For the third year in a row, Record Store Day, will be celebrated this coming weekend.  Wait! You’re going to ask: what is a record store?  This is the part where I die a little on the inside.  With the world shoulder deep in the digital age, some see it archaic to have to leave their home, get in a car, drive, park, enter a store and begin looking through racks for an album they need to own.  Who wants to do that?  ME!  That’s who.

Record Store Day is the celebration of neurotic folks, like myself, that still believe in purchasing physical albums to play in Walkmans, record players, stereos and what have you.  It is on this day, musicians show their gratitude to independent record stores across the country and release limited edition material to the foaming masses.

With big box stores reducing the size of their music selections, independent record stores have a chance to start winning folks back.  Since Wal-Mart, Target or Best Buy have limited offerings, you can take a trip to the small store and really find what you want or be convinced to purchase something else that you wouldn’t otherwise think to pick.  Not that I’ve ever done that to someone before, but it does happen to some unsuspecting victims.

To really get in the spirit of the event visit their website to see what stores are participating, what releases are offered and some all around general music news.  Many stores have live music by local artists, and tons of free samplers.  As the day nears, check the site for updates about releases and locations.  Some of us have the Super Bowl, the rest of us have Record Store Day.

Thesixtyone.com is my new preference for listening to music over Grooveshark. While I do love using Grooveshark and being able to have the ability to check out pretty much any song I ever could imagine and then being able to save those songs on to a playlist, I rarely use Grooveshark to break out from my typical music and find new stuff. This is where thesixtyone comes into play.

Being sick of the same old stuff, I discovered thesixtyone and started on my musical adventure. The interface of the site just recently changed, so I still am getting used to it, but it is actually pretty fun to use. All you really need when you are using this website is the album or the band, and then you have a few menus that pull out when you hover over areas that allow you to navigate. These toolbars allow you to skip the song, save the song to a playlist, “heart” the song, and more. There are a few things about this interface that I do not enjoy, such as how last time you could simply “save” songs while now you have to save them to playlists that have a maximum capacity of 10 songs. Another odd thing about this interface is that you cannot look at a list of songs to chose from; while you can search for a particular artist, you cannot see a list of the top X songs or so and choose from there.

The cool thing about thesixtyone is that it is a place for new artists, and then it is the listeners who decide what’s good. The more hearts and saves a song gets, the more popular it becomes, and the more well known the artist becomes. They claim to be “nurturing a growing ecosystem where talented folks can sell songs and merchandise directly to their fans.” On thesixtyone artists can make at least $7 per album and are paid every 30 days– that’s  a lot of money in comparison to the standard $1-2 per album.

They’re named after Highway 61– “The road by which people left their homes to take their music to the world.”

What started out as a way for an old band to get back together, turned into a real reality check for STS. People are “Under Pressure” everywhere and need to be aware and hopefully act locally.

This video was created after the band played a memorial gig for a friend who passed away, and it got them thinking. Why not create a video to go along with the theme of this great tune, “Under Pressure”, originally performed by Queen and David Bowie?

Credit goes to guitarist John Whitcore who suggested submitting the video to Avid Technology’s video contest and donating the winnings to a local charity or shelter.  They also wanted to get their kids to understand and get involved, so they ended up doing their part by being our on-camera talent.

Steve Centorino explained, “We thought the message was timely.  If we can get people to at least think about it, then we’ve accomplished something.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

STS  is:  Steve Centorino, Joe Calbro, Dana Ruzicka and John Whitcore.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you say when a legendary artist asks you to cover his song for a benefit album?  You say yes. . .duh.  Which was the exact response 16 current artists gave to their idols when this album was being created.  To help promote awareness of children who have been displaced by war around the globe War Child and Astralwerks teamed up to create this collection of covers.

The reason for me purchasing this album was to hear Beck play Bob Dylan, which is done very well, and to give a listen to other artists I’m not familiar with.  The lineup includes: The Kooks play The Kinks, The Hold Steady plays Bruce Springsteen, Franz Ferdinand plays Blondie, Estelle plays Stevie Wonder, Adam Cohen plays Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright plays Brian Wilson, Lily Allen plays The Clash, Elbow plays U2, TV on the Radio plays David Bowie, The Like plays Elvis Costello, Scissor Sisters play Roxy Music, Duffy plays Paul McCartney, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s play The Ramones, Hot Chip plays Joy Division, and Peaches play Iggy Pop.

Over all I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of covers and really felt that each artist added his or her own personal twist to the given song.  If there is one that I had to pick on, it would have to be Duffy covering “Live and Let Die”, I really wish she rocked that song a little more.  Standout tracks would have to be Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks, Estelle, Rufus Wainwright and Elbow.

In a time when newer artists really can massacre a classic song, this compilation proves that some people take the time to craft something worth listening to.  Plus, it is helping a good cause, so you certainly should pick it up.

I’m usually not a fan of remastered or reissued albums. Give me the bumps, hiss and feedback. However, after hearing about Pearl Jam’s reissuing of Ten, their 1991 debut, I may have to reconsider:

The standard edition sounds like you get a copy of the album that has been remastered, then a copy that has been mixed a little differently by producer Brendan O’Brien. However, it sounds like the deluxe version may be worth the money as you get the two disc set, a DVD of Pearl Jam’s rare MTV Unplugged performance from 1992, four vinyls (one of Ten, one remixed copy and a two LP set of a 1992 concert called ‘Drop In the Park” recorded in Seattle), a replica cassette of Pearl Jam’s demos “Alive”, “Once” and “Footsteps”, an “Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament”, a vellum envelope with era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and finally a two-sided print commemorating the ‘Drop In the Park’ show.

Breathe for a second, this sounds like a reissue that would be worth every penny. No word on price, late March is the drop date. This is what a reissue should be: tons of unreleased material. A lot of the time bands use a reissue to get rid of B-sides and covers, and if you are a diehard fan you probably have all the singles and compilations with those tracks, so who needs that? What the fans really want is rare material. Stuff you know you can’t get anywhere else, except for some cruddy bootleg. We want the hard-to-find, out-of-print stuff. Dig out the Doc Martens, flannel shirts, and don’t get all ‘plastic’. With any luck this won’t cost an arm and a leg.

I highly doubt that Youtube ever will cease to amaze me with the shows of pure talent that are available to watch. Just when I think I’ve seen all of the best new videos, another interesting one come in the “Related Videos” column. I find myself watching that video, then the rest of them by the same artist. In this way, I can find myself unintentionally entertained for three hours on a theoretically simple Website.

The videos I’m most interested in are the Music videos, though Comedy and other categories are equally flooded with skill and style. As a musician, I really appreciate the effort that the artists working from home put into their videos. A lot of comments complain about small mistakes made in a video, but I can guarantee that hours were spent trying to minimize that amount. It’s hard to make a piece of music perfect, in fact it’s impossible. Even if all of the right notes are played, there always can be critique on tone, expression, or the appearances in the video itself.

There are thousands of artists making their first appearances each week, and it’s hard to keep up and not miss out on the talent. For almost 4 years now, Youtube has been up and running. Here are a few of the talented artists that I have been listening to and think you should check out if you haven’t heard them already:

• Kyle Landry – A pianist who I believe is brilliant. He plays completely original flawless pieces, as well as beautifully arranged covers.
• Boyce Avenue – Three brothers, Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel Manzano, and good friend Stephen Hatker together make covers of popular songs that, in my opinion, often sound better than the original. They don’t have major producers helping them, but they still manage to put together a great sound.
• Bo Burnham – A hilarious musician and comedian, unfortunately, you might want to call some of the lyrics “PG-13″.
• Sungha Jung – A twelve-year-old guitar player. I actually came across him for the first time today and subsequently found myself listening to dozens of his videos. The fact that he’s 12 is surprising but isn’t the reason why I listened to him. His style is unique, and he’s simply a talented musician.

I love to listen to music. Whether I am working on my laptop, driving in the car, doing a workout, cleaning the house, or actually almost any activity, I have music playing.

The source of music varies by location. When I am driving, I listen to satellite radio. When I am exercising, I use an mp3. If I am working in the office or house, I usually choose a favorite cd. I have a fairly wide range of music from which to choose. I might listen to classical, top 40 music, or an independent artist.

My preferred independent artist is Chris Trapper, a Boston-based musician. I found the perfect description of him on his Website:

His words and music can best be described as an interesting blend of 1950’s pop, 1990’s rock and old-timey jazz with the ever-present under story of Chris’ distinctive baritenor. It’s intricate power-pop with a compelling knack for telling everyday stories.

Being a fan of his music, I have seen him in concert several times. His live performance is as well-delivered as his recordings. He performs solo, playing a variety of instruments to accompany his songs. Watching his concert you receive a combination of excellent music and entertaining banter.

What I find baffling about the talent of Chris Trapper is that he does not have a major recording label. I would describe his music as similar to John Mayer’s. He has catchy lyrics – some poignant, some funny – just like Mr. Mayer.

So, if both musicians have memorable lyrics, appealing tunes, and entertaining shows, why is one a top 40 artist and the other a cult favorite? It doesn’t make sense to me.