Hurt

Boston in a nutshell...

Don't forget to add in several thousand marijuana-enthusiastic college students. Hard not to love this town.

Something worth watching

While the major labels are currently breaking down and their artists are suffering the consequences, several bands have embraced the new direction of music distribution. A somewhat more liberal approach to music circulation has been proving to be very successful, and Nine Inch Nails are very much at the forefront of this. Trent Reznor, aside from being an awesome musician and a very intelligent guy, has proved with his continued success that he really knows what he's talking about when it comes to the marketing of music and what the future holds for the business, as well as how artists now have the tools to market themselves and formulate their own success. Regardless of whether or not you're a NIN fan, this interview is certainly worth your time.

When bands change direction

It's a rare occurrence for a band to change it's musical direction, and an even rarer occurrence for the band to maintain their popularity after doing so. However, that's not to say it hasn't been done. Genesis went from intelligent and artsy prog rock to writing catchy pop songs. The Goo Goo Dolls went in a similar direction after their early years as a (great) punk band. John Mayer escaped his acoustic singer/songwriter image when he ventured more towards the blues/soul side of things. However, two artists in recent years have really pulled this off to an incredible extent, and the extremity of the change has never been seen before.

Focus - Hocus Pocus

Amon Tobin

Spent a decent amount of time at AmonTobin.com today. Aside from the awesome interactive field, there's a lot of free live shows and mixes in the store. Some of them are mind-blowing (the Hendrix one in particular slayed me). You'd be a fool not to check them out.

Best Amazon review ever?