Allmusic.com - Release Dates, Reviews, Track Listings and Discographies. Billboard Online - Trade magazine of the music industry featuring several internationally recognized record charts. Fact Magazine - UK based independent music review site with lots of great interviews and features. NPR Music - A staff favorite, with a plethora of well-written reviews, interviews, podcasts, and more. Tunefind - An index of music and songs appearing in popular TV shows and movies. Not comprehensive, but certainly accurate.
Discover New Music
Every Noise at Once - A one-page map of playable audio samples for more than 1500 music genres, from dance pop to bossa nova to black metal to Turkish new wave to swamp blues to deep opera. Prepare to kill an hour or more with this exhaustive and comprehensive interactive site. Gnoosic- A search engine for music, featuring a mapping system to locate music that is closely (or remotely) related to the artists you love. Music Ninja - A unique music review website, that has dozens of playlists covering all genres and moods. Noon Pacific - A playlist of music from hundreds of music blogs, hand-picked and delivered to your e-mail inbox every week.
Music in Film
Music makes a pretty compelling subject for a film, and our streaming movie database Kanopy has hundreds of music-related features for you to enjoy. Whether it’s a cradle-to-grave story biopic about a famous musician, or an enlightening documentary about a specific music scene, or simply a film with a killer soundtrack, Kanopy has you covered. You can access Kanopy through a variety of devices and platforms, and you get 10 play credits per month. Click here to peruse the music films available and stream (and listen to) a great movie today!
Listen to Music Online
Pandora - Free, personalized music that plays music according to what you love. Bandcamp - Discover amazing new music and directly support the artists who make it. Spotify - Free music, for tablets, smart phones, or computers. Slacker Radio - Hundreds of stations, adapted to your personal taste.
Freegal Pick of the Month
Are you using Freegal? How can you call yourself a music fan and not be using this excellent service that gives you five songs per week – absolutely free that you can keep forever. There are thousands of songs from popular artists and tons of new & upcoming bands and musicians to enjoy. You can also get a brief preview of each song before you use one of your weekly downloads – just log in with your library card and PIN numbers, then click the song's icon. Whatever your taste, Freegal is perfect for any music fan.
This month's pick:
Appalachian Journey by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O’Connor Melding genres in unexpected ways has become a popular approach to modern music, notably with classical strings taking on musical styles that they’re not typically associated with. Appalachian Journey is a good example of the trend, where violinist Mark O’Connor, bassist Edgar Meyer and – arguably the most famous living cellist – Yo-Yo Ma, along with some guest performers, bring a classical take to traditional American folk tunes.
The album opens with “1B,” a constantly moving instrumental highlighted by dissonant slides in the violin and syncopated accompaniment. “Misty Moonlight Waltz” is a more lyrical tune, perfect for dancing or just relaxing, while “Hard Times Come Again No More” brings in folk legend James Taylor for soulful lyrics. “Indecision” lives up to its name by melding fiddle motifs with a jazzy and experimental counterpoint. “Limerock” is a jaunty fiddle tune that shows off the Celtic roots found in the Appalachian region and challenges the three string players to bow for all they’re worth. James Taylor is back for “Benjamin,” providing a guitar line and whistling an accompaniment to a light string melody, while bluegrass fiddler Alison Krauss joins the trio for “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” another traditional Celtic dance form. “Duet for Cello and Bass” alternates slow and mellow themes with more aggressive and virtuosic passages. Celtic tunes are back with a pair of reels, the toe-tapping “Emily’s Reel” and “Cloverfoot Reel” with its meandering introduction and alternating solos offering variations on the melodic theme. The album turns further toward classical stylings with “Poem for Carlita,” then picks up the fiddling again – and some of the fastest notes you’ve ever heard on low strings – with “Caprice for Three.” “Second Time Around” sets a slowly building melody in waltz time and brings it back down again. Alison Krauss returns to provide vocals to the lullaby-like “Slumber My Darling,” and the album closes with the long track “Vistas,” which fittingly offers an overview of different musical styles and variations on a theme. If you’re looking for soothing music with a hint of familiarity, Appalachian Journey might just take you where you want to go. - Michelle (Sunset)
