» March 30th, 2008 ::

"In This Moment" by Ryan farish

Yesterday, March 29th, 2008, I posted (since removed) and sent an email to Ryan Farish expressing my concerns for what I perceived to be very anti-consumer behavior.

What was the problem you ask?

To sum it up briefly: he released a new single to an already established album, which is available as an album-only purchase (you must buy the complete album, no option to purchase individual tracks).

So, if you had already purchased the album just days before the new track was released, like I did, you would now have to purchase the album again to get the new song.

Well, it's his store, he has every right to sell his music the way he wants, and... you don't have to buy his music.

True, but I honestly believe that independent artists need all the sales they can get... taking part in what I called "anti-consumer behavior" doesn't bring back repeat customers, it abuses them.

Results...

This afternoon, I recieved a reply from Ryan, apologizing for this incident... and thanking me for bringing this situation to his attention!

I wrote back to thank him for taking time to personally reply to my comments, and that I appreciated his actions...

... I'm happy to announce that, for a limited time, Ryan's newest single "In This Moment" is available as a single download for $1.29, or as part of the "WONDERFALL" pre-release album.

Originally Posted: March 30th, 2008 by Joshua
Last Updated: March 30th, 2008 by Joshua
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» March 25th, 2008 ::

E-mails gone unanswered...

Sarah emailed me asking if she could forward a copy of her debut album, Journey, for review consideration. At the time, I was recovering from surgery, and we were not taking any new submissions. However, since I'm a big fan of solo piano, I wrote back two days later explaining what was going on, and that I would honored to review her album.

Months went by with no reply, so I sent my email again hoping that she would still be interested. Both have gone unanswered.

The two free downloads that she was offering at the time, as you could guess, fell off my top played list pretty quickly; and her music and request for review consideration became a distant memory, replaced by albums by other artists...

A gem lost amongst my collection...

Today I stumbled upon the track that I enjoyed the most, "Divided Path", and I gave it a listen. I was pulled back in, just as I was back in August.

On the second replay, I thought that Journey may now be available online. I checked my regular sources: eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, and CD Baby. At the time of this post, her album is available at...

CD Baby US (MP3 Download, DRM-Free)
iTunes Music Store US (AAC Download w/ DRM)
CD Baby US (CD)

Going for the DRM-Free option, I placed and order for the MP3 download, and a copy of the CD via CD Baby.

Journey is simply magnificent, offering deep rich original melodies, focused on the middle range of the piano.

I'm glad that our paths crossed for just a few minuets via email, back in August, even if she did or didn't receive my replies... and I'm sorry that I haven't had an opportunity to enjoy Journey sooner.

Originally Posted: March 25th, 2008 by Joshua
Last Updated: March 25th, 2008 by Joshua
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» December 1st, 2007 ::

Welcome to a Christmas / Holiday 2007 Special:

It's that time of year again! This December marks our
2nd Annual Christmas / Holiday (Top 5 List) Special.

Comforting words, worth repeating...

It's hard to find someone who can't pick out a favorite holiday song from their childhood... you know, those old time classics that wash your troubles away... Why not cleanse your spirit, and find relief from the stress that comes with this hectic season, with some new holiday classics.

This year's list contains music bursting-full of holiday spirit. "The List," as with last year's, are perfect additions to your holidays this year, and for years to come. Bellow are my hand-picked top five favorites for this season; two of which are from independent artists. I've also included three honorable mentions.

I encourage you to take a moment and visit each artist's site, and listen to any available samples.  You can purchase digital downloads of all but two albums, so you can get most of them without having to deal with crowds and jam-packed stores.

I hope you and yours have safe and happy holidays!

Joshua - Reviewer / Webmaster

Continue on to the list!

Originally Posted: December, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: December, 2007 by Joshua
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» October 13th, 2007 ::

Mannheim Steamroller's latest disappoints...

While finishing up the last few touches to the upcoming Christmas 2007 Special, Joshua purchased Chip Davis' Mannheim Steamroller's latest "all new music" Christmas album titled: Christmas Song.

He decided a short blog post wouldn't be enough to cover everything... he had to officially review it. Read his review to find out why he does not recommend this album.

Joshua's Review:

• Christmas Song by Mannheim Steamroller

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and are property of their respective owners.
© Copyright 2002 - 2007, Joshua Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

» September 18th, 2007 ::

"Legacy... Hymns of Our Heritage", a new album by David Klinkenberg

"Drawing on musical influences as diverse as traditional gospel, bluegrass, jazz, pop, folk, and old-world country, David teases the edges of memory, creating an atmosphere conducive to reflection, meditation, misty-eyed emotion, and yes, worship." - Family Christian Stores

Tracks include:

1 - Holy Holy Holy
2 - Be Thou My Vision
3 - Joy (Beethoven's 9th)
4 - Be Thou Near To Me
5 - Ave Maria
6 - 'Tis So Sweet
7 - Mighty Fortress
8 - Fairest Lord Jesus
9 - Immortal Invisible
10 - The Old Rugged Cross
11 - Amazing Grace

As of this posting, the album retails for $13.99, but you can grab it for just $9.97 (you save 29%). They appear to be "temporarily out of stock", but I wouldn't wait, you don't know how long this sale will last!

Listen Now ::

You can listen to the entire album streamed from this special media player promoting the new album:

Legacy... Hymns of Our Heritage - Media Player

Available (Exclusively) At ::

Family Christian Stores (CD)

Originally Posted: September 18th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: September 18th, 2007 by Joshua
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» September 5th, 2007 ::

Cancer Update...

After numerous blood and urine tests, as well as a 3 - Day full-body nuclear imagining scan; my doctors report that there is no sign of any current cancer growth!

This exciting news has lifted my spirits and has brought peace of mind.

I can't thank enough those who kept me in their thoughts and prayers. Thank you!

I'll be tested every 3 months, then 6, then every year, if the tests come back negative.

The Lavender ribbon symbolizes "Cancer Awareness".

Originally Posted: September 5th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: September 5th, 2007 by Joshua
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» August 11th, 2007 ::

Lavender ribbons...

On July 5, 2007 a large mass was discovered in my colon via a colonoscopy. One week later I got a call that it was in-fact a fast-growing tumor that needed to be removed as soon as possible. One question they couldn't answer was whether or not it was benign or malignant; an answer they couldn't give me until they took it out.

Surgery was quickly scheduled and performed near the end of July. While still in the hospital recovering from the surgery, I found out... it was malignant.

After my stay in the hospital, I had to go back just a few days later, due to a complication the medications caused. I'm back home again, and slowly recovering, taking one day at a time.

You may notice the "Lavender ribbons" on the site. Lavender is the widely used / chosen color for general cancer awareness.

Follow-up :: "Cancer Update..."

The Lavender ribbon symbolizes "Cancer Awareness".

Links ::
National Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society
Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation

Originally Posted: August 11th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: September 5th, 2007 by Joshua
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» July 17th, 2007 ::

Supporting Cancer Awareness

The Lavender ribbon symbolizes "Cancer Awareness".
Detailed description to follow at a later time...

For more information, please read the following blog posts titled:
"Lavender ribbons..."
"Cancer Update..."

Links:
National Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society
Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation

Originally Posted: July 17th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: September 5th, 2007 by Joshua
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» July 4th, 2007 ::

Michael W. Smith working on a new holiday album

It appears it's Christmas in July, first Jim Brickman allows fans to pre-order and listen to his upcoming holiday album, now Michael W. Smith's site is reporting that he is "working in the studio" on his upcoming Christmas album.

Details of the album are scarce, but it appears the record will be available this fall.

Photos © Copyright, Michael W. Smith

[waves]
Hey you...
Yes you, reading this via the RSS feed...
Visit the site to view a flash based photo gallery slide show. ;)

Originally Posted: July 4th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: July 4th, 2007 by Joshua
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» July 2nd, 2007 ::

Brickman readies new holiday album: "Homecoming"

Jim's VIP members today got first dibs on pre-order his upcoming holiday CD tiled "Homecoming" due out September 25th.

The album features 12 tracks (listed below), which include: "I'm Coming Home for Christmas" sung by Richie McDonald; "I Heard The Bells" (featuring Anne Cochran & Peter White); a holiday version of "My Angel" by Gerald Levert; as well as "Joy (Beethoven's 9th)" w/ David Klinkenberg.

Tracks include:

1 - Thanksgiving
2 - Good King Wenceslas
3 - Coming Home For Christmas w/ Richie McDonalds
4 - Deck The Halls
5 - Bethlehem w/ Tracy Silverman
6 - Joy (Beethoven's 9th) w/ David Klinkenberg
7 - I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day w/ Peter White and Anne Cochran
8 - Stille Nacht
9 - I Saw Three Ships
10 - Gathering
11 - Auld Lang Syne
12 - My Angel w/ Gerald Levert

VIP members who pre-order this album now, will receive:

- autographced CD, due to be released Sept. 25th,
- instant online streaming access to the entire album,
- a free bonus "Patriotic" CD shipped with the order,
- immediate access to DRM-Free 128kbps encoded MP3 downloadable tracks of the patriotic CD "American Themes".

Tracks for the patriotic CD "American Themes" include:

1 - America The Beautiful
2 - Battle Hymn Of The Republic
3 - My Country Tis Of Thee
4 - Star Spangled Banner
5 - God Bless America

A disclaimer appears on the site stating that:
"Track list subject to change".

If you aren't already a VIP member, I highly recommend joining. You get a bunch of cool incentives, all of which are described in detail at his site.

Postscript (07/03) ::

On Tuesday July 3rd, Jim sent out an email to those who purchased his latest album "Escape", offering the same pre-order deal as above.

The email also mentioned that this offer was first given to VIP members (as written above), and will be made available to the general public July 5th.

Postscript (07/04) ::

The pre-order page has been made public, link below.

Available (pre-order) At ::

http://jimbrickman.com/product/1274.htm (CD)

Originally Posted: July 2nd, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: July 4th, 2007 by Joshua
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» June 15th, 2007 ::

Magnatune music on eMusic? Apparently.

I'm a big fan of eMusic. A friend of mine recommended it to me, but at the time I passed on them favoring iTunes. However, I gave eMusic a second chance after iTunes started getting to big for its-self and removed the front page for the "New Age" genre. I discovered that eMusic had every single "New Age" album that I had in my iTunes wish-list.

At the time that I signed up for an eMusic account, I had a code to get 100 free downloads, which was a nice way to try their system.

I was able to download - DRM-Free VBR MP3 - albums for far less money than buying - DRM-locked 128kbps - iTunes versions.

Since joining eMusic I haven't looked back. I now get 90% of my independent "New Age" style music from eMusic. Shortly after joining I got a second account, spread the word to my friends, and just recently switched to one, 200 count download monthly account.

You will most likely start seeing more links to eMusic, since I prefer them over iTunes for music from independent artists, which I'm all for supporting!

Anyway, today browsing eMusic I ran across something that I was NEVER expecting to see...

... a Magnatune logo.

For those not familiar with Magnatune, they are a label for musicians that offer a wide array of download options
- all DRM-Free - as well as physical CDs. The great thing about Magnatune is that they take the approach of
"We are not evil". You can find out more about Magnatune by visiting their site: http://magnatune.com/info/

Back to my discovery...

I didn't quite believe what I was seeing. After digging for more clues, I started noticing a pattern: all of the Magnatune music was just added on: 06/14/07. I quickly did a Google search and found the following excerpt from a blog post by John Buckman, the founder and owner of Magnatune:

"Magnatune has signed a digital distribution deal with CDBABY..."
- John Buckman, 02/18/2005

The post goes on to list stores for which Magnatune signed music will appear on, one of which is eMusic.

As of this writing, eMusic has added a total of 357 albums under the "Magnatune / IODA"  label.

So make sure you go check out Magnatune, and if you have an eMusic account, know that you can get the music there as well.

Now, if only my monthly eMusic download count could be reset sooner!

Originally Posted: June 15th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: June 15th, 2007 by Joshua
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» June 11th, 2007 ::

"Treasure", a new album by David Helpling and Jon Jenkins

David Helping and Jon Jenkins recently launched a new site, called: Deep Exile; the new home of their collaborative ambient / electronic works, starting with the long awaited album: "Treasure".

Tracks include:

1 - Grand Collision
2 - Treasure
3 - The Knowing
4 - Beyond Words
5 - Into The Deep
6 - Not A Soul Not A Sound
7 - The Frozen Channel
8 - Now More Than Ever
9 - This Day Forward
10 - The First Goodbye

You can pre-order "Treasure" now via their site, otherwise it goes on sale everywhere tomorrow: June 12th!

You can also purchase albums by David:

"Sleeping On The Edge Of The World"
"Between Green And Blue"
"Trade Offs";

As well as albums by Jon:

"Beyond City Light"
"Flow"
"Continuum"

Update ::

"Treasure" is starting to pop-up at stores for sale...

Available At ::

Deep Exile (CD)

Spotted Peccary Music (CD)

Amazon.com US (CD)

iTunes US (DRM AAC Download)

Misc Album Information ::

Label: Spotted Peccary
ASIN: B000QGDZ6Y

Originally Posted: June 11th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: July 2nd, 2007 by Joshua
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» May 27th, 2007 ::

"Rain" by Jon Heintz

I just watched last week's (May 22nd, 2007) episode of Deadliest Catch today, which for those looking for the specific episode is titled "Caught In the Storm", and towards the end there was a song that perfectly fit the sequence that they were showing.

Discovery was nice enough to list in the credits the artist at the end. I did some Googling and didn't find much. I refined my search and hit gold.

Jon Heintz didn't have a anything online before this, and within a day or two of the show airing he set-up an music page on MySpace. As of now he is offering the song, "Rain", FREE for download.

Go have a listen! Please post your thoughts on the song.

Available At ::

http://www.myspace.com/jonheintzmusic (MP3)

Originally Posted: May 27th, 2007 by Joshua
Last Updated: May 27th, 2007 by Joshua
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