Single of the Week

I've posted before about my hesitancy to spend money on music, especially music that's not already familiar to me and that I'm comfortable with. I've also mentioned Single of the Week when I stated that I'd bought an album by The Gaslight Anthem after downloading a free single through iTunes.

I'm really getting into this iTunes business and I'm enjoying being able to download new music at no cost or damage to myself. Bands I encountered first through this medium are starting to make a name for themselves in the charts, bands such as Friendly Fires being notable, and chart topping debuts such as Empire of the Sun have also featured.

I'd really recommend it as a way to explore new music, you may download a song and hate it - so what, delete it then, it cost you nothing. I've got a stack of songs I never listen to because they don't appeal. I've also got several I like listening to, but wouldn't stretch to buying, that's the beauty of the system, not to mention it's 100% legal and promoted by the bands themselves. You downloading their free song raises their profile and makes them more money, so you aren't harming the muic industryt at all - in fact the reverse.

And once in a while you come across something that you realise you just have to get your hands on. I find this quite an organic process. I download all these songs and leave them on iTunes, I listen to iTunes and over time a song will stick out, one that I want to play over again each time I log on, eventually becoming a favourite, after this I start keeping my eyes open for it on the shelves and CD racks (I'm a purist).

You guessed the fact that I found a band - the group I like are The Airborne Toxic Event. I liked the single 'Sometime Around Midnight' for a while, but unfortunately couldn't get the album in HMV or my usual haunts. I eventually dug it up in an indie music shop in Cambridge and it's fast becoming a favourite.










I won't attempt a review, instead I'll let you hear for yourselves.



Another single that's growing on me is 'Crystalized' by The XX. I'm finding I flick to that song every time I open iTunes, I suspect it will be bought as I can see it on the shelves more commonly and as soon as money comes in as well as out I'd imagine I'll pounce on it quick! Another band I'm enjoying are Solid Gold. I might post up some songs, but I don't want to clog things up so I'll leave it there for now - check them out online.

Word of the post: Heuristic –adjective

1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.