From the Rhapsody newsletter

Music Icons in Rhapsody

"Happy days are here: Rhapsody welcomes new material from some of the most popular, iconic figures in music. Both Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder have given us a taste of their forthcoming albums, while the Rolling Stones and Miles Davis have digitally released long out-of-print albums. Feel free to explore these new additions, or just dig into the incredible back catalogs of these legendary artists."

PlasticBoy does an excellent job of archiving the featured playlists within Rhapsody. The weekly newsletter includes a playlist as well, presented here in case you missed it.

"So What The Fuss" - Stevie Wonder
"Devils & Dust" - Bruce Springsteen
"Hot Stuff" - The Rolling Stones
"Seven Steps To Heaven" - Miles Davis
"In The Ghetto" - Elvis Presley
"Get Up Stand Up" - Bob Marley
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" - Bob Dylan
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" - Marvin Gaye
"Peace Frog" - The Doors
"The Man Who Sold The World" - Nirvana

Song of the Day, New Releases, Misc

I was really excited to hear Martha Wainwright's new album. Sorry to say, I wasn't really that impressed. Them's the breaks. I heart Rufus, though.

Also, everyone seems to be blubbering over British Sea Power but I can't seem to get into it. I'll give it another couple listens before passing judgment. Maybe I just get used to the familiar and it takes me a while to cuddle up to a new sound.

Today's Song of the Day is Ben Folds' cover of The Cure's "In Between Days." When I saw him a couple of months ago he opened the show with this song. It just has the sort of quiet exhuberance I feel on a Friday afternoon in the office. You can't totally unwind, but you can wiggle around a little bit in your chair, and maybe snap your fingers.

Ben Folds - In Between Days


Getting around to some new music that I like, the new Of Montreal album, The Sunlandic Twins, is really fantastic.

Click the image to play. Trying to teach myself some more code so that I don't bore you all to death.


Finally, I am totally, totally infatuated with rhapmusic at the moment. Good thing I found them now when they're just getting started, so I don't miss anything. Keep up the fantastic work, guys.

Desert Island Selections

Recently, my friend Robert of The Radish asked several music bloggers to select a single "desert island song" that is available on Rhapsody. Robert's article appears at both FIQL.com and BlogCritics. Here's my original response to Robert's question:

Suddenly I became very cerebral about the selection process. Do I choose a song that has an emotional connection for me, a reminder of past experiences to draw upon? Or a musical masterpiece that would never get old no matter how many times I heard it? Maybe a song with words that lend themselves to endless interpretation. An exquisite vocal performance. A really long song, so I wouldn't have to hear it so many times...decisions, decisions.

I narrowed it down to 30 or 40 candidates, of course excluding my #1 all-time desert island song due to it not being on Rhapsody ("Blackbird" by The Beatles.)

Some of the finalists, according to the above categories, were as follows:
Emotional connection: "A Murder of One" - Counting Crows
Musical masterpiece: "Sad Eyes" - Josh Rouse (it's so new, but I can't believe how it carefully builds into an epic of a song. It's delicate and emotionally powerful at the same time. Extraordinary.)
Lyrical wonder: "Sinner" - Neil Finn (just abstract enough to keep me interested)
Amazing vocals: "Rain" - Patty Griffin (wow. just, wow.)
Long song: I don't really like long songs, so that's out.

After much deliberation, taking all of the above into consideration, I have chosen:

"The Scientist" - Coldplay

It combines all of my criteria in a way that is transcendent. This song will stand on its own two feet forever. Absolutely timeless, perfectly executed, the right balance of restraint and grandeur. I'll never, ever be tired of this song.

My Own Desert Island Playlist

Album of the Week

Yeah, I know this was recently a "Staff Pick" on the Rhapsody home page, but if you haven't given Manic Street Preachers a try, you should. As someone who listens to mostly singer/songwriters and 'rock'-type music, MSP are very refreshing. A friend turned me on to them a couple of years ago and every once in a while I'll pop it into my car and give it a few spins. It seems you have to be in a very specific type of mood to listen to MSP for any length of time.

And really, any song with the lyric "disco dancing with the rapists" is worth listening to at least once. (That lyric is from "Tsunami" No, Celebrity Jeopardy fans, it's not "therapists." I checked.)

Manic Street Preachers - This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

Song of the Day

Guster - "Diane"

I'm tired. It was a good day. This is a near-perfect way to say goodbye to a productive Monday and hello to dreamland. Sweet dreams to you all.

Is it ever enough?

The other day I was thinking of two different songs that both had the word "enough" in the title, and it seemed like a good idea for a playlist. Wow, there are a lot of great songs that fit the bill! I am really happy with the quality of this playlist. Hopefully you'll hear something new, something familiar, something catchy, something different.

There's 'something' for everyone: if you've had enough, can't get enough, are strong enough or good enough or deep enough. Here at RiB we can never get enough of good music!

Enough is Enough playlist

* "Enough" - Todd Snider
* "Strong Enough" - Sheryl Crow
* "Enough" - Cat Power
* "Good Enough" - Sarah McLachlan
* "Enough" - The Undertones
* "Enough Is Not Enough" - Joe Jackson (Rock)
* "Never Get Enough" - Billionaire
* "Not Enough Time" - INXS
* "Enough Space" - Foo Fighters
* "Enough" - Dance Hall Crashers
* "Enough Of The Night" - Jackson Browne
* "Enough" - Yo La Tengo
* "Enough (Extrinsic Remix)" - Gravity Kills
* "Never Enough" - The Cure
* "Old Enough" - The Matthew Show
* "Deep Enough" - Live
* "It's Enough" - Sleater-Kinney
* "Never Enough" - Del Amitri
* "Strong Enough" - Tal Bachman
* "Good Enough" - The Knack
* "Never Enough" - The Monkees
* "Loved You Enough" - Yonder Mountain String Band
* "Not Pretty Enough" - Kasey Chambers
* "Ain't That Enough" - Teenage Fanclub
* "Can't Get Enough" - The London Suede