Spotify vs. Rdio

Today was the much anticipated US launch of Spotify. I've been using Rdio for several months, and really love it. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of posts out there comparing the two services. That's all good stuff to read. Here's my summary:

• Spotify has more music. If you stick to stuff from the last 10 years and that you can find on iTunes, then you probably won't find much difference. But going further back or by going "more obscure", you will notice the differences.
• Spotify has a desktop app, but it is an iTunes clone. The Rdio desktop app is more of a wrapper on their website. So big advantage to Spotify, despite being an ugly iTunes clone. Also, Spotify will play music on your computer, so it tries to be a replacement for iTunes.
• The Rdio mobile app is way better, at least on Android. Subjectively, it has a cleaner design and is easier to use. The Spotify mobile app looks like I designed it. Objectively, the Rdio app's sync is far superior. Spotify requires your mobile device to be on the same wifi network as your computer that is running Spotify. On Rdio, you can easily send any song, album, playlist, etc. to all of your mobile devices with no requirements except that you've got an Internet connection.

This is the Year of Music

Last month I wrote a bit about cloud music. Since then Apple got in the game with iTunes in the iCloud. I'm not a fan of it because you have to manage what songs are downloaded to your devices before you can listen to them. Of course having to download a song before you can listen to it is not surprising from a company that sells hardware priced by storage capacity. If you didn't have to download to use your media, why would you spend an extra $100 on the 32gb iWhatever instead of the 16gb version? Still you gotta give Apple props on the price point. I am optimistic that competition around price and features between Apple, Google, and Amazon will be very beneficial for consumers.

Anyways while the your music-in-the-cloud market is obviously very hot market being contested by three of the biggest technology companies in the world, there is a lot more interesting innovation around music going in in technology. This blog post is about two of my favorite music startup/services: Rdio and Turntable.fm. There's tons of tech press on each of these companies, so I won't go into that. I'm just going to talk about why I like them.

Rdio launched in late 2010, and I've been a paying customer since January 2011. It's conceptually similar to subscriptions services like fake Napster and Rhapsody. What I like about it is how great it is to use on mobile devices. I have it on my Nexus S, on my Nexus One that I listen to when I run/work-out, and on the iPod Touch that I have plugged in to my car. Now you might be thinking, now how can I use this on a iPod in my car with no internet connection? Well you can mark songs/albums/playlists as songs to sync to your devices and be usable with no connection. So I can use the Rdio Mac app, mark some songs, and then just connect my iPod or Nexus One to a wifi network, and the songs get synced. Then I can listen to them anytime. I regularly read reviews of new music on Metacritic, listen to some of the music I find there on Rdio, and then sync it to my devices. Then I can listen to it while running or driving to work.

Speaking of discovering new music, that is the sweet spot of Turntable. It's pretty new, I only heard about it earlier this month and started using it this week. The idea of being a DJ for the room may sound lame at first -- and maybe it is -- but it is also awesome. However I will warn you to resist being a DJ. You will be drawn in and waste massive amounts of time. It's completely unnecessary too. Like I said, Turntable is awesome for music discovery. Go to a room that sounds interesting (avoid the Coding Soundtrack unless you really enjoy electronica/dance AND don't mind witnessing pissing contests measured by playing obscure remixes) and enjoy. There's a good chance that you will hear familiar music, but an even better chance you will hear something you've never heard before. The DJs try hard to impress, and you win because of it. It's like Pandora, but better, with no ads, and ... you always have the option to enter the chat or even take your turn at DJ'ing.

We All Love Music

Last week at Google I/O, big G finally delivered on Google Music. Well sort of. As many have pointed out, it's taken a long time to get Music out the door, despite it being announced a year ago. What is most interesting is that it comes after Amazon made a similar offering with its Cloud Drive/Player service. I have no used both services along with their Android apps quite a bit. So I thought I'd share my experiences, in no particular order...

• Uploading 4000 songs takes a long time. That's about how many songs I have on my MBP, and it comes out to a little more than 50 GB. I was one of the lucky attendees of I/O, so not only do I have access to Google Music, but it is currently free. Amazon gives you 5 GB, and 20 GB free if you buy an MP3 album. I did the latter. However 20 GB is not enough space for me, so I have not uploaded a lot of music to Amazon. I have done this with Google Music. It took many days, and it tends to wreck havoc on WiFi networks (which should be the subject a future blog post/rant.) 
• The Android players are good, but both have room for improvement. Google Music has a an instant mix feature, similar to the Genius feature in iTunes. I would say that it is better than Genius for several reasons. First, it seems to do fine with "non-standard" sings. I mean stuff like Girl Talk, or remixes and live versions of popular (or not) songs. Genius fails on this consistently, maybe because these are songs (or in the case of Girl Talk, artists) that are not in iTunes? Genius also fails for newer music. Google Music seems to do fine in this situation too. The Cloud Player does not have this feature, and that is a shame. However it does have an equalizer. This is something that Google Music lacks, and that is a shame. I generally find that mobile devices (and mobile headphones, if you will) especially need equalization. The Amazon EQ is not that great though, as it only has a list of presets (Jazz,  Rock, etc.) 
• I don't like listening to music in the browser. For desktop computers, both of these services have you open a browser and listen to music that way. I'd say that Google's is a little better, but they both seem clunky. The Amazon one does not have the equalizer that their Android app has. The sound on the Google one also seems a little better, which is counter-intuitive. It is my impression that Google may downsample your music during playback, based on bandwidth, whereas Amazon plays your music back as-is. Anyways, neither sounds as good as iTunes. Of course they aren't the ginormous mess that iTunes is either.
• Google Music works better over crappier networks. It seems to do fine over edge, even though I *think* I can hear a difference in sound quality. This could be psychosomatic. On the other hand Amazon has a lot more noticeable pauses. 
• Google Music seems to manage metadata better, both metadata about songs and about collections (albums, playlists, etc.) However, I have heard other users complain about this.

I am generally pleased with both services. Since I was able to upload all of my music to Google for free, I have used it more. However it has convinced to upload more of my music to Amazon, and consider paying for it. However, that would cost me $100, since I have more than 50 GB of music. 

So far I have only uploaded music from my laptop. I have about 80 GB of music on my desktop computer, though this is pretty much a superset of what is on my laptop. I am going to start the Google Music uploader on it too. Hopefully it will not do two copies of songs that are in common, and only upload the 30 GB of music that is not already present. If it does that well, and I have all of my music on their servers, it will be very tempting to pay for this service once the beta holiday ends.

These cloud based services have made me wish that I could have similar access in my car. I have an old iPod Touch (8 GB) hooked up in my glove box currently. It would be nice to have 10x capacity, but at what cost? Not to mention that the car interface (I have a large Sony head unit with a touchscreen interface) leaves a lot to be desired. That only gets worse with 10x data to deal with.

Music of the Decade

In alphabetical order (more or less) ...

Favorite Songs

Rehab -- Amy Winehouse
The Rising -- Bruce Springsteen
Yellow -- Coldplay
The Scientist -- Coldplay
Clocks -- Coldplay
Stan -- Eminem
Bring Me To Life -- Evanescence
Where'd You Go -- Fort Minor
Crazy -- Gnarls Barkley
Feel Good, Inc. -- Gnarls Barkley
Izzo (H.O.V.A.) -- Jay-Z
D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) -- Jay-Z
Gold Digger -- Kanye West
Gone -- Kanye West
On Call -- Kings of Leon
Dance With My Father -- Luther Vandross
Paper Planes -- MIA
Float On -- Modest Mouse
Hey Ya! -- Outkast
Young Folks -- Peter Bjorn and John
Dani California -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Killing the Blues -- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
So Says I -- The Shins
Lazy Eye -- Silversun Pickups
City of Blinding Lights -- U2
Beverly Hills -- Weezer
The Joker & The Thief -- Wolfmother
Seven Nation Army -- The White Stripes
In Da Club -- 50 Cent

Favorite Albums

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
The Rising -- Bruce Springsteen
Parachutes -- Coldplay
A Rush of Blood to the Head -- Coldplay
Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
The Crane Wife -- The Decemberists
American Idiot -- Green Day
The Black Album -- Jay-Z
The Blueprint -- Jay-Z
Late Registration -- Kanye West
The National -- Boxer
The Slip -- Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero -- Nine Inch Nails
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below -- Outkast
Backspacer -- Pearl Jam
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix -- Phoenix
In Rainbows -- Radiohead
Kid A -- Radiohead
Stadium Arcadium -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Carnavas -- Silversun Pickups
Gimme Fiction -- Spoon
Is This It -- The Strokes
Toxicity -- System of a Down
All That You Can't Leave Behind -- U2
No Line on the Horizon -- U2
Vampire Weekend -- Vampire Weekend
Elephant -- The White Stripes

Music 2008, Part 2: Fresh Choices

Old farts weren’t the only ones making good music in 2008. The best of them was the debut by Vampire Weekend. This album took a little while to grow on me, but once it did it became a staple for me. I listen to it in the car, while working out, and while programming. Ten years ago I would have probably said it was the best of 2008, instead of Coldplay. Vampire Weekend was the best of the “young” artists, but hardly the only noteworthy album.

The Very Good
Attack & Release by The Black Keys is a very good album. These guys are both good songwriters and talented musicians. The album runs a little flat at times, but is thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely best listened to in the car, which for me means blaring loud.
For a more relaxing listen, try For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver. The music is clever and enjoyable. The vocals can take some getting used to, but do not get in the way even if you are not a fan of the folk and falsetto.
Death Cab or Cutie has had a lot of success in recent years, and they only got better in 2008. Narrow Stairs is their best album to date. In fact “Cath...” was one of my favorite songs of 2008, but the album is full of beautiful songs.
The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow received a lot of hype in 2008, and it deserved it. These guys really know how to create space in their music. “Grounds for Divorce” and “Weather to Fly” were personal favorites, but the whole album received a lot of playtime for me. It is a better headphones album, good for programming.
Back to Black by Amy Winehouse was a 2007 release that was discussed ad nauseum in the past. Personally I did not really get into the album until this year. She really does have a remarkable voice and the album is full of memorable music.

Merely Good
Metro Station’s self-titled album was technically released in 2007. I did not listen to it until 2008. It spawned a number of pop hits, but you should not hold that against them. It is a quality release. These guys are definitely know a good beat and good hook. They remind me a lot of a less polished Garbage.
Another heavily hyped album from across the pond was Fed by Plush. The songwriting and production is excellent, but a little indulgent at times. It did not live up to the hype to me, but is a good listen nonetheless. The adjective “lush” is often used to describe it, and with good reason.
If Plush puts you to sleep, then throw on Santogold’s debut album. It is a very fun and exciting album. This is probably not the kind of album that you will find yourself going back to in a year or two, but it is a pleasant treat for now. Of course I once thought the same thing about The Gorillaz...
Finally a year-end retrospective of music these days is obliged to mention the most popular showcase of music: American Idol. This year’s winner, David Cook, was the first “rocker” to win the event. However, former finalist Chris Daughtry has had as much success as any winner with the exception of the new Queen of Country, Carrie Underwood. So it was not surprising at all for Cook to win. His self-titled album is par for the course. It is not as good as Daughtry’s debut, but that probably won’t matter. It definitely reproduces the “emo” sound that was Cook’s signature and has quality songwriting. In other words, if you liked Cook on the show, you will like his album. This may not seem like a notable accomplishment, but actually there have been very few Idol winners who you could say this about.

Music 2008, Part 1: The Early Bird Special

It has been a remarkable year for new music. Not just because there has been some good new music released this year, but because of who has been releasing it. A lot of old dudes have rolled out of their pillow top beds and put down some good to great music this year: R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, The Cure, AC/DC, Q-Tip, and Guns n’ Roses. All of these guys released some of their best work more than 20 years ago, and they were all back this year releasing good music once again. You could argue that if any of these guys were new bands then what they released this year would have created huge hype. To some degree they are victims of their own success. None of these guys can ever release music that would be judged as being as good as what they did at their peaks.
R.E.M., AC/DC, and Metallica took a similar approach. They all tried to go back to their roots and resurrect the sound of their glory days. They all succeeded in my opinion. Each group released albums that were very enjoyable for long time fans. Neither really tried to reach new fans, but why bother? It was an election year, and playing to the base is a tried and true strategy.
NIN and The Cure both took their music in the direction they wanted. In both cases this was not a huge departure from where they had been in the past, but it was definitely distinct. The 21st century version of NIN has proven to have its own distinct sound from the 20th century NIN. Since 2005, NIN has released four albums: With Teeth, Ghosts, Year Zero, and 2008’s The Slip, plus the remix album Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D. That’s a lot of music, especially compared to ye olde NIN that tended to take many years between releases. With more product, it has been a little more hit and miss for NIN. That is fine by me. The Slip contained several awesome tracks, and several so-so ones.
It is not uncommon to see rockers past the age of 30 continue to release music, even if it is usually not very good. It is more rare to see a hip-hop artist do this. This year saw an excellent album released by A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip. Tribe and De La Soul once provided an excellent alternative to the misogynistic lyrics of “gangsta” rap. Of course today we have dropped the term gangsta, as it is the norm. Nearly every hip-hop artist is bound to make reference to dealing drugs, brandishing firearms, treating women as property, etc. Q-Tip still does things his own way and The Renaissance sounds as fresh in 2008 as Tribe did back in the late 80’s and 90’s. It was easily the best hip-hop album of 2008, far ahead of good but predictable albums by Kanye West, Lil Wayne, or T.I.
And then there was Guns n’ Roses... The long winding road of Chinese Democracy has been well chronicled. When you listen to Chinese Democracy, it is amusing to speculate about the evolution of the songs. However, I think you are best off to consider Chinese Democracy without its history and build-up. If you do that, it is an average album. It has some good moments, but nothing spectacular. It sounds modern, and that is noteworthy given the age of its creator (even more so if you speculate that many of the songs are 10+ years old, but I said I wouldn’t indulge in such speculation...)
The members of Coldplay are not quite the oldtimers as the above artists. They have been around for a while, and like the other artists, they are always compared to what they have done in the past. Maybe some fans may also think that Coldplay can never do anything that is as good as what they have done in the past. I definitely belonged to that camp -- I thought that Coldplay would never come up with anything as good as “Yellow”. I was wrong, because Viva la Vida is Coldplay’s best album of their career. It was one of my two favorites albums of the year, and I would give it the very subjective nod as the “best”.

American Idol

Yes another season of American Idol will finally end tonight. I think the show is really showing its age, of course I've thought the same thing for a couple of years now. Last night's "showdown" demonstrated the evil of the show. It is a show powered by the music industry, you know the same guys who like to sue kids for downloading music, etc. Thus there is evil in its core, and it really came out last night.

Before the show, my wife asked me who I thought would win. I told her that I thought David Cook had the edge. He was more original and a better performer. I thought that David Archuleta was probably a better singer, but was so immature and annoying. He is unable to sing anything but slow songs, and I thought that people had started to catch on to this, including the judges. Ah, but I should have realized that evil that lies in the heart of men and known that these were the reasons that David A. was assured of victory.

Amazingly David A. performed three ballads. I thought this was his best tactic, but that surely he would catch a lot of criticism for it. Nope. Instead he was praised for song choice! In other words, he was praised for embracing his limitation. Even worse, when given the choice of any song to perform he recycled a song from earlier in the season.

David A. played things as safe as he possibly could. He took no chances at all. That is fine, but how many times have we heard the judges blast contestants for this? Not this time. Instead he was praised. To make it even worse, his opponent was criticized for not doing the same thing: Simon Cowell told David C. that he screwed up by not recycling a song.

It was all complete hypocrisy that reeked of an agenda. The evil empire is clearly at work here. The actual performances did not matter. The judges completely contradicted everything they've ever said in the past in an effort to promote one contestant over the other. It will surely work as well.

Don't be too upset, though. The evil empire is falling apart. The internet put a stake in their heart a long time ago. Go listen to some NIN or Radiohead on your iPod and laugh at the music industry. One day MBA students will study them as a perfect example of how to ruin a business by being too conservative and afraid of (technological) change. It's the same short sighted, greedy principles that worked against David C. last night that ruined a huge, billion dollar industry.

New Music 2008

There has been some pretty good music to come out this year. Here is what I have been listening to.

Attack & Release by The Black Keys : This album was an immediate hit for me. It is hard not to draw comparisons to The White Stripes. White Stripes + Black Keys = piano keyboard? This is a great blues/rock album. Favorite tracks "I Got Mine" and "Strange Times."

The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow : I really did not like this album at first. It really took several listens for it to grow on me. I think part of the problem is that I really do not like the first song "Starlings." The album is really quite good besides that song. In particular I like "Grounds for Divorce."

Accelerate by R.E.M. : Wow, R.E.M. is still going! I bought every R.E.M. album when they were released, starting with Document in 1987 and ending with Reveal in 2001. That's eleven years and eight albums. Reveal was not good. I did not buy Around the Sun in 2004. I was quite skeptical when I heard about the release of Accelerate, but it is a good album. I really like "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and "Accelerate". 

Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs : I love the White Stripes, but I really did not like the first album The Raconteurs. It was underwhelming. This one is much better. I still sometimes wish that Jack White would just take over and turn it into a White Stripes album, but it's usually a "this is good but ohh, how it could be better" kind of thing. Favorite songs are the title track and "Old Enough."

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend : This album took awhile to grow on me, too. It was one of those albums that sounded much better in my car than on headphones. Pitchfork says they are pop not rock. I don't agree. I think they are a little too clever to for pop, and maybe too catchy for "alternative"? Who knows. It is a fun and original album. Favorite songs "Campus" and "Oxford Comma."

The Slip by Nine Inch Nails : Oh, NIN released an album? Well actually they released Ghosts as well, but I must admit that I haven't listened to that much since I downloaded it. The Slip is amazingly good. The only bad thing is that by releasing so much music, Trent Reznor is making it seem too easy. For me, this album really clearly defined the post-Fragile NIN sound. It obviously started with With Teeth, but The Slip has made it crystal clear. Best tracks "1,000,000", "Discipline", and "The Four of Us are Dying."

Graduation

I've been listening to a lot of new music lately. If you notice my last.fm widget on the blog, then you can probably guess what my favorite has been so far: Graduation by Kanye West. The only problem with Graduation is the beginning. The first four tracks are weak. Everything after that is rock solid. I absolutely love Flashing Lights and Big Brother. The first four tracks keep this from being as good as Late Registration, but it's still easily way better than anything by West's contemporaries, including his big bro' Jay-Z.

New Music Shopping List

I went shopping for some new music yesterday. The list:

The Reminder by Feist
Robbers & Cowards by Cold War Kids
The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine
Kala by M.I.A.
Fort Nightly by White Rabbits
Graduation by Kanye West

(Yes I find it amusing that a search for any artist will find their MySpace page in the top 3 results.)

So far I've only listened to Feist and the verdict is still out.

Free Radiohead

You might have heard that Radiohead is offering their new, um album (this word seems antiquated, but so does CD, we need a new term), In Rainbows as a digital download. The "clever" part is that they let you name your own price. I've heard stuff on TV about this as well as bloggers talking about it. A lot of people have seemed to think that most people will pay a "reasonable" price. That just seemed ridiculous to me. I think most people will choose to exactly $0.00.

I went on their site and made a pre-order. I chose for the price $0.00 (well actually it was in British pounds, but 0 is still 0.) There was some mention of a potential transaction fee. However, I went through the whole process and there was no transaction fee. I completed the pre-order for $0.00. The site even seemed prepared for this and didn't bother asking me for a credit card because the price was $0.00. They did ask for all kinds of other stuff, like street address and mobile phone number. I put in bogus stuff for all that. They wanted an email address, and that's important. They email you the download details on October 10, the release date for In Rainbows.

So basically the price of the whole thing is your email address. Anything else you pay is just your charity to Radiohead. This may seem cynical, but it is reality from an economic standpoint. This is literally Radiohead's proverbial donation hat.

Why then is Radiohead doing this? Well they are selling a "deluxe version" in a fancy box with a vinyl LP of In Rainbows for $82. So they are giving their more devoted fans a chance to blow some serious cash. Otherwise they are clearly using this as a way to generate attendance for a tour, where they will make a lot of money. Presumably they will make more than enough money on the tour to pay for the cost of the infrastructure used to distribute the In Rainbows on the wire.

I don't know of any tour dates being announced yet. So maybe they are just crazy? Yeah, maybe.

Rasputin's

Here's another sign that I'm old... I went to Rasputin's recently, with the intention of buying the new White Stripes CD, Icky Thump. I used to really like going to Rasputin's. I would spend lots of time digging through used CDs and listening to obscure recommendations posted around the store.

This time was different. I was immediately annoyed by the smell. Then I was annoyed by the music playing. It was not very good and it was very loud. Then I was annoyed not to find Icky Thump in the White Stripes section. I did find it on a display at the end of the aisle. I was annoyed that it was "on sale" for $12.99.

I had no inclination to browse. I just wanted to get my CD and get out of there. So I got in line to check out. There were three cashiers, each with a customer, but nobody else in line. I was optimistic, but that was a mistake. I waited forever before one of the customers finally finished their transaction and left. I immediately went to the open cashier, who then promptly walked away to go and converse with one of the customers at the adjacent cashier.

That was it. I had had enough. I put down my CD, and walked out of the store. I felt like shouting to the people "What is wrong with you idiots! Do you not realize that you are on borrowed time? Your business model is failing. It is just a matter of time before you disappear like Tower Records! In the time I waited in line here, I could have downloaded your CD from iTunes or off Bit Torrent!" I doubt that I will be back. Oh well.

Tonight I bought Icky Thump on eBay for $11 total with shipping. I like going to the store and buying a CD. I like being able to go back to my car, pop in my new CD, and listen to it. I think CDs are generally still the best way to buy music. I like being able to rip them to high quality MP3s for listening to on my computer, iPod, and car stereo. But I cannot tolerate Rasputin's.

Neon Bible Revisited

I made my first listen to Arcade Fire's Neon Bible a couple of weeks ago on the train going to JavaOne. I thought it was good, but not as good as the hype machine indicated. Since then I've listened to it many more times. I've listened to it in the car, while running, and while coding. It turns out it really is as good as the hype.

I think one of the reasons that I was initially unimpressed was the beginning of the album. The first song, "Black Mirror" is good, but it's bassline and beat really reminded me of "Rebellion (Lies)" from Funeral. That was the song that got me into Arcade Fire originally, so when the first song on their new album sounds a lot like their most well known song from the past album ... Not good. But the song is actually pretty good otherwise.

The album is good throughout, but really hits its stride at the end. "The Well And The Lighthouse" through "No Cars Go" is just an awesome stretch of songs. It reminded me of the beginning of Radiohead's OK Computer, and that's high praise.

My favorite lyrics of the album come from "Windowsill" (part of the above mentioned stretch of ridiculously good songs.)

Don't wanna fight in a holy war
Don't want the salesmen knocking at my door
I don't wanna live in America no more

Nevermind that these guys are Canadian...

So yeah, this is a must have album. Best of the year? Maybe. Best of the decade? Probably not, but probably in the top ten.

Review: Carnavas by Silversun Pickups

I found Carnavas as an Amazon recommendation. I've had a pretty good history with Amazon recommendations. The Amazon review mentioned influences from Smashing Pumpkins and Built to Spill -- both favorites of mine. So I was quick to give this a listen.

I was definitely reward as this is probably the best CD Amazon has recommended to me. It is an outstanding recording. Silversun Pickups have a very unique sound. It definitely has its roots in My Bloody Valentine, but is more melodic with more emotional vocals. But like My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, and Built to Spill, Silversun Pickups absolutely rock. Melodies, vocals, textures, etc. never get in the way of rocking out. It's probably more of a headphones CD than a big speakers CD, mostly from their loud-soft dynamics (did somebody mention Smashing Pumpkins?) but it's infectious rock however you listen to it.

Favorite CDs of 2006

I mentioned before that the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium had to be my favorite CD of the year. I bought it in May, and the two discs have continuously occupied slots #3 and #4 in my car's changer pretty much ever since (after I had ripped the discs with CDex of course.) A lot of people criticize it for being a double-CD. Double-CDs are always a little indulgent, and everyone can always make their personal list of what songs should have been included in an-even-better single CD. Of course usually everyone's list are slightly different. Stadium Arcadium has a ton of really great songs that are more and more rewarding on subsequent listens. That defines a great CD to me. My favorite songs on it are "Especially in Michigan," "Snow (Hey Oh)," "Wet Sand," "Desecration Smile," "Stadium Arcadium," "Tell Me Baby," and yes, "Dani California." Here's my other favorites, in no particular order:

Hip Hop is Dead by Nas -- My favorite CD of 2005 was Kanye West's Late Registration. I wondered if it represented a return of great hip hop CDs. The answer is no. Hip Hop is Dead is a very good CD, but it's pretty much the only really good hip hop CD this year. I kind of like Snoop's new one, too, but it's nothing too special.

The Crane Wife by The Decemberists -- I really liked last year's Picaresque, but The Crane Wife is even better. Much better actually. If it wasn't for the Peppers' opus, this probably would have been my favorite of the year.

St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley -- Yeah there are other songs on here besides "Crazy." None as good, but several very enjoyable ones.

Pearl Jam by Pearl Jam -- Maybe I was biased on this one. This is a very good CD, but I probably like it more just because it's by Pearl Jam and it's their first good CD in awhile. Still, you could make a good case for this being the soundtrack of the political changes in America in 2006.

Taking the Long Way Home by The Dixie Chicks -- What is this, country music on my list? This CD is fun and relaxing at the same time, with several memorable songs. The popular "I'm Not Ready To Make Nice" is a great anthem, but I really love "Lullaby." It makes me think of my two sons. What can I say, I'm getting old.

Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady -- This CD rocks. It's great to listen to driving or running. I love the singer's voice.

Favorite Songs of 2006

I was picking songs to listen to on my iPod last night, and thought about my favorite songs of the past year. Here they are, in no particular order:

Supermassive Black Hole -- Muse
Vicarious -- Tool
Crazy -- Gnarls Barkley
Where'd You Go? -- Fort Minor
Out Here All Night -- Damone
Had a Bad Day -- Daniel Powter
Upside Down -- Jack Johnson
Hip Hop is Dead -- Nas
Paralyzed -- Rock Kills Kid
Gold Lion -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Think I'm in Love -- Beck
The Joker and The Thief -- Wolfmother
Snow (Hey Oh) -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Especially in Michigan -- Red Hot Chili Peppers

I could probably list a lot more songs from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium. That was definitely my favorite CD of the year. Maybe I'll make a list of other good CDs later next week.