The End of A Decade… Already? Below is a list of my top 10 albums from the past decade that deeply affected me and influenced my life in one way or another… (In no particular order… it was hard enough to narrow it to 10)

“I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” by Bright Eyes – http://www.last.fm/music/Bright+Eyes/I’m+Wide+Awake,+It’s+Morning

Bright Eyes is made up primarily of singer-songwriter/guitarist Conor Oberst, and often features a rotating lineup of collaborators drawn primarily from his hometown of Omaha, NE. Bright Eyes is definitively a major part of the indie music scene – and this album is no exception. My favorite songs on this album are “First Day of My Life,” which is about a love story that I find truly heartwarming; and “Road to Joy.” “Road to Joy” is a sonically pounding piece, which climaxes terrifically with every instrument available making as much noise as possible.

“Final Straw” by Snow Patrol – http://www.last.fm/music/Snow+Patrol/Final+Straw

I came to know Snow Patrol through this album. It’s packed with hits: “Run,” “How To Be Dead,” “Chocolate,” and “Spitting Games.” I love the emotion in the songs and the stories told through the lyrics.

“Maybe I’ll Catch Fire” by Alkaline Trio – http://www.last.fm/music/Alkaline+Trio/Maybe+I%27ll+Catch+Fire

Alkaline Trio aren’t known for their poppy upbeat lyrics, but nonetheless they strike a chord with me. The album’s title track is still my favorite by the band today. It’s depressing and sad, and I love it. Their from my hometown – Chicago, and are Emo. The tracks aren’t overly produced, and have that rough sound to them that I think makes them even more relatable. They’ve gone on to get a bit cheesy, but this album is from when they were still good.

“Deja Entendu” by Brand New – http://www.last.fm/music/Brand+New/Deja+Entendu

Brand New’s album “Deja Entendu” was there for me in a not-so-happy time in my life. Again, I would classify them as Emo. The emotion and the lyrics in the songs “I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light” and “Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades” are always good for a listen. The track titles for their songs have always amused me and never really made much sense, but that didn’t matter.

“A Rush of Blood to the Head” by Coldplay – http://www.last.fm/music/Coldplay/A+Rush+of+Blood+to+the+Head

“The Scientist” and “Green Eyes” can’t be beat. Chris Martin won’t play “Green Eyes” live anymore due to Gwyneth unfortunately – but it’s such a great love song. Coldplay is… well what else can be said. They are one of my all-time favorite bands and haven’t disappointed me yet. Their epic anthems always hit their mark. And “The Scientist” video is incredible… I’ll stop raving now.

“9″ by Damien Rice – http://www.last.fm/music/Damien+Rice/9

I love him – after seeing him live, I loved him even more. He’s amazing. “Accidental Babies” and “Me, My, Yoke + I” are the best on this album… The passion that exudes from his songs and lyrics never ceases to astound me.

“Kasabian” by Kasabian – http://www.last.fm/music/Kasabian/Kasabian

“Cub Foot” continues to rock to this day – the intro. of the song always gets me pumping.

“Let Go” by Nada Surf – http://www.last.fm/music/Nada+Surf/Let+Go

I first heard of Nada Surf with their song “Popular” back when I was in middle school I believe. And after that I wasn’t exactly seeking out the latest music from the band. However, a friend convinced me to give ‘em another shot and to check out this album, which was totally different. He couldn’t have been more right. This album is a complete departure and a great relaxing listen.

“The Invisible Band” by Travis – http://www.last.fm/music/Travis/The+Invisible+Band

This album was the first I discovered by Travis, and still my favorite of all their albums. “Sing” and “The Cage” still resonate with me today. Whenever I listen to this album – it’s like a walk down memory lane a bit. Reminds me of a good summer during college…

“A New Day At Midnight” by David Gray – http://www.last.fm/music/David+Gray/A+New+Day+at+Midnight

On this album “Caroline” and “Be Mine” stood out to me from the first time I heard them. David Gray always has unique lyrics, and has a funny way of telling his stories sometimes. He keeps me hooked with each album he’s made since, and I look forward to his next creation!

*Close runners-up would be “Absolution” by Muse – http://www.last.fm/music/Muse/Absolution, and “In Rainbows” by Radiohead – http://www.last.fm/music/Radiohead/In+Rainbows.

**Next to each album is a link to Last.fm where you can check out and listen to each album, see the track listing, and other details. Hope you all enjoy, and let me know what your favorite album of the decade is!

Till next time…

Tara Watkins.

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I’ve always liked Apple. They may not have invented digital music, or the portable digital player, but they fine-tuned them and distributed them to mass markets to perfection. More music is being heard by more people in more places than ever before, and for that, we should be grateful. (Figuring out how to strategize and monetize these new markets is a different matter.)

It seems that iTunes has ruled the mp3 generation, but times and trends are moving ever faster, and there’s now a whole new generation of consumers that may never even own an mp3. Streaming is big business these days. Enter Lala, one of several successful (read: popular but not entirely profitable (yet?)) online music streaming services that has established itself with the non-owning and mobile music markets. Being able to listen to music through a web browser is something that gives music fans greater freedom, and access to their collection from any computer, smart phone or other mobile device, and is something that Apple lacks within iTunes.

Apple may well be looking at using the Lala team and functionality to enter into the streaming market, and with the way they have revolutionized similar parts of the music industry, who knows what may be in store.

One thing I hope Apple does figure out, is if they are paying $17m or $80m+ for Lala assets. Either way, it is a lot of money for a service that has et to find a profitable business model. Moving from CD-swapping to a (comparative to Pandora and Spotify) complicated streaming system has proved difficult, and investor Warner Music wrote down $11 million of the original $20 million it put down.

Lala had recently struck deals with both Google and Facebook, hoping to widen it’s user base with new search traffic and gift options. Apparently Google was also looking at acquiring Lala, and having narrowly missed out they may try and pursue other deals in the near future. Finding a way to tie it’s music search division in with either a download or freemium/ ad-funded streaming service seems inevitable, and well within Google’s scope. In fact, there have been several similar deals in recent months. Imeem was bought by Myspace, whom also previously acquired iLike.

Although Apple’s future movements may not be yet announced, I am certain they will continue to push the digital music industry forward (and outwards) with their services and reach new listeners across the globe.

Lee Jarvis.

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MySpace has recently completed a deal to acquire music streaming service Imeem, and is in the first phase of integrating certain assets into its Myspace Music network. Although the sum of the deal remains undisclosed, sources report a total deal worth around $8m. (CNET shares, “The News Corp.-owned MySpace has agreed to pay $1 million in cash, but the total figure also includes money for accounts receivable and employee earn outs”.) These figures fall wildly short of the $30m+ that had been invested in Imeem during it’s 6 year development, and point towards, essentially, a fire sale.

Imeem is one of several sites that have recently gone bust or sold for next to nothing. Pressure from both major labels and large indies in the form of ‘infringement payments’ have helped smother another promising start-up, although the Imeem team had the relatively simple choice of selling up or packing up.

What Myspace will do to connect with Imeem’s loyal following of 16 million users remains unclear. The Imeem blog says that ‘visitors to imeem.com will be guided to MySpace Music to find and play the music they want’… the only problem being that Myspace Music is cluttered, saturated by the popular market and not particularly user friendly. Searching for and discovering new music is a challenge and the sudden change-over has Imeem users up in arms.

Imeem had to respond to try and calm worries about playlists being lost, but Myspace will have a lot of people to try and win over, and they can only do so by improving their functionality and moving the Imeem user accounts over as soon as possible. Even then, people don’t like the Myspace brand. It served a function many years ago, but has fallen behind to Facebook and Twitter, not only in terms of regular traffic, but in the appeal to new web users. Buying up a rival music service and not maintaining it’s quality will only breed further dislike.

One area that Myspace will certainly benefit is from the knowledge and experience of Imeem CEO Dalton Caldwell, CTO Bryan Berg, COO Ali Aydar and VP of Sales David Wade, who are all joining the Myspace team as consultants to help with the transition.

Here’s to hoping that they will not only share some of the pitfalls to avoid, but aid with the smooth functionality that helped make Imeem so popular.

Lee Jarvis

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Is anyone else sick of the money making machine that has leapt onto the scene since Michael Jackson’s death – it started with the movie (which was released only 4 months after his death), then a Christmas album released in October – yes, OCTOBER. Not really the holiday season yet, but that’s another issue entirely… Finally, even a reality show is being created!?!?

Jackson 5 – ‘Ultimate Christmas Collection’

Ok, Michael Jackson WAS the King of Pop, and aside from his personal life and the issues that he had, his music still strikes a chord across the world. However, since Michael’s passing – he’s bigger than ever! For weeks after his death I heard various Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 tunes being blasted… constantly. Everywhere I turned there was Michael – all day on various radio stations, from people’s cars, in stores, and the list goes on and on. America was in mourning. But at some point, enough is enough and the reaction changes from remembrance to irritation. I agree he should be remembered for his contribution to music and its long lasting effect on our culture. Yes, even as a young girl I had pants with all sorts of crazy zippers that I likened to Michael Jackson’s attire. They were bright yellow and my favorite. This was the 80′s, and I was 6, but still – they were awesome…

Anyways, I digress… while tooling around on the Internet I discovered…

The Jack5ons – A Family Dynasty
(Yes the #5 is deliberate), to premiere on December 13th on A&E.

“Behind the headlines lies a captivating family, whose lives have been unwillingly played out before cameras for decades. After 40 years in the business together, Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon have sold more than 250 million albums worldwide. Now, the brothers allow unprecedented access into their world as they record new material and rehearse for a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Jackson Five. The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty will chronicle the brothers’ relationships with each other, their parents and their children, while also balancing the demands of their professional commitments and celebrity.”

Really? That’s what we need first and foremost this holiday season? More Christmas albums (which I personally detest), and another even lousier reality TV show – because we don’t have enough of those already… And where have his brothers been these last 40 years? Not doing anything relevant and noteworthy in the world of music obviously. And more obviously, if their lives have been so unwillingly played out before cameras for decades why are they asking for more?

In my estimation, all of this only cheapens Michael Jackson’s legacy as the ultimate entertainer he was, aside from his moral discretions, as well as fill the selfish motives for all those profiting from these ventures.

What do you think – should Michael be left to rest in peace or have his memory flaunted about to make every last penny off his legacy?

T. Lynn

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There has been a lot of good music on the US office stereo over Thanksgiving and into the Xmas season, and being fans of streaming and sharing new music, we thought we’d create our own Imeem profile and share our office jams on the blog! Welcome to the first of (we hope) many Music Jobs Playlists, featuring Friendly Fires, Chromeo, MSTRKRFT and more. Feel free to comment here and get in touch via Imeem.

To Play All the tracks in full, click here:

Music Jobs Team playlist 001: US Office December 2009 (Compiled by Lee Jarvis)