Digital Meltd0wn Music Aggregator/Blogroll

Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll

2011-05-31T21:31:00.095-04:00

Recently Added Blogs:

Last Update: November 16, 2011

Only Classical • Classical
Panovnik • Classical
Funky Frolic • Library Music
Electronic Chantecler • Library Music
Key-Lo Music • Library Music
Floppy Boot Stomp • Bootlegs
Son O' Floppy Boot Stomp • Bootlegs
Voodoo Wagon • Bootlegs
Isle Full of Noises • general rock • avant-garde • progressive
Battle Of The Midwestern Housewives • Punk • Hardcore
For A Limited Time Only forum • registration required • Rock • Pop • Prog
Musica Phenomena • Alt-Pop/Rock • Electronica • Shoegaze
Big Band Jazz Club • Jazz • Swing

Many blogs have left us but many others have been revived

Crack Rocks dropped for lack of downloads & dated posts • Techno/House
lemonjohn abandoned May 2010 • Independent Artist Releases
Totally Wired abandoned Sep 2010
Under des Pommes abandoned Sep 2010 • Hip-Hop
Verd Music abandoned Sep 2010 • Electro • Pop • Disco
Reign In Sound abandoned Oct 2010 • Indie • Alternative • Post-Punk • Shoegaze
PVAc to 44.1kHz abandoned Oct 2010 • Power Pop • New Wave
Power Pop Lovers abandoned Oct 2010 • New Wave
The Rockin' Gipsy abandoned Oct. 2010 • 40s/50s • Rockabilly • Country
Baby Grandpa abandoned Oct 2010
The Kru abandoned Nov 2010 • Hip-Hop
Jazz Schmazz abandoned Nov 2010 • 60's/70's • Vinyl Rips
The Fabulous 50's abandoned Nov 2010
Sly Fly Records abandoned Nov 2010 • Dubstep • House
The Mystery Peter... abandoned Nov 2010 • NSFW • World Music
Paul Durango's abandoned Nov 2010 • French • Soundtracks
Zakynthius Rockius Dirtius CLOSED
On Muddy Sava Riverbank CLOSED
Monarch Paperclip CLOSED
Virtuosos Guitarristas CLOSED
YoungMossTongue CLOSED
The Commercial Zone CLOSED
Mellow Me Out CLOSED
The Soundtrack Zone CLOSED
Toque Musical CLOSED
You And Me On A Jamboree CLOSED
LP's Vinyl Lounge Hut • invitation only

Communities

It's PSYCH • Psych • registration required
FunkySouls • Russian Language
Sordo Music • Progressive • Indie
GaragePunk • Social Networking Site
Lost In Tyme • on hiatus Dec 2010
Electrofreaks • Electronic Music
Dubstep Forum • Dubstep
Anarcho-Punk.net • Punk Rock
SkaFunkRastaPunk
For A Limited Time Only • registration required • Rock • Pop • Prog
Two Steps From The Blues • Blues • Jazz • Rock

Music Blog Aggregators/Music Blog Lists:

Rarities
Enlaces
The List
Rockshot
Freewave
Blogwatch

Search Engines:

Songza • Song Search Engine • Flash Music Player
FeedBleed • Music Blog Search
CaptainCrawl • Music Blog Search
Totally Fuzzy MP3Blog Search • Music Blog Search
Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog Search • Music Blog Search

Novelty / Specialty

Cover Me • Covers
Scar Stuff • Halloween Music • Updated near Halloween
Way Out Junk • Novelty Records
Manson Music • on hiatus Nov 2010 • Music of Charles Manson* Featured Blog
Galbadia Hotel • Video Game Music
Audiobook Corner • TOP BLOG • Audiobooks
Radio Drama Revival • Radio Drama • Podcast
Virtuosos Guitarristas • Guitar Virtuosos
The Ancient Star-Song • Christian Music
Turtle's 78rpm Jukebox • Early Phonographic Records • long dead but unusual
Children's Records & More
mec fais tourner les skeuds • Bill Laswell • Jazz
Cylinder Preservation Project • Early Cylinder Recordings
Videogame Music Preservation Foundation • Mp3 Downloads
Flying Omelette's Video Game MP3 Downloads • Video Game Music

Eclectic / Various

Aurgasm • MP3 Downloads
Uno al día
Diddy Wah • Occasional Mixes • Singles Active for 1 Month
Mikus Musik • dub/Reggae • jazz • funk • Drum'n'Bass
Electric Mud
Killed In Cars • noise • avant-garde • folk • jazz
MP3Maniaco
Vinylidyllique! • indie • Rare Vinyl • various
Record Fiend • various
Zero G Sound • various • African • reggae • folk
1PocodMusica
Cosmic Hearse • punk • metal • psych • soundtracks
Eclectik Studio • various• Mixtapes
Blogger's Delite • punk • rock-general • reggae • Ska
A Pyrex Scholar • Rare LPs • rock-general • soul • electronic • psych
Sound Watching • electronic • ambient • Trip-Hop • post-rock
Digital Meltd0wn • punk • garage • psych • experimental • electronic
Eclectic Grooves
Som de Primeira • rock-general • rockabilly • blues • progressive • world
Sluggisha's Vault • various
The Devil's Music • vinyl • obscure
Rocket Remnants
Eclectic Synthetic • avant-garde • blues • punk • electronic
beautifulnoise/skin
icoulddietomorrow
What's in my iPod? • jazz • rock-general • funk • afro • Roots
Know Your Conjurer • psych • Krautrock • J-Rock • avant-garde
Star Maker Machine • MP3 Downloads • User Submitted Songs
Life As A Rehearsal • reggae • jazz • rock-general
Nothin' Sez Somethin' • rock-general • pop • punk • jazz
A Closet of Curiosities
Motherf*cker=Redeemer
Alternative Soundscapes • various
The American Nightmare • funk • soul • blues • soundtracks
WFMU's Beware Of The Blog • MP3 Downloads
An Overdose of Fingal Cocoa • rock-general • blues • jazz • soul • progressive

Netlabels/Creative Commons/Independent & Unsigned Artists:

lemonjohn • On Hiatus Jan 2011 • Independent Artist Releases
diym netlabel
2012 Rockets • Independent Artist Releases
Sirona Records • Netlabel • Electronica • Techno • Experimental • Industrial
NozL Recordings • Netlabel • Hip-Hop • Scratching/Turntablism
Homemade Lo-Fi Psych
Catching The Waves
Planet Terror Records • Netlabel • Dub • Dubstep • Ambient • Hip-Hop
Zephanie Oblivion Productions • Independent Artist • Psych • Instrumental
Dave Patten's Univ. of Entertainment • Independent Artist

Compilations / Mixes / Podcasts

Pixicast • Podcast • electronic • Independent Artists
Fusion 45 • mixes • acoustic Rock
X Rated Kink • mixes • industrial • avant-garde
WFMU Radio
Mottey's Garage • rock-general • garage • punk
Revolution Rock • punk • new wave • garage Rock
Sick Of The Radio • MP3 Files • mixes • Independent Artists
Try To Be Amused • compilations • rock-60s/70s • rock-80s/90s
My Favourite Sound • Podcast • jazz • funk • soul
DJ Infinite's Blogspot • mixes • hip-hop • dubstep • Drum & Bass
Radio Free Song Club • Podcasts • Singer/Songwriter • folk
Too Long, Didn't Listen Podcasts • indie • post-punk
Birds With Broken Wings
RADIO FREE WOHLMAN • Podcasts • various
The Best Radio You Never Heard • Podcasts
E-mile Says Songs Do The Matter • various
On The Right Side Of A Good Thing • mixes • various
The Deuce Project: Science Fiction Radio • Podcasts • Sci-Fi

Soundtracks/Scores

13 • Vintage Horror Movie Music
FilmMusic-RU • Russian Language
Sleazy Listening • TOP BLOG
Sideshow Cinema
I Luv My Turntable
The Crime Lounge • Retro • Crime • Thriller • Spy
Blaxplotation Pride • Blaxplotation • Kung Fu
Monarch Paperclip • Soundtracks • Library • Experimental • Avant-Garde
Smutshake Cupcake • Porn Soundtracks • Easy Listening
The Soundtrack Zone
The Inferno Music Vault • Horror Soundtracks
Universal Horror Sounds • Universal Studios • Horror • Soundtracks
Music From The Third Floor • Bollywood
Attack of the B-Movie Muzak • B-Movie Soundtracks

Bootlegs

MP3@3PM • on hiatus Feb 2011 • Classic Rock • Psych
Blog Stoned
QualityBootz • on hiatus Jan 2011
Grateful Breed • TOP BLOG
The Rare Stuff • on hiatus Feb 2011
Beehive Candy
Green Alien Chick • Classic Rock
Nathan's Rock Moat
Silverado.Rare.Music
D & P's Bootleg Tunz World • TOP BLOG
Rock Rare Collection Fetish
The Ultimate Bootleg Experience
So Many Roads To Ease My Soul • Bootlegs • Classic Rock

Rock - General

Melofilia • Rock • Alternative • Indie
Rockland • 60s-70s • 80s-90s • Rock • Metal • Eclectic
Dr Faustroll • Garage • Psych • Punk • Folk • Rockabilly
Misha4Music • Rock • Folk • Indie • Bootlegs
musictraveler • Indie • Garage • Prog • Jazz • Funk • Folk
Rock and Roll
C-60 Low Noise • Alternative • Punk • Garage
Wilfully Obscure
Only Good Song • Rock
Too Old To Rock • Rock
Willard's Wormholes • Rock • Eclectic
Lossless Music Blog • Rock • Eclectic • Lossless • Trance • Classical
Shoulda Been Huge! • Rock

'60s/'70s

Planet Mocha • Eclectic Selection from the '60s/'70s • Vintage Vinyl Rips
Ezhevika Fields • on hiatus Dec 2010 • Prog • Psych • Folk
Floodlit Footprint • Registration Required • Prog • Folk
Keep On Growing
Try To Be Amused • 60s-70s • 80s-90s • Pop • Power Pop
Discofilos Anonimos • Rock • 60s-70s • Hard Rock
Small Town Pleasures • Prog • Pop • Psych • Folk • Surf

Punk/Hardcore

Hellcrust • Crust • Metal • Doom •Sludge
Irish Edge • on hiatus Jan 2011 • Irish Punk & Hardcore
7inchcrust
RatBoy69 • Punk • Garage • Surf • Funk • Soul
Deathrockk • Death Rock • Gothic Rock • Post-Punk
Bleedin' Out • MP3 Downloads
Bloodjunkies • Punk • Hardcore • Horror Punk
My Funeral • Horror Punk • Deathrock • Horror Punk • Gothic Rock
Stereoatypical • Math Rock • Hardcore • Indie
Punk Not Profit
Too Short A Life • on hiatus Feb 2011 • Punk • Post-Punk • Proto-Punk
Punk Rock Song • Spanish Language • MP3 Blog
Strange Reaction • Hardcore • Podcasts
Burning Aquarium
Nothing But Trash
Nuzz Prowling Wolf
Down Underground • World • Punk • Hardcore
Slaughter of Innocents
Punks Make Your Day • Punk • Garage • Psychobilly • Rockabilly • Aussie
Hangover Heart Attack
Crucified For Your Sins • Spanish Language
Killed By Death Records • Rare • 7" Vinyl Rips • MP3 Downloads
Rare Punk Music To Share
Good Bad Music For Bad, Bad Times

Garage Rock

Trashsistors • Garage Rock • Garage Punk
Rock 'n' Dolls • Female Bands • Garage • Punk • Power Pop
O Canadarm! • on Hiatus Dec 2010
Garage Music
Thee Head Vein • Garage • Punk • 60s • Psych • Pacific Northwest Sounds
Garage Punk 66
Garage Hangover • 45s • MP3 Downloads
The Wicked Thing
Declaration Of Fuzz • Garage • Psych
Canco!! I Hate Rock N' Roll
Paradise of Garage Compilations • Compilations • Italian

Metal/Stoner/Doom/Sludge

4metal
Loadown • Metal • Stoner • Hardcore • Bootlegs
T.H.U.M.B. • Metal • Stoner
Sludgelord • Stoner • Doom
Stonerobixxx • TOP BLOG • Doom • Sludge • Stoner • Drone
Clear Island
Lo-Res Viscera • Doom • Death • Black • Hardcore
Life Is Psychedelic • Stoner • Doom
Stone Your Senses • Stoner
Illogical Contraption • Metal • Punk • Soundtracks • Classical
Death Metal Invasion
Under Fire Metal Radio • Spanish Language
Cordyceps Zombie Swarm • Black Metal • Post-Metal • Post-Rock
Stoner Rock Is Here To Stay • Stoner • Doom
Heavy Planet Stoner Rock Blog • Stoner Rock • Sludge • Doom • Psych
Music: Out Of Time, Out Of Place • 80s-90s • Rock • Metal

Progressive Rock

SAM1957 • Prog • Psych • Hard Rock • Blues • Soul • Folk
Solarmusic • Prog
He Miss Road
Prog Not Frog • Psych • Folk
Electric Flower • Prog • Psych • Rock
Rare MP3 Music • TOP BLOG
Museo Rosenbach • Jazz • Krautrock • Folk
Som Contra Nuvens • Lossless • Prog • Jazz Fusion
Oldish Psych and Prog • Psych • Prog
Hal's Progressive Rock Blog • TOP BLOG

Psychedelic

hippy-djkit • Rare • World
Black Acid • Prog • Metal
D.C. Share • Psych • Folk • Blues • Punk
FM Shades • Folk • Space • Noise • Strange
Freemusic07 • Psych
Bomber Blog • Formerly know as Mza-Acid • Psych • Garage Rock
Faintly Blowing • Garage • Progressive
Psych Spaniolos
Redtelephone66 • on hiatus Jul 2011
Psychedelic Lion • Garage • Pop • Folk
The Bread Of Dreams • Psych • Experimental • Stoner
Psychedelic-Rock'n'Roll • Psych
Earl's Psychedelic Garden • Psych • Dub • Acid Folk • Krautrock
Astraal Tempel RhytHymns • Psyche • World • Jazz • Drone
Dr. Schluss' Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities

Folk

Exystence • Americana • Folk • Indie
Folkbunker • Russian Language
Scrumptunes • Freak Folk • Experimental • Indie • Grunge • Electronic
Folk Yourself • Celtic
Cukoo's Nest
Cover Lay Down • Covers • MP3 Downloads
Time Has Told Me
McGuinn's Folk Den • MP3 Downloads
microphones in the trees!
Garden of Earthly Delights • Psych • Pop • Garage
I Dunno - What D'you Think?

Pop/Power Pop/New Wave/Post-Punk

CDIVINYL • Australian Rock • Contemporary
Rock 'n' Dolls • Female Bands • Garage • Punk • Power Pop
Take The Pills • Pop • C86 • Post-Punk • New Wave
Fun With Vinyl • 80s-90s 12" dance remixes • Pop • New Wave
Vinyl Obscurity • New Wave • 80s-90s
Retro Remixes • Pop • Disco • R&B • New Wave
PVAc to 44.1kHz • On Hiatus Oct 2010 • Power Pop • New Wave
Power Pop Lovers • on hiatus Oct 2010 • New Wave
Try To Be Amused • 60s-70s • 80s-90s • Pop • Power Pop
Fantod Under Glass • on hiatus Feb 2011 • Post-Punk • New Wave • Synthpop
Powerpop Overdose
Music Ruined My Life • Pop • Power Pop • Punk-Pop
Power Pop Criminals • Rare • Power Pop • Indie
A Viable Commercial • Post-Punk • New Wave • Minimal Synth • Darkwave
Big Plans For Everybody • Power Pop • Pop • Post-Punk • Garage
Noisebox Music Collection • Indie Pop • New Wave • C86 • Synthpop • Post-Punk

Indie/Alternative/Math Rock/Shoegazing:

RadioSpin
StereoGum • MP3 Downloads
SirenSound• Experimental • Post-Rock • Ambient • Shoegaze
Tankfullofoil • Alternative • Indie • subculture
indie.fference • Indie • New Wave • Shoegaze • Synthpop
Stereoatypical • Math Rock • Hardcore • Indie
Reign In Sound • On Hiatus Oct 2010 • Indie • Alternative • Post-Punk • Shoegaze
Pop Apocalypse • TOP BLOG
I Hate The 90's
Be Independent!
La Luna que Mata • Indie • FLAC & MP3
Musica Phenomena • Alt-Pop/Rock • Electronica • Shoegaze
Jazz Snob Eat S*** • Electronica • Indie • Hip-Hop
Rhymes With Cusack • Indie • Hip-Hop
Space Age Bachelor Pad • Stereolab • Indie
Italian Music For Dummies • on hiatus Jan 2010 • Indie • Italian
The Devil Has The Best Tuna • mp3 blog •Indie • Electro • Folk • Psych
Tout ce qui bruite n'est pas sonique... • Sonic Youth • Indie

Experimental/Avant-Garde/Musique Concrete/Ambient/Post-Rock/Drone

enfin • post-rock • ambient • Contemporary Classical
nodata
RibsOut • post-rock • noise • ambient • sludge
soundweave • experimental • psych • metal • post-rock
Alice Rabbit • post-punk • Drone • noise • electronica
The Orb Live • The Orb concert recordings • experimental • bootlegs
Glowing Raw • experimental • various
Idle Minds Inc
Jazz Archives • Fusion • avant-garde • RIO • Zeuhl
Droning Earth • Drone • ambient • avant-garde
Mutant Sounds • experimental • noise • Cassette Culture
UbuWeb: Sound • Non-Blog • experimental & Avant-Garde Musicians Archive
Netlabels Noises • Creative Commons • experimental • avant-garde
Phoenix Hairpins
Ritualistic Nature • Ritual • ambient • Drone • Field Recordings • Ethnic
Experimental Etc
Continuo's Weblog
aulaelectroacustica • avant-garde
I'll Read You A Story • ambient • Drone • Field Recordings • industrial
Crossing All Borders • experimental • psych • noise
no longer forgotten music
Wheeeee Just Passing By • noise • J-Pop • Denpa
The Thing on the Doorstep
aerophones and aeroplanes • experimental • indie • folk • electronic
Deleted Scenes, Forgotten Dreams

Industrial / Coldwave / Power Electronics / Experimental Electronic

Querbeet • on hiatus Dec 2010 • Electronic • Ambient
Avant-Avant • mp3blog • Experimental • Electro • Glitch • Drone
Minimal Land • Minimalism
Industrial Scum
Moogsensations • on hiatus Dec 2010 • Moog Synthesizer
Hopeless Sound • Industrial • Electronic • Dubstep • Ambient
heavyelectronics • Industrial
The Staunton Lick • Electronica • Experimental• Indie
Sickness Abounds • Rhythmic Noise • Power Electronics • Dark Ambient
Terror Noise Audio • Industrial • Noise • Power Electronics
Wheneva We Bone • Psych • Experimental • Infrequent Updates
Drunk Alien Records • Electronic
Wiel's Time Capsule • Early Electronic • Synthesizer • New-Wave • Pop
nostalgie de la boue • Cassette • Industrial • Experimental
Misterioso Impossivel • Industrial • Ambient • Electro
Systems Of Romance • Industrial • Post-Punk • Synthpunk
The Wheel of the Year • Ambient • Esoteric • Industrial • Noise
7" from the underground • Minimal Synth • Post-Punk • No Wave
Industrial::Music::Library • on hiatus Dec 2010 • Industrial/Noise Pioneers

Electronic - Techno/House/Trance/Drum N' Bass

fluo kids • Techno/House • Electronic
Low-Life • Dubstep • Electronica
IDM Trade
wiki /music
Verd Music • on hiatus Sep 2010 • Electro • Pop • Disco
BIGSTEREO • MP3 Downloads
/discoworkout// • mp3 blog • Techno • House • Disco
Sly Fly Records • on hiatus Nov 2010 • Dubstep • House
Digital Eargasm
These Rocks Pop
Arch In Dubby Hub • Dubstep • Techno • Ambient • Experimental
Within A Constant Groove • Techno • Trance • House

Hip-Hop/Rap

The Kru • on hiatus Nov 2010
elmattic • Podcasts
Donuts & Milk • Hip-Hop
Pushin' Tapes • Classic Hip-Hop • Turntablism
Bust the Facts
Zimbadaboom • Hip-Hop • Rap
THE ZRO HOUR • Podcasts
WhatsTheWordYo • Hip-Hop • Electronic • Art
GoldenAgeHipHop • On Hiatus Feb 2011 • Early 90's Hip-Hop & Rap
Under des Pommes • on hiatus Sep 2010
Strictly Independent • Independent Hip-Hop
To The Break of Dawn
Inebriated Tendencies • Rap • Hip-Hop
Real Hip Hop Beholders • TOP BLOG • Hip-Hop
Original Underground Hip Hop
Earpussy Heaveness Maxiumus • Hip-Hop • Indie • Electro
Underground Hip Hop Collection
Undergroundhardcorerap • Rap • Hip-Hop

Country/Western/Bluegrass

A Truer Sound • Alt-Country
Western & Bop
Mellow's Log Cabin
Western Swing on 78 • Western • Country • Blues
Bluegrassove Novinky • Slovak Language • Bluegrass • Country
DeaconBlues1103CW • Modern Country
Wrath of the Grapevine
The Old, Weird America
Spread The Good Word!
Spontaneous Wednesday • Bluegrass • Gillian Welch bootlegs • Folk
Uncle Gil's Rockin' Archives • Country • Western Swing • Rockabilly • Blues
Roots of American Fiddle Music • Non-Blog • Country

Rockabilly/Doo Wop/Surf

TWILIGHTZONE! • Rockabilly • Garage • Surf* Featured Blog
Trustar Vibrations
The Rockin' Gipsy • On Hiatus Oct. 2010 • 40s/50s • Rockabilly • Country
The Fabulous 50's • On Hiatus Nov 2010
Oldschoolrockabilly • Rockabilly • Psychobilly • Doo Wop • Western Swing
Rock Is Dead / R.I.P. • Surf • Rockabilly • Garage Rock • Instrumentals
Fat City Cigar Lounge • Surf • Psychobilly • Experimental

Library Music/Lounge/Exotica/Space Age Pop/

Bazounga
Dusty Gems • on Hiatus Jan 2011
Vinyl Room • Instrumentals • Vinyl Rips
Dusty Shelf • Library Music
Blue Hipster
Third Island • on Hiatus Jan 2011
Stax o' Wax
Zip Your Rip
The Tuna Melt • on Hiatus Dec. 2010
Lounge Legends
Wide Open Sounds • New Age • Exotica
Easy Listening World
Library Music Rarities • on Hiatus Sep 2010
I'm Learning To Share • Vinyl Rips • Vintage • Vintage Culture
LP's Vinyl Lounge Hut • on Hiatus Jan 2011
Bongos/Flutes/Guitars • on hiatus Feb 2011 • Exotica
In-Flight Entertainment • Lounge • Exotica • Soundtracks
Marsellus Wallace's Crate Favorites • Library Music • Funk • Soul
Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else

Jazz/Fusion/Swing/Big Band

Nukebass
Jizz Relics • jazz
Dr. Fusion • jazz Fusion
Ile Oxumare • Vinyl Rips
mohaoffbeat • jazz
Zona de Jazz
Call It Anything
Zerodimension • jazz • funk
Jazz From Italy • Italian Jazz
Orgy In Rhythm
Into the Rhythm • lossless • jazz • blues • world Music
JJ's Jazz & Such • Japanese Jazz & Fusion
Planet Barberella • jazz/Swing • R & B • americana • mixes
Big Band Jazz Club • jazz • Swing
Bogard's jazztapes • jazz/Fusion • bootlegs • Live Recordings
Strata-East Fan Club • dead but an invaluable resource as long as the links last
Encore de la Musique • jazz • world • soul
Jazz Boot Experiment • jazz Bootlegs
Be Bop Wino Done Gone • Vintage • jazz • Big Band • Swing
Four Steps From The Blues • compilations • hard bop • blues

Blues / Blues-Rock

Zinhof • Croatian/English • blues • blues-rock
MilChapitas • blues • R & B
The Blues Collective
Four Steps From The Blues • compilations • hard bop • blues
Don't Ask Me ..... I Don't Know

Soul/Funk

Nü Beats • Mixes • Jazz • Brazilian
Flageolette • Latin • Soul • Funk • Jazz
Ear Fuzz • Soul • Funk • Jazz
Oufar Khan • Soul • Funk • Jazz
vinyl4giants • Funk • Soul • Hip-Hop
Beat Funky • Contemporary • Soul • Funk • Jazz
If-Its-Soulful • Funk/Soul
Funk Or Die • Funk • Soul • Blues
The "A" Side • Vinyl Rips • Obscure A Sides • Funk • Soul
The "B" Side • Vinyl Rips • Obscure B Sides • Funk • Soul
Randall Funk • Funk • Jazz
Lysergicfunk • Funk • Eclectic • Lossless • Trance • Classical
Scratchynoise • Funk • Soul
Buns O'Plenty • Soul • Funk • Jazz
Baby Grandpa • on hiatus Oct 2010
Parole Liquide • Hip-Hop • Funk
Soul Detective • Soul
Soul Spectrum • On Hiatus Jan. 2011
swing - evidence • Funk • Electro
Funky16Corners • Soul • Funk
Flea Market Funk
Milk Crate Breaks • TOP BLOG • Soul • Funk • Hip-Hop • Jazz
San Pasquale Ent. • Funk • Jazz • Electronic • Soundtracks
Afrofunkybrassjazz • Soul • Funk • Contemporary • International
Original Funk Music
The Black Revolution • Soul • Funk • Hip-Hop • Reggae •Latin
Flabbergasted Vibes • Funk • Soul • Jazz • MPB • Salsa
La Colmena de Humo • Soul • Funk • Rare singles
Get On Down With The Stepfather Of Soul

Reggae/Dub/Dancehall

Reggae DDL • Music Sharing Community
Sixties Fever! • Ska • Dancehall • Rock Steady • Revival Mod
Satta Massagana
Reggae En Malaga
Distinctly Jamaican Sounds
You And Me On A Jamboree
It's Coming Out Of Your Speaker • TOP BLOG • Reggae • Dub • Roots

Classical

Oido Fino • Spanish Language
Statework • Classical Broadcast Recordings
Opera mp3 • Non-Blog • Opera
Classic Cat • Non-Blog
P.Q.P. Bach
El Rincón Melómano
Wikipedia: Sound/list • MP3 Downloads • Contemporary Classical
On An Overgrown Path • Non-Blog
Maravillosos - NoName • Non-Blog
Handelmania's Podcast • Podcast • Opera
Otto's Classical Musick
Classical & Organ Music For All • Organ Music • Classical
Blogger Musical (classical library)

World Regions - Various

World Music
GPS Sonoro
Na Bula Bula • Classical • Jazz • Rock • Gypsy
Global Groove • Samba • Salsa • Reggae • Merengue
We Love Music
Australian Folk • Australian • Folk • Bush Music
Planeta Musical • Folk • Jazz • Celtic • Blues • Soul
Different Waters
BABE(B)LOGUE
The Mystery Peter... • on hiatus Nov 2010 • NSFW • World Music
Snap, Crackle & Pop
The World's Jukebox • Traditional Folk • Ethnic
That Striped Sunlight Sound • Rock • Folk • Ambient
Rare World & Folklore Music • Traditional Folk Music • Ethnic

World Regions - Africa

oro • Voodoo Music
Likembe • mp3 Downloads
Africolombia • African • Colombian • Vintage
Voodoo Funk • 70s • Funk • Pop
Awesome Tapes From Africa

World Regions - Asia

Madrotter • Indonesian
Monrakplengthai • World • Thai
Asian Classical MP3 • Non-Blog • MP3 Downloads • Asian Classical
Sounds of Enlightenment • Asian Classical

World Regions - Europe

indieitalia • Italian • Independent Artists
Paul Durango's • On Hiatus Nov 2010 • French • Soundtracks
Italian Folk Music • On Hiatus Dec 2010 • Italian • Folk
La France D'Hier • Folk • French

World Regions - Mexico/Central & South America/:

Musicoteca
Soul Spectrum • Soul • Funk
Toque Musical • Brazilian Music
J Thyme...KIND • Samba • Salsa • Rock
Brazilian Nuggets
Musica Del Alma • MP3 Files • Mixes
Republica de Fiume • Brazil • Latin • Jazz • Funk • Soul
De 78rpm a 33 1/3rpm • Mexico • Spanish Language
Abracadabra-LPs do Brasil

World Regions - Middle East/Persia/Turkey/India

Giora's FTP • Israeli • Punk • Hardcore
Folk Music SMB • Arabic • Persian • Traditional Folk • Classical • Ethnic
Passionate Music • Arabic • Bellydance • Lounge • Jazz
Radio Bastet - Vintage Belly Dance Music • Bellydance • Podcast

Archived Comments

2011-03-20T12:29:00.152-04:00

Last Update: Nov 03, 2011

Featured Blog - सølγ שаябlɛş

2011-03-10T16:35:00.003-05:00

Click here to skip directly to the blogroll

As some of you may know, I recently reversed my decision to close the site. Fortunately for me, a couple of individuals by the name of FourSteps (aka Don) and VelvetBob agreed to contribute here, and have rapidly been breathing new life into the site. I have been very impressed with the progress they have managed to make in such a relatively short period of time. In keeping with the spirit of progress I have decided to resurrect a feature which hasn't been seen for a long time here, the Featured Blog. In the future I'm going to do my best to deliver a new featured blog post at least every two weeks. Eventually I would like to enlist the help of others in order to make it a weekly feature.

This week's featured blog is a relative newcomer to the scene, having been around a little under a year; however, he has attracted a lot of attention during that short period of time. The blog in question is none other than Holy Warbles, or सølγ שаябlɛş if you prefer. The site is operated by øשlqæda, a man who certainly knows his music, which is clearly evident from the very detailed and informative posts he regularly serves up. Once you visit the site it doesn't take long to realize that you have just immersed yourself within a world of obscure oddities, which each have their own story to tell. Aside from the quality of the music presented, there are a couple of things that really set Holy Warbles apart from many other blogs in my opinion. First of all, there is literally music from every corner of the globe represented there. You can find field recordings of traditional ethnic folk music from tiny Pacific islands, in addition to music from modern industrialized nations. The second aspect of the site that really struck me was the sheer number of genres represented, as evident by the lengthy list of labels present in the sidebar, which may even number more than 1,000. Be prepared to devote several hours to browsing through the archives, which is reminiscent of visiting an amazing antique store for the first time, as you make one amazing discovery of obscure music after another. Then you realize that despite the fact that you have devoted several hours of your time marveling at one item after another, you will undoubtedly require several more equaly lengthy trips to satisfy your curiosity. Click the link below to visit one of the best music blogs on the internet.

Holy Warbles:
http://holywarbles.blogspot.com/

Good News! The Site Has Been Saved

2011-01-05T03:01:00.005-05:00

I finally have a bit of good news to report for a change - I have decided to reverse my decision regarding closing down the site. For those who missed it, last month I posted an announcement here, which stated that I was closing down the site. Shortly after I made the announcement a couple of individuals left comments stating that they would be willing to contribute to the site in order to help keep it alive. The two generous individuals in question are Don and Jim. Jim is a frequent visitor of the Digital Meltd0wn music blog, and agreed to contribute as a way of saying thank you for all of the music that I have posted there. Don runs a couple of great blogs of his own. The first is called "Four Steps From The Blues", which can be found here: http://fourstepsfromtheblues.blogspot.com/ and the second is entitled "Try To Be Amused", and can be found here: http://try-to-be-amused.blogspot.com/

I also have an announcement regarding my own music blog, Digital Meltd0wn An individual who goes by the name of "Strange Ranger" recently offered up a treasure trove of horror film soundtracks as a guest contributor for December's Nightmare Before Christmas event. To say that I was impressed by his posts during the event would be an understatement. It was evident that he took great care constructing each and every one of his posts. After the Nightmare Before Christmas event ended I asked Strange Ranger if he would be willing to join us as a permanent contributor to the blog. Luckily his answer was yes, and I'm very pleased to welcome Strange Ranger as the newest team member of the Digital Meltd0wn music blog. Strange Ranger already operates his own music blog by the name of Motherfucker=Redeemer, where you can expect to find informative posts, high-quality audio, and excellent music throughout. Please be sure to pay it a visit as well.

I would like to thank Strange Ranger, Don and Jim for being generous enough to contribute to Digital Meltd0wn. Running both of the websites was starting to seem more like a chore, rather than being an enjoyable hobby as it should be. Now that the threat of being forced to close down either site has passed, I can relax and enjoy myself a little. I have always had a ton of ideas for both websites in my head, yet always lacked the available time to implement them. Now that I have some help I look forward to being able to bring some of those ideas to life. I expect 2011 to turn out to be one of the most intriguing and productive years in Digital Meltd0wn's history. I know it has been a while since I have added any blogs to the site, but you can expect to see a major update next week.

Closing Down The Site

2010-11-14T22:26:00.004-05:00

After months of deliberation I have decided to go ahead and close down this site. I would like everyone to know that this was a very tough decision to make, and certainly not one that I am happy to have to make. There are a number of reasons which have forced me to do this, but the primary reason is that I simply do not have time to maintain the site with everything else I have going on in my life. I have attempted to find people willing to contribute here many times during the last two years, but my requests for a contributor have always gone unanswered. This has been a major source of disappointment for me during this time. It has always confused me as to how some blog admins are able to find dozens of contributors, and yet I have been not able to find one individual willing to help keep this place alive despite the tens of thousands of visitors I receive every month.

I have had very little free time on my hands during the time I have been running this site, and my circumstances won't be changing any time soon. For the past year I have been putting in close to 75 hours a week between working and going to school full time, running this site and my regular music blog, and trying to maintain some resemblance of a personal life. All of this has proven to be too much for me to handle, and I have finally decided to stop being so stubborn and accept the inevitable. Whenever I tackle anything in life I try to do it to the best of my ability, and it has become increasingly obvious that I've been doing a piss-poor job of running this site as of late. I have tried to prevent the site from becoming obsolete, but there are a number of other sites which are doing what I do, and doing a much better job of it.

I would like to thank everyone who has visited this site and all who have linked to it over the years. I'm happy that I was able to help more than 600,000 people discover quality music blogs that they might not found on their own. I have decided that rather than spreading myself too thin I am simply going to focus on the Digital Meltd0wn music blog, and run it to the very best of my ability. To all those who currently have a link to this site on your blog, I would like to ask you to please link to my music blog instead. The address is: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com

I still haven't decided whether I want to take this site offline, or leave it up until it has obviously run its course. I would prefer to "go out on top" though, rather than let the site continue to die a slow and miserable death. If anyone would like for me to send them the source code for the blogroll, or create a text file with all the links to the blogs listed here, I would be happy to do so. For those interested, I will still be maintaining the aggregated RSS feed for all the sites that are listed here for my own personal reasons on my Google Reader account. You can find the address to it here: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/02628427451354667243/label/Shared%20Items

My e-mail address is in my profile if any of you would like to contact me for any reason. I would still be willing to keep this site alive if I could find someone willing to contribute, but unless that happens this is the end of the line. Once again, thank you everyone. It was fun while it lasted. :(

A Special Thank You to the Following Blogs

2010-08-10T01:53:00.005-04:00

I would like to take the time to issue a special thank you to the blogs listed below. Over the years a number of blogs have supported me in a number of different ways. One of the simplest gestures, and perhaps the most appreciated, is to link back to this site. It is evident that a high percentage of my traffic comes from these blogs, and without them a large number of people wouldn't know about Digital Meltd0wn. I would love to list every blog that links to DM, but it would take a very long time to put such a list together. This isn't to say that I don't appreciate those blogs, as I most certainly do, but what makes the blogs listed below so special is that they have been linking to me for several years now. If any of the admins of the blogs listed below happen to read this post, I wish that there was some way that I could say thank, you other than in writing, but that is the best I can do. Your support is appreciated more than you will ever know. I hope that you have received a proportionate amount of traffic in return from this site over the years. I would be interested to know exactly how much traffic some of you have received from this direction, if any of you would like to provide me with some numbers.

The majority of the blogs on this list need no introduction, as they have been around for years, and many consider them to be legends within the music blogging community. There are a couple of blogs on the list that are on hiatus, and may never return, but I thought it would be fair to include them just in case they do. Below you will find a list of every blog that has referred over 1,000 people to this site, with the exact number of referrals listed to the right. I hope you will take the time to pay these amazing blogs a visit, and please be sure to leave a comment to let them know you are enjoying the music they provide.

D & P's Bootleg Tunz World - 9,081
Mutant Sounds - 6,810
Stonerobixxx - 4,812
Real Hip-Hop Beholders - 4,796
Audio Book Coner - 4,570
Sleazy Listening - 3,070
It's Coming Out Of Your Speaker - 3,050
Hal's Progressive Rock Blog - 3,050
Milk Crate Breaks - 2,790
Pop Apocalypse - 2,544
Lose In Tyme - 2,512
Grateful Breed - 2,404
Peppermint Store - 2,176
Chronic Music - 1,945
MP3MANIACO - 1,922
Rare MP3 Music - 1890
Orexis Of Death - 1,880
mec fais tourner les skeuds - 1,861
A Small Selection of Whatever Fills My Head - 1,788
Blood Is Truth - 1,609
The World Is Only One - 1,550
Exp Etc. - 1,539
Into The Rhythm - 1,533
Gyeeker - 1,521
Faintly Blowing - 1,511
Punk Not Profit - 1,510
Geant Vener - 1,383
Rockshot.eu - 1,267
Because God Told Me To Do It - 1,208
Chewbone - 1,203
Mad Parade - 1,146
Vinyl Lounge Hut - 1,136
XChannel Aggregator - 1,132
Ezhivika Fields - 1,103

Merlin In Rags Returns as The Dancing Master

2010-08-06T15:09:00.005-04:00

In keeping with the tradition of informing the music blog community of news concerning our favorite blogs, I am happy to report that another long-time blogger has rejoined our ranks after recently having his blog removed by Blogger. The person I'm referring to in this instance is "Merlin", the former admin of the blog "Merlin In Rags". Merlin has returned with a new blog, titled "The Return of the Dancing Master" (or the Transfiguration of Merlin), which can be found at: http://thereturnofthedancingmaster.blogspot.com/

Merlin picked up where he left off, apparently without missing a beat, already having posted 16 albums for the month of August. As with his former blog, The Return of the Dancing Master delivers vinyl rips of rare, out of print albums. His specialty is blues and roots music, including country, rockabilly, folk, and related genres.

It's great to see that another blogger has refused to call it quits, opting to keep pushing forward, rather than choosing to lay down and die as so many other blogs have. Please be sure to pay his new blog a visit. I would like to thank the Irate Pirate, who runs the Wrath of the Grapevine blog for the tip.

The Return of the Dancing Master:
http://thereturnofthedancingmaster.blogspot.com

Major Update - Phase IV of VI in Progress

2010-08-03T04:27:00.004-04:00

Click Here to Skip to the Blogroll

In case you missed it, I posted an announcement several weeks ago concerning a series of major updates that I will be making to this site. You can view the original announcement here. To sum things up, I realized that this update would be a massive undertaking, so I decided that it would be best to divide the updates into six different phases. The six different phases for the update are listed at the bottom of this post.

Right now I am working on the fourth phase, which involves adding all of the blogs from the blogroll to the Aggregator RSS feed. This is accomplished by adding each blog's feed to my Google Reader account, which then generates a "Shared Items" page, which can be found here, or by selecting "Blog Updates" from the second menu at the top of this site. The Aggregator RSS feed is initially generated by Google Reader, which I then customize using Feedburner. The DM Aggregator RSS feed can be found @ http://feeds.feedburner.com/dmblogroll

I am also creating a folder for each genre category listed on the blogroll, which will allow me to create a separate RSS feed for each category on the blogroll.
I still have yet to work out all the details as to how I would like to incorporate the aggregated content into the design of the site; however, I can reveal the first design modification to the site that I will make. As I mentioned before, each category will have it's own feed, and I intend to display an RSS feed icon for each category, giving you the option to subscribe to only updates from that particular category. I would also like to display a preview of the most recent updates from each category feed above the list of blogs in that category.

That is all the news I have for now, but I will be reporting back with more news concerning the progress of the update soon. I hope you all enjoy the ideas being presented, as well as the changes actively being made here. As always, please help me out by providing me with any feedback that you can regarding the update. Here is the aforementioned list of phases for the update:

Phase I: Delete Spam Comments (Complete)
Phase II: Remove dead links (Complete)
Phase III: Sort through comments and add blogs that qualify to the list (Complete)
Phase IV: Add RSS feeds for all the blogs on the blogroll to the Aggregator RSS feed (In Progress)
Phase V: Find new blogs to add to the list through personal research and visitor's recommendations
Phase VI: Changes to the code which will enhance the appearance, functionality, and ease of navigation

Digital Meltd0wn Now On Facebook

2010-07-27T14:28:00.002-04:00

I finally decided to break down and create a Facebook page for Digital Meltd0wn @ http://www.facebook.com/DigitalMeltd0wn. I created a personal account a few years ago, and I just didn't feel as if Facebook had been developed enough at that point to warrant further use. I decided to give it another chance after hearing many people rave about its usefulness. After exploring it for several hours yesterday, I realized that they have made vast improvements to the service. I created an account for Digital Meltd0wn, as well as a personal account, a few days ago.

Since last.fm has been a continuous disappointment lately, and there seems to be a mass exodus from Myspace, I plan to focus the majority of my social networking activity on Facebook, and here are a few ideas you can expect to see implemented soon. Updates from the Digital Meltd0wn Music Aggregator/Blogroll, along with my own Digital Meltd0wn music blog, will be posted there. I also plan to publish a mirror of the Digital Meltd0wn Blogroll in it's own tab, display the most recent posts from our music blog aggregator RSS feed in a separate tab, and upload some interesting music videos and pictures. I hope you all enjoy these features, and please recommend me any ideas you may have to make the page better.

My primary reason for creating a facebook account is to have the chance to interact with those of you who visit my blogs. I would also like to be able to meet independent artists and labels, and promote your work as well. I created a discussion board thread to give independent artists and labels the chance to promote their music here. I would also like to meet other music bloggers, and if you're interested in promoting your blog, I have also created a discussion thread for music bloggers to share their blogs here.

I want to thank those of you who have already added me as a friend on Facebook. I received over 100 friend requests within a week, which is much more than I expected. I look forward to meeting more of you there, and hopefully participating in discussions with you in the discussion group.

Digital Meltd0wn @ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalMeltd0wn
My Personal Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=785217519

Aggregated Content on Twitter

2010-07-16T01:15:00.005-04:00

I recently created a Twitter account @ http://twitter.com/dmaggregator which automatically publishes updates from the Digital Meltd0wn Aggregator RSS feed @ http://feeds.feedburner.com/dmblogroll. I will also be maintaining several lists on this twitter account, such as one for music bloggers, aggregators, etc. so that those interested can easily find their favorite music bloggers that use Twitter. I already have one Twitter account @ http://twitter.com/digitalmeltd0wn which I use to share updates from my music blog. I will also use that account to notify followers when a special article is posted here. Despite the fact that the account is automatically updated, I will still be monitoring mentions and messages, so feel free to strike up a conversation with me about anything that you would like @dmaggregator or @digitalmeltd0wn

I am still working on the aggregator features for this site. I am on the verge of completing the second of a massive six phase update. I just finished filtering through over 500 of your comments, which I must say was a very tedious task, and added all of the blogs that qualified to the list and aggregator feed. The fourth phase of the update will be to add the blog feeds that haven't been added to the aggregator feed, and coming up with a suitable method to incorporate these feed(s) into the site. If any of you have any suggestions or advice as to how I should display these feeds, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. I want to make this site as user friendly as possible and a great resource for all who visit it.

Deathpodal - Exu__Wow

2010-07-14T04:17:00.000-04:00

I will be flying back home to Tennessee to visit family and friends for the next 10 days, but before I leave I want to leave you with a Digital Meltd0wn exclusive. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Alastair J Chivers, the man behind Deathpodal, asking me to review his debut album "Exu__Wow". He was also kind enough to send me a CD from Scotland to the United States. I receive a lot of e-mails from independent artists asking me to review their music, and I turn the majority of them down because I'm just not satisfied with their music. However, upon listening to the first track of Exu__Wow, I knew that I was going to be in for a real treat.

Alastair hails from Glasgow, Scotland. He plays all of the instruments on Exu__Wow, although he utilizes a backing band whenever playing live. It's difficult for me to pigeonhole Deathpodal's music, but if I had to try I would say that it falls somewhere in between noise rock and post-rock, and at times it leans toward the avant-garde. The album explores a very nice range of emotions as well. At times the music is gentle and melodic, but this reality is soon destroyed by a full-frontal assault of blistering guitars and aggressive vocals. Exu__Wow strikes a very nice balance, and I believe that it will appeal to fans of a number of different genres.

As I mentioned before, I'm leaving to go on vacation shortly, so I'm going to have to cut my review a bit short. I'll be featuring Deathpodal in a huge upcoming project that I have planned for my regular music blog, and I will be sure to post a more worthy review at that time. I hope that you all enjoy Mr. Chiver's music, and please be sure to support him by purchasing his album. There are several different options available to purchase his album on his myspace page (link below) I'm going to leave you with an interview that was posted on the Peenko blog, in which Alastair answers a lot of questions that one might have about his music:

Would you care to introduce yourself?
Hi sure, I'm Alastair, I'm male, I'm looking for hot singles and a good time... I play lots of instruments, write and perform music under the name Deathpodal, and I'm releasing a debut EP entitled Exu__Wow on a new independent label called Electropapknit. I like doing lots of art and music related projects.

How would you describe the music you make?
DIY, for sure. Sound wise, I guess undulating melodies with fractured alt rock aggression, lots of instrumentation, dynamics and alternative recording techniques. It's kind of a mix of post punk, with bits of post rock, soundscapes, soft and harsh concording notes. It's not boring. At least I hope it's not boring. No I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Someone emailed me the other day and said my tracks sounded like the Pixies and Mogwai performing the soundtrack of Blue Velvet, which made me laugh. That's probably my favourite description.]

How did you start out making music?
A couple of friends and I started jamming and gigging in a sonic metal band towards the end of school, meeting other like minded musicians and getting into Fugazi and Sonic Youth. We grew up near Aberdeen during a period when the scene had lots of cool people doing lots of different things. One gig we'd be playing on an outdoor stage near the city centre, the next a well established venue, the next in the basement of a restaurant after closing without the owners consent. We formed lots of bands, put on gigs, arranged charity nights and also formed a free DIY festival. It was a good way to develop ideas with people and make friends.

What process goes into the way you write songs?
It's varied. At first I wanted to just fuck people up - so I'd think of song ideas with dramatic shifts in the middle. I used to try and write complicated riffs and have lots of different things going at the same time... Now I just try and do simple things well, but maintain something interesting within a song.

With the EP, Exu__Wow, it was a lot different. I had all these ideas but no real band at the time so I just started recording all these parts myself using a few mics and lots of endeavour. It was pretty hard to know exactly how a song would turn out, because they'd never been played in a practice room, or jammed with a few mates.

Whatever parts I couldn't do or where I needed to borrow an instrument, I would get friends to help out, which was a relief because then the process wasn't so lonely. It just meant I'd have to travel all over Scotland to do it, like I needed a piano so used a friends at his flat in Edinburgh, the drummer was in Stonehaven, so I recorded his parts in a portacabin where he stashed his drums, the girl who played violin was in Glasgow so we recorded in her Uni etc. I even recorded in Princes Street Gardens late at night with a friend and a box of wine, it was harder climbing out than it was getting in! Doing things this way meant the writing process was over months and months rather than a few days or whatever. I've changed it for the new tracks I've been writing - keeping things short and punchy.

What can people expect from your live shows?
A swamp techno rave inside with rain! Or more precisely 4 to 6 people playing anything from synth, guitars, bass, double bass, strings (possible), samples, drums, loops, melodicas, soo soo (type of Indian flute), bells, pieces of metal, piano and anything else someone wants to bring into the mix. I'd like to say we'd have trained bats that circle the crowd while we play in a mud pit, but that's something else entirely.

What are you all listening to at the moment?
Well for me, I'm really enjoying listening to Minutemen again. I've been reading This Band Could Be Your Life, which is all about the DIY post punk bands in the 80s, and Minutemen are in that. Sonic Youth (Sonic Nurse), the new Liars record, Thomas Truax, The Thermals, Jesus Lizard, These New Puritans, Sidca, Lightning Bolt, Julee Cruise, !!!, Wire and Autechre. I can't say for sure about the guys who are involved in the live band (see below), but I know two guys like Mastodon, one guy likes Dinosaur Jr and Times New Viking and the drummer, well he's anywhere between Prince and white noise, but then drummers are a bit off the scale anyway.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?
Well the EP will be out at the end of this month and I'm currently practising with a lot of the musicians I recorded with, so lots of gigs in Scotland with hopefully dates in England and other cools places, so long as it can be budgeted. I'm also doing a bunch of other projects, both music and art related. If people want to keep up with Deathpodal events and related projects then check out my site, I guess.

Keep an eye out on the label I'm with, Electropapknit. There's plans to re-release the first PVH (Project Venhell) album, as well as a PVH / Copy Haho members improv project, and that's just for starters.

Download: Deathpodal - Exu__Wow
Download Size: 30MB

Deathpodal on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/deathtoal

Featured Video - 'Before the Music Dies' Documentary

2010-06-29T21:47:00.006-04:00

Click here to skip to the blogroll

I just finished watching this documentary on Hulu, and thought it would be very fitting to share here. Those of you who run blogs and visit this site are probably all too well aware of the current problems within the music industry. However, some of you may be unaware of the forces behind the decision making processes, as well as the deceptive techniques used to create todays "stars". This video aims to reveal these deceptions, the motivation behind the decisions, as well as cast a critical eye on the so called "stars" themselves. It features great commentary by several established acts. Erykah Badu delivers some of the most refreshingly honest commentary on the entire video, particularly her comments relating to women hoping to make it in the industry. Here is a synopsis of the plot, which was posted on imdb.com

"Before the Music Dies takes a critical look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest talents like Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Bonnie Raitt and more. Using historic footage the film looks at the evolution of American music and the artists who created it and pulls back the curtain (in a very creative way) to expose the sad truth behind today's "artificial" music stars. "The reality is that superficiality is in," says Marsalis. "And depth and quality is kind of out." Inspired by the death of his brother, director Andrew Shapter and his crew traveled thousands of miles, visiting dozens of cities, speaking with hundreds of fans, journalists, record executives and musicians while searching for "real" American music. What they found were mega-talents without a major label, including one artist Eric Clapton believes is "the real thing.

This is the first video that I have posted here, so I hope you all enjoy it, and please let me know if you would like to see more videos/documentaries relevant to the music industry posted here in the future.

Grooveshark Offers Free Month of Premium Service

2010-06-27T16:23:00.006-04:00

Click here to skip to the blogroll

In an effort to capitalize on Apple's recent closure of the Lala music service, Grooveshark is giving away one month of free VIP access to former Lala members. VIP accounts would normally run you $3 a month. The good news is that regardless of whether or not you were a member of Lala, you can still get the free month of VIP access. All you need to do is visit this page, fill out the short questionnaire and you're in. I have personally tested this and can assure you that it works. This offer also applies to those who have existing Grooveshark accounts. Most importantly, the VIP membership will allow you to stream music ad free, increase the amount of music in your library and favorites, and download desktop/mobile applications.

Grooveshark VIP Offer: http://vip.grooveshark.com/lala
Grooveshark Homepage: http://grooveshark.com

Update - A List of Blogs that have New Addresses

2010-06-24T10:14:00.011-04:00

Click here to skip to the blogroll

I try my best to stay on top of the latest news regarding our favorite music blogs. Due to the sheer number of blogs out there it can be a tough task sometimes. When a well known blog is removed or changes urls, I try to dedicate a post to the blog, both to inform the visitors of the news, and to help drive traffic to the new address. This time around I have a number of blogs to report on. The following blogs were either removed and relocated to a new blogging service, willingly made the decision to relocate to a different blogging platform, or bought a domain name. Some of these moves might not have been recent, rather these blogs have moved since the last time I performed a major update to the blogroll list.

Phrock Blog - http://phrockblog3.blogspot.com
Chris Goes Rock - http://chrisgoesrock.blogspot.com
Funky 16 Corners - http://www.funky16corners.com/
Redtelephone66 - http://www.redtelephone66.com/
D & P's Bootleg Tunz World - http://bootlegtunzworld.blogspot.com/
The Ultimate Bootleg Experience - http://theultimatebootlegexperience3.blogspot.com/
Sickness Still Abounds - http://sickness-still-abounds.blogspot.com/
Industrial Scum - http://www.electro-dandies.blogspot.com/
Floodlit Footprint - http://floodlit1.ucoz.com/blog
Retro Remixes - http://retroremixes.wordpress.com
Buns O'Plenty - http://bunsoplenty.wordpress.com/
stigmaBU (Formerly "Stigmas Rest Room") - http://stigmabu.blogspot.com/
San Pasquale Ent. - http://www.sanpasquale.net/
Spending Loud Night - http://spendingloudnight.wordpress.com/

Missing In Action - A List of Deleted/MIA Blogs

2010-06-19T23:27:00.005-04:00

Some of you may already be aware that I am in the process of rolling out several major updates to the site. During the last update, I went through the blogroll and removed all of the blogs that have been deleted by Google/Blogger, Wordpress etc.. I was able to find new links for several of the blogs, but I was unable to track down a new url for many of them. If you have any information concerning any of these blogs, please take the time to leave a comment. Here is the list of blogs that are missing in action, along with the respective url that they were using:

Into the Rhythm - http://intotherhythm.blogspot.com
The Mixdiggerz - http://mixdiggerz.blogspot.com
Muse Asylum - http://collectmp3s.blogspot.com
I Killed the Darkness - http://ikilledthedarkness.blogspot.com
The Sky Moves Sideways - http://jrfg.blogspot.com
Staring at the Apocalypse - http://staringapocalypse.blogspot.com
Musica Acida - ~~http://mza-acid.blogspot.com~~ Update: Now known as Bomber Blog
Burton Bootlegger - http://burtonbootlegger.blogspot.com
Outside My Scene - http://outsidemyscene.blogspot.com
Punk Rock Station - http://punkrockstation.blogspot.com
Born In The Basement - http://borninthebasement.blogspot.com
Linkworld - http://linkyourstuff.blogspot.com
The Dark Factory - http://darkdayisatragedy.blogspot.com
Pigs and Sheeps - http://pigsandsheeps.blogspot.com
Broke Down Engine - ~~http://brokedownengine.blogspot.com~~ Update: Removed - Archived here
4Metal - http://4metal.blogspot.com
Library Music - http://librarymusic209.blogspot.com
Grooves of Delight - http://groovesofdelight.blogspot.com
Outside My Scene - http://outsidemyscene.blogspot.com
's Marvelous Distro - http://smarvelousdistro.blogspot.com
Eternally Yours - http://eternally-yours.blogspot.com
Anthem of the Space - http://tonefloat.blogspot.com (Psych)
Hypnotic Breaks - http://hypnotic-breaks.blogspot.com
Caucasian Tabloid - http://caucasian-tabloid.blogspot.com (Techno)
Just Country - http://koningfmjustcountry.blogspot.com
Free Rockabilly Music - http://freerockabillymusic.blogspot.com
Boppe Slag - http://boppeslag.blogspot.com (Surf)
EekTheCat - http://eekcat.blogspot.com (Surf)
DeaconBlues1103Soul - http://deaconblues1103soul.blogspot.com (REMOVED - http://deaconblues1953.blogspot.com)
Bitches Brew - http://jazz-rock-fusion.blogspot.com
World Fusion - http://jazzrock-world-fusion.blogspot.com
Black magic Plastic - http://blackmagicplastic.blogspot.com
Sick Mix - http://sickmix.blogspot.com
JazzRock World - http://jazzrockz.blogspot.com
BluesTown - ~~http://bluestown.blogspot.com~~ Update: New address - Now a private blog

Major Update - Phase II Complete

2010-06-17T00:00:00.001-04:00

Those who frequent the blogroll are already aware that I am rolling out a major round of updates. For detailed information concerning all the changes that will be made, please read this post. I just finished phase II of VI, which involved removing all of the dead links, updating the urls for the blogs that moved, and a few new additions to the sidebar.

If you will look to the sidebar on the right, you will see a couple of new sections. The first is the followers blog. If you enjoy the blogroll, I hope that you will become a follower. I have a few nice surprises in store in the near future for those of you who do. I just noticed that the "older posts" link is missing from the bottom of the page, so I went ahead and added an archive menu so that you can easily find older posts. I will try to add the "older posts" link to the bottom of the page when I do my next round of updates, which I will begin tomorrow.

The last, and perhaps most important new addition is the list of the most recent posts from the blogs on the list. Eventually I would like to find new ways to display these updates at full size, as I am trying to incorporate aggregator-like features here also.

As I mentioned before, I will begin Phase III of VI tomorrow. This update will involve going through all of the comments that have been left, visiting the blogs that were submitted, and adding the blogs that qualify to the list. I will also be making more minor cosmetic changes. I will delete each comment as I qualify/disqualify the respective blog. I hope that you all are enjoying the recent changes being made here. Please don't hesitate to provide me with some feedback or constructive criticism in regards to the changes being made. I want to make this site the most useful resource that those who visit it. I would also like to thank those of you who have supported Digital Meltd0wn over the years. Without you DM couldn't continue to melt down into the underground. Here's to many more years of enjoying the freedom to exchange rare and underground music unrestricted.

Major Update In Progress - Phase I of VI Complete

2010-06-12T15:25:00.009-04:00

Phase I: Delete Spam Comments (Complete: Over 250+ Comments Removed)
Phase II: Remove dead links (Scheduled to be completed on 6/15/10)
Phase III: Sort through comments and add blogs that qualify to the list
Phase IV: Add RSS feeds for all the blogs on the blogroll to the Aggregator Feed
Phase V: Find new blogs to add to the list through personal research and visitor's recommendations
Phase VI: Changes to the code which will enhance the appearance, functionality, and ease of navigation

I would like to apologize to anyone who has visited the blogroll during the last year and run across dead links. It wasn't until recently that I realized that this blogroll is becoming obsolete due to the number of blogs listed on it that have either been taken down, moved, or called it quits. I started this blogroll because I wasn't satisfied with the level of organization of other music blogrolls and aggregators. I've been weighed down trying to devote my time to school, work, and the important people in my life, and I didn't realize how long it had been since I had updated the blogroll. Now it is time to take measures to put this blogroll back into good standing with the music blog community.

I'm proud to announce that I have completed the first of six phases of a major update for the blogroll. Above I have listed the phases of the blogroll update which will be occurring over the next two weeks. It took me a full day just to delete all the spam comments. I have enabled comment moderation so that this won't be a problem in the future. Now I am in the process of going through the 250+ comments that you all have left and adding your blogs to the list as you requested. To be fair I have started with the oldest comments first. Unfortunately this will take the longest of any of the phases due to the sheer number of people, who couldn't be bothered to read the qualifications for being listed, that requested to have their blogs listed.

Tomorrow I will begin removing all of the dead links from the blogroll, and trying to locate new urls for any blogs that may have moved. Hopefully this doesn't slim down the list too much, but if it does at least I will know that only quality blogs populate the list. I will also be making a post requesting the visitors to recommend blogs for the categories that are looking rather sparse.

I also plan to take measures to prevent the blogroll from ever falling into such a state of disrepair again. Instead of allowing the comments to build up, I will check them as they are posted, and add or disqualify the blog in question immediately. I will also be doing a bit of research to find new blogs for the list. I recently discovered a few tools on Google Reader that should speed up this process a great deal.

In addition to working on the update for this blogroll, I have also been working on a HUGE project for my regular music blog. Considering I work at least 13 hours a day, all of this can be overwhelming at times, although I refuse to call it quits. If anyone would be willing to help me keep the blogroll updated, please contact me. I could certainly use some help, even if you can only play a minor role or your time is limited. I hope that you all enjoy the work that is being done for the update.

Spotify to hit US by Fall of 2010

2010-03-28T19:48:00.004-04:00

The popular music streaming service, Spotify, plans to finally launch in America in the third quarter of this year, according to an interview with its Senior Vice President, Paul Brown. It had originally planned to hit the US in the third or fourth quarter of last year but reportedly ran into further licensing issues.

Spotify has 7 million users across Europe in the UK, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Finland, and provides a legal and free ad-supported music streaming service of nearly 8 million tracks from both major and independent record labels. Simply download the software - which looks unashamedly similar to iTunes - type in what you're looking for, and you're away.

Over 300,000 subscribers currently pay for its premium service, which offers ad-free streaming, the ability to listen on your iPhone, Android phone or Nokia Symbian phone, and cached offline playing - all for around £10 or €10 a month (about $15). Users can also buy a "day pass" of ad-free music for only £0.99 or €0.99, and the service provides links to legal download sites where you can purchase single tracks or albums with Spotify receiving a cut of the profits.

"We’re buying server space in random parts of the states and there are licensing discussions too," Brown told Bloomberg, "But they are going fine because we’re in a long-term partnership with the labels and publishers." It all sounds encouraging that Spotify will finally be ready to hit the big time later this year.

Spotify is also apparently in talks to partner with "unidentified U.S. Internet and mobile-phone service providers" for the launch, and plans to create further mobile applications, this time for BlackBerry and Palm devices. The company's commitment to the mobile platform was reinforced this week with the news of an updated iPhone app coming soon.

So far in Europe, Spotify seems to be helping to reduce music piracy by providing a free and easy way for people to get the music they want, with most users willing to put up with the occasional advertisement interruptions to their music or pay for the ad-free premium service. Either way the music industry and record labels make money (even if it is not as much as from traditional sales it is still better than the nothing they receive from illegal downloads) and hopefully this model can be successfully carried across the pond.

Source: http://neowin.net

Help Wanted

2009-09-21T23:49:00.003-04:00

I will be moving to Oklahoma in two days. I have no idea how long it will be before I have internet access again. During the last few months I have had a number of very important responsibilities to take care of in my personal life. Please see this post for a more detailed explanation: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2009/07/regarding-my-absence.html

I am currently looking for someone who would be willing to contribute over at my regular music blog, Digital Meltd0wn. At the moment I have a few guest contributors helping out, and they have done an amazing job. In fact, I wouldn't have been able to keep the blog going without their help. However, two of those contributors recently started college and live very busy lives, so it is unlikely that they will be able to contribute much until their semester is over. J-Unit1 has agreed to post for a couple of weeks, but will be resuming work on his own blog once he is finished. NØ originally agreed to guest blog here for a couple of weeks, but fortunately for me he decided to stick around and continue to post. Being the absent minded person that I am, I have neglected to send him a message regarding this, but I'm not sure how long he plans to help me out.

What I'm looking for is someone who can regularly contribute on a permanent basis. The only requirements are a large music collection, the willing to share the more obscure albums, and the ability to post a couple of times a week. Knowledge of HTML and the Blogger platform would be a plus, but is not absolutely necessary because I can always go back and edit the posts if I need to.

If any of you are interested in this position please try to contact me within the next two days. I will be unable to check my messages or comments after that. You can e-mail me at Shockw4ve_X at hotmail dot com or leave a comment here with details about how I can contact you.

Discovering Music: last.fm Alternatives Part 1

2009-05-23T02:21:00.019-04:00

In my last article discussing the recent addition of several features to last.fm, I discussed the possibility of many of it's members leaving due to the decision to require members living outside of the US, UK, and Germany to pay a subscribtion fee to be able to use their software. Since being bought out by CBS in May of 2007, last.fm has implemented a number of changes to it's website and software based on a corporate business model being implemented rather than listening to it's members. Last July last.fm angered thousands of it's users by overhauling the entire site without giving them an option to revert back to the old layout. In the process they changed much of the functionality and did away with the simplicity that attracted many users in the first place.

last.fm still remains my preferred method for discovering new music, but I must admit that the alternatives are beginning to look better and better. So without further ado, allow me to introduce a few great alternatives to last.fm for discovering, streaming, and downloading music.

Social Networks

I would consider last.fm a social network for discovering music, so I will start with the services that best match up with the features that last.fm has to offer. First up is the network that has been making a lot of headlines recently:

Spotify - http://spotify.com

Many are calling Spotify the last.fm killer. This is a bold claim considering it is still in it's infacy, remaining in the beta testing phase at the moment. Membership is also limited to UK residents for now, but this will change as soon as they transition out of beta phase, and there are methods for bypassing this restriction. Spotify isn't as much of a social network either, but I have included it in this category because it is the most like last.fm in it's functionality, and for it's features such as collaborative playlist sharing, Spotify boasts an impressive number of features, a vast collection of music ready to stream, and most importantly, the necessary momentum that would make it the most likely candidate to eventually win over last.fm's members.

Pros: Massive selection including many full albums available for streaming, advanced player with "previous track" and "pause" buttons, Create and share unlimited playlists, playlist Sharing

Cons: Only available in the UK for now, Audio Adverts (Removed by paying a fee) Lesser known genres and even some mainstream artists aren't represented yet.

Mog:
Mog shares many features with last.fm, although it's limited selection of streaming music will prevent if from ever topping last.fm. Mog generates charts based on the tracks you have listened to, allows members to create a profile page, and recommends music and user contributed articles based on your taste. Unlike last.fm, Mog requires you to download a small program called MOG-O-MATIC which is used to auto-sync your music library and listening history with your Mog profile.
User generated content is more prevalent on Mog, as member's blog posts are presented as articles, and delivered to you based on your listening habits. The biggest downside to Mog is that it appears to be geared more towards allowing you to discover new music, rather than actually listening to it, as the selection of songs available for streaming is very limited at the moment.

Pros: Very active member base including many well known artists, Recommendations based on your musical taste, Personalized feed informing you of new albums and friend's activities

Cons: Poor selection of music available for streaming, No player for streaming music offline, MOG-O-MATIC client tried to take control of other services and apps

Grooveshark - http://grooveshark.com

The power of Grooveshark lies in it's simplicity and speed. Upon visiting the site, one can almost instantly search for and play music, build a playlist, and share it with anyone. The great thing is that there are millions of fully streamable tracks to choose from. Although social networking features are available, they take a backseat to the music discovery aspect of the site. The recent addition of the "Autoplay" service turns the site into a Pandora style radio station as it allows visitors to search for tracks, listen in and then click on "Autoplay" which will build a playlist based on your initial choice. Autoplay can then proceed to build a picture of your listening interests as it gives you the option to give tracks the thumbs up, thumbs down or add the it to your favorites. Another great feature offered by Grooveshark is the ability to upload your music collection using the Grooveshark Music Uploader, and then then play it from any computer via the Grooveshark website. I have yet to test out this feature, but a few friends have informed me that they have been using the uploader and listening to their collection from work without a hitch.

Pros: Simplistic speedy interface, large selection of full length streamable songs, upload your music and access it from any computer, embeddable web widgets

Cons: Search results need work, social networking features are lacking, deep navigation can be tedious

Blip.fm - http://blip.fm

Blip.fm is the equivalent of Twitter for music fans. Once you sign on you simply search for a song or upload your own mp3, "blip" it, and write a short message limited to 150 charcters. Each member is dubbed a DJ, and you are given 13 "prop credits" when you first sign up to give out to other DJs. The developers have hinted to the fact that these credits will serve some sort of practical purpose in the near future. Once you find fellow members with similar taste, you can follow them and their updates will appear on your personal page (not to be confused with your profile page). You can also automatically send updates to a select number of social networks including last.fm, twitter, friendfeed, and ping.fm. I recently wrote a more in depth review of blip.fm which you can find here: Join me on blip.fm

Edit: I just read a bit of unfortunate news on the official blip.fm blog. Blip.fm will no longer allow their members to upload their own mp3 files, and they will be be offering streaming music exclusively through Imeem. This is a huge blow, and has outraged a number of long time and devoted blip members. This could prove to be the beginning of the end for blip unless they are able to implement a new plan soon.

Pros: Simple to use, integration with social networks, embeddable widgets

Cons: Lack of a message board and private messaging system, Developers have opted for stream tracks exclusively through Imeem, and will soon no longer allow members to upload their own mp3s (This has yet to be implemented)

Deezer - http://deezer.com

Deezer, formerly known as Blogmusik, is a French site which provides free on-demand music from several major record labels, including Universal, Warner and Sony BMG. Deezer's main strength is that it allows you to play any track from it's catalogue on demand, which is the only major advantage it has over last.fm. There are currently over 2.6 million tracks to choose from, which is mighty impressive for a relative newcomer to the scene. As with similar sites, members are able to create profiles, create and share playlists, along with a few other basic social networking features. There are also a few generic radio stations to choose from, although don't expect to hear anything too obscure being played.

Pros: Massive selection of free on-demand music, active community and forum, SmartRadio plays tracks based on your favorite artists and previous input

Cons: Recommendations need more work, developers are considering using adverts in the near future, record companies are pressuring deezer to put regional restrictions in place

Next Installment: last.fm Alternatives Part 2

Due to time restraints, I will have to conclude this segment of last.fm alternatives. In the next installment I will finish reviewing music sites which incorporate social networking elements. I plan to cover iLike, Imeem, as well a few other lesser known services. Once I’ve finished up with the social networking segment, I’ll begin the next segment which will be covering music discovery sites, ranging from those that help you discover music based on similar artists ala Pandora, to those that recommend music based on a mood you select, such as Musicover. In the final segment I will focus on programs and web services which focus on streaming radio.

If you know of a good website for discovering music please help me out by leaving a comment. I will continue to update each segment of the “Discovering Music: last.fm Alternatives” series of posts as I am made aware of and review new websites. As always, feel free to share your thoughts concerning the services I have reviewed, as well as any criticism you might have, constructive or otherwise.

Join me on Blip.fm

2009-05-13T04:45:00.006-04:00

I just recently discovered a promising and relatively new site by the name of Blip.fm. Blip allows it's members to DJ music using a Twitter-like interface, with a massive selection of songs available from Imeem to choose from, in addition to the content uploaded by members on third party sites.

I first decided to use the service to share music that I wouldn't normally post here, such as recently released material or music that is commercially available. However, since I have started using the service I have come to realize that it also happens to be a great resource for discovering music that I am unfamiliar with, and has also allowed me to rediscover a few old favorites.

As with Twitter, members have 140 characters to play with when writing their messages. Despite the simple interface, there are a number of options available to blippers that allow them to share music and interact with one another. If you are familiar with Twitter commands, such as replying to another person using the @User command, then you will have no problems using the service. Despite the similarities to Twitter, there are a number of music related features that set it apart from it also. DJs are able to create playlists, "reblip" their own blips and those of others, find other members who have blipped the same artist, search blip.fm receive artist's tour info based on your their area code and more. Members are also able to upload their own songs to third party hosting sites, import the url, and blip the song. This is the best method for sharing music that isn't available on Imeem. I recommend using http://opendrive.com, which starts you off with 5 gigs of space with a free account, if you don't already know of a host that allows hotlinking to mp3 files. Blip.fm has also added integration with other services. At the moment you can scrobble songs you have listened to on blip.fm to your last.fm account, and post updates to Twitter, Ping.fm, FriendFeed, Tumblr, and LiveJournal.

Blip has also set up a system for showing your respect to other DJs for the songs they select. Each DJ receives 15 prop credits to award other DJs when they first sign up. At the moment the props have no practical purpose, other than to show appreciation; however, the developers have hinted around on the blip.fm blog that this will change in the near future.

If you're looking for a truly eclectic listening experience I would recommend going to the public page where you can view every blip being posted in real time. Every style you can imagine eventually makes its way on here. The majority of it is mainstream music, although there are several DJs who make it a point to offer up lesser known yet interesting music. After only a few days of using Blip.fm I have already discovered a few people worth following, and have gained a few followers myself. I would like to invite you all to join me on blip.fm. Please use the invite link that I have posted here, as blip rewards you 10 prop credits to dish out to other members for each person you invite. I hope to see some of you on Blip.fm soon. Please don't be comment shy if you join up. I love interacting with others, especially when dealing with music. I've been sharing music with visitors to this blog for nearly three years now. Now some of you can finally introduce me to the music that you love in return.

Blip.fm: http://ping.fm/vu2yY
My Blip.fm Page: http://blip.fm/Zer0_II/Zer0_II

I would also like to thank OneLuvGurl for inadvertently introducing me to Blip.fm. Check out her blog @ http://dorkmuffin.com

last.fm Unveils New Features - Visual Radio, Combo Stations, Station History and More

2009-05-06T21:57:00.010-04:00

Upon logging into last.fm today I was greeted with a rather pleasant surprise. last.fm rolled out several new features for their website today including a new version of the radio used on their website which they have dubbed "Visual Radio", the ability to play combinations of tag radios, improved station history tracking, and a new "in your library" station. Although they are doing their best to heavily promote the new visual radio section, mainly because they will be selling advertising space on it, I believe the most exciting new feature is the ability to play combinations of tag and artist radio stations. It seems as if last.fm just increased the potential for discovering new music a great deal with this new feature. Here is a rundown of the new features:

Personalized Visual Radio In Action

Personalized Visual Radio

The feature that last.fm is touting the most is the personalized visual radio, although I find this to be the least interesting development considering I very rarely use the web radio player. The reason they are promoting this over the other features is because they plan to sell part of the space to advertisers and sponsors. The visual radio is a major improvement to the previous web player, featuring a sleek new interface. They have also added a slideshow which appears while a visitor is listening to the web radio. The slideshow showcases both video and images uploaded by the last.fm community. Unfortunately these aesthetic improvements come with a price, as they have done away with the album art and info that was previously displayed, coupled with the fact that they plan to use this space to display adverts.

Combo Stations

This is easily the most exciting new feature to be implemented by last.fm in quite some time. The addition of "combo stations" is something that many last.fm users have been requesting since the birth of last.fm/audioscrobbler. I tried several combinations of tags which didn't yield any results, despite the fact that I know of bands which could have been returned in the results, so there is definitely room for improvement as far as this feature is concerned. Fortunately the content of both the similar artists and tag radio stations is generated by the listening habits of last.fm users, and the results for combo stations will improve as this feature is used more often. At the moment combo stations can only be listened to via the web radio, but word has it that this functionality will be implemented in the desktop client soon.

Improved Station History:

last.fm has expanded upon it's "recent stations" module to create a much longer list, and has also added the ability to remove unwanted stations from your history. This feature was added a few months ago, and it keeps track of all the tag, user, artist, and group radio stations that a user listens to. The most recently listened station will automatically rise to the top of the list. They also recently worked this into the latest version of the last.fm software, which was a very smart move in my opinion.

Additional Minor Changes:

The most obvious features have already been mentioned, but last.fm also made a few less obvious changes. The newly added "in your library" displays statistics related the currently playing artist, along with a graph that shows the frequency at which the artist is listened to. They have also added a scrobble toggle, which gives users the option to turn scrobbling on and off with ease, and allowing one to listen to music without any data being transmitted to last.fm.

The Future of last.fm

The future of last.fm is still very much in doubt. The recent decision to require members outside of the US, UK, and Germany to pay a subscription fee to be able to use the radio has generated an enormous amount of negative feedback and publicity. A mass migration has already started, and will no doubt continue as members who are unwilling to pay the fee make the move to competitors such as Spotify.

Up until this point last.fm has dominated the niche of social networking for music, but with all the recent negative publicity and competitors popping up left and right, it's easy to believe that last.fm is slowly but surely losing the firm grip it once held. They are no doubt feeling the pressure to convince current members to stick with them and subscribe rather than leaving for upstart services such as Spotify, which is one reason they are rolling out updates such as this one. While competition may hurt last.fm, it is definitely beneficial to the rest of us, as it forces them to improve their service in order to be profitable, or be left behind as their competitors are able to fulfill the needs of the people.

Later this week I will be reviewing a number of different alternatives to last.fm. If you are aware of a worthy last.fm alternative, please leave a comment and let us know about it. I would also like to hear your opinions concerning the future of last.fm and their recent business decisions, so please leave a comment and let your opinion be counted.

last.fm Blog: http://blog.last.fm
Forum Discussion: http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/531248

aTunes - A Fully Featured Audio Player & Manager

2009-05-06T13:58:00.021-04:00

Default aTunes SetupView Full Size

I am amazed that the aTunes audio player (no affiliation with iTunes) managed to fly underneath my radar for so long. I have tested out a countless number of different media players over the years, and rarely have I encountered programs that have impressed me as much as this one shortly after installing it. After testing it out I felt it was necessary to write an unbiased review to inform more people of this great alternative to the more recognizable media players being used by the majority of people.

Basic Info:

aTunes is a full-featured audio player and manager, developed in the Java programming language. It can run on different platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux and Sun Solaris. It current plays mp3, ogg, wma, wav, flac, mp4 and radio streams. aTunes also functions as a music manager allowing users to easily edit tags, organize music and rip CDs.

Installation:

The aTunes installation went as smooth as could be expected. I had it up and running in minutes shortly after installing it on my ancient 7 year system. There were no attempts to install any type of toolbar or other third party software. Installation was a breeze. aTunes simply prompts the user to make a few necessary choices, such as the installation path and start menu folder, and then installs in seconds. The good news is that aTunes is platform independent, so there are versions available for Mac, Linux and Solaris users also.

Startup:

Upon running aTunes the first time, the user is prompted to select the location of their music collection, after which the selected folder is scanned for media. It took a little less than 15 minutes for aTunes to scan my main music folder, which contains over 14,000 songs. I can't compare make a comparison to other media players in terms of the speed of this process, as this was the first time I made it a point to record such info, but it didn't seem to take an unnecessary amount of time.

Features:

aTunes true strength lies in it's features.There are few media players that can compete with aTunes in terms of features straight out of the box, without having to install plugins to achieve the same effect.
The features that I was most impressed by were option to embed controls for the player in the system tray, the similar artists module (fetches similar artists from last.fm based on the track you are currently listening to), the recommended YouTube videos module, karaoke mode, tabbed playlists, built in last.fm integration, cover navigator, and radio and podcast support. Here are a few other features currently available in aTunes:

Player:

Supported formats: mp3, ogg, wma, wav, flac, mp4, m4a, ra, rm, cue

Online radio supported

Player engine: mplayer for all environments, xine for Linux systems

Volume control, mute function

Karaoke function

Equalizer

Normalization

Shuffle and repeat options

OSD (On-screen display)

Tags:

Reads mp3, ogg, flac, wma, mp4, ra, rm tags

Writes mp3, ogg, flac, wma, mp4 tags

Reads and shows pictures included in ID3v2 tags

Tag editor window

Auto tag edition tools: set track number, genre, lyrics and so on automatically

Some auto tag tools for all repository

Extended search function

Support for 18 different languages

Navigator:

Allows users to view music categorized by artist, album or genre in a hierarchy tree, or by folders

Fast access to songs and albums

Filter option to find easily artists, albums or genres

Cover Navigator

Playlist

Support for huge playlist, with thousand of songs

Support for multiple playlists at the same time

Shows multiple columns: title, artist, album, genre, length, track number…

Can be sorted by any of the columns

Columns can be hidden for simplicity

Support for open or save m3u playlists

Full Drag-and-Drop support. Songs can be dragged from the navigator or from the OS file system

Can be filtered

Device view

Connect your portable player or anything that could be mounted as a file system, and view in aTunes, copy to repository, synchronize, etc.

Favorites:

Songs, albums or artists can be selected as favorites

Favorite elements are shown in the “Favorites” tab in Navigator

Internet:

Artist search tool in different web pages: YouTube, Google Video , Wikipedia, etc.

Last.fm information: when a song is being played, album information, artist albums and similar artists are shown

Last.fm profile update: songs played are submitted to your Last.fm profile

Lyrics information: when a song is being played, automatically aTunes shows lyrics

Related videos at YouTube

Podcasts:

Subscribe your favorite podcast feeds and listen them in aTunes

Download podcast feed entries to your hard disk

Audio CD:

aTunes includes a cd ripper tool, using cdda2wav, lame, flac and oggenc. Just put an audio cd into your computer, and select “Import CD” in the “Tools” menu. You can select which tracks to rip, and get track names automatically from Amazon.

Support for optional Nero AAC encoder. See Adding the Nero AAC encoder

Support for optional FAAC encoder (except Windows OS)

Support for CDParanoia on Mac OS X and Linux (limited functionality)

Statistics:

Songs played, songs never played

Songs most played

Album most played

Artist most played

Last date of play

GUI:

Standard view with all controls and features

Multi window view. Every window element (navigator, playlist, context information) is shown as a separate window. Every window can be located and / or arranged as you want.

System tray icon to control player

Themes support: you can change aTunes colors by changing theme

Full Screen Mode

Performance:

The biggest downside to aTunes would undoubtedly be it's speed, although I still think that the sheer number of features more than makes up for this weak spot. Unfortunately, aTunes runs on the sluggish Java runtime environment, which most users will already have installed on their system. While I wouldn't consider aTunes to be unbearably slow, I did notice that it wasn't as responsive as the more streamlined players out there. If you're looking for a minimalistic and speedy media player, that is extremely light on system resources then I suggest you try other media players such as foobar, xmplay, or 1by1. However, if you're looking for a media player with power that gives you a number of methods for exploring your music, as well as discovering new music, then aTunes is worth checking into.

It is possible to disable a number of window elements if you are the type that prefers a minimalistic appearance (See screenshot below); however, aTunes is still going to use more memory than a player such as foobar regardless of the number of window elements that you choose to display.

aTunes with window elements disabled

View Full Size

Conclusion:

Most programs that I test out on my computer are uninstalled shortly afterwards. Despite it's shortcomings in terms of speed, I decided to keep aTunes installed on my system to see how it grows on me, and I will continue to closely monitor it's development. I hope that they will eventually decide to stray from programming in Java and go open source with their code, but I'm not going to hold my breath as this would require the developers to completely rewrite the code from the ground up. There are a number of standard features that appear to be missing such as visualizations, skins (various color themes are available) and plugin support. Although I don't own an iPod, it would also be nice to see the limited iPod support improved upon. This would do a great deal to convince more people to make this their default player of choice. This player is still in it's infacy though, having only recently released the version one milestone, so their is a lot of time to expand on the ideas already present. Hopefully these features will be present in future releases. While in the longrun aTunes might not dethrone Winamp as my overall media player of choice, or MediaMonkey as my preferred music manager and tagger, it is still a very robust player that I would recommend at least giving a try

Homepage: http://www.atunes.org
Download: http://www.atunes.org/?page_id=6
Download Size: 19MB

Featured Blog - Chronic Music

2009-05-02T02:52:00.007-04:00

The Chronic Music blog has been going strong since January of 2008. One of the first things you will notice upon visiting the blog is the simple, yet stylish three-column layout, which features a number of different navigational options and interesting links to choose from. The thing I love the most about this blog is that it is truly eclectic, offering up everything from acid jazz to melodic death metal. I love exploring the tag clouds on eclectic blogs such as this, as they tend to be a invaluable resource, either for broadening my knowledge of genres and artists that I know very little about, or introducing me to those that I am completely unaware of.

It is evident that a great deal of time has been spent perfecting this blog. Several modifications have been made in order to provide a variety of methods for navigation. Dropdown menus replace the traditional archived posts and labels lists, and as I mentioned above, he has also added a tag cloud for labels. Chronic Music also provides more information than the average blog about the content being posted.
In addition to the great write-ups, you will also find links to the artists' official sites, wikipedia entries, discogs page, a preview track, and links to several different sites where you can buy the album. He also uses one of my favorite file hosting solutions, Sharebee. One thing is certain, the Chronic Music blog certainly believes in offering a broad range of choices to it's visitors.

The administrator, Foehammer, happens to be a very friendly guy also. He is one of the few visitors here who is kind enough to regularly leave feedback, and often comments simply to wish us well on a holiday. In fact, I have considered adding a comment box in the sidebar once again simply because I miss his presence on it. If you are eager to discover another great music blog, pay Foehammer a visit, and be sure to thank him for the amazing job that he does running Chronic Music.

Chronic Music:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChronicMusic

Firefox Extensions for the Music Enthusiast

2009-04-18T07:41:00.001-04:00

With thousands of extensions developed for Firefox, it can be a tedious task trying to find the extension that suites your needs. I have tried to take the guess work out of hunting for the best music related Firefox extensions by putting together this list. If you use Firefox, these extensions will give you more control over your music collection, as well as online content. As with any list of this sort, it is far from being all-inclusive, so if you know of an extension that should be added to this list please leave a comment.

Fire.fm - Fire.fm was the winner of the Extend Firefox 3 contest, and with good reason. It gives you full access to the Last.fm library from anywhere you may surf to. Discover new artists, play favorite tracks, explore people with similar music tastes and more.

FoxyTunes - With FoxyTunes installed you can control just about any media player from directly inside your browser. Also finds album covers, displays lyrics and more.

GoMuzik - You can search the GoMuzik library of over 1 million songs and play those you like, make playlists and more.

Lala Control - While this extension has same drawbacks (a tab must be opened, songs must have started playing or be in your queue), it will allow you to control the Lala.com flash player without having to constantly switch tabs all the time.

Music Hutch Toolbar - This toolbar works exclusively with music and videos on The Music Hutch, and with it you can shuffle and search all of the files for playback.

Music Player Minion - This extension operates as a client for the Music Player Daemon network, allowing you to control music from one computer on your home network from another.

My Opus Radio - Adds a player to the status bar to play India’s first online radio station for international music.

Online Music Player - This music player installs down in your status bar and allows you to play MP3 files either from the web or from local files. It is also capable of displaying lyrics and managing playlists.

Play Them All - Play Them All scans all of the links on a page for ones that end in .mp3 and creates a M3U playlist from them so that you can easily play them.

Radio Eksen - This add-on will allow you to see what is currently playing on Radio Eksen, a rock radio station in Istanbul, Turkey. You can click on the display to listen to the station in your media player, check the artist out on Wikipedia (Wikipedia reviews) or Last.fm, get lyrics from Google (Google reviews) and more.

Album-Cover-Art.org - Allows you to search Album-Cover-Art.org for album cover artwork you may be missing for your music collection.

FindThatBand - Allows you to highlight a band name on a site, right click to select search, and it will pull up information about that band on MySpace (MySpace reviews), LastFM, Pandora (Pandora reviews), or Wikipedia.

FiTunes Sidebar Extension - Shows you a sidebar built around the top 25 iTunes Store categories such as singles and albums.

Harmony - This add-on integrates with Pandora or FoxyTunes to give you real-time information about the music you are listening to, and will also scrobble the songs to your Last.fm account for you.

Song.ly - Song.ly allows you to share songs with all of your Twitter followers with just two clicks, and will take them to a page where the song is embedded in a player for them to hear. Sort of like Blip (BLIP reviews).fm, but it works more directly with Twitter.

TwittyTunes - From the same people who make FoxyTunes, TwittyTunes will allow you to post whatever music you have playing to your Twitter stream. What is nice is that this isn’t done automatically, but only when you click the button, so you won’t end up spamming your followers with song title after song title.

SkipScreen - This is an extension that I'm sure all those who frequent music blogs can appreciate. While it wasn't created specifically for music, I felt it was necessary to include it on the list considering it's relevance.

That's all for now. I will continue to update this list as I discover new music related extensions. Again, if you know of an extension that should be included on this list, please leave a comment.

New URL for 4 Brothers Beats

2009-04-17T02:49:00.010-04:00

The boys are back in town. I've been out of touch with the ongoings of the music blog scene, and although I'm sure it's old news to some, I'm happy to report that the gentlemen who run the 4 Brothers Beats blog are back up and running, only this time they have relocated to Wordpress. The blog, which is one of the elite soul/funk music blogs, recently made their blog private in order to take a brief break from blogging. Many of you enquired about invitations to the private blog, so I'm sure you all will be as pleased as I am to see the brothers back in the saddle. The format of the blog is a little different this time around, as they have adopted a "album of the week" presentation, but you'll receive the same top-notch quality material that you've come to expect from 4BB.

New URL for 4 Brothers Beats:
http://4bbweekly.wordpress.com/

New & Improved Design - Feedback Needed

2009-04-13T05:33:00.014-04:00

Welcome to the new and improved Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll. I would like to apologize for taking so long to unveil the new layout. I have been working close to 60 hours a week each and every week, which didn't leave me much time to work on the design.

There are still a number of small fixes that need to be applied to some older posts, as the new CSS stylesheet isn't compatible with some of them, particularly the featured blogs posts. I'll work on fixing these over the course of the next couple of days depending on how much free time I have. Once I've finished that, I'll make the necessary changes to this design so that I can apply it to my regular music blog also. The good news is that the meat and potatoes of this blog, the blogroll itself, is in fine working order. I think that it is much easier to navigate now, and I hope that you all will agree. There are still a number of small hacks that I intend to make in addition to the fixes, which will not only increase the functionality of the blog, but will also improve the aesthetic quality. I hope these changes are favorably received as well.

As always, feel free to leave me some positive feedback or constructive criticism. Please let me know if there is a feature that you would like to see added. I have started a list of known issues, which you can find below. If you spot a problem that isn't on the list, please leave a comment identifying the problem, and be sure to include some info about the browser you are using. I hope you all enjoy the new and improved Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll.

Known Issues

"Back to top" links are broken in Firefox

Fix all posts which are broken due to CSS Stylesheet change

"Post a Comment" link is split when post is in expanded mode

Change colors of "Previous" and "Subscribe" links below post element

Dropcaps aren't displaying in their entirety within certain browsers. Consider changing either the font or margin/padding.

Additional Changes to Make

Add tooltips for select urls

Add Highslide script for images

Attempt to improve page load time

Change position of post footer links

Add CSS definitions for various headers

Finish adding "Featured Blogs" to tabbed menu section

Add CSS definitions for additional custom link sections

Change the color scheme for custom google search results page

Whole Lotta Blog Down

2009-02-23T13:49:00.008-05:00

A visitor kindly pointed out that the site Whole Lotta Blog is down. For those who didn't have the pleasure of visiting it, it was one of the better music blogrolls to be found. If any of you have information concerning wholelottablog please leave a comment. I will keep you all informed of news concerning the site as soon as it becomes available to me. Thank you Dan for passing this news onto me.

Edit: Great news... Apparently Whole Lotta Blog wasn't deleted as I had feared, and was only temporarily down. I want to thank the anonymous visitor who left us a tip concerning the matter.

Whole Lotta Blog:
http://wholelottablog.info

Major Update to the Blogroll Coming Soon

2009-02-20T12:01:00.001-05:00

I would like to apologize for my absence once again. These last few of months have been very tough for me, and I simply needed some time to myself. My girlfriend and I both lost our jobs, and my grandmother died a couple of weeks ago. I'm beginning to feel as if I'm returning to my old self again though, and I plan to make a major update to the blogroll very soon. A ton of people have left comments requesting to be added to the list, so it will take me some time to sort through them all and choose the ones that are worth listing.

I know a few of you were having trouble with the site design, particularly the font changing when you hovered over a link. I made a few alterations that I hope will please everyone. If any of you are still having problems with the layout, please leave a comment and let me know what the problem is and which browser you are using. I'll do my best to see that the blog displays properly for everyone.

I will also be resuming updates to my regular blog http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com, although updates won't be as frequent as they have been in the past. I'm still searching for a couple of people who could contribute regularly to either project. If any of you are interested in doing so, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (profile), and let me know how you would be able to contribute. I hope you all enjoy the changes to come in the near future. As always, thank you all for your support. I wouldn't do this if it wasn't for you.

ChrisGoesRock blog has been Deleted - New URL Down

2009-02-20T10:42:00.003-05:00

As some of you already know, the legendary Chris Goes Rock blog was deleted recently. Chris was kind enough to stop by here and give us the url to his new blog a few days ago, but unfortunately the new blog that he set up at a different address was also deleted. I'm sure that Chris isn't going to give up, as he has started up various incarnations of the blog over the years, so if any of you catch word of the new url, please pass it along here. Chris if you're reading this, please let us know the new address for your blog once you get it up and running.

Licorice Pizza Calling it Quits

2008-11-27T11:32:00.003-05:00

I am sad to report that the legendary Licorice Pizza is calling it quits after nearly two years. For those unfamiliar with the blog, it is well known for being one of the best lounge music blogs. There is a great deal of vinyl rips of jazz, exotica, space age pop, and many other vintage sounds to be found there also. If you are familiar with LP, please do go pay your respects and thank this man for two years of music blogging. I will be leaving Licorice Pizza on the blogroll, as it still receives a great deal of traffic; however, you may want to download what you can before it is too late.

Licorice Pizza
http://my.opera.com/Licorice%20Pizza/blog/

Featured Blog: Weirdo Music

2008-11-22T02:59:00.005-05:00

Weirdo Music is the first non-blog to be featured here. You may be wondering why the featured blog isn't a blog at all. The reason I chose to feature Weirdo Music is because it's owner does a great deal to promote and share music that would remain largely unnoticed were it not for his efforts. The site is operated by Marco Kalnenek from Heerlen, the Netherlands.

Weirdo Music is a multi-purpose site, delivering news, and reviews. One of my favorite areas of the site is the downloads section, where Marco features a revolving collection of music blogs which focus on rare and unusual music.

In addition to Weirdo Music, Marco has also been operating his own net-label, WM Recordings, since 2004. The WM catalog features a rather eclectic selection of independent artists, offering everything from Pop to Afrobeat. The majority of the WM Recordings catalog can be downloaded for free, but there are also a few commercial releases available at a generous price. Marco is also an accomplished independent musician in his own right, having self-released several full length albums and EPs. You can read more about his musical projects here.

Weirdo Music:
http://weirdomusic.com/

WM Recordings:
http://wmrecordings.com

Previously Featured Blogs

A Few New Features and Plans for the Future

2008-11-20T21:09:00.002-05:00

As some of you may have noticed, I have replaced the Grazr widget that I used to display the latest blog updates with a new method. The Grazr widget was great, and is a more user friendly method for displaying blog updates, yet it only allowed me to list 50 blogs. I would like to thank Mindfield, who runs the Xchannel aggregator for introducing me to the Google Feed Ajax API, which is the script used to display the updates. It will allow me to list updates for every blog on the list. As of yet, I've only managed to add a few dozen blogs, but I will work my way through the entire list over the next few days.

I'm still not entirely pleased with the appearance of it though, yet my javascript skills are rather weak, so I will have to need further assistance before I can make any more modifications. I plan to increase the amount of text from each post that is displayed, and list the title of the blog instead of the post author, as I'm sure more of you are familiar with blog titles rather than their respective authors. If you're familiar with javascript and willing to help me out, please leave a comment.

I also plan to overhaul the custom search engine that I created. I just recently found out that more people are using it than I realized, so I will do my best to make it more user friendly. I will be adding more sources to search, changing the appearance, and possibly integrate it directly into the blog so that you don't have to exit the page.

The last bit of news I would to announce is that I have created a new button for the blogroll. The old button looked nice, but it gave one little clue as to the purpose of the site. I think the new version does a much better job of that. If you are currently displaying a button for the blogroll on your site, please replace it with the updated button. The new button can be found below, and if you need the code to display it click here. For future reference, you can find the button and code on the main menu where is reads "Show Your Support". I would like to know what you think of the recent changes, and the possible new features. Please leave a comment.

http://zer0ii.zer0ii.googlepages.com/dmblogroll.png

Featured Blog: Chocoreve

2008-11-08T20:57:00.002-05:00

The Chocoreve music blog hardly needs any introduction to many within the music blog community. It's operator, Chocoreve has been going strong since February of 2005. During it's first few months of existence, it simply linked to other websites, pointing out where to find quality albums. However, in June of 2005, Chocoreve started to serve up albums from his own collection. During the last couple of years it has developed into a vast treasure trove of vintage music from around the world.

Chocoreve is probably best known for it's huge collection of compilations of rare garage rock and psychedelic tracks from the 60's and 70's, the majority of which contain tracks that you won't find anyplace else. It is a simple site in terms of presentation and design, remaining largly unaltered in appearance since it's first inception. Most of the albums do not feature reviews; however, don't let this small fact discourage you from downloading any of them, as the majority of them are unsung gems well worth listening to. Chocoreve is a legendary blog to all who are familiar with it, and if you're unfamiliar with it, upon visiting it you will soon understand the reason why. Have you left your comment today?

Chocoreve:
http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/

Previously Featured Blogs

Featured Blog - Stigma Rest Room

2008-11-05T19:28:00.002-05:00

This week's featured blog is Stigma Rest Room. There is much that could be said about Stigma Rest Room, but unfortunately time permits me from writing everything I would like to about this amazing blog. Stigma Rest Room is one of the more eclectic blogs on the list. You can literally find music from all over the world at the Rest Room, as Stigma2 leaves no stone, (or nationality) unturned on his quest to share hidden gems from around the globe. There are also a number of great series/compilations to be found here, such as the Ultra Lounge, A Rough Guide, The History of Rock and Roll, Secret Museum of Mankind, and a number of others. It become obvious rather quickly that this blog doesn't shy away from music regardless of it's genre either. You can find everything from punk rock to soft jazz here.

One thing that really stands out to me about this blog is the exceptionally nice layout. It would be a daunting task to seek out a specific type of music on such an eclectic blog, but fortunately there is a very handy tag cloud at the top of the page, which makes finding what you are looking for on Stigma Rest Room a snap. The three column layout is also something that you don't see on most blogger-hosted blogs, and it serves to put all that free space to good use, and makes for a clean looking and easily navigable blog.

Stigma Rest Room:
http://stigmarestroom.blogspot.com/

Previously Featured Blogs

Major Update Tomorrow

2008-11-04T17:08:00.002-05:00

As some of you may already know, I spent the majority October working on uploading material for my other blog in celebration of the blogger community's Halloween Countdown. During that time I managed to put together two lists of blogs offering Halloween treats, but my work on these projects didn't leave me much time to update the blogroll itself.

Tomorrow I will be making extensive changes to the list. Unfortunately, several blogs have been deleted since then. I will update the urls if they have moved, and remove them from the list if they haven't. There will be a number of new blogs appearing on the list, and a few old blogs that I've only recently discovered.

I also plan to replace the grazr widget at the top of the page. The grazr widget is great, yet it limits me to including only 50 blogs, and I've also recently been made aware of better methods of sharing unlimited blog updates. It may take some time for me to implement this change, but it will definitely be worth the wait. I hope you all will enjoy the changes and additions to come. As always, please leave me feedback to let me know what's working, what isn't, and what could be improved.

Halloween Music Blogspot

2008-10-31T01:55:00.000-04:00

I had intended to put a list of Halloween related albums up much sooner than this, and wanted it to be much larger than this list, but I got carried away with uploading albums for my other blog - http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com I suppose it's better late than never though.

Audio Books/Spoken Word
Aleister Crowley - The Great Beast Speaks
Alexander Scourby Reads the Pit and the Pendulum
Anton LaVey - The Satanic Mass
Christopher Lee Reads Edgar Allan Poe - Tales of Mystery and Horror
Christopher Lee - Fireside Tales
H.P. Lovecraft Audio Books
The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection

Halloween Sound Effects/Ghost Stories
Alred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories For Young People
Boris Karloff - Tales of the Frightened Vol. 1 & 2
Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House
Ghost Stories - 2 Complete Halloween Ghost Stories
Hallmark Presents - Spooky Sounds
Sounds to Make You Shiver
Spooky Stories Halloween Flexi
The Haunted House - 20 Tracks to Make You Jump in the Night
Monster Mash - Sounds of Terror
Vincent Price - Tales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins
Vincent Price - A Coven of Witches' Tlaes
Vincent Price - A Graveyard of Ghost Tales
Vincent Price - A Hornbook For Witches
Weird Tales of the Unknown

Radio Shows
Dr. Demento's 1984 Halloween Show
Great Radio Horror Shows
Lights Out Radio Show - Old Time Radio Collection
Murder at Midnight - Old Time Radio Show
Nightfall - Old Time Radio Show
The Black Mass - Old Time Radio Show
The Creaking Door - Old Time Radio Show
The Hall of Fantasy - Old Time Radio Show
The Hermit's Cave - Old Time Radio Show
The Sealed Book - Old Time Radio Show
The Weird Circle - Old Time Radio Show
The Witch's Tale - Old Time Radio Show

Halloween/Horror Soundtracks
Bernard Herrmann - Psycho Original Score
Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo OST
Charles Bernstein - A Nightmare on Elm Street OST
Charles Bernstein - April Fool's Day OST
Christopher Young - Hellraiser OST
Danny Elfman - Beetlejuice OST
Danny Elfman - Corpse Bride OST
Danny Elfman - Nightbreed OST
Danny Elfman - The Nightmare Before Christmas OST
Ennio Morricone - Exorcist II OST
Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST
Friday the 13th Special Edition Soundtrack
Goblin - Suspiria OST
Goblin - Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) OST
Graeme Revell - The Crow Score
Jerry Goldsmith - The Omen OST
John Carpenter - Christine Score & Soundtrack
John Carpenter - Halloween OST
John Carpenter - Halloween II OST
Joseph LoDuca - The Evil Dead OST
Joseph LoDuca - The Evil Dead 2
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - Halloween III Season of the Witch OST
Michael Hoenig - The Blob OST (1988)
Michael Hoenig & J. Peter Robinson - The Gate OST
Night of the Living Dead OST
Philip Glass - Candyman Official Score
Popol Vuh - Nosferatu: The Vampyre OST
Return of the Living Dead OST (Special Edition)
Richard Band - H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond OST
The Addam's Family (TV Theme Music)
The Exorcist OST
The Rocky Horror Picture Show OST
Toby Hooper & Wayne Bell - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre OST
Wojciech Kilar - Bram Stoker's Dracula OST

Death Rock/Gothic Rock/Horror Rock
45 Grave - Autopsy
Ausgang - Manipulate
45 Grave - Debasement Tapes
45 Grave - Only The Good Die Young (Live 1989)
45 Grave - Sleep In Safety
Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (Single)
Bauhaus - In The Flat Field
Bloody Dead and Sexy - Paint it Red
Christian Death - Catastophe Ballet
Christian Death - Deathwish
Christian Death - Only Theatre of Pain
Christian Death - The Doll's Theatre
Cinema Strange - Cinema Strange
Cinema Strange - The Astonished Eyes of Evening
Plan 9 - Death With The Dead
Roky Erickson & the Aliens - Evil One
Skeletal Family - Futile Combat
Super Heroines - Love and Pain
Tragic Black - Articulate Lacerations
Tragic Black - The Decadent Requiem
VA - Kaliffornian Deathrock
VA - Songs of Terror: A Gothic Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe
VA - Undead - A Gothic Masterpiece (3 Discs)

Horror Punk/Psychobilly
Calabrese - 13 Halloweens
Calabrese - Midnight Spookshow
Calabrese - Traveling Vampire Show
Phantom Creeps and Damien Storm - Greetings From Hell
Samhain - Final Descent
Samhain - Initium
Samhain - November-Coming-Fire
Samhain - Unholy Passion EP
The Misfits - Walk Among Us
The Misfits - Earth A.D.
The Misfits - Static Age
VA - The Horror of it All Vol. 1
VA - The Horror of it All Vol. 2
VA - This is Horror Punk Vol. 1
VA - This is Horrorpunk Vol. 2... The Terror Continues
VA - Too Much Horror Business 1977-1983 A Tribute to the Misfits
Wednesday 13 - Fang Bang
Wednesday 13 - Transylvania 90210
Zombie Ghost Train - Glad Rags & Body Bags
Zombina & the Skeletones - Death Valley High
Zombina & the Skeletones - Halloween Hollerin'!
Zombina & the Skeletones - Monsters on 45
Zombina & the Skeletones - Taste the Blood of Zombina and the Skeletones

Dark Ambient/Dark Industrial/Dark Classical
Æthenor - Betimes Black Cloudmasses
Devil Doll - Dies Irae
Einstürzende Neubauten Discography
Ministry - Land of Rape and Honey
Ministry - Psalm 69
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing To Taste
Ministry - Twitch
Skinny Puppy - Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
Skinny Puppy - Bites
Skinny Puppy - Last Rights
Skinny Puppy - VIVIsectVI
Swans - Children of God
Swans - Cop
Swans - Filth
Throbbing Gristle - In The Shadow of the Sun
Throbbing Gristle - Once Upon A Time
Throbbing Gristle - Mission of Dead Souls
Vern Langdon - The Phantom of the Organ/The Vampyre at the Harpsichord
Whitehouse - Birthdeath Experience
Whitehouse - Erector
Whitehouse - Total Sex
Zombie Girl - Back From The Dead
Zombie Girl - Blood, Brains and Rock 'N' Roll

Happy Halloween Music/Party Mixes/Compilations
Bobby "Boris" Pickett - The Original Monster Mash
Drew's Famous Halloween Party Music
Elvira's Vinyl Macabre
Halloween Stomp
Horror Rock Classics Vol. 1 & 2
The Rocky Horror Picture Show OST
VA - Doo Wop Halloween Is A Scream
Zacherle - Dinner With The Drac!

Blogger Halloween Compilations
Rock Sellout - Halloween Mixtape
Deepgoa - Time Is Weird Mix
Evolve Happy - Robot Mix Halloween
The So Very Show - The So Scary Mix
Moon Lit Night - Halloween - The Ultimate Mega Mix
Murder by Baltimore - Halloween Mixtape 2008
The Ghost Town - Werewolf by Night The Halloween Mix
Random Ramblings - 22 Minutes of Mayhem - Runaway Nightmare Scary Halloween Mix
Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else - Halloween Slaylist
Idle Minds Inc. - Greetings For Halloween
C-60 Low Noise - C-60's Halloween Party - Alone In The Dark
Vinnie Rattolle's Records - See Me In The Mirror
This Is My Happening - |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
Distinctly Jamaican Sounds - Distinctly Non-Jamaican Halloween Mix
Scared Ya, Didn't I?: Halloween Hits - |2008|2007|2006|2005|2004|

Halloween Music Blogs

2008-10-30T12:45:00.001-04:00

Halloween is almost here, and this month the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll will be putting the spotlight on all the music blogs that are celebrating the occasion. I will be featuring all the blogs that have posted Halloween compilations, Halloween soundtracks, and other horror related music. Of course I will also be listing the blogs which feature Halloween music year round. Once I have gathered enough blogs which are celebrating Halloween, I will also be temporarily replacing the widget currently at the top of the page with one featuring only those blogs. I will replace it with the current one once Halloween has passed. If you are a blogger paying tribute to Halloween, please leave a comment and let me know. Likewise, if you you know of a blog that should be included on this list, please leave me a comment. I hope to put together the most comprehensive list of Halloween related music blogs available. Please help me with my mission.

Year Round Halloween/Horror Blogs
13
Scar Stuff
52 Zombies & 1 Bullet
The Manchester Morgue
The Inferno Music Crypt
Universal Horror Sounds
Scary Sounds of Halloween
Azathoth's Abode on the Plateau of Leng
Mostly Ghostly Music Sharing Blaaaggghhh!!!
Azathoth's Abode on the Plateau of Leng: The Dungeon

Blogs Counting Down To Halloween
Electric Mud
Idle Minds Inc
Digital Meltd0wn
The Devil's Music
Harvey's Midnight Hour
Vinnie Rattole's Records
Distinctly Jamaican Sounds
Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else

Halloween Countdown 2008

I am excited to report that there is a community event taking place with several blogs participating. John Rozum started the idea of Halloween Countdown 2008 (More Info: http://johnrozum.blogspot.com/2008/09/youre-invited.html). Basically the idea is to make one Halloween related post a day until the end of the month. I should point out that the majority of the blogs on this list do not primarily focus on music, and although some of them may post an album or two during the countdown, the majority of them are sharing a variety of Halloween related posters, comics, novelty items, etc. So without further ado.. here is the list of blogs participating in Halloween Countdown 2008:

13 Visions
Azathoth's Abode on the Plateau of Leng (Music)
Azathot's Abode on the Plateau of Leng: The Dungeon (Music)
All Eyes and Ears
Art By Bubba Shelby
Branded In The 80's
Calvacade of Awesome
Comic Coverage
Cool-Mo-Dee
Cool-Mo-Dee
Creepy Los Angeles
Dave Lowe Design!
Diversions of the Groovy Kind
Distinctly Jamaican Sounds (Music)
Digital Meltd0wn (Music)
Dr. K's 100-Page Super Spectacular
Drunken Severed Head
Frankensteinia
Franklin Mint Blog
Geektarded
Halloween Addict
Harvey's Midnight Hour
The Holiday Queen
Houses of Wax
The Horrors of it All
Horror Host Graveyard
I-Mockery
John Rozum.com
Mark Harvey's World
Monster Crazy
Monster Memories
Monster Rally
Monsters and More
Moongem Comics
Mostly Ghostly (Music)
Music From The Monster Movies 1950-69 (Music)
Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anywhere Else (Music)
Musty TV
Neato Coolville
Negative Pleasure
Nostalgia Factory
A Nostalgic Halloween
Oh the Horror
Orange and Black
Para Abnormal
Plaid Stallions
Plastic Pumpkins
Pumpkin Hollow
Pumpkinrot
Random Acts of Geekery
The Retropolitan
The Sexy Armpit
Skull A Day
Sweet Skulls
Tikiranch Hallows
Trixie's Treats
Universal Horror Sounds (Music)
Valhella
Vinnie Ratolle's Records (Music)
Weird Hollow
Wonderful Wonderblog
X Entertainment

New URL for the TWILIGHTZONE! blog

2008-10-21T11:53:00.003-04:00

I am happy to report that RYP is up and running with a new TWILIGHTZONE! Unfortunately, it looks as if the old blog is gone for good though. I'm happy to see that RYP isn't giving up as so many other bloggers have done when their blogs were removed. When I posted the pages that google had cached, I had forgotten about the download links being in the comments, so I would like to apologize for that. Thanks to those of you who pointed that out to me. I'm going to attempt other ways to access the comments page, and I will let you all know if I have any luck. You can find the post concerning the removal here. Here is the new url for the TWILIGHTZONE!:

TWILIGHTZONE!:
http://twilightzone-rideyourpony.blogspot.com/

TWILIGHTZONE! music blog down...

2008-10-20T18:36:00.001-04:00

I have just received terrible news. One of the best music blogs in existence, TWILIGHTZONE! has been removed. This is a huge blow to the music blog community. For those unfamiliar with the blog, it was the best resource for rockabilly/psychobilly and garage rock on the internet. To the best of my knowledge, all of the music shared there was out of print or otherwise unavailable. It makes me wonder how much of a chance other blogs have of staying up if the TWILIGHTZONE! has been deleted by blogger. RYP, if you happen to read this, please let us know something. If there is anything I can do to help you out I would be more than willing to do so, and I'm sure many others would also. I know of other places that you can host your blog where you wouldn't have to worry about it being taken down. If any of you hear any news as to why TWILIGHTZONE! was removed, or hear from RYP, please let me know. I will keep you all updated on news concerning this matter as soon as it is made available to me.

In the meantime, here is a the last cached version of TWILIGHTZONE! that was saved by google: link
I would recommend grabbing whatever you can in case it really is gone for good.

Featured Blog - Idle Minds Inc.

2008-09-25T04:04:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of discovering Idle Minds Inc only a couple of days ago, but I've been overwhelmed during that time by the amount of treasures ready for the taking on this fantastic blog. The first thing I've noticed is that one of my favorite experimental groups, The Residents, are featured extensively on IMI, which certainly isn't a bad thing. There are many Residents albums that I've stumbled across, which I have yet to see on any other blog, and a few that I wasn't even aware that existed. In addition to the numerous Residents albums, there are a host of other experimental albums, and although they may be obscure, they do not fail to stimulate with their distinct and innovative music. IMI isn't afraid to genre-hop either. You never know what type of music lurks around the corner, but you can rest assured that it will be good.

Idle Minds Inc.:
http://idlemindsinc.blogspot.com/

Previously Featured Blogs

Comments Deleted

2008-09-22T03:18:00.002-04:00

I deleted the majority of the comments that were left on the main blogroll post. There were close to 300 comments, and it was becoming a rather difficult task to go through the comments and figure out which blogs I had checked and which ones I hadn't. I finally managed to make it through the entire list and added all of the blogs that met the required criteria. The only comments that I did not delete were those that were not requests to be added to the blogroll.

If you are a blog owner who posted a comment requesting to be added, but your blog still isn't on the list, then it's either because I missed it, or it didn't meet the necessary requirements. Feel free to submit it again. I will reply to all requests to be listed, whether they meet the criteria or fail to.

Featured Blog - Star Maker Machine

2008-09-16T23:44:00.001-04:00

I have been following this week's featured blog since it first started a few months back. Their approach to music blogging is very unique and innovative. Each week the blog admins pick a different theme, the visitors then submit a song with a review that ties into the weekly theme. The result is a truly eclectic mix of songs and reviews. I am truly impressed on a constant basis by the creativity behind some of the readers choices. This weeks theme is 'Heaven', in contrast with last week's theme of 'Hell'. Previous themes on the blog have been: Fifty States, Songwriting, Footwear, Advice, Boats, 1984, Little Black Book, History, 2:42, City Songs, Spring & Flowers, My First, and Days of the Week. If you haven't had a chance, be sure to stop by the Star Maker Machine today. A wealth of great music awaits you.

Star Maker Machine:
http://sixsongs.blogspot.com/

Previously Featured Blogs

Recommend Your Favorite Blogs

2008-07-20T13:11:00.001-04:00

I should have made a post like this a long time ago. Some of you may be aware that I run another blog in addition to this blogroll simply titled Digital Meltd0wn. Several months back I requested that the visitors to DM suggest their favorite blogs to me. The response was overwhelming, and prompted me to start a list, which would eventually evolve into this blogroll. However, since that time I've been doing all the work on this list. At times it can be rather time consuming to track down blogs, review them, edit the list and keep it organized, etc. I work 11 hour shifts each day, so it's refreshing when people suggest their blogs or others to me because it saves me a lot of work.

So now it's time to give you all the chance to help. Your mission is simple: If you know of any music blogs that deserve recognition, but aren't on this list, just leave a comment here. All I need is the name of the blog, and the url. If you would like to include additional information that would be nice, but it's not necessary. I will review these blogs and add them to the list if they meet my criteria for being listed. Thank you all once again for your support. I hope to see a lot of responses.

Featured Blog - TWILIGHTZONE!

2008-07-14T03:20:00.006-04:00

I usually make it a point to feature blogs that aren't well known by those of you who regularly traverse the music blogosphere. However, I am making an exception in this case, and for good reason. I'm sure that there are people out there who are new to the music blog scene, and it would be a real shame if they didn't know about this legendary blog. The TWILIGHTZONE! will always have a special place in my heart because it was the music blog that was primarily responsible for encouraging me to start my own blog almost two years ago. You won't find another blog that can rival the TWILIGHTZONE! for the sheer number of quality rockabilly and surf albums available. Those aren't the only genres you will find there though. In fact, you never know what you'll be treated to when you decide to enter the zone. It is literally a treasure trove of underground garage rock, blues, country, rockabilly, surf, psychedelia, and much much more. Of course I can't mention the TWILIGHTZONE! without mentioning it's caretaker, known to us as Ryp. He is one of the nicest blog admins that I have ever met, and his valuable contributions are legend in the music blogosphere. If you haven't visited the TWILIGHTZONE! then you should do yourself a favor and go there immediately. You'll be glad you did.

TWILIGHTZONE!:
http://twilightzone-rideyourpony.blogspot.com/

Previously Featured Blogs

Happy Birthday To Me

2008-07-08T15:10:00.001-04:00

My birthday is tomorrow (July 9th). For those wondering, I'll be 28 years old. Considering I'm isolated in a tiny research laboratory in Antarctica, I doubt that I will receive many presents. However, I will be celebrating by myself by drinking a few glasses from a bottle of wine that I've had tucked away, and only break out on special occasions, and I've even allotted myself half of a candy bar.

I don't usually ask for anything, but I'm going to make an exception on this occasion. If any of you are feeling generous, please upload some rare music of any sort, or make a compilation for me. If it's good enough I'll even pass it on to the visitors on the Digital Meltd0wn music blog. If you're interested in doing this, it doesn't have to be done by the 9th. Feel free to take as much time as you need. I can assure you that any effort on your part will certainly be appreciated. A man can get awfully lonely in such a desolate region, and music certainly helps one to forget his whereabouts. You can either leave a comment here, or send it via e-mail to shockw4ve_x at hotmail.com Thank you and take care.

Digital Meltd0wn on Twitter

2008-07-04T19:46:00.003-04:00

After hearing constant buzz about the phenomena known as Twitter, I've finally decided to give it a try. When I first read about Twitter, I thought it was a useless idea, as I'm sure many others have. However, I noticed a few users who were able to put the service to good use by being original, and I thought perhaps I could do the same. At the moment I'm only using it to post updates to my blog, but if enough people are interested in following me on Twitter, I will eventually incorporate other ideas. Of course if no one is interested, then I will eventually abandon this idea. So without further ado, here is the Twitter page for Digital Meltd0wn:

Digital Meltd0wn Twitter Updates:
http://twitter.com/DigitalMeltd0wn

Featured Blog: Manson Music

2008-07-02T21:32:00.004-04:00

This weeks featured blog is actually ran by a close friend of mine. The focus of the blog is on the musical output of the notorious Charles Manson. Although the focus is on his music, you will also find several Manson related entries, including interviews and more. Charles Manson may be the most notorious criminal in the history of the United States, despite having never been actually charged with the murder of a single individual. Fortunately there are people out there who are able to view him for what he really is, a very troubled human being with a long criminal history and rather unique insight into the world, rather than the mythological demon that the media has made him out to be. I don't condone the way he lived his life, nor the actions that he was partially or wholly responsible for, however I don't believe half the myths that circulate about this man. I don't believe that he has magic powers, is capable of controlling others with merely a look, etc. As I mentioned before though, he has a very unique insight into the world. The majority of what he says may seem like incoherent rambling, but there are bits of worldly wisdom that seep out at times during the course of his lengthy rants. His views on the environment are especially relevant today considering the major worldwide environmental crisis that we face. Perhaps in a better world Manson could have avoided the circumstances that caused him to end up in prison for the rest of his life, and do a lot of good for the world. However that wasn't meant to be, and instead with are left with a notorious legacy, shrowded in mystery, and of course... his music.

Manson Music:
http://mansonmusic.blogspot.com

Finally Back...

2008-06-12T15:35:00.001-04:00

I was without internet access for much longer than I anticipated, but I'm finally back. I will resume adding blogs to the blogroll, and sort through those that were suggested to me over the next couple of days. I noticed that traffic didn't drop down at all during my absence, which is great. Thank you all for your support. Take care.

-Z

Featured Blog - Dr. Schluss' Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities

2008-06-11T15:35:00.003-04:00

I have a real treat for you this week. Dr. Schluss's Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities is operated by Dr. Schluss and Pablo "Pochola" Cazorla, however their music blogging activities aren't limited to the garage. The two also collaborate on another psychedelic focused site, Music Acida (Land Ho!). If that wasn't enough, Dr. Schluss also operates a 2nd Garage Of Psychedelic Obscurities (Invitation Required), and Pablo also has another blog simply titled Garage Music. You can find the respective links to each of these blogs below.

Aside from the obvious amazing music posted at the garage, there are a few other things that make this blog stand out. The first is the rating system. Not only are all the albums rated according to quality, but they are also rated on their trippy factor using the Trip-O-Meter. You can guarantee that if an album scores the highest rating on both that you're in for a tripped out mind-blowing musical experience. Dr. Schluss also releases his own music on the blog, which you can find at the top of the page at the moment. So if you want to experience the cream of the crop of psychedelic obscurities, be sure to stop by the garage, and don't forget to thank these two for all that they do.

Dr. Schluss' Garage Of Psychedelic Obscurities:
http://psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.com

Music Acida (Land Ho!)
http://mza-acid.blogspot.com/

Garage Music:
http://mza-garage.blogspot.com/

Be Back Shortly

2008-05-22T16:50:00.000-04:00

I'll be without internet access for a short time. Hopefully it won't last more than a couple of days. I wish that I could have found someone to guest blog during the meantime, but unfortunately I didn't have much notice or time on my hands. I'll be back before you know it though.

Update: Unfortunately it looks as if I'm going to be without internet access for a few more days. I'm intercepting someone else's connection at the moment. Over the next couple of days I'll do my best to add a few more blogs, respond to comments, and check the blogs that have been requested to be added to the blogroll. Stay tuned for more updates.

TheLastRipper - last.fm Audio Ripper

2008-05-17T12:22:00.005-04:00

I discovered a neat little tool via lifehacker It's called TheLastRipper and basically what it does is connect to your last.fm account, and rip the streams and album art to the folder of your choice. That was enough to convince me, however this little tool is actually capable of much more than just that. You can find the full list of features below. Of course the legality of this tool is in question, which is actually acknowledge by the following disclaimer on their homepage: "Please be aware that recordings of radio streams, may NOT be legal, we recommend that you investegate your local laws, before using TheLastRipper." It will be interesting to see how long this lasts. In the meantime though, I'm sure that all you last.fm aficionados will find this tool very useful.

Features:
Recording streams to mp3's
Organize mp3s in folders: Artist/Album/Track/
Downloads coverart
Generates playlist in M3U, SMIL, PLS
Appends ID3v2 tags
Improved clipping of songs
International characters
Support for http proxies
General exception handling dialog

Homepage: http://www.thelastripper.com
Download: http://www.thelastripper.com/download.html
File Size: 266kb

Please Give Me Some Feedback

2008-05-16T02:59:00.000-04:00

Although the main function of this blog will always be to strive to serve as the authoritive music blogroll on the internet, some of you may have noticed that I periodically post information concerning music blogs, music related software, industry news, etc. Before I continue with this tradition, I would like to get some feedback from you fine visitors. Is this something that you would like to continue to see in the future, or would you prefer only to see the blogroll when you visit this blog?

I'm particularly concerned with reorganizing not only the blogroll, but the blog/site as a whole, in order to make it easier to navigate. The list has grown much larger than I had originally invisioned, and I realize that it has become rather tedious to navigate. I was considering either adding a main menu, with the subcategories 'Blogroll', 'Music Blog News', 'Music Industry News', and 'Resources' under the welcome/intro. I've also considered adding either a drop down menu, with which I could add the previously mentioned menu categories, as well as a way to skip straight to the category you prefer on the blogroll. Another option I've considered is to use a tabbed layout once again using the menu subcategories. Of course I could always just leave everything the way it is.

I've been getting close to 1,000 visitors a day here, and sometimes more, so I'm going to be disappointed if there aren't any comments in response to this.

I want to know what direction you would like to see this site go in, and it's impossible for me to know unless you provide me with feedback.

Any feedback, suggestions for improvement, innovative ideas, and critiques are welcome. Lay them on me.

Be Back Shortly...

2008-05-16T01:56:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I have to travel away from the lab in order to work on some important research here in Antarctica during the next couple of days. As soon as I return I will resume adding new blogs to the blogroll, check all the blogs that were recommended, and add them to the list if they meet the requirements.

I also plan to regularly update this blog with the latest in music industry news, music blog news, music related software and websites, and other miscellaneous music related items whenever I return. This is why it is so important that you leave feedback in the thread located directly below this one. I want to know how you, the visitor, would like me to organize all of this so that you can conveniently find what you are looking for here. Thank you to those who have already left comments concerning this. They are most appreciated. Take care everyone. I'll be back shortly

Featured Blog - 4 Brothers Beats

2008-05-10T19:49:00.003-04:00

4 Brothers Beats 2.0, as the name suggests, is the second incarnation of an amazing blog. The tagline for their blog reads:

"This is a tribute to the original music that built hip-hop. The best beats in soul, funk, and jazz collected by 4 brothers"

They more than live up to such a bold claim by regularly serving up some of the best soul, funk, and jazz to be found in the music blogosphere. There are actually six contributers to the blog and they are: soulbrotha, Rich, Arkane1, Lafayette, and GeeeFlat, and last but not least, the newest member of 4BB, Nikos. They are a friendly bunch who work hard to bring you amazing selections week after week, so be sure to stop by their blog, and don't forget to leave a comment should you choose to download something.

4 Brothers Beats:
http://fourbrothersbeats.blogspot.com

New URL for 4 Brothers Beats:
http://4bbweekly.wordpress.com

News From The Music Blogosphere: New Home For Lost In Tyme

2008-05-08T19:37:00.000-04:00

I have great news for everyone. The legendary blog, Lost In Tyme, has finally found a new place to call home. It's great to see that not only has this legendary blog resolved their hosting issues, but the LIT crew have managed to come back stronger by implementing several new features. They have started their own forum, which I expect to be very active once more people are made aware of it's existence, so get your ass over there and sign up. It also looks like they plan to re-up all the material that was lost when their original blog was deleted. You can find their new homepage and the link to the blog below. Thanks for informing me of the new link RainyDaySponge, and for linking back to me. It's a real honor.

Lost In Tyme Homepage: http://lost-in-tyme.ucoz.com/
Lost In Tyme Blog: http://lost-in-tyme.ucoz.com/blog/
Lost In Tyme Forum: http://lost-in-tyme.ucoz.com/forum/

Nine Inch Nails Makes 'The Slip' Available For Free Download

2008-05-06T22:19:00.000-04:00

Nine Inch Nails has made its new ten-song, 44-minute minute album entitled "The Slip" available for free download at www.nin.com (free signup required). The new set includes the songs "Echoplex" and "Discipline" which were both posted online during the last couple of weeks ahead of the new album release.

The music is available in a variety of formats, including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike license). All downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits. For those of you interested in physical products, the band plans to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in July.

"The Slip" track listing:

1. 999,999
2. 1,000,000
3. Letting You
4. Discipline
5. Echoplex
6. Head Down
7. Lights In The Sky
8. Corona Radiata
9. The Four Of Us Are Dying
10. Demon Seed

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor released the instrumental "Ghosts I-IV" album online on March 2. The two-hour collection of 36 untitled instrumental tracks was made available in various high-quality DRM-free formats at different price levels. According to a press statement, a total of 781,917 copies of the project were transacted at NIN.com in the first week of release, including paid and free downloads, plus pre-orders for physical editions of the set. The total gross earned was reported as $1,619,420.

Nine Inch Nails Homepage: http://nin.com
'The Slip' Download Page: http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup

News From The Music Blogosphere - New Link For Lost-In-Tyme

2008-04-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately another one of the best blogs out there, the original Lost In Tyme blog, was recently deleted. Despite the fact that the majority (if not all) of the albums shared there are out of print, their blog was removed for violating the TOS. At the moment they are currently searching for new host for their blog, but the url below will serve as a temporary replacement. All news concerning the fate of Lost In Tyme will be posted there. They have also come up with a great idea called the '100 Mirrors Project' to ensure that this doesn't happen again. If you would like to help them out, simply visit their page and read the post concerning the 100 Mirrors Project. All of the details are posted there. It's great to see bloggers uniting to save one another. Hopefully we'll see more of this in the future and put an end to to the foolish deletions of blogs which material that is out of print or otherwise unavailable.

Lost-In-Tyme: http://lostintymem.blogspot.com/

News From the Music Blogsphere - New Link For Floodlit Footprint & Bolachas Gratis

2008-04-22T12:53:00.000-04:00

I wanted to inform you all that a couple of popular blogs have recently had a change of address. Unfortunately blogger deleted their accounts, but fortunately for us, that hasn't stopped them from calling it quits. Floodlit Footprint is back up at a Turkish blog host, and Bolachas Gratis have since moved on to wordpress. You can find their respective blogs below:

Floodlit Footprint: http://floodlitfootprint.blogcu.com/
Bolachas Gratis: http://bolachasgratis.wordpress.com/

Criteria For Being Listed - Please Read Before Submitting Your Blog

2008-04-19T12:34:00.000-04:00

This blogroll has grown much larger than I ever could have anticipated. In order to ensure the overall quality of the blogroll, I'm going to require that certain criteria are met before blogs make it in the list. Please read over these requirements before requesting that I add your blog to the list.

Blogs which focus only on currently released material will not be listed. I'm interested in listing blogs which feature rare or out of print material. Anything released within the last couple of years certainly couldn't be considered rare, and more than likely can still be easily obtained. Blogs which primarily share mixes, podcasts, compilations, and unsigned artists are the exception to this rule.

No pop-ups. Blogs with pop-up ads will not be added to the list. Also, if your blog is riddled with ads I will most likely assume that your primary goal is to make money rather than share music, and your blog will not be added

Blogs that are less than a month old, or have fewer than 20 posts will not be added. I've seen a lot of blogs disappear almost as soon as they start, which is my reason for this rule. This list isn't going to disappear, so please be patient and submit your blog once it has surpassed this mark.

Don't forget to include the category that you would like your blog to be listed under. Feel free to suggest a new category if your blog falls under a particular genre that isn't listed. I personally visit every blog on this list, but I don't have time to browse through your entire archive. Try to avoid using the 'Various/Eclectic' category unless there is absolutely no other category that your blog could fall under. If your blog primarily posts punk rock, but you share the occasional classical or jazz album, then your blog belongs in the punk rock category.

If your blog fails to the criteria, do not fret. There are plenty of other great aggregators and blog lists, which I'm sure would be more than happy to list you, and conveniently enough, you can find them right here.

Show Your Support

2008-04-19T11:22:00.003-04:00

If you would like to show your support for the blogroll, you can do so by linking back to me. All you have to do is copy the code in the textbox below. I have added a plain text link for those who do not wish you use the button. There is also a great selection of banners to choose from, which were submitted by the participants of the graphic design contest, that can be found here. Thank you for your support.

Text Link Code
Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll

Button Code

Banner Code

Digital Meltd0wn on MySpace

2008-03-03T04:09:00.000-05:00

I've decided to create a new myspace profile specifically for Digital Meltd0wn. I plan to use this profile for posting things that I wouldn't normally be willing to do here, and communicating with those of you who have a healthy, or unhealthy love for music. I plan on adding music videos, weekly recommendations, single mp3 downloads, concert artist/band, and memorabilia images, and much more. It's going to be much more than your average lame and boring myspace profile.

I will be accepting all friend requests, however if you're going to add me, please make an effort to communicate with me occasionally.

Digital Meltd0wn Profile: http://myspace.com/digitalmeltd0wn
Add Me As Your Friend: Add Digital Meltd0wn

Freeware Music Programs

2008-01-20T15:59:00.008-05:00

I have attempted to put together a comprehensive list of some of the best freeware music programs available. All of the programs listed below are either freeware or open source. The majority of them are Windows, although several of them are cross-platform.

Please help me expand upon this list by leaving a comment if you know of any programs that should be added to the list. I would like to thank the members of the Neowin community for contributing many of the programs on this list.

Audio Creation:
Ambiloop - Homepage
Canorus - Homepage
CP-GFX - Homepage
Gungirl Sequencer - Homepage
HammerHead - Homepage
Jesusonic - Homepage
Jungulator - Homepage
KRISTAL Audio Engine - Homepage
LoopBe1 - Homepage
MIDI Pattern Generator 64 - Homepage
orDrumbox - Homepage
Reaper - Homepage
Smart PC Record - Homepage
Soundclub - Homepage
TuxGuitar - Homepage
Tu2 - Homepage

Audio Players:
1by1 - Homepage
Apollo 37zx - Homepage
Billy - Homepage
CoolPlayer - Homepage
DeejaySystem MK1 - Homepage
DeliPlayer. Homepage
Foobar 2000 - Homepage
iTunes - Homepage
Jet Audio Basic - Homepage
Juke - Homepage
Mixere - Homepage
Mixxx - Homepage
monoRAVEik - Homepage
MoreAmp - Homepage
MPXPlay - Homepage
Musik - Homepage
MusicIP Mixer - Homepage
musikCube - Homepage
QCD Player - Homepage
Screamer Radio - Homepage
VUPlay - Homepage
Winamp - Homepage
Xion - Homepage
XMPlay - Homepage
Zinf - Homepage

Audio Tools:
Audacity - Homepage
Audiograbber - Homepage
Audiograil - Homepage
AudioShell - Homepage
Balthers Graphic Groove Box - Homepage
beatharness - Homepage
BeSweet - Homepage
CDex - Homepage
CUE Splitter - Homepage
dBpowerAMP Music Converter - Homepage
EAC - Homepage
EffecTV - Homepage
Encounter 2003 - Homepage
Gephex - Homepage
GermaniXEncoder - Homepage
iTunes Agent - Homepage
KraMixer - Homepage
Libra - Homepage
M4a/Flac/Ogg/Ape/Mpc Tag Support Plugin for Media Player & Media Center 2005 - Homepage
MediaInfo - Homepage
MediaCoder - MediaCoder
MediaMonkey - Homepage
MP3 Book Helper - Homepage
MP3 My MP3 Recorder - Homepage
MP3 Tag - Homepage
Mp3 Tag Tools - Homepage
mp3DirectCut - Homepage
MP3Gain - Homepage
mpTrim - Homepage
MusicBrainz - Homepage
opcode - Homepage
Recordster - Homepage
SC Free Audio Extractor - Homepage
SoundEngine Free - Homepage
TagScanner - Homepage
The GodFather - Homepage
TigoTago - Homepage
Vibe Streamer - Homepage
Whorld - Homepage

CD/DVD Burning/Cover creation:
Burn4Free - Homepage
Burnatonce - Homepage
Burrrn - Homepage
CDBurnerXP - Homepage
CDRDAO - Homepage
cdrtfe - Homepage
CDR Tools Frontend - Homepage
Deepburner - Homepage
DVDAuthor GUI - Homepage
DVDStyler Homepage
eCover - Homepage
GUI for dvdauthor - Homepage
ImgBurn - Homepage
InfraRecorder - Homepage
ISO Recorder - Homepage
MediaCD - Homepage
SilentNight Micro CD/DVD/ISO/AUDIO Burner - Homepage
Smart CD-Menu Creator - Homepage
Ultimate CD/DVD Burner - Homepage

Compression / Decompression:
7-zip - Homepage
Alzip - Homepage
bzip2 - Homepage
Compress it - Homepage
ExtractNow - Homepage
FilZip - Homepage
Info-Zip - Homepage
IZArc - Homepage
KGB Archiver - Homepage
QuickZip - Homepage
SimplyzIP - Homepage
TUGZip - Homepage
UPX - Homepage
Zip&Go - Homepage

File Upload/Distribution Sites

2008-01-20T01:22:00.016-05:00

I have decided to start sharing other music related resources here. The main focus of this blog will always be to share all the wonderful music blogs available on the internet, but I would also like expand on that idea, and make it a great place for all things music. Next, I plan to make a list of freeware music software. If you have any ideas on music resources that I could add please leave a comment.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is sick of Rapidshare's dominance of file uploading. There are plenty of great alternatives out there, but unfortunately they are overlooked by many. In my opinion the best sites are those which distribute files to several upload sites. These are known as file distribution sites. If you know of any that aren't on this list, please leave a comment, and I will add it. If you know of a friend or site that you frequent which is guilty of using rapidshare, please point them in this direction. Hopefully we can break people from using rapidshare eventually.

File Upload/Distribution Sites:

75d
QOOY • Rapidshare • Megaupload • EasyShare • Netload • DepositFiles
Xirror
XLspread
TinyLoad
Sharebee
FTP2SHARE • Registration Required
MirrorIT
YouMirror
MassMirror
ShareOnAll
HubUpload • 20 Available Hosts
FlameUpload • Rapidshare • MegaUpload • DepositFiles • FileFactory • ZShare
UploadJockey • Megaupload • EasyShare • DepositFiles
FileSpreading

Female Rock Compilation - I Need Your Help

2008-01-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

I'm working on putting together an all female rock compilation, with the theme obviously being female fronted rock bands. It will be the first in a series that I'm working on simply titled "Digital Meltd0wn Presents:"; not very exciting, I know, but the music, liner notes, and album art will make up for it. Some of the artists/bands I am considering featuring are:

Babes In Toyland, The Runaways, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, PJ Harvey, Jack Off Jill,The Donnas, Veruca Salt, Daisy Chainsaw, Queen Adreena, Kittie, Betty X, The Avengers, Horrorpops, Lydia Lunch, Bitch Alert, Velcra, Roxy Saint, The Gits, Sahara Hotnights, Sexpod, Fluffy, The Soviettes, My Ruin, Bikini Kill, 7 Year Bitch, The Distillers, L7, The Kills, Devotchkas, Bif Naked, Rasputina, Penetration, The Slits, Pain Teens, Lunachicks

Now I could use your help. I know you wonderful people are aware of some hard rocking chicks that aren't on this list, so please let me know of any artists, bands, or particular songs (preferably NOT mainstream), that you think should be included on this list by leaving a comment. I'm also trying to think of a good name for the compilation, so if you have any ideas please comment.

Graphic Designer Needed

2007-12-19T02:04:00.000-05:00

Deadline: December 31st, 2007 - Only 1 day left!

Update: I've created a flickr account to host all the banners that have been submitted to the contest. To view them click here

I'm proud to announce that Sir Reel Films and Trinity Comics are sponsoring a graphic design contest for Digital Meltd0wn.I'm having a graphic design contest for Digital Meltd0wn. I'm not expecting a masterpiece, just a decent looking banner that matches the existing color scheme. I've tried to come up with some good prizes, and I've even added a cash prize of $50.00, and free advertising on all of my blogs, to the prize package. So if you're a decent graphic designer, then check out this post for more information:

http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2007/11/graphic-design-contest-sponsored-by-sir.html

Digital Meltd0wn - Music Search

2007-12-15T01:48:00.000-05:00

I'm experimenting with Google's Custom Search service. If you look at the sidebar on the top right, you'll notice the new search box. I created this custom search for the sole purpose of finding music. Hopefully the default settings will work just fine, but I'll keep tweeking it, and adding more sites in the meantime. Let me know how it works for you all. If you have any suggestions for improvement please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Comments Fixed & Other Miscellaneous News

2007-11-21T01:40:00.000-05:00

I noticed that I forgot to customize a lot of the settings for this blog. Previously, comments were restricted to registered users, and they also required image verification. I'm sure that would be a pain in the ass for anyone attempting to add their blog here. I changed the settings, so comments no longer require registration or image verification. I also made a few altercations to the layout in order to make the list easier to read. I plan to alter the entire layout in the coming days to make the list more visually appealing. I hope that you all will bare with me as I continue to try to improve this list. Thanks once again for all your support.

Report Dead Links Here

2007-11-17T01:27:00.000-05:00

The blogroll contains over 1,000 blogs, and it can be hard to keep track of the online status of each and every blog on the list. Please leave a comment here if you find a link that is dead, a link to a blog that hasn't updated within the last six months, or a blog that has moved. I will investigate the blog and either update the url, remove it from the list if it is down, or tag it as 'On Hiatus' if it has not updated within the last six months.

Thank you for helping to ensure that the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll consistently maintains a list of only those blogs which are active and of the highest quality. Your efforts are certainly appreciated.

Please Be Patient As I Make A Few Changes

2007-02-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

I realize that the layout of this blog isn't very pretty right now, but I have a few changes in store for the near future. Please be patient as I implement new features to the blog, and play around with the layout until it looks right. If you all have any suggestions for improvement, features you would like to see added, or criticisms, please feel free to leave a comment.