Free Online Music Fun - t.a.T.u./Ricky Martin Mixup

I was listening to the new free online music Radio widget I just installed from Last.fm and told it I wanted to listen to the 'Ricky Martin station'. (I was looking for some lively music to post eBay auctions to - don't ask! ;)

Instead of giving me a tune by RM, it started playing some Brittany Spears, Backstreet Boys and other artists. So I closed the player, figuring maybe it hadn't understood my first request, and typed in Ricky Martin again. Guess what? No Ricky - again - but it did play a tune from t.a.T.u., the Russian duo who've been climbing the charts all over Europe. (Do I sense a diabolical plot behind all this or just a music programmer that likes to play with people's minds?... "Hummm, Ricky Martin is an international star who sings in Spanish - t.a.T.u. is also international and sings in Russian - yeah, they're almost identical - that's the ticket...")


Now I've heard of t.a.T.u., but my local radio stations don't tend to play much Russian music as you can imagine. (Although, given the large Russian population in the Pacific Northwest, I'm not quite sure why not... I frequently hear Russian spoken in the stores and on the sidewalks - why not on the radio?) Anyway, I was about to try another 'station' but found myself hooked on the tune while I was trying to think of another artist to try. (Hope springs eternal they'll actually have my choice even if it is a free service...)

Even though it's been about (mumble) 25 years since I took Russian for a semester in college (and I only remember about 10 words now) the music was extremely catchy in and of itself without my understanding the lyrics. (Although I did think I heard a few phrases that sounded vaguely familiar, but then again, I could have been hallucinating from all the Dr. Pepper I've imbibed today.)

I never quite got it before, how people in other countries could enjoy American pop music without knowing what the words meant since I'm so used to hearing and understanding the songs without even having to think about it, but this has given me a better appreciation of how music makes the world go 'round whether or not you can sing along with it in the original language. =)

I guess I should try typing in t.a.T.u. into the free player - maybe it will give me Ricky Martin music instead?!? Although, so far, the "Ricky Martin" station has played some pretty lively and current stuff even without using any of his so far: Anastacia, Gwen Stefani, Robbie Williams, Josh Groban, Pink, Madonna, Ace of Base - so I guess I won't complain - too much...

 

Captain Jack Harkness Sings!

I was looking up some stuff on the TORCHWOOD episode I was watching when I ran across a website where Captain Jack Harkness sings! (Okay, okay, so it's really John Barrowman's official site, close enough...)

Not quite sure if he would end up to be another William Shatner speaking to music and calling it singing, or if John Barrowman really has the chops, I decided to listen to his 'sampler', kind of wincing while I waited for the first to begin, no knowing what I'd hear. He's 'covered' very well known pop songs as part of his album JOHN BARROWMAN ANOTHER SIDE which added to my expectations, since the originals have been played many times over the radio and over the years and I've developed a partiality to the people who did them first. Here are the songs he decided to use to showcase his singing:

ALL OUT OF LOVE
YOU'RE SO VAIN
SHE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN
TIME AFTER TIME
WEEKEND IN NEW ENGLAND
EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC
IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
YOUR SONG
PLEASE REMEMBER ME
HEAVEN
BEING ALIVE
FEELING GOOD
ALL BY MYSELF

The first one, ALL OUT OF LOVE, was a nice surprise. Although JB's no AIR SUPPLY, he did a pretty good job of it. However, it had a bit of the sound of an actor singing, if you know what I mean (lack of follow through on some notes, a bit of weakness in places, not quite going out of tune, but not quite hitting all the notes, and so on.) However, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, I listened to the next few and was very happy with how he covered the rest of the music, like he was starting to hit his stride as the album progressed, getting into 'singer' mode and keeping there, not trying to be the original artists, but the flavors of the first ones are definitely there in each rendition.

According to his site, this isn't his first album, but it is his first mainstream release. (He's done more stage musical singing from what I can tell rather than record.) Since I hadn't heard of him until seeing him in DOCTOR WHO, that doesn't surprise me. However, I've become a big fan since, so will be happy to keep an eye out for all his works now, including his music.

One funny/sad side note: whoever decided to stage his video for ALL OUT OF LOVE felt the need to back him with a huge all-female-in-low-cut-short-black-dresses string section. Guess they decided a gay guy couldn't do love songs for a mainstream audience without offsetting him with someone for the straight guys to ogle... Also, I noticed his rendition on the video is a bit stronger than on the album. (Maybe he had more rehearsal time for the video version before recording it...)

Click Here to See a Making Of Video for ALL OUT OF LOVE:

I'd love to see what he could do with some original material... Something that has no previous expectations attached.

SPICE GIRLS Reunion Tour

I don't know about you, but when I see all the stuff about the Spice Girls Reunion Tour, I think, why? And then again, why not?

I liked their music when they first came out. I just got tired of hearing it over and over and over and (well, you get my drift.) Anything played monotonously would get pretty annoying pretty quickly, especially when quite a few of the songs were practically interchangeable, making it seem like the same one was played continuously. (I blame the radio stations and promoters for trying to squeeze every last penny out of their 'girl group' before they faded, speeding them along their way to 'where are they now'-dom through sheer repetition.)

However, I happen to like 'bubblegum pop', especially when it's at a nice workout or dance tempo, so the Spice Girls fit the bill for that category back then. Now, though, their latest new release seems to be more in the vein of Spice Women. (I would say Spice Ladies except they seem to be going for a nearly nude, sexy, devil-may-care look in the latest video...! LOL) The first song being promoted is a bit too ballady for my current tastes - hopefully they'll fit a few more lively ones in to round it out...

Since they all took out time for solo careers and 'having a life apart', we'll see how well they blend back together now that they've 'matured' a bit. (I actually think they look and sound great - more polished in more ways than one.)

Here's hoping 'round 2' goes well and the Spice Girls Reunion Tour is a great success.

To see where and when they'll be touring, check out the official Spice Girls Reunion Tour page.

 

I Love to Listen to Online Music...

Given the number of songs I like to play every day, and not having enough space to store all the CDs it would take to be able to play them at will, I find I love to listen to online music since I have access to all the classic music and new release songs I crave without having to find a place to store it all. (Since we also collect books, something had to give, don't you know...! And music is DEFINITELY a lot easier to manage on a computer than books are, at least I think so!!)

Depending on the service, I can either let them pick the tunes (based on genres, decades, or artists) or I can make up my own playlists to suit my whims and whimsies for that day. Plus, quite a few services let you 'try before you buy' - you can listen to the songs as many times as you want as part of the monthly fee, but if you find one you want to be able to 'take with you' (i.e. download to your iPod or burn an MP3/CD copy), they'll let you do that, too, either as part of your monthly fee or for a one-time small charge. That's such a nice change from having to buy a whole album when you really only liked 2-3 songs out of 10 or 12. (I can't count how many old LPs/CDs I ended up with just so I could get the few tunes I really wanted. )

A few of the (legal) music services I really like for listening to online music are:

YAHOO:
If you have Yahoo Messenger or just want to listen using your browser, you can use the Yahoo! Music LaunchCast Radio for free as long as you don't mind listening to commercials every 10 songs or so. They offer such genres as Big Hits of the 80's, Pop, Urban, Rock, Dance/Electronica, and many, many more, plus let you skip tunes, unlike the real radio. However, you can't download/keep any of the music and the stations tend to have only a small sampling of each genre so you end up hearing the same songs frequently. They have a basic upgrade that runs $3.95/month, but it pretty much just gives you the songs commercial free - no downloads.

If you want to be able to also burn your own music CDs, then try out the Yahoo! Music Unlimited Free Trial. They have 14-day free trial so you can 'try before you buy', and then it's as low as $5.99/month to listen all you want, with downloads/burns running only $.99/each. With over 2 million tunes available including new release songs, you're bound to find ones you can't live without...

RHAPSODY:
This is another online music service I like. They're more expensive per month ($12.99/month), and they have over 2 million tunes, including hot new songs, but their interface is a bit friendlier than Yahoo's and their download price is a little lower plus they let you also manage your iTunes songs along with your Rhapsody playlists. So if you burn more music than just use the service as a 'radio', this might end up costing you less overall.




MP3 ROCKET:
This is a file-sharing service boasting of over 12 million songs available. Their basic service is free, but they do have a 'premium' service that has a one-time fee for the upgrade. Based on the Gnutella standard, these guys allow you to download to MP3, iPod and CD. This product has received 5-star ratings on C-Net and many other download sites. Try it free at MP3Rocket.