THE NEW DRUG

I resisted at first. Wasn't going to do it. Not for me, I said. If I couldn't phsyically hold an album (CD, whatever) in mind hand I wanted nothing to do with it. Sure, I'd already dipped my toes in the water with iTunes, downloading songs here and there from various music blogs and artist sites. And then The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers put Psalterie up on the web and Harvey Danger put up Little By Little and suddenly it seemed smart to just get the music.

Lately, there have been posts about eMusic sprouting up all over the net. And no sooner did I finally sign up for the 50 free downloads then Trevor posted about the greatness of it. I signed up for the basic service when I got my freebies, which means I pay $9.99 a month for 40 downloads. Hey, I can handle 25 cents a song or around $2.50 an album. It's a great way to try out new bands or fill in holes or what have you. I finished my trial downloads today and am obviously going to keep on going with it. I would recommend it to anyone.

So, what did I get?

Destroyer/ Destroyer's Rubies
Elbow/ Leaders of the Free World
The Hold Steady/ Almost Killed Me
Slobberbone/ Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today

Plus: 7 Brendan Benson tracks that were b-sides or extras on reissues