Radiolab Podcast: Parasites!

The WNYC show Radiolab delivers up fascinating tidbits about science, presented in compelling narratives. You can subscribe to their podcasts via iTunes or at the Radiolab website.

Tonight they are having a live event at Water Taxi Beach here in New York. Unfortunately it's sold out so I won't be attending but if any video of it surfaces don't be surprised to find it here.

Here's an mp3 of their latest episode, Parasites. Just so you're warned: there are some kind of gross parts in this episode.

The Lost Art of the Mixtape: Maybe not so Lost After All?

Something sacred was lost when the art of the mix traveled from tape to cd. Maybe it was the knowledge that someone spent 90 minutes or so sitting on the floor in front of their stereo, thinking of you instead of dragging and dropping some files in iTunes in 15 minutes. Maybe it's just the warm glow of analog. Either way, it just ain't the same. I still proffer (and prefer!) to make people mixtapes but now most people shrug and say they don't have a cassette player. So back to the laptop I go.

But maybe there's hope for the mixtape yet, if not as a popular music medium, than at least as a cult icon of bygone days. Besides the recent books Love is a Mixtape and Thurston Moore's Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture some mixtape loving websites are starting to crop up.

First up is Cassette From My Ex, created by Found Magazine's Jason Bitner. It is filled with stories about (and track listings of) mixtapes people received from someone who loved them but doesn't now. The contributors are exciting (Claudia Gonson anyone?) and best of all you can listen to the mixtapes on the site.

Muxtape tries to bring the fun of the cassette to digital mixes. I don't know how successful it is on that front but it is a great site. Anyone can create a free account and then upload 12 songs to make your mix with. You can drag and drop the names of songs on your list around to change the order and then anyone, anywhere can listen to the mix on the Muxtape site.

Mixwit offers much the same service as Muxtape but with a different interface and a couple more goodies. Mixwit let's you add skins to your mixtape including using an image of your own. But where as Muxtape let's you upload songs from your own library, Mixwit requires you to select songs from a url, so yo uhave to host your songs online somewhere or use SeeqPod or SkreemR . Mixwit let's you share your mix on sites like Blogger and Facebook but doesn't give you a simple url to link to like Muxtape does.

So there you have it. The mixtape lives on, if only in our hearts. So go forth and mixaply!

New MP3 Blog: One Sweet Song

One Sweet Song is a new blog by musician Gina Pensiero. Every day (ish) she posts one MP3 of a song she's into and does a little review of it. It's an ecclectic mix, covering artists from The Breeders to Gal Costa. And who can say no to one free song every day?

Palmyra - Mis En Scene

Check out this good-looking website for the indie rock band Palmyra.  They're releasing a new album, Mis En Scene,  June 14th (this Saturday) at Flux Factory in Long Island City, Queens. On the new site you can listen to three of the tracks from the new album and download a flyer for the show. 

Make sure to check out the Jess Snyder video for Palmyra's "June's Disappointment" that we posted awhile back

Also, bonus! Download free mp3s of the Palmyra songs "Apathy" and "No Where to Go". 

Friday Drive In:Field's of Industry - Point of Contention

Michiganders Fields of Industry have just released their second album, Two Dogs, A TV. This is the video for an awesome song off Two Dogs, A TV called "Point of Contention". You can buy the new album on Amazon and eMusic via Cerebrus Records.




Special Bonus! Right click to download the Fields of Industry song "I'm Not Afraid of a Fight" (or just click to listen).

AlbumBase: it's ba-ack...

For any of you who enjoyed AlbumBase I'm sure you were as sad as I was when they got busted by whoever busts people for that sort of thing.

The good news is they aren't really gone! The whole ordeal has just been moved to AlbumWash.

For those of you unfamiliar with either site: this is a great resource for free mp3's. The best part is that you don't download songs individually but by album, often times including the art work. For a more detailed description, check out the review we did of AlbumBase last summer

AlbumWash seems to have less content than AlbumBase did, but it will probably take awhile for it to get back to where it was. Grab the opportunity before this site gets busted too and go get you some free music!

Blogger Blog Blogging about a Blog on Blogger

I've been reading this blog pretty religiously since I discovered it, so I figured it was about time I shared the wealth.

I Guess I'm Floating is a music blog, mostly covering the Indie scene but sometimes wandering into other genres. Posts frequently include mp3s and videos (though attempting to download past posts' mp3s has often led to dead links for me).

My favorite part has been Thursdays and Covers, a weekly delivery of mp3s of various covers.

So enjoy! But don't forget about your favorite blogger blog...

When Life Gives You Limewire, Make Limeade...

but when life gives you AlbumBase, download an outrageous amount of free music.

You know how most downloading programs go: first you have to download some application that is going to take up space on your hard drive and make all your other programs run slow. Then you have to sift through all the anime porn, spam, and random crap that comes from your search. Then you have to go song by song to get an album, usually not able to find the last 2 or 3 to make it complete.

Well friend, throw off the shackles of your downloading oppression and start stealing music easier, faster, and more accurately!


AlbumBase is straightforward and simple: sign up for an account with your email address, search for an entire album out of the 296,097 they have to choose from, and download it in less than a minute. That's it.

At some point in the registration it did ask me for my phone number, but I just closed the page and came back later and my account worked fine. If you have any trouble opening the files, make sure you have the latest version of stuffit expander.

Thanks to Travis (whose birthday was yesterday) in Ann Arbor, MI for telling Web Diversions about this awesome site!