HoodedHawk

Apple has inked an agreement with EMI that will let them sell high quality versions of songs without copy protection. EMI will be releasing their catalog DRM (Digital Rights Management)-free. Yep, that means that finally you can download a song in iTunes, and use it on as many computers or devices as you want, or convert to other formats with no restrictions.

The DRM restrictions have been the main reasons that I have only purchased about 5 songs on iTunes – such songs only work on 3 computers and your iPod. My music at home is stored on a Linux box and served up to my stereo via Tivo. I buy CD’s and convert the music to mp3’s myself. The other reason I have purchased few songs via iTunes was the low quality of purchased iTunes (or other online) songs vs. those I can create myself from CD’s.

With this new development, I can now purchase individual songs, in high quality (256-bit AAC vs. the lower quality 128-bit AAC offered to date), with no DRM. Yes, I’ll have to convert them again to mp3 to listen via Tivo, but that’s a more viable option now with a higher-quality original. Now I can get high-quality *individual* songs – to date I’ve had to purchase an entire CD even if I wanted a high-quality version of only a single track.

Each song will cost $0.30 more in the DRM-free/high quality version ($1.29 vs. $0.99). What is also a real cool deal is that you can upgrade your currently purchased music to the high quality version for the $0.30 difference – so you can maintain your investment in iTunes.

Apple will also continue to offer the lower-quality, DRM (protected) versions of songs for $0.99, so those that don’t care about anything but price won’t be charged more. This also means that Apple’s competitors won’t have a price advantage.

This is due to happen in May, 2007.

Kirsten and I went to see Vienna Teng (a “Singer, pianist, and songwriter working in a pop folk style”) this Wednesday night at Rams Head Tavern in Annapollis, MD.

I’ve been listening to two of her cds, Warm Strangers (2004), and Dreaming Through the Noise (2006) for awhile now at work, and I really enjoy her work.

Vienna played for about 90 minutes, and sounded great. She had a cello and violinist accompany her. A couple of her songs I hadn’t heard before, but she played most of the ones I was familiar with. We had a great time – the concert was great, and if you get a chance, definitely see her live.

The opening act was Adrianne Gonzalez (on right), who did an acoustic guitar set of about 20 minutes. She was also quite good, and I grabbed one of her cd’s after the set (she signed it for me). Her stories from the road were quite entertaining as well.

Venue:
Rams Head Tavern is a small venue (seats about 250 in the stage area), and we were off to the left of the stage. Unfortunately that meant we were staring at Vienna’s back all night as she played the piano. The tables are *really* small, so unless you want real intimacy with your tablemates, eat in the restaurant before – the narrow tables only support 2 diners, though they seat 4 (more appropriate for drinks and maybe chips). The sound/acoustics were very good, though at times the noise of waitstaff filling glasses with ice overshadowed softer passages. They really should close off that kitchen area better.

Food:

We made reservations for dinner before the show in the larger RamsHead restaurant (onsite). I like the atmosphere – sortof an upscale brewpub, with brick walls and nice tables. I had a “Genius Stout” which was quite good, similar to Guinness. However, I was not as impressed with my meal as I had hoped from the description:

“GM Filet”: 8 oz center cut Filet Mignon enveloped with puff pastry, topped with Mousseline pate and a green peppercorn demi-glaze. Served with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.

Sounds good, right? Well, while the steak was perfectly cooked (medium-rare), it was not “enveloped” with puff pastry; I had been expecting a “beef wellington” type of pastry/meat. Instead, the steak was sitting on top of a flat, squashed pastry. The pate tasted like bland liverwurst, and was too soft. The demi-glaze was uninspired. Overall the dish was quite tasty, but mostly because the steak itself was such a great piece of meat. I didn’t notice until the end of the meal (we were hurrying to get to the show) that I never received any mashed potatoes. Bummer. The salad with honey-mustard dressing was good (mixed greens were crisp and fresh).

I’ll definitely go back, but I’ll probably choose a more pedestrian meal. I’ll be having the Genius Stout again, though!

I picked up a new Jazz CD yesterday, “Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall“. Seems that a ~50 year old recording of this live 1957 concert was “lost” and recently (this year) “found” by a jazz specialist at the Library of Congress. There are only a few recordings of Monk and Coltrane together, and most of the others supposedly are of lower audio quality. This recording is remarkable, however. The sound on the CD is just superb – and it is from a 50-year old tape! I just love this CD; highly recommend you check it out if you like jazz. I’m not a jazz expert (I just “know what I like”), but from all the glowing reviews, this is big. The link above takes you to the Bluenote site with more history.

Saw Jane Monheit at Birchmere tonight. She is awesome! Kirsten and I really enjoyed her show. Such a lovely voice! She sang for about 90 minutes, doing a lot from her latest album, “Taking a Chance on Love”, her previous albums, as well as some unrecorded songs. One of the songs was first performed live (by her) tonight; it was by a Brazilian artist, and in Portuguese (“I have no idea what the words mean, but it sounds so lovely!”)

After the show she came offstage and did a signing. She signed our ticket stubs as well as my notebook. She commented on my Moleskine notebook – “Is this a moleskine? I can’t live without mine!”. So there you go; it must be cool to carry one around :) . Had I known she’d be signing, I would have brought my cd with me! Birchmere only had a few copies of cd’s in their shop. BTW, Birchmere (in Alexandria, VA) is a great music venue. It’s sort of like a huge dinner theater – holds a lot of people, but the acoustics (and seating) is great. Good food too (try the chicken enchiladas). Get there a bit early if you want a table near the stage…

(picture from my camera phone – but better than nothing!)