John's Blog

Back in the day, I was a huge user of the original peer-to-peer file-sharing service before it was shutdown and they sold off the name. This was before I saw it as stealing, and before the pool became polluted with mislabeled files and other even more malicious stuff. The threat of being sued and made an example of didn't hurt in making this re-evaluation either. Since I got my iPod, I've limited myself to things I've bought on disk, or at the iTunes store. Until now.

Since I was like a fat man at an all you can eat buffet, I've got tons of stuff burned to disk that I got off the net. Much of it is stuff I had on vinyl or tape already. The rest consists of artists that I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise. Most of the time, if I liked the band, I'd wind up buying more of their work. Hardly the way the RIAA would have you believe it works. But the temptation of looking at the shelves of stuff sitting there became too much for me and I caved-in. The long and tedious process of converting them continues. It's a pain to have to label each track, but I guess there are worse problems.

What I really miss was the feature in the old Napster that allowed you to peruse other peoples shared folders. Maybe it's just my voyeuristic tendencies, but I was always fascinated by seeing what other peoples tastes were like. It was like going to an open house just so you can look at the decor and go through their closets. In both cases, you come away with some new and interesting ideas. The shared playlists features in iTunes is a poor substitute, since it lacks the intimacy, but it will have to do.

As I've been obsessionally transferring stuff, I've also been going playlist crazy. One of my recent ones consists of some killer cover songs that I'll pass on. I can't stop listening to it! And if you haven't taken the leap into the world of digital music a good article on the perils of picking a format.

My Cover Songs Playlist:

Reelin' In The Years (Marvelous 3)

Only A Fool Would Say That (Ivy)

Do It Again (Smash Mouth)

Bodhisattva (Brian Setzer Orchestra)

Barrytown (Ben Folds Five)

Any Major Dude Will Tell You (Wilco)

All Along The Watchtower (Dave Mason)

Why Can't We Be Friends? (Smash Mouth)

Land Of Confusion (Disturbed)

I Will Survive (Cake)

The Guitar Man (Cake)

Video Killed The Radio Star (Everclear)

Go Your Own Way (Seaweed)

Mrs. Robinson (The Lemonheads)

I Thank You (ZZ Top)

Behind Blue Eyes (Limp Bizkit)

I Ran (So Far Away) (Bowling for Soup)

She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (Joe Cocker)

Where Have All the Good Times Gone (David Bowie)

Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Warren Zevon...NOT a cover, but so much better than the lame Linda Ronstadt cover, I just HAD to include it!)

I suspect this list will get bigger, since I'm still discovering new covers every day. Any suggestions?