Christmas time is here.
Happiness and cheer.
Fun for all that children call,
Their favorite time of the year.

Snowflakes in the air.
Carols everywhere.
Olden times and ancient rhymes,
Of love and dreams to share.

Sleigh bells in the air.
Beauty everywhere.
Yuletide by the fireside,
And joyful memories there.

Christmas time is here.
We’ll be drawing near.
Oh, that we could always see,
Such spirit through the year…

I’ve always loved the simplicity and intrigue of “Billy Jean”, my favorite song of his. Thank you Michael, and may you rest in peace.

Billy Jean by Michael Jackson

From now until February 13, Neko Case and Anti records will donate five dollars for every blog that posts the song (or one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to their profile) to the Best Friends Animal Society.

The new song is from her forthcoming release Middle Cyclone (coming out on March 3, 2009). What a great way to put out the word on the new material. Thanks Neko! I can’t wait for the new album.

Here’s a sample of the song, which was recorded from a live show this summer. Very reminiscent of Dylan and The Band.

Found via Rolling Stone Rock & Roll Daily.

Its musical focus was what first got me reading Rolling Stone — especially the music reviews. Over the years though, they’ve added more features on pop-culture things like fashion, television, and video games. Lately a good deal of their random notes section looks like it came from a sleazy tabloid. Often the music news in the bi-weekly magazine was not news to me. I had already heard about it online. I became less and less interested, and issues would pile up, unread. Over the past few years I wondered why I was paying for a subscription, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to stop.

This month however, I finally let my subscription expire. Just the other day, the post office delivered my last issue. I’m not ignoring Rolling Stone’s editorial content though, I’m reading it online. In my browser (or RSS reader), I can get Rolling Stone’s album reviews, music news and even read some of the current issue’s cover story. Of course, if I really want to read the whole thing I can go to the library, or access the full text from the library’s periodical databases.

In a lot of ways other websites have long ago replaced Rolling Stone as my favorite sources for music news and reviews. The folks at Glorious Noise do a great job. They’ve also got a nice section of message boards where I tend to be a bit of a lurker. The NPR Music site is another excellent source. While at the NPR site, be sure and check out All Songs Considered, a weekly program available via streaming audio, or podcast.

Muzzle of Bees is a great resource for local music news (covering Madison and Milwaukee), as is the music section of the Isthmus, Madison’s local alternative newspaper.

For music reviews, my favorites are below. If you read just one, check out Metacritic, which compiles reviews from a wide range of sources, often linking to the original review.

• Metacritic Music Reviews
• Pop Matters: Music
• Pitchfork Record Reviews

So while I’m a little sorry I let my Rolling Stone subscription expire, I’ve definitely moved on. Any other good music websites I’m missing?

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the Sun.
My hunger for her explains everything I’ve done.
To howl at the moon the whole night through,
And they really don’t care if I do.
I’d go out of my mind, but for you.

I didn’t have enough ambition to mess around with my camera and tripod during last night’s -5 F temperatures, but you can see images of the eclipse from SpaceWeather.com.

Stairway To Heaven by The Beatnix

Lucky Dube’s music was just a joy to listen to. His beautiful tenor voice singing along with those reggae rhythms was something special. True to reggae traditions, his songs often had a strong social message, singing against things like apartheid, social injustice, violence and crime, and the epidemic of AIDS. The folks who run Lucky Dube’s website wrote “the death of Lucky Dube leaves a great void in the music industry, as 25 years of music suddenly ends in tragedy.”

I was fortunate to have seen Lucky Dube and his band perform three times, and each was an outstanding show. My favorite occurred in 1993 when he was touring to support his CD, Victims. It took place outside in a small amphitheater (at Rainbow Summer, a free concert series in downtown Milwaukee). The excellent music, the outdoor setting, the intimate venue, and a personal touch made this a great show for me. After the last song, Lucky walked across the stage to get close to some of his fans and shake their hands — including mine.

If asked to name a favorite Lucky Dube album, it would be hard for me to choose between the previously mentioned Victims and House of Exile. If you don’t have any of his music, either of those would be great ones to start with.

Perhaps the best tribute to Lucky Dube would be to quote from his own lyrics, an excerpt from “Touch Your Dream,” the last song off his most recent release.

You are the one to make it happen.
You’re the only one that knows what is.
You are holding the key to your dreams.
Don’t hesitate, grab the chance,
Before it’s too late.

Reach out and touch you dreams.

Don’t let them tell you it is impossible,
That is what they told all heroes before.
In a hero’s mind the word does not exist.
When you’re 80 years old,
Thinking about your past,
Regretting every minute of your life,
That you’ve lost,
You will wonder where the time went.
If you do the right thing,
It could be talking to you.
Don’t hesitate, grab the chance,
Before it’s too late.

Reach out and touch your dreams.

Thank you for making the world a better place Lucky. I hope you’re still touching your dreams, even in the afterlife.

Update, July 13: It seems Google has changed the parameters of the player and it no longer works properly. The good news is I have found a decent player which I can install on this site.

Above is the Audio Player developed by Martin Laine. It’s available as a WordPress plugin, and a standalone player (which is what I’m using).

By the way, the song “What Light,” is from Sky Blue Sky, Wilco’s excellent new release.

Part of me was reluctant to go with an Apple iPod. My old player was from Sansa, and concerns about Apple’s proprietary software bothered me a bit. After reading some online reviews, I decided to try one of the new Sansa models. I was not impressed. The controls seemed clumsy and hard to get used to. I experimented with loading music from my computer onto the player, and that was a clumsy experience as well. So, I returned the Sansa player, and picked up a 4 GB Apple iPod Nano. Wow! What a nice device. Yes that’s right, I am now one of the Pod People.

Apple gets a lot of things right with the iPod. The user interface is very intuitive and easy to use. The actual construction seems solid, and that brushed aluminum exterior is very cool. There is a reason the iPods are the top selling portable music players on the market. Even though I was reluctant to install iTunes (the software you need to transfer music to an iPod), my fears were alleviated when I started using it. Importing music from my CD collection is a painless process. Adding other audio sources, such as MP3s I already had or podcasts, is very easy as well.

I’ve had it for a few weeks now and I still get a kick out of the size. Here is this tiny device (3.5 inches tall, 1.6 inches wide, and .26 inches deep) that can hold about 70 CDs worth of music. Amazing.

When I bought the iPod, I also picked up an Altec Lansing travel speaker system. I’m impressed with that as well. I bought it so I can have some portable sound sans headphones. For the speaker system’s small size it delivers pretty high quality sound. I’m looking forward to bringing that along the next time I go camping and leaving my big folder of CDs and boombox at home.