Tool June 2, 2007
Posted by erik in : Music , 1 comment so far
Day 3 of the Tool extravaganza. Thursday Caleb and I flew down to Orlando to catch Tool in concert and the show rocked. It’s been something like 6 years since these guys toured and I have this fear that this might be the last, hence why this is day 3. Today we find ourselves in Jacksonville, FL where tonight we will be seeing Tool again. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a band twice on the same tour and I’m not sure what to expect. The set has been pretty good, I’m horrible with names however so don’t ask me to name what songs, but they have been playing a lot of my old favorites in addition to new stuff off of 10,000 days. 
Too many Tool might seem as just another angry metal band but for me I’ve always considered Tool a pretty spiritual experience. It’s a raw power sharply focused that I find deeply energizing. That’s not to say all of their songs talk to me, but most of them do, and they wake something up inside me.
Ok, off for breakfast, tonight the show goes on.
Filling the music void May 21, 2006
Posted by erik in : Music , 4 commentsWhen I first heard of podcasting, I somehow got it in my mind that they were just recorded talk radio shows on esoteric subjects. Ok, I didn’t think they were all like that but I didn’t quite get it at first. To explain, let me get a little nostalgic. Ever since I started to buy CD’s on the Internet (anyone remember CD-NOW?) I lamented the loss of the music store experience. There was something special about walking into your favorite music store (for me it was Virgin Megastore Vienna) picking out 20 hopefuls and then power listening to them all. On the good days I left the store with 20 cd’s in hand.
Fast forward to today. I haven’t been into a music store in years that I wanted to spend more than 5 min. in (ok Virgin London rocked, hmm perhaps this is an American only issue?). Which means I’ve been totally dependent on my friends and random chance to find my music (thanks Michael!) and yes before you tell me there are thousands of news groups and web pages dedicated to finding music, let me just say that when it comes to music, I’ve got to hear it, talking about it just doesn’t work for me.
Enter the music podcast.
If you are not finding new music via podcasts, you are missing out. For the first time in a long time I’ve got that music store experience back again, I’m enjoying those 20 cd’s and on the good days I’m puting in an order to iTunes or AllofMP3.com.
So there are a few podcasts you need to know about, and since i’m on an electronic kick right now, I’ll point you to two of my favorites.
Spacemusic is podcasted direct from the Netherlands by TC and generaly falls on the beat oriented ambient side of the house. Occasionally TC mixes it up and IMHO it’s always a nice way to keep people on their toes. Orbital Grooves falls more on the dance/trance/drum n base/house side and the latest podcast has induced 100 mph speeds at least twice now.
The void has been filled.