Slacker Radio

Slacker Radio is a very-well designed site for web radio.  It has a basic freebie version, and  then tons of commercial tie-ins: buy a song, sign up for service, etc. 

With the free part, you can choose a station, create your own, and skip a few songs. My favorite part is that you can  read about the artist under "Options >> Now Playing Views >> Artist Info." Also, I like the pretty pictures.

According to its press release, Slacker Radio launched March of 2007 at South by Southwest:

"AUSTIN, Tex. [South by Southwest/SXSW] - March 15, 2007 - Slacker, Inc. today announced the creation of 'Personal Radio,' which enables U.S. consumers to customize their own radio stations and listen to them wherever they happen to be. The Slacker Personal Radio experience is available today in beta for PC streaming at www.slacker.com and later this year on Slacker Portable Radio Players via Wi-Fi and Slacker Satellite Car Kits.

...

Slacker Basic Radio is advertising funded and will remain free to use on Slacker software and portable Slacker Personal Radio Players, while Slacker Premium Radio will launch later"

There you go. Thanks Wilmar! 

(From Wilmar)

Songza

Songza is an internet jukebox and search engine. Just type in the artist or band, and it will stream music. It's magical. And orange.

I typed in "Anya Marina" and it came up with an extensive list, so it automatically wins in my heart.  In fact, that's how I judge all music-related sites, by amount of Anya content. Anywya, you can add songs to a playlist, and it's free. Ace. The giant ads are obnoxious, but who am I to quibble with free music?

From the website:

"Do the artists get paid?

      Songza pays for licenses from all the major performing-rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC), who then pay the publishers and writers in proportion to the number of plays they get on Songza.
     The music streamed on Songza is generously made available by sites like YouTube.com and imeem.com, who in turn pay the rights owners for use of the songs."

(From Metafilter, in a post stating that Guitarist Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay over Viva La Vida (audio). Satriani's version: If I Could Fly (audio). Favorite comment from the thread: "After a series of close examinations, I can confirm that both are terrible songs. posted by stresstwig")

MILF, and Proud of It

MILF, and Proud of It is a slightly unnerving Slate video article by Slate.com's Alex Chadwick about "a fortysomething 'cougar'—a woman who happily seduced the much younger boy next door."  At first it seems like it's going to be something like The Graduate or American Pie or that song Stacy's Mom.  And then you remember that when you translate fiction to reality without the humor you're stuck with creepy. 

This is an episode from Alex's show, "Interviews 50 Cents,"where he sits in a busy pedestrian way, and offers interviews for 50 cents.  Enjoy. 

Access to Life

Access to Life is a moving photo-essay about AIDS and retroviral medication in 9 developing countries, shot by eight Magnum Photographers (Magnum is a photographic cooperative).

As the Metafilter commenters noted, the flash is super annoying and it takes a suuuuuper long time to load and watch, but the photos are top-notch and the message is worth it. 

More about the project from its website:

     "In the early 1990s, when antiretroviral drugs became available, AIDS was transformed from a certain death sentence to a manageable, chronic disease–but only for some. The expense of the drugs and their distribution prevented 95 percent of those living with HIV from getting access to them. International outrage that millions were dying because of economic disparity helped reduce drug prices, and also helped to create the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2002. Through the Global Fund and the U.S. President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, the world began to invest in a massive roll out of antiretroviral treatment in more than 100 developing countries.

Doctors and health care workers around the world have adapted complicated procedures to settings where people often could not access even the most basic care. Already, millions of lives that otherwise might have been lost are being saved. Equally important, providing treatment is becoming a central part of the efforts to prevent further spread of the disease.

(From Metafilter)

Type Racer

Type Racer is a superfun game about... typing. Basically you try to beat other people by out-typing them.

You watch your little car race at the top. The faster you type, the faster it goes. You just enter the text at the bottom, and it doesn't move on until you have 100% accuracy, which totally hurts you if you always wiat for Word to fix your msitakes. WAIT.

The texts are goofy and random, and it brings me back fond memories of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Yeah, it's super-nerdy, and super-awesome. ENJOY!!!

(From Type Racer)

Stop Carlos Mencia: A Rock Ballad

Stop Carlos Mencia: A Rock Ballad is a spoof music video on College Humor with music by The Elegant Too.  It's in the style of USA For Africa, We Are The World... but with clearly, a loftier goal: stopping Carlos Mencia. The production values are way-too-high for the joke, which makes them seem awkwardly extra committed to the cause. Worth it. 

(From Buzzfeed)

Schick Free Your Skin

Schick Free Your Skin is a commercial razor website where you get to upload a picture of yourself and see how it looks with a mustache.  

The site makes passing mention of Movember, where, in the month of November you try to grow a mustache.  (A yearly event where millions of hirsute women like your mother win without even trying.)

At first I thought this was a ploy by the razor companies to combat Noshember, or no-shave-November, by inventing a similarly-named but weaker-sauce movement, Movember. 

However, the Wikipedia article made it sound like the observance of Movember predates Noshember, or that the two are contemporary observances:

"It's quite common for some males in Australia (especially in the city of Melbourne), and New Zealand to sport a moustache during the month of November. The custom being known as Movember (Movember is a portmanteau of the words 'Moustache' and 'November'.), and being a fundraising event for men's health issues. One's fashionable appearance often comes second to the calling of Movember. A similar observance in the United States, called No Shave November, involves a full beard as opposed to a mustache."

Any Aussie readers (or Aussophiles) care to confirm if Movember exists?

Either case, the way the site works is you upload your photo, and it puts a mustache on you and animates your eyes.  It helps if, unlike the sample picture I used, you pick one where the eyes are totally open.  Also, it's probably better not to use a baby.  Also, that's it.

(From Stefanie again! And Ferguson and Flickr)

50 Strange Buildings of the World

50 Strange Buildings of the World is an article on the site Village of Joy, which features 50 oddly-shaped or interesting buildings around the world. Village of Joy features "Amazing, Interesting, Wonderful, Weird, Odd and Funny things about our World." Simply stunning.






(From Stefanie!)

Thriller (reprise a'cappella 64 pistes)

Thriller (reprise a'cappella 64 pistes) is an acapella Youtube video by frenchman François Macré.  He sings Michael Jackson's Thriller, making all the sounds himself, layered in 64 tracks. In his words:

"Here is a remake of the "Thriller" song that I've entirely recorded with my own voice, using 64 A'cappella tracks. There is therefore no instrument, synthetizer, beatbox, or even to sampler, but only the sound of my voice livened up with Reverb and slight Chorus on certain tracks. Regarding looping parts, I've simply used the "looping" technique. Moreover, in the whole piece (which contains several thousand notes), I transposed 8 notes, which were impossible for me to sing in high-pitched. Because of my tessiture, I also must have resigned myself to sing certain parts in head voice, more particularly on the track corresponding to Michael Jackson's solo vocal.

I've accomplished this non-commercial project at home, only with a mobile PC, microphone, headphones and webcam - in nearly 350 hours. It's just an artistic challenge, accomplished during my hours of free time, whose purpose is to make smile my close circle and net surfers. Nonetheless, I'll be happy to record in professional studio, original songs with this technique, if a label was interested to work with me on a SP or LP entirely based on this innovative concept of "Massively Multitracks A'cappella."

(From Kottke )

One Spring Away

One Spring Away is a music video for the eponymous song by the band "From." The video was made by patching together footage from 41 commercials in a semi-coherent way.

I debated wether or not to post something suggested by the same person who made it (this is generally a poor idea, and I almost didn't)... But I liked the images chosen by the end and the music is good, so... what the hey. 

According to reader/ music video director Roni, highlights include:
- drumming gorilla (Cadbury)
- Sony Bravia spots (balls, rabbits, dominos)
- slow mo explosions
- lots of dancing
- oh, like Gap's Khaki Swing
- James Brown (BMW)

[The video is] like a visual take on Girl Talk, and it plays on the trend of having advertising launch the prominence of indie bands. What makes it work is that it's coherent, and all the absurd fun goes by very fast -- 2 min 37 sec."

(From Roni Brunn)