One of the most important issues of the upcoming election as well as one of the least discussed is that of Net Neutrality. The internet is one of the greatest assets available to the modern world and is woefully under-protected, it has and will continue to change the way that we as people interact and the way that our world works. That is why I believe it is so important that we look into the policies each candidate brings to the table on this critical issue; I would do this myself, however, Lawrence Lessig is far more intelligent and coherent on this issue than I could ever be.
For my money, Lessig is the most intelligent and admirable spokesman Net Neutrality or the freedom of information could ever have. If you would like to learn more, check out his site at: Lessig.org
It’s Tuesday, so that means it’s “Music I’m Loving” for the week of Aug. 18,2008. My weekly review of some album, single, EP, etc. that I’m in love with. This week is some new Bob Dylan.
We all know the great Bob Dylan, and now he has released a new single from his upcoming compilation of “unissued recordings”, The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 - Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006, (Not exactly his best album title ever) due out this October.
His new single, Dreamin’ of You, is a slow bluesy track with some great lyrics. It’s hard to really do a review of Bob Dylan, he’s always great.
Basically, if you like Bob Dylan: you’ll like his single. If you don’t like Bob Dylan: what the hell is wrong with you, and you still might like Dreamin’ of You.
That’s it for this week, remember “Music I’m Loving” is a weekly feature on “Justin Lamb Presents: A Blog!” and is posted each Tuesday. So, be sure to check back.
Note: I will be in Denver for the Democratic Convention next week. I’m going to try to write a new “Music I’m Loving” before I leave to be automatically posted next Tuesday. If for some reason that doesn’t work, although I have no reason to believe it won’t, know that I tried. Also, I hope to be Twittering live all next week about what’s going on in Denver, if that interests you please follow me on Twitter here (if you don’t know what Twitter is I did a post about it here).
I first heard “Cold War Kids” about 2yrs ago with “Hang Me Up to Dry” (which if you haven’t heard check it out below). I think it’s fair to say that they are one of the most unique bands out right now.
As a teaser for their new album, “Loyalty to Loyalty” due out in late September, they have released “Something Is Not Right With Me” for free on their website. There is also plenty more free music there if this piques you interest.
Here it is, “Music I’m Loving” for the week of August 11th, 2008. My weekly review of some random album, single, EP, etc. that I can’t stop listening to. This week “My Morning Jacket”.
MMJ has been around for about ten years now, and are still making awesome music. For me, they are also one of an extremely small list of musicians from here in Kentucky that I like (They’re from Louisville). They’re newest album, Evil Urges, was released June 10, 2008 and is one of the most varied albums I’ve heard in a while. Combining both very marketable alt. rock as well as an undeniable indie rock sound, the album has something for all MMJ fans.
That’s it for this week, remember “Music I’m Loving” is a weekly feature on “Justin Lamb Presents: A Blog!” and is posted each Tuesday. So, be sure to check back.
Obviously, the Beijing Olympics started on Friday. The Opening Ceremonies were without question, the most amazing EVER! If you didn’t see them go to NBCOlympics.com and be astonished. It was like watching the most massive Cirque Du Soleil show in the world.
I was originally totally against the idea of the Beijing Olympics, due to China’s atrocious human rights record in their own country as well as in Darfur, Sudan (Although, as an American I must admit my own country has done nearly as little on that front). However, I must say; while I don’t forgive China of their sins, I do believe that China is a country eager to change its image as well as its ways, as was so brilliantly displayed Friday night.
Looks like America’s “New Media” candidate will be announcing his Running mate first to his supporters. So, via mass email and text message the campaign will be alerting supporters of Obama’s VP choice instantly. If you want to sign up to “Be the First to Know” Go here: First to Know. Regardless of what you think of the Obama campaign, I think we can agree that this is a step forward in campaigning. Rather than just holding some massive press conference, now everyone who wants to know can find out instantly.
Over the past week I’ve received 2 letters from the Republican National Committee who, despite the fact that I’ve been a donor to Barack Obama’s campaign for nearly a year, am a registered Democrat, and will be in Denver for the Democratic Convention later this month, believe that I’m a long time Republican. I don’t usually blog about my junk mail, but yesterday I got a Questionnaire from the RNC. After looking it over for a few seconds it became obvious to me that no one at the RNC was taught that leading questions aren’t conducive to accurate survey results. I’d like to share a few of those questions that made me chuckle with you.
“Should Republicans do everything they can to prevent liberal Democrats from repealing the USA PATRIOT Act and other important laws that help our intelligence agencies protect America?”
“Should we do everything we can to stop Democrats from weakening border security?”
“Should Republicans unite to keep our pro-growth achievements from the past seven year intact by blocking new federal government bureaucracy and red tape?” - thought this one was especially funny considering the collapsing markets over the past year.
“Should Republicans in Congress oppose the new, wasteful government spending programs proposed by the Democrats and their leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?”
By far my favorite: Question: “Will you join the Republican National Committee by making a contribution today?” Answers: 1. “Yes, I support the RNC and am enclosing my most generous contribution” 2. “Yes, I support the RNC, but I am unable to participate at this time…” 3. “No, I favor electing liberal Democrats over the next ten years”
Just to let you know, I answered “No” to all of those questions and will be sending my responses back to the RNC very soon. I hope they take my advice.
Probably the most exciting apps available for the iPhone are those that deal with streaming music. We all know about the iPhone’s iPod functionality, however that does leave you listening to only the music you personally own. It leaves no room for discovery, well that’s where these three apps come in.
AOL Radio: This app gives you access to all of AOL’s online radio stations, as well as local stations owned by CBS Radio. The variety of stations is ridiculous, there is literally something for everyone. It is also one of those cool demonstration apps, it’s pretty impressive to be driving down the road in the middle of nowhere and be able to listen to Los Angeles’ KROQ or New York’s WCBS, all for free.
Pandora: If you don’t know, Pandora is online, personalized, streaming music. You type in the name of an artist or song that you like and Pandora serves up songs that are similar to your interests. You can then further refine your station by rating up or down the current song playing. Now you get all that functionality for free on your iPhone.
Last.fm: This is easily my favorite streaming music service on the web, and now my favorite on the phone. Last.fm tracks what you listen to in iTunes and on its service and recommends music for you. You also get similar functionality as Pandora, whereby you can enter an artist, song, or tag to get more music. Again you get to rate the songs that you “love” and “hate” to refine your station. Last.fm also has the bonus of giving you tons of information on the artist you are listening to, you can see a quick bio, if/when and where the artist will be playing in the future, artist similar to the one you are listening to, other last.fm users who like the song, tags associated with it, etc. etc. It is also extremely simple to share music with your contacts or Last.fm friends and with the tap of a finger you can buy the song on iTunes. Plus, it’s 100% free!
Thought I’d take the time to share with you some of the “Super-New” and “Relatively-New” music that I’ve been enjoying lately. And what better way to do that than with my new series called “Music I’m Loving”. I’d like to make “Music I’m Loving” a regular feature on the blog (perhaps weekly, but who knows). 8/11/08-Update: I expect to have a new post out each Tuesday, so come back each Tuesday for the new “Music I’m Loving”. As this is my first attempt feel free to leave comments to tell me what I’m doing right and, more importantly, wrong.
This group hasn’t been around for too long, but they are already making fantastic music. Their debut, “Oracular Spectacular”, was released digitally Oct. 2007 and on CD Jan. 2008.
They have a really unique Alternative/Electronic sound that is smart, artistic, and catchy.
One of my big problems with music reviews is that they often focus too much on the writer’s words and not the music they are meant to describe. So, instead of rambling on about MGMT or their music why don’t you give it a listen.
Songs to Check Out: (Links point to iTunes Music Store)
Obviously, the 
