i'm used to recommendations on any music site given for any reason, they're pretty much always rong/lol in my experience

Yeah, a lot of randomness is created by the sheer amount of songs that subscribers download. You may start focusing on one genre, but eventually you need to branch out, 'cause you have X number of downloads that have to be used every month. A good way to discover new music, but not very helpful to genre purists who look to user lists. FWIW, I ignore eMusic user lists.

random question: anyone know which (if any) of the John Lee Hooker rekds is the one? so many overlapping comps with artists of that era and some suck and some don't and there is no funny-smelling record store guy to tell me any more ;_;

it's kind of an un-john lee record, but my favorite by him BY FAR is his country blues album: http://www.emusic.com/album/John-Lee-Hooker-The-Country-Blues-Of-John-Lee-Hooker-MP3-Download/10589266.html

my go-to john lee hooker albums

this is hip: charly blues masterworks vol 7 (classic blues)
endless boogie (tripping balls)

but any of the comps with late 40 early 50s stuff is going to be great

I think The Legendary Modern Recordings is supposed to be the definitive (early-career) Hooker compilation. From the AMG review:

There's 18 zillion John Lee Hooker CDs out there in any mall record shop you go into these days, but this is the one you want. The earliest, the crudest, the dirtiest, the best, these are the ones that made Hooker's bad gunslinger rep. For solo work, Hooker's one of the very baddest there is, and here's a heavy dosage of his best.

But I like the Country Blues disc, too. The companion to it, Burnin', is also well-regarded, but I can't vouch for it.

kitty yo have just put up a whole bunch of their back catalogue

Pretty great day for new releases:

• Strut Records' Nigeria 70, Vol. I;
• The Juan MacLean's The Future Will Come;
• Super Furry Animals' Dark Days/Light Years;
• John Doe and The Sadies' Country Club

juan maclean album not avail in australia grumble grumble

ooh hope there are more Honest John CDs forthcoming ... That Nathan Davis thing might be worth the download. I've got one or two things by him. And the Nigeria 70 is totally great -- the godfather of all these recent African comps.

YGS (of eMusic) said on their message boards that there's more titles from the Honest Jon's label on the way. They'll appear piecemeal, but at least a batch are coming.

I'm liking Micachu Jewellery on Rough Trade. Like Prinzhorn Dance School with shards of avant-JPop showered over it.

that is the first sentence that has made me want to listen to micachu

Hmmm, still not interested in Micachu. Try again! Seriously.

so any recommendations for good, classic country albums?

(realize i could browse a bit but i thought i'd come here first)

any?

None that I know of. Most classic country was on major labels. I've been intrigued by the early Waylon Jennings records they have, having loved his cover of "Crying" for some time. But I haven't yet bit on it.

If you mean old-timey type-music (terrible genre name, I know), then eMusic has a lot. If you mean mainstream country acts, not sure what eMusic has.

i guess i meant country music 1940s-1970s. not quite in need of old-timey stuff as i already have quite a lot but if you've got good recommendations for that i'd happily take em

thanks guys

There's so much of that stuff. Unfortunately, ATM, two of the biggest labels -- Yazoo and Shanachie -- pulled down all their eMusic catalogues and are now in the process of putting them all back up (there was never any intent to leave eMusic by either label, as I understand it; just some music-industry insider-baseball). I'll compile a list later (now working under deadlines).

thanks a lot, no worries about doing it later obv.

So, great old-time country discs on eMusic include:

• Old Time Mountain Ballads
• People Take Warning: Murder Ballads, Disaster Songs (1913 -- 1938)
• The Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics (1927 -- 1937)

Only thing so far this month:

Meanderthals - Desire Lines

Just downloaded new discs from the Honest Jon's and Soundway Recordings labels (Marvellous Boy and Panama! Latin, Calypso and Funk on the Isthmus (1965 -- 75), respectively). Plus, a slew of new Wackies 12" and mini-discs appeared recently.

kinda random selection this month
World Psych Classics Vol. 3
New Breeders EP
Newish Byrne/Eno
Gillian Welch live EP
Wodden Shjips Dos

That's the self-released Breeders EP, rt? How is it?

all the galaxie 500 albums are up now via 20/20/20

oh sorry, Breeders EP is nice! Though the inclusion of Mark Lanegan is sort of perverse -- would just as soon hear Kim or Kelley sing it. "Chances Are" is lovely. Still love her voice so much.

ooh and I'm finally getting around to this Peter Walker Long Lost Tapes thingamajig -- sounds awesome! Sandy Bull fans will dig.

ok so the supposedly only available on vinyl Wolves In The Throne Room EP Malevolvent Grain is on emusic?

Big week, stateside:

• Nigeria Disco Funk Special (The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974 -- 1979);
• Nigeria Rock Special (Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk In 1970's Nigeria);
• Beck, One Foot In The Grave (Reissue);
• The Galaxie 500 catalogue.

also, Durtro Records just returned to emusic after leaving a few years ago.

ay jim

juan maclean album not avail in australia grumble grumble

fair enough since a wee indie (Popfrenzy) went to the trouble of licensing it here – out Monday

also
kitty yo have just put up a whole bunch of their back catalogue

innnnteresting, given that all their artists left and the CDs went out of print given their habit of never paying any royalties at all, ever

uhh i don't really support pf for personal reasons

ah well, legal-wise it's nice to see though

tru. it would be easier if pf used emusic properly (they did for the matt & kim album, but i don't want that one)

death row records. crazy.

anybody know of good classic bollywood, indian, or pakistani pop type music?

nevermind, found a 'bollywood dozens' that's a pretty good start

http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/discog_FKR023.html

ha - i just heard that exact record on my local college radio last night, called in and asked what it was. hearing it is what prompted me to ask for emusic stuff

great record btw

quick! i have one track left to download this month! WHAT SHOULD IT BE. (for the record, i've already downloaded that long Swans one tracker)

death row records. crazy.

― abanana, Wednesday, May 6, 2009 2:20 AM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha yeah blew my mind to browse last night and see The Chronic in there. really excited to fill some gaps in my rap collection w/ all that Death Row stuff.

I'm a broken-record on this, but I'd say Gavin Bryars/Philip Jeck/Alter Ego's version of The Sinking Of The Titanic. Haunting and beautiful.

Another outstanding choice is Track One from William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops, Vol. I. Similar vibe to the Bryars piece, but both totally worth acquiring.

(xp to tylerw)

cool -- i really like that Titanic recording, so I'll check the Basinski .. Thanks, Daniel.

'Journey Through Sankuan Pass' from Six Organs' Dust & Chimes cos I'm listening to it right now, and it's goddamn golden.

The new James Blackshaw is up BTW, would recommend 'Cross' and 'Key' as two of the most beautiful tracks I've heard this year.

x-post: eh, too late, but yeah the Basinski is hugely good

yeah, i downloaded the Blackshaw this week - sooooo good. All the Blackshaw stuff on emusic is worth subscribing for, you could get his whole catalog for about $15. Will have to get the Six Organs -- thought I had everything from them that emusic had, but I guess not!

So would anyone like to recommmend me an album that's 8 tracks long? Anything that's good please!

http://consumerist.com/5273745/sony-adding-all-songs-over-two-years-old-to-emusic-emusic-raising-prices

Although eMusic is a great service—for a flat monthly fee, you get a set number of downloads per month of DRM-free music tracks—it's about to get better. Or maybe worse, depending on the breadth of your musical tastes. Today eMusic will announce that Sony is adding its back catalog of songs to eMusic's library. The bad news is that eMusic also plans to slightly raise prices and/or drop the number of downloads per month. Even if it works out to between 50-60 cents per track, though, that's still far less than iTunes Music Store or Amazon, and probably the cheapest way to grab music from Sony artists without resorting to piracy.

Don't blame Sony entirely for the price increase. In the New York Times article reporting the news, the CEO of eMusic basically admits that eMusic has been wanting to raise prices for a while (actually, he blames independent labels), and that this is a good time to do it.

there's a table with the new number of downloads/cost per track thing (basic plan = $12/month, 24 tracks).

let's see if this works:

Plan Name # of Downloads Monthly Cost Cost per track
Lite 12 (every 30 days) $6.49 $0.54
Basic 24 (every 30 days) $11.99 $0.50
Plus 35 (every 30 days) $15.89 $0.45
Premium 50 (every 30 days) $20.79 $0.42
Connoisseur 75 (every 30 days) $30.99 $0.41

emusic has been pissing me off far more than impressing me for a good few months now. the price rise/allocation decrease plus the massive inconsistent holes in what is and isn't available outside of the US/UK (though i put the blame more heavily on stupid fucking aussie labels for this) don't really make it seem terribly worthwhile.

well as a yank i don't have that problem, so it's really a question of whether the expanded selection is worth the near-doubling of price for me (i'm dropping from 90 downloads to 50). i'd rather keep my existing plan, because i've never had any trouble finding enough stuff i'm interested in with the current selection. but 40 cents a track still seems relatively reasonable, so i doubt i'll drop my subscription.

Man, I'm so glad I've kept my 90-song/$20 subscription. Getting access to the Columbia catalog is giving me a boner.

did you look at the site today? your 90 songs are about to turn into 50.

(or mine are, anyway)

Man, I'm so glad I've kept my 90-song/$20 subscription. Getting access to the Columbia catalog is giving me a boner.

Yeah, there's some good titles in Sony's roster. A lot of eMusic subscribers are, to put it mildly, disappointed with the new arrangement. See the bloodletting at eMusic's message boards and the 17Dots blog today.

Did you look at the site today? your 90 songs are about to turn into 50.

― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, June 1, 2009 10:19 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Oh no. Fuck that shit. I'm cancelling.

yep this is bullshit. couldn't give a fuck about major label content on emusic, the whole point is downloading stuff that people recommend without any real cost, and getting the clash back catalog that i already have makes no difference to me. jerks.

i would be much happier with this price change if they just said "hey we are going to give more money to the dudes you have already been downloading." this whole sony deal as a justification for why i should pay more per song is just obnoxious.

yeah emusic's indie/small label focus is one of its selling points for me.

otoh i don't necessarily mind giving more money to the people i'll be personally downloading. but man, i'll miss having 90 to work with every month. 50 i can go through in about 10 minutes...

i would be much happier with this price change if they just said "hey we are going to give more money to the dudes you have already been downloading." this whole sony deal as a justification for why i should pay more per song is just obnoxious.

well, they kinda did:

Don't blame Sony entirely for the price increase. In the New York Times article reporting the news, the CEO of eMusic basically admits that eMusic has been wanting to raise prices for a while (actually, he blames independent labels), and that this is a good time to do it.

it just sounds like arse-coverin' to me tho.

yeah i guess what i want is a straight up "dudes deserve more money" not some vague undercutting blame game of convenience

ah fuck; well on the plus side each time time I've thought about canceling in the last year or so, I've resisted it b/c of my grandfathered 90 for $20 plan. Now I can cancel and rejoin without losing anything. I'm going to have to think hard about whether this is worth it for me, but it's not clear that it isn't. It'll depend on what the selection eventually looks like.

if they actually get up the whole Columbia/Okey pre-1960s archives, I will be very, very happy.

So:

1) How does this affect UK users/plans? Has anyone anywhere actually had an e-mail from eMusic explaining the situation? (It wouldn't surprise me if the answer's "no": as I've said before, their customer service is rank rotten.)

2) Given that I (drunkenly yet sensibly) paid for my year's subscription in advance, I'd be interested in the legality of them fucking with how many tracks I got a month ... guess I'd have to check the small print, but even so ...

I've got the same "non-standard" plan that I started with 2005 - $10 for 40 downloads (or £6.39 since Sept 2007) and the only time they've contacted me was to tell me that if I ever change this I won't be able to go back to it but that they will never force me to do it. Haven't seen any changes over the last couple of days (except that I've d/l'ed 14 tracks and for some reason I've still got 29 left. Whoop.)

Also there's this (posted on one of the forums...)

"Current subscribers living outside the US, EU and Canada will continue to have access to eMusic, they are effectively grandfathered into the service, and will continue to be charged US plan prices with track availability subject to licensing terms for the territory of residence, just as they are today. However we will no longer accept new customers from these areas in the near future, so current customers should bear this in mind. The Sony catalog will not be available to eMusic subscribers with US service but who are living outside the US. "

^straight up, this sort of bullshit is exactly the crap that would make me turn to piracy

in 2009, that absolute fucking ridiculous nonsense can go fuck itself x10000000

So basically, if I'm reading it right. The price has gone up because they now sell Sony stuff (although they are saying the price has gone up for other reasons) but outside the US we can't buy the Sony stuff?

I'm not sure it's even that simple. Whatever, as electricsound says: this is some serious fucking cockery.

fuck emusic

Why do the indies what more per track? If they get 20p per track and I download 10 tracks they get 2 quid. If they charge 40 and I have my allowance cut in half so I only take 5 tracks and they get 2 quid.

However I get a load of tracks, so I am keen to keep my subscription going, so I might not be a subscriber at all, and I will probably go for Sony stuff I know and take lest risks. I'd rather spend my money on CDs

If the indies think having Sony on emusic will attract more people to their stuff then they need to have a close look at local stores and how they got on when asda/tesco move into the neighbourhood.

Hmm, I had been considering subscribing the last couple of months, but now I know not to bother. Thanks eMusic!

yeah, had been considering canceling my subscription mainly due to budgetary factors, but now i have another reason! ah well. can't believe the dudes who were getting 90 dls for $20! I was paying $13 for 40, I think, but I just signed up about a year ago.

I was getting 200 DL's a month for $50.00. Now I'll get 100 DL's a month for $40.00.

Seems like the prior pricing arrangement was unsustainable. I think eMusic's management made a bad tactical decision in thinking hitching the price-hike to Sony's arrival would soften the blow.

It's the end of the 2nd emusic era (the first being the unlimited plans) but i'll stick around for the 3rd, at least until my annual sub expires. I suspect I'll be buying more on amiestreet.com, however.

yeah, I guess that does it; I'd be keeping a US plan while moving to the EU, so big price hike and no sony -> fuck emusic; and we'll see how things when I'm back in the USA.

anyone know why the new Sonic Youth album isn't on eMusic, and whether it's going to be? i assumed they got all Matador releases and most of the label's other big recent titles seem to be on there.

Hm if theyre gonna grandfather plans for us outside the US/UK I'll stay for now - I have a yearly subscription anyway. I'll just use the fuck out of it til it's done then probably reconsider resubbing depending on how it goes cost/availability wise.

I dont often run into not available albums anyway so its all good to me. I've already gotten 1000's of bucks of value for 2 x $70 subs.

Plus Warp are up on there now, which is handy.

anyone know why the new Sonic Youth album isn't on eMusic, and whether it's going to be? i assumed they got all Matador releases and most of the label's other big recent titles seem to be on there.

It's definitely coming, but it is a hold-back. Usually the delay is about 3 months from release date.

Yeah...I'm definitely a little disappointed by the new plan, but it's still totally a good deal and there's no way I'm unsubscribing because of this. I'm just glad I just went up to a 100/month plan recently, so I can at least get the most out of that until they change my plan in late July.

xpost -- thanks for the clarification. didn't know they did hold-backs like that! I wish there was some way to look up whether upcoming releases will be on eMusic and when, usually I just check to see if the label is on there and then go on the release date and expect it'll be there. was disappointed that the new Meat Puppets isn't on there either even though their label is, maybe that's another hold-back.

Same story for the Grizzly Bear and Camera Obscura discs. But they will be there.

does anybody know how all this affects yearly subscribers? a friend of mine who prepaid a full year (for 90 downloads a month) says he hasn't seen any notice about changes when he looks at the site. maybe he's grandfathered?

i would imagine they're not reneging on anything people have already paid for. i wish i had done a year upfront!

I'm glad I did! In fact, this is my second year because eMusic renewed my subscription without warning or asking me when it was due, which was pretty :|

yeah...i have no problem having the small monthly fee roll over automatically, but taking a big yearly one without so much as a reminder e-mail is pretty wack

Yeah...I'm definitely a little disappointed by the new plan, but it's still totally a good deal and there's no way I'm unsubscribing because of this.

Totally agree. I mean, I'm bummed that I won't get songs at a quarter a track anymore. On the other hand, I was getting songs at a quarter a track! It's hard for me to imagine that -- after the split with eMusic, and the split with the labels -- the artists were making much of anything at the old price structure. Forty cents a track still sounds pretty low to me (half of Amazon.com and iTunes and still much lower than even used discs). And there will be a 12 download cap on "select albums" over more than 20 tracks. The labels get to opt-into the "select album" program, but it could be a big deal for genres like dance, electronic, turn-of-the-century blues, and "world music" (terrible genre name).

im not outraged, but im not sure im a good fit for the new structure. i get a lot of shit of emu that i get on a gamble. i know they have plenty of great shit i still havent found or dl'd after 5 years, but 40c a track is enough to make me more gun shy. getting 3 albums a month for $15 just doesnt seem that great to me. itll be touch and go.

imo what a terrible terrible terrible marketing job.

imo what a terrible terrible terrible marketing job.

Abso-f'ng-lutely. The stream of almost-universally negative comments about the changes have not stopped since the announcement (they seem to have slowed a bit, tho). I don't think eMusic should have tied the price-hike to the Sony deal. Adding a major label's back catalogue isn't a persuasive basis for the price increase for a lot of eMusic subscribers.

Ugh, my post was near-gibberish. Apologies.

plus, for me personally, I think the Sony deal is cool and I'm looking forward to having access to a bunch more interesting stuff, but I'll now have less downloads to go around to enjoy that selection. so it's kinda twisting the knife, if anything.

yeah. i kno this has been done to death but ill say anyway-- i think the emu demographic would have been more sympathetic to a straight up "this model isnt working because your artists and their labels need more dough--here's how we need to do it." well, at least i would have been. also if they could arrange to get anti or ryko back and teased that, i think emu demo would again be, "well at least they're aiming at us." THEN, well after it all settles, simply announce "hey, guess what, we got back issue sony coming since they agreed to our new pricing structure." some ppl would still scream "bullshit, you're charging us for sony," but at least it woulda looked like they were honoring the indie fire for a while.

the whole Sony thing hasn't sent me into spirals of rage as it has some other subscribers, but I still think I'm going to cancel after this month -- not so much because of the rate/download change, but because I actually have a ton of stuff from emusic that I've barely listened to over the past year. The whole "i have to find new stuff every month!" mentality has sorta worn me out. I need to just listen to what I have!

I kept forgetting to use up my 50 songs! But thats ok - like Daniel points out, at 25c a track no one can complain can they? (except maybe the actual artists cz how the fuk they make any dime out of emusic I dont know)

Wait, so when does the Sony stuff come on line? I think I might hang on a little longer to score a few things and then drop it when I'm satisfied.

Originally they said July 1. Now they say they can't confirm when the Sony titles will appear (it's still supposedly near July 1).

I kept forgetting to use up my 50 songs!

i don't get this!! i have (soon to be had) 300 songs a month and i always used half of them in the first two hours after the downloads reset

Yeah, ^^^^ this. And I'm on the 200 songs a month plan. Soon I'll be down to 100 a month. Since my monthly rate will be dropped by $10.00 (200/month for $50.00 down to 100/month for $40.00), I think I'll wind up buying a booster pack in a lot of months, for 150/month.

Or I'll just buy a bunch of eMusic cards from Best Buy. Each 100 Download card is $30.00.

Jesus I dont know enough bands/albums to possibly go thru 300 songs in a few hours :/

I didn't even realized they sold cards at Best Buy like that...I should snap some up, who knows how long they'll be on the market now.

I think they'll be in stock until the stores run out (that's the way it worked with the similar Circuit City cards). The Best Buy in my area had about 10 -- 20 on a single, low-lying shelf, so they weren't drawing too much attention. I'm thinking of going back and getting more. It's satisfyingly ironic that, just as the price increase take effect, I'll be able to download a bunch of Sony stuff I want at .30 a track.

go get this now

http://www.emusic.com/album/Section-25-Nature-Degree-MP3-Download/11488928.html

^ Seconded.

I had I think about 16 downloads left on my account when my monthly went billing went through and I got my new 100 downloads -- except this time, the DL's I hadn't used didn't roll over, and I ended up with 100 flat. So I had an album or two worth of songs that I was totally ripped off for, I'm assuming part of the new policy or some shitty consequence of the fact that the plan I'm on technically no longer exists. So word to the wise, make sure you use up all our downloads before your next billing cycle.

I thought eMusic never allowed your downloads to roll-over (that's how they make their money; like when a gym oversells memberships anticipating that a lot of people will never go).

yeah that's what's been happening since d/l limits came in

I'm actually kind of excited about the Sony catalogue arriving soon. Sony has a lot of trash on it, but there's a bunch of great stuff to cherry-pick from, as well (e.g., Miles Davis).

i dunno, my DLs used to roll over -- wish somebody warned me, which i'm warning anyone else who's even slower on the uptake than i am

which IS WHY i'm warning etc.

none of my dl's have ever rolled over in 4 or 5 years, you guys must be on some serious grandfathered sort of thing.

(there was a period of a few months before i got a new computer where i was scrambling for hard drive space for new downloads, and i probably lost several dozen downloads due to non-rolling-over.)

no grandfathering, i haven't been on the site very long at all. i swear i'm not imagining things, though! it was usually only a small number i've had rolled over, maybe there's some magic number, i have no idea.

do booster packs roll over?

i did get a booster pack once, maybe that's what it was, haha.

booster packs roll over, for at least a few months. monthly quotas i think generally don't. (unless i've just been getting ripped off...)

so what's good in the sony shit so far?

Hey, they posted my favorite jazz/R&B comp ever

http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Stars-of-the-Apollo-MP3-Download/11500868.html

sure would like to know more about the Bobby Brown Quartet.

well i was just able to download "stone in love" and "who's cryin' now" (i.e. all the journey i'll ever need), so i guess the sony thing is worth something.

so what's good in the sony shit so far?

A ton of stuff actually. And I'll need to grab Raised on Radio by Journey asap. OTOH, there's a ton of terrible, mediocre, punchless nonsense on the Sony labels.

And this "album pricing" notion is going to be a double-edged sword. But I'm still happy.

i don't think i ever saw a "album only" track on emusic before, but just browsing a few of the "new additions" and most lengthy tracks are now "album only". fuck these fuckers.

the album pricing is pretty limited at the moment but a few things i'm interested in are already showing up this way. one immediate recommendation is the ogden's nut gone flake reissue, 26 tracks for 12 woo

even charging 2 credits for long tracks would be preferable
xp

ok retooling long tracks to be album only will be for sure the last straw for me

quality emusic listener commenting. (guess which album he's mad at...)

"A fraud & hack"
TheCustomizedPapaFrog from Indianapolis, IN
At 52, I'm NOT getting too old, as I keep staying fresh with current sounds, be it a Panic! at the Disco or a Jim White or Porcupine Tree or a Lupe Fiasco or a godspeed you! black emperor. But this is not only derivative it is insulting. E.g., the first track is such a Xerox of Alan Parsons' "Games People Play" it doesn't EVEN qualify as a sample. This just shows to go you what happens when non-creatives get ahold of technology.... they think they are musicians! No thanx to this Kraftwerk by way of Massive Attack wannabe----Rex from Indy

lol. Actually, I held back on downloading a lot of longer discs in anticipation of this "album pricing" notion, and it's partially paid off. Some discs with 20 or more tracks are now only 12 download "credits" under the "album pricing" system, including all the Soundways compilations (including the Nigeria series, I think), the Milky Disco compilations, some of the older Mountain Goat titles, and so forth. If I liked Bob Dylan, there's one 54-track Dylan greatest-hits package that's mistakenly listed as a 12-download album.

Making this even better, at the moment, is that a lot of members are in that one-month period when their last download cycle is still operating under the old pricing policy, so now's the time to grab a bunch of those items (e.g., I'm on my last month of the 200 track/$50.00 plan, so I'm burning through my .25 tracks on some of the 20-track discs now priced at 12 "credits").

^this

lol i'm not allowed to buy booster packs anymore

sigh

Best Buy has 100 download cards for $30.00.

lol i'm not allowed to buy booster packs anymore

^cry for help

allowed... by emusic or the significant other?

Best Buy has 100 download cards for $30.00.

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, July 2, 2009 7:06 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

Are you sure these work for people who already have accounts and not only for new subscribers?

just canceled my subscription today -- wasn't super outraged about the sony changes, but it was kinda irritating to see the 9-song album now "12 credits" or whatevs.

that was on a Sony album, right? seems like all other labels' stuff is rated as before. (and long tracks aren't "album only")

yeah, it looked like it was just Sony ... that wasn't the final straw or anything, but it just struck me as lame.

The album credit albums are still priced pretty reasonably -- I think they come out to about $4-6 an album even with my new crappier plan.

Apparently I'm the opposite of electricsound: I'd guess a good 60% of my downloads lapse.

Are you sure these work for people who already have accounts and not only for new subscribers?

Think so. I haven't tried one yet, but (a) the Circuit City cards worked fine, despite my being an eMusic subscriber and (b) there are threads on the eMusic Message Boards devoted to the Best Buy cards, and I haven't seen anyone report problems using them.

allowed... by emusic or the significant other?

haha.. no emusic won't let grandfathered non-US/UK/EU types buy booster packs.

as of 1st july that is

Finally sitting down and starting to look at the new stuff...for the most part I have no problem with the 'album credits,' especially since the 20-30 track rap albums are for the most part now 12-18 credits, which means I can be a lot less stingy about DLing those now.

Are you sure these work for people who already have accounts and not only for new subscribers?

Confirmed. But redeeming my card wasn't easy (you go to a special website printed on the back of the card, not the "Redeem Gift Card" location that's linked from inside eMusic's home page). Also, when I was having difficulty, I hit the help-button, and I read that you can't add the credits from Best Buy cards to an existing account. Despite that, I was able to add the Best Buy downloads to my account (so maybe it's a new restriction that's forthcoming). Anyway, it's all good, but buyer beware.

It's all worth it to download classic Sony albums from Air Supply, Jessica Simpson, and Paul Anka. I'm gonna feel sooo cool listening to those all summer long.

you guys keep ragging on the major label garbage now on the site as if it wasn't already full of indie garbage. Sony's market share is like 27%! there's a shitload of great albums that were just added!

I was kidding. I just downloaded Private Eyes and Forever Now, and I'm now completing my Miles collection.

(But Sony has a LOT of crap albums, also)

BTW, on the Miles stuff, I'm avoiding the reissued box sets. They eat so many download credits. I hope that's not a terrible mistake.

I just downloaded Jack Johnson.

i feel like box sets are one thing i'd definitely want to keep buying physical copies of, so much of the value is usually in the packaging/liner notes.

Agreed. I figure I'll get the originals on eMusic, and later, when I see them at a good price, I'll grab the physical discs.

Downloading E.S.P. now!

(the physical discs of the reissue box-sets, I meant to say)

I just bought a booster pack because I'm impatient. First thing I grabbed was Dylan - New Morning. There are a fair number of *classic* albums that I've never owned that I may pick up -- Notorious Byrd Bros, Tapestry, Transformer, etc.

yeah, likewise. jack johnson is on my list, and new morning too (used to have it on vinyl, still have it on cassette, do not have it digitally).

jack johnson and in a silent way are $2 each on itunes

yay for best buy 100 dl card-- im at midnight marauders, hall & oates, 10 to 1, and bob wills. might expand my byrds, dylan, and miles stuff. i think i should get another or two of these cards, clean up and clear out.

really? hmm. jack johnson is 12 credits on emusic, which is more than 2 bucks.

what are itunes' restrictions like these days? i haven't bought anything there for a few years.

(xpost there)

itunes has gotten rid of restrictions.

So have they already uploaded most of the Sony/Columbia/Epic etc. stuff or are they still in the process?

In any case we should keep this thread rolling when we notice good stuff newly available.

I saw that John Cale - Vintage Violence is up, but I don't even know if that was a Sony-related thing. Also a good bit, if not all of the Leonard Cohen catalog.

Oh, and Hall & Oates, but I think there are two different links and only one actually takes you to the original albums.

The CTI jazz stuff is all up. Records I like:
Deodato
Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay; Straight Life
Milt Jackson - Sunflower

Glenn Gould's original Goldberg Variations,
a kind of smoothed-out Wayne Shorter record I like called Native Dancer
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Terry Riley - Rainbow in Curved Air
Living Colour's original albums
Shades of Deep Purple
the Blue Oyster Cult catalog

I'm still a little frustrated with the less generous plan. It makes me feel much more stingy about what I can download.

All the Wu-Tang stuff
the Nas catalog

Charles Mingus -- Mingus Dynasty
Charles Mingus -- Ah Um
Duke Ellington -- The Far East Suite
Duke Ellington -- Anatomy of a Murder (OST)
GhostFace -- Supreme Clientele
GhostFace -- Ironman
Sly & The Family Stone -- There's A Riot Goin' On
Psychadelic Furs -- (The Whole Catalogue)
The Stone Roses -- The Stone Roses
Lauryn Hill -- The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
The Church -- Under The Milky Way (Greatest Hits Collection)
Ornette Coleman -- Skies of America
Ornette Coleman -- The Complete Science Fiction Sessions
Cowboy Junkies -- The Trinity Session
Cyndi Lauper -- She's So Unusual
Adam & The Ants -- Kings Of The Wild Frontier
Thompson Twins -- Into The Gap
Journey -- Raised On Radio

. . . among others.

All this old stuff holds no magic for me. I took a look and think I'll just keep ripping my old vinyl and use emusic for electronic, indie, international, etc.

I prefer the new stuff, too,and after an initial wave of downloading Sony, I'll use eMusic almost exclusively for indie, electronic, int'l, etc. But I can't deny there's a lot of good titles in the Sony catalogue.

bah i already have all this sony shit on cd!

So this is still a crappy deal for UK (and others) right?
No Sony stuff, limited number of re-downloads, album-only tracks.
I presume the later two are at Sony's request.

And what's this business about "credits"?

"credits" are good if you only have to use 12 of them to get a 20-track rap album, and they're bad if you have to use 12 of them to get a 9-track rock or jazz album.

Just tried downloading a handful of stuff; riddled with "download errors", which appear to be missing tracks. Tellingly, you can't even get the samples of the tracks in question to play from the site.

Motherfuckers. I've pretty much had enough of this lot. Am about to fire off a suitably pissed-off e-mail.

They have a ton of "adult contemporary" from the seventies, like Dan Fogelberg and album cuts I haven't heard since I was a kid. I CHANGED MY MIND.

what's the next carole king record to get if one only has Tapestry?

o hey they have Harry Nilsson

OK, eMusic's customer service has come on in leaps and bounds. Some kind of fuck-up at their end; e-mail explaining it; everything now downloads fine.

I've got one "credit" left now. What should I get?

stoned

or is that like going to the grocery store hungry?

Grimly: I can't tell for sure (I've downloaded these a long time ago, so now I only see a "Zero Credits to Re-Download" message), but I believe you can still get the live version of Gavin Bryars' The Sinking Of The Titanic for a single credit. So totally worth it.

a last.fm account

'Cross' by James Blackshaw is now my auto-response to this question. Think you would like it, Mr Fiendish.

Best things I've downloaded recently are the latest Current 93 (Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain - so fucking good) and the new Kiila (Finnish psych-folk).

'Cross' by James Blackshaw is now my auto-response to this question. Think you would like it, Mr Fiendish

Ha: that was one of the very tracks that wouldn't download for me earlier! Have now had a chance to listen to the whole album and yes, it's an absolute pearl. (Although I didn't expect it to be anything else.)

But Daniel: that is a fantastic suggestion and it's downloading now. Thank you!

My pleasure. BTW, if you're staying an eMusic subscriber, look for The Mountain Goats early discs. Some of that stuff is now a real bargain, e.g., Ghana, which -- at 31 tracks -- is cheaper for me to download now at 12 "credits" (12 credits * .40 a track = $4.80) than it was under my old Connoisseur 200 plan (31 tracks * .25 a track = $7.75).

Usually when I have that one or two or three credits remaining I get some huge pop hit that I probably have on vinyl or cassette somewhere.

Heads-up: I just tried to input another Best Buy card, and I keep getting a screen requiring me to set up a new eMusic account. This may be the end of the line for adding downloads from Best Buy cards to existing accounts. I can't say there wasn't warning. On the FAQ page for these cards it says:

Q: Can I add the songs on my prepaid subscription card to my existing eMusic account?

A: Songs on a prepaid subscription card may not be added to your existing eMusic account. You must create a new account in order to redeem the downloads on your card. Note we can register only one email address per account: you will need to use a different email address from the one associated with your eMusic account. If you do not have an alternate address, you can obtain a free one at Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail.

Update: Broke through. But the experience, and the FAQ quoted above, make me wary.

My pleasure. BTW, if you're staying an eMusic subscriber, look for The Mountain Goats early discs. Some of that stuff is now a real bargain, e.g., Ghana, which -- at 31 tracks -- is cheaper for me to download now at 12 "credits" (12 credits * .40 a track = $4.80) than it was under my old Connoisseur 200 plan (31 tracks * .25 a track = $7.75).

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, July 9, 2009 5:43 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this reminds me, I've been meaning to complete my Minutemen collection and now i can do so on eMusic without blowing a bunch of my monthly quota. even Double Nickels is only 12 credits!!

Yeah. Seriously, I know some of this "album pricing" thing sucks (especially, I suppose, for jazz and classical fans), but it also has made a lot of albums even less expensive than under the old pricing system (Double Nickels being a good example).

probably evens out, I guess. It's kind of silly how many things I didn't really want that I downloaded just because they were long tracks, and how many things I didn't download that I really wanted just because it was a double disc of 2-minute tracks.

indeed

Ok, this album pricing thing is starting to frustrate me though -- if every album is going to be 12 credits they need to make the plans in multiples of twelve or make the downloads carry over, or at least stop making all the good singles "album only." I have no idea what to do with my 8 remaining downloads.

Grimly - for next time...
The thread for recommending very long tracks available on eMusic

I see there that Daniel recommends the Philip Jeck version of Sinking of the Titanic which I actually prefer.

What pisses me off the most is the fact that all the changes seem to be at Sony's bidding but outside of the USA we can't get the Sony catalogue. I'm still using emusic - because I've got a very old sweet deal (for the time being no doubt) but really - fuck sony and this outdated regions bullshit.

I think the Philip Jeck version costs more download credits (12, I think). It's still totally worth it, since the piece is 1.15 hours long (and it's brilliant).

even Double Nickels is only 12 credits!!

This was the first thing I DL'd when the changes came in. Also have The Clean's Anthology and The Faust Tapes saved for downloading.

Generally speaking I'm actually pretty pleased with the new system. I was at 75 downloads before, now down to 50 for the same price. But there's a ton of stuff from the Sony catalogue I'm happy to buy (or re-buy as the case may be), and now buying stuff like the aforementioned Minutemen and Clean etc. is a lot more attractive. Also bought a Byrds album + bonus tracks for only 12 credits. By the end of the month I'll probably have downloaded more than 75 songs. Other months should also be fairly close to 75 tracks after it all evens out. Haven't yet run into the trouble of trying to download a shorter album and being overcharged for it. Maybe I'll change my tune. But thus far I'm really excited to fill in gaps in my collection Harry Nilsson, Simon & Garfunkel, the Byrds, etc.--as well as finally pull the trigger on a bunch of track-heavy albums by Black Flag or the Faith or Minor Threat.

Yeah, finally got a digital Scum with a right-priced "You Suffer"

Y'all are making me feel better about the album pricing, maybe that will even out after all.

I think it's all in how you use the site. If you regularly cherry pick songs here and there, then the downgrade of DL credits probably hurts a lot. If you use your credits to download full albums (which is what I do), then more often than not you'll be saving on credits. Of course, I could see how it might hurt a little more if you were at 90 and are now at 50.

i'm getting better at keeping a lot of stuff in my "saved albums" folder so in a pinch i can find something w/ the right amount of credits -- need to start building up a list of EPs that i can burn small numbers of end-of-month credits on

I've just gotten the 2 new DFA 12" singles (Shit Robot and Alistair Nouveau) - with the exception of the 3rd track on the Shit Robot single, which is longer than 10 minutes so makes the complete single 12 credits (?!).

Now I have 2 credits left - can anyone recommend a good single?

* (other stuff I've gotten this month includes Studio, Vieux Farka Touré, Lover!, and Kurt Vile)

i would recommend getting the shit robot (and the new BMS 12") off amie st instead

Can I ask why you didn't just pay $3 to get the entire Shit Robot single from Amazon?

because it's like 40c on amie st

ah it's off my radar since their selection is shit as far as what i look for

i know the feeling

Yeah. I like the idea of Amie Street -- i.e., market-driven MP3 pricing -- but I don't like the presentation or selection much. Browsing Amie Street mostly reminds me of why I value eMusic's editorial content so highly (Amie Street has little editorial content, as far as I can tell).

tbh i find editorial content useless full stop, i have never really understood this as a valuable part of emusic but i guess i understand why many do

Can I ask why you didn't just pay $3 to get the entire Shit Robot single from Amazon?

I'm an American living overseas, and I have a US eMusic account which works over here, but I'm unable to buy music from the Amazon store - it seems to check my IP address, whereas things like iTunes and eMusic just make sure I have a US credit card!

I'm not familiar with Amie St. - I will check it out - thanks for the tip.

I already have the BMS album... any other tips? How about a single in the vein of the "Rolling 2009 Underground/Punk Rock" thread?

to echo scott pgwp upthread, for this month at least i'm liking the 12-credit system for many-track albums. it seems to be working out in my favor right now since most of the albums i'm downloading this month have at least 15 (usually more) tracks.

lot of good sony stuff for sure, too

So much great jazz on the Sony labels.

I'm still downloading the usual indie and electronic and blues and stuff, but I'm working my way through the Sony stuff. A lot of crap, but the classic Journey, Cheap Trick, ELO.....why not, I'm finding it easier to download than Itunes or Amazon.

REO Speedwagon. Hell, I paid fifty cents for these 45s in grammar school.

A lot of crap, but the classic Journey, Cheap Trick, ELO

My love for ELO has skyrocketed since I downloaded a bunch of their stuff on eMusic.

Not to sound like an ad, but I dropped eMusic and switched to Rhapsody a few months ago and haven't regretted it for a second. Bought a Sansa 8G for like $70, and haven't looked back. Only drawback is slow transfer time (I do transfers the night before).

Other than that: ELO, Faust, Minutemen, Journey, Cheap Trick, The Clean, etc. are all available. $12.95 a month. Spent the other day going through the entire Rush catalog, Vaselines reissue, and the Pavement expanded editions. They've even got Colin Lloyd Tucker (as does eMusic, to be fair), not to mention a few pretty hard-to-find Flying Lizards things.

Apologies from eMusic

Dear Alexander,

A recent system glitch resulted in our sending a
newsletter to you containing a string of numbers
where your first name should have been. Oops -
we hate when that happens! We apologize for this
error and have corrected it, so rest assured, future
newsletters will once again contain that personal
touch.

^^^ don't even really know why but this cracked me the fukk up

1287681547157153 In Baltimore

Anyone know if these Dylan albums are the remastered versions? I've been putting off buying the remasters of many of these, though the old CDs don't have the best sound, but if I can get them here cheaper I'd do that instead.

http://www.emusic.com/album/Debashish-Bhattacharya-Pt-Brij-Bhushan-Kabra-Till-Death-Do-Us-Part-MP3-Download/10836429.html

12 credits for a single 11 minute track? Fuck you, fuckers.

wau -- you should complain and see if they change it, has to be a mistake

well I found this: http://www.emusic.com/album/Pt-Brijbhushan-Kabra-Call-of-the-Desert-MP3-Download/10859682.html

which has that track plus 4 others which likewise are also sold as seperate albums, on emusic and on itunes and amazon, as well. so must be the label's fault. still though, wouldn't be an issue if emusic didn't institute the album pricing policy.

Great new releases on eMusic today:

• Sally Shapiro, My Guilty Pleasure
• Tinariwen, Imidiwan: Companions
• Husker Du

thanks for reccomendations, more new stuff would be good to suggest since i have a bunch of credits to burn up in the next few days!

The Sony CLASSICAL labels are a great addition too. Psyched to get The Guarneri recordings of the Bartok String Quartets once my downloads refresh -- the one I previously had from emusic was kind of mediocre.

What else is good in the Sony Classical catalogue?

And Some Dude, there's a ton of good releases coming next month (set forth in more detail over at eMusic's "17 Dots" blog). Looks like a solid fall/winter calendar.

Can anyone recommend any eMusic bargains along the lines of the Basinski and Bryars albums upthread?

I'd suggest Rhys Chatham's 'A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars)' which is wonderful and can be purchased for three credits.

I'm also enjoying William Basinski's 'El Camino Real' as much as any of the Disintegration Loops.

http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-Bollywood-Box-Set-MP3-Download/11116328.html

^great deal!

So it seems like Husker Du doesn't want to sell their albums a la carte. The SST stuff isn't on iTunes, and it's album-only on Amazon, too.

on the upside, can't complain about album pricing for zen arcade!

Why would anyone want to buy individual tracks anyway? They weren't exactly a singles band.

Thanks for the tip on Tinariwen! I'm stocking up on power pop.

yeah that tinariwen album is pretty hot. a little less gutbucket than the last one, but some gorgeous guitar and nice tunes.

this is clearly the most important release on emusic this year:

http://www.emusic.com/album/Fart-Sounds-For-All-Got-Farts-MP3-Download/11601386.html

Can anyone recommend any eMusic bargains along the lines of the Basinski and Bryars albums upthread?

This list might be useful: 1-Track Ambient Albums and EPs

Haven't heard ANY of them, but for 1 credit each, who cares?

so do i blame firefox or emusic for the fact that every time i try to download stuff now my browser crashes?

emusic

Just had the same happen to me but no problems with Safari.

there's a bunch of severed heads albums up today, both recent and classic eras

I'm now wondering the same thing as o. nate upthread-- are these the remastered Dylans? Anyone?

Also, I've been a Notorious Byrd Brothers stan for years-- should I follow up with 5D or Younger Than Yesterday?

I assume that the Dylans with the release date in 2003 are all remasters. Not sure about the others.

Also, I've been a Notorious Byrd Brothers stan for years-- should I follow up with 5D or Younger Than Yesterday?

Younger than Yesterday is excellent and well worth the download. I find 5d to be hit and miss--some of their best stuff and some of their worst stuff.

I'd also recommend Ballad of Easy Rider if you like the country elements of the Byrds. I kinda rejiggered the track list of that album, subbing in the superior alt versions of a couple tracks, including some of the other outtakes, and subtracting one of the album cuts--after that surgery, Ballad has become one of my favorite Byrds albums.

Anyone getting this message when you try to d/l MP3s?

eMusic Temporarily Unavailable

We're very sorry but eMusic is unavailable at the moment. Our engineering team is working to correct the problem as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and apologize for this inconvenience.

Been like this since yesterday afternoon. I'm in the UK.

It's nice to see they now have pretty much everything by A Tribe Called Quest and Hall & Oates.

top uk shoegaze label clubac30 have a bunch of their catalogue up now

new Evangelista album is out today, and it's actually 7 credits for 7 songs (for a 40-something minute album)! don't see too many deals like that anymore.

out yesterday, i should say, etc.

didn't know a ton of r kelly shit is on emusic! has that been available for a while?

downloaded a ton of good shit yesterday - 'chocolate factory', outkast's aquemini, usher 'confessions', stylistics' first two albums, plus some classic kompakt stuff

R Kelly came with the Sony labels. So many great new titles over the past few days:

• The Mountain Goats -- The Life Of The World To Come
• Califone -- All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
• The Clientele -- Bonfires On The Heath
• The Raveonettes -- In And Out Of Control
• Destroyer -- Bay Of Pigs
• Lou Barlow -- Goodnight Unknown
• Daniel Johnston -- Is And Always Was
• Various Artists -- 5: Five Years of Hyperdub
• Mission Of Burma -- The Sound The Speed The Lights
• Various Artists -- Tumbele! Biguine Afro & Latin Sounds (new from Soundways!)

FUCK

23 CREDITS DOWN THE DRAIN

I KNOW IT'S MY FAULT AND THERE'S NO POINT IN POSTING ABOUT IT BUT I'M VENTING

WHY CAN'T THEY SEND A FUCKING NOTIFICATION E-MAIL A COUPLE DAYS BEFORE THE END OF A PAY PERIOD OR SOMETHING DAMMIT

i hate that shit. a courtesy email would definitely be a good move.

word.

tons of cool Sun Ra stuff is up, btw; i've been binging on that shit lately.

Now that credits are so expensive there needs to be rollover, not even fucking kidding.

Are those Sun Ra priced as 12-track albums or 1 cred=1 track?

1 credit per track.

They also need to do more to list albums by # of credits - I have three credits left that I have no idea what to do with.

All of Broadcast's records on the Warp label arrived today, BTW.

(In the U.S. market, at least)

Ooh, that's exciting. I haven't kept up with them past Ha Ha Sound but have always meant to.

hurting, i think you can download three songs of an album you know you want and it will reduce the album's remaining dl cost accordingly?

and yeah, credits should rollover, and email reminders. i mean they keep sending me shit to ask me to review stuff easy enough.

^^^yeah, i did that with My War (lol) last month: ie, used up 2 credits for 2 tracks then and got the rest of the album later on when i had more credits.

Dude there is nothing lol about that.

*exposes 'My War Side 2' back tattoo*

They also need to do more to list albums by # of credits - I have three credits left that I have no idea what to do with.

just noticed that they've added refining by number of tracks

most popular 3-track albums:
http://www.emusic.com/browse/0/b/-dbm/a/0-0/881/0.html

just noticed that they've added refining by number of tracks

At LAST. Fantastic.

Shake A Tail Feather! The Best Of James And Bobby Purify
man, this comp

63 durutti column tracks for 24 credits:

http://www.emusic.com/album/The-Durutti-Column-2001-2009-MP3-Download/11728925.html

LOTS of great tracks in this collection.. essential if you don't have the separate albums imo

Anyone catch eMusic's best-of-decade list? Kinda dug a lot of it.