I stumbled upon Dosh
for the first time about a month ago when I found Bridging The Atlantic’s blog post 2006 Mix Tape. I downloaded it to see if there were any hidden gems that I’d enjoy.
One of the songs, Dosh’ssong Um, Circles And Squares, hit me. For some reason, it just sounded cool. I don’t listen to a lot of instrumental stuff, but I liked this song. So off to iTunes I went to download the entire album, The Lost Take.
It’s not bad, but by far Uhm, Circles And Squares is my favorite song on the album. Another track of note is Track 1, One Through Seven which just sounds like the soundtrack to some old Nintendo Game. Some of the beats I swear came straight out of a Legend of Zelda dungeon scene!
posted by bill at 5:21 pm
Simply put, this album is great! My buddy Kyle got me in to these guys a couple years ago. I even got a chance to see them at The Paradise in Boston, MA (their singer is a wee bit off, but entertaining). Living Things
is definitely an upbeat band. Ahead Of The Lions
is their breakout album and I’m patiently waiting for a follow up to what I consider to be one of 2005’s best albums. You can definitely rock out to this album at the gym or at work. Songs like “Bom Bom Bom” and “I Owe” will get you going for sure. But then a song like “I Wish The Best For You” mellow you out a bit with the slow pace and melodic yet gritty guitar riffs.
This album is definitely one you have to have in your library!
Favorite Tracks
- Track 1 – Bom Bom Bom
- Track 6 – I Wish The Best For You
- Track 9 – Monsters Of Man
posted by bill at 1:30 pm
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how expensive it is to be a “music junkie”. Consider if you were to buy 20 CDs (which I consider a conservative number) at the store at an average of $12.75 per CD a year, you’d be spending $255.00 annually. That’s a lot more money than most people have. Even considering you can buy a song on iTunes for 0.99, its still expensive (especially for those of us that want complete albums). So I did some searching. Aside from using a site in Russia, like the old allofmp3.com, a good alternative could be to buy used CDs on SecondSpin.com
SecondSpin.com buys and sells used CD’s, DVD’s, and Video Games. Individual CD’s (non-box sets) seem to sell anywhere between $2.00 and $9.00. So at the high end, you’d be saving $3.75 off of the average. Not bad. Here are some albums I own that I found:
As you can tell, there are some decent deals to be had if you don’t mind second hand music. They have a strict quality control policy which keeps the defect rate to less than 1%, so everything is 100% guaranteed. Nice!
One thing to , I don’t think you’ll find some obscure bands or new releases, which makes sense. Second, shipping seems a little steep, especially if you order a lot of CDs. Ground is $2.75 plus an extra $0.45 per additional CD. So if you order 10 CDs, its $7.25. Well, that doesn’t seem expensive until you realize they guarantee delivery in 1-3 weeks! Ouch. To get faster service, expect to pay quite a bit more. But if you’re getting a steal on the music and you don’t mind waiting for delivery, this might be the place for you.
posted by bill at 10:00 am
I’ve always been a fan of these guys, but didn’t realize they had as much music released as they do. I only really new of the original, self titled album “Visual Audio Sensory Theatre” which features the song “Touched”. But Kyle, the music sleuth that he is, found they had six! And better yet, for sale inexpensively on their own web site. Prices range from $3.99 to $6.99. Naturally, we bought them all.
The great part about this is that Jon Crosby, frontman for VAST, is trying to cut out the “man”. He’s selling his albums in digital form on his site. He also is selling concert tickets for his shows off of his web site directly through PayPal. Kyle and I will be attending the February 12th show at Harper’s Ferry in Alston, MA. Can’t wait!
I love how he’s struck out on his own with selling albums and tickets because it brings the price down to what I consider reasonable. I don’t mind paying $5.00 or $6.00 for an album and $25.00 for a concert ticket. Way better than $14.00 for a CD and $45+ for a show (that is unless you’re seeing KISS, Madonna, or The Rolling Stones…$200??? Right!).
However, if digital music isn’t your thing yet, you can still buy VAST albums online at Amazon.com. Jon hasn’t quite cut out the “man” yet!
posted by bill at 12:16 am
Rogue Wave is a great band I found by basically searching the recommendations in iTunes for music I already had. Even though they have several albums, the one I downloaded first was Asleep At Heaven’s Gate. I have to say, this is one of those rare albums where you can start at Track 1 and listen all the way through, without those “garbage tracks” where you’re left wondering where your ears have gone to now. Great music for getting in the groove of a project at work for sure. Best track for sure is Track 4, Lake Michigan. This song just gets you in a great mood if you ask me. Microsoft even liked it so much they used it in a commercial for the Zune.
I’ll definitely be downloading more of their albums when I get a chance, since I’m definitely going through a small “new music drought” at the present.
Favorite Tracks
- Track 2 – Like I Needed
- Track 4 – Lake Michigan
- Track 13 – I Can Die
posted by bill at 6:09 pm
That’s right, I’m nuts. Nuts for music! I started this site to share my thoughts on the music I listen to. Each day I probably spend 14+ hours listening to music either at work, at home, or in my car. I’ll try to cover a different band, album, or a random music topic as often as I can.
posted by bill at 7:01 pm
