The people behind the largest music store in the world have decided to start a little podcast of their own. The iTunes Weekly Rewind [iTunes link] is a weekly show by members of the iTunes music team, and boy do they know their music!

The idea behind the show is to introduce you to new music that you might have heard on TV shows, movie trailers, or music that is making its rounds on the Internet. “The music that makes up the soundtrack to your week” says one of the hosts (in every single episode, no less). Each episode focusses on a few key artists and revolves around those genres. Staying away from mainstream music that you would already know about, the hosts bring in new talent as well as the classics. The hosts are very knowledgeable about the music they talk about and give you the story behind the songs.

The production of the show is top notch, which doesn’t come as a big surprise when you consider where this podcast comes from. The episodes are all in enhanced AAC, which means that they display the artwork of the song they are playing. And if you want more info, click on the link (which is only visible when you’re listening to it in iTunes) and it will take you to the iTunes store (via your web browser).

I highly recommended this podcast for music listeners who want to discover new music [iTunes link]. With five episodes down already, I can see this podcast having a permanent residence in my podcast collection.

Radiohead was forever against the idea of customers being able to purchase individual tracks rather than the whole album. And they resisted putting their music onto the iTunes Store for a long time. But, as it goes, their ‘pay as much as you feel like’ project didn’t turn out to be an astounding success (well, they didn’t say it was a failure, but who would?), which led them to succumb to the pressure of the iTunes Store.

As it turns out, Radiohead seems to be loving it here, because they not only have their entire collection [iTunes link] on the store, but have now provided the stem tracks for a popular track from their ‘In Rainbows’ album, ‘Reckoner’ [iTunes link]! ‘Stem tracks’, by the way, are separate tracks for each of the instruments/voice. These stem tracks, six in total, include the lead vocals, bass, drums, guitars, piano, and backing vocals. All this is in 256kbps DRM-Free iTunes Plus format, as a $0.99 ‘Album Only’ download. That is, you cannot download a single stem track individually. And, if you purchase the track on the iTunes store, you get a special ticket that will allow you to download the garageband version of the same. We’re totally digging the Mac love, guys!

Fans are encouraged to remix the track, add in their own instruments if they so choose, and post them on a special page created for the purpose. Listeners can then vote up their favourite remixes and play them on the page itself. There’s a section for most popular tracks as well as widgets for gathering votes on your Facebook or MySpace profile. You can also check out the previous project for the track Nude. Note that mixing the tracks does not give you any rights to the song. You still need permission to use the tracks commercially.

iTunes has picked my favourite genre and an awesome song this time round for the single of the week. ‘Buildings & Mountains’ by The Republic Tigers is a must listen for any alternative rock fan out there. 

A relatively unknown artist, The Republic Tigers released “Keep Color” back in May this year. So even though this track has been out in the market, the iTunes Store at least, for a couple of months, hats off to Apple for bringing it as the free single of the week. The track is a mix of old and new, with excellent sound production and vocals. Perfect for those times you take a walk on the beach at twilight. 

So grab the song for free from the iTunes Store, within this week. There’s also some other miscellaneous content there, including some HD TV shows you might want to check out. The page will be updated next on Tuesday the 23rd.

A little late in posting ‘the single of the week’, what with all the Apple announcements keeping us busy, what we have for this week is Lenka’s “The Show”. Judging by the cover, it looks like a flat track, but a single listen got my ears up and perky. 

Following the lines of Yael Naim, this track would go perfect in one of those iPod commercials. With a soft and steady rhythm provided by the keys, Lenka’s voice is sweet and innocent. Of course, if you are 17 and need your friends to know you are a hard rock dude, better make sure this track is hidden in your library. For the rest, who don’t give a damn as to what people think of their tastes, this is a pleasant listen. 

So without further ado, check out this song, free on the iTunes Store till the end of this week. Note that you will need a free iTunes account to make this purchase. The iTunes store is also offering free HD episodes of NBC’s TV shows—that is, the first episode of each.

The rumours were spot on with this one, as Apple releases the iPod Nano 4G, the iPod Touch 2G, and to go along with that the iPhone software 2.1. The Macs were not even mentioned at the event. 

The Nano departs from the fatty tag and goes back to the earlier long design, a stunning one at that. Featuring a curved body, a larger screen, and 9 different colours to choose from, the nano seems like an awesome upgrade. To add to that, it features a new spiced up UI, featuring the Genius Playlist feature introduced with iTunes 8. The nano also features an accelerometer for Coverflow mode and video. The nano comes in two sizes, 8GB and 16GB priced at $149 and $199 respectively.

Next up is the iPod Touch. Going curvy like the iPhone 3G, the Touch get some minor additions in the form of volume buttons, a built in speaker and a Nike+ receiver. The Touch also adds the Genius playlist feature, similar to the one on the Nano. A minor price drop is also effective, with the 8GB at $229, 16GB at $299, and 32GB at $399.

And to go with the iPod Touch is the 2.1 software update. A $9.99 update for previous iPod Touch users, but free for iPhone users. “iPhone owners get a 2.1 software update that “fixes lots of bugs.” Significantly improved battery life, fewer call drops, crashing problems, increased speed for iTunes backups and various other fixes.” The update is not going to be available until Friday this week.

The iPod Classic on the other hand received little attention at the event. The 80GB has been bumped to 120GB, but surprisingly they have discontinued the 160GB version. Priced at $249, this is in direct competition with Microsoft’s recently announced 120GB Zune.

Apple also silently refreshed the iPod Shuffle’s colours. They started off with silver. Leaving behind the subtle colours, the Shuffle is back with flashy red, green, blue, and you guessed it, pink!

For more pictures and information, visit the Apple Website.

Are you satisfied with the new iPod lineup? Or were you hoping for something else. Shout out in the comments.

Even though there are millions of songs out there that I haven’t listened to, I still long for what Apple is bringing in as the iTunes Single of the Week. The very authority that the single of the week commands, where one has absolutely no choice in the matter and a decision has to be made on a single song, makes waiting for Tuesday so exciting. And this week, we have a racy punk rock “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend” by Black Kids. 

I’m generally not one for college punk rock but this one’s no exception. With a promising start of some nice fast paced rhythm, the high pitched vocals are a dead giveaway to its punk underlying. And the screaming girls filling in all the time make it almost party pop. Still, its not all that bad, having got a three star rating in my iTunes library.

Get this track if you are a fan of punk/rock. As for me, I don’t see this track standing the tests of time in my library. I’m already waiting for next Tuesday.

Did you know that there are three hundred different ways to control iTunes without even accessing its window? Well, maybe not three hundred exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere close to that (and by “pretty sure”, I mean I just pulled that figure out of my hat). Although most of these methods require third party tools collectively referred to as iTunes extenders, there are some that are built right into the system.

iTunes, by default, neither has a menu bar item nor does it provide any keyboard shortcuts for pause/play/skip. But lest you forget, you are running Mac OS X Leopard, which is so powerful it could launch a missile that could effectively destroy Bill Gates’s house! So controlling iTunes should be a trivial task, right? With the post on how to target Gates’s house saved for a later time, let’s do something productive. 

First, I’m going to demonstrate how you can control the system without using any third party applications at all.

AppleScripts.
Mac OS X ships with built-in support for AppleScripts. You don’t have to learn any language to use them. Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes will give you more than your required dose of AppleScripts that you can use to do various things with iTunes. Continue Reading »

Have the iTunes free singles suddenly become a viable way to get good music? This week’s track, ‘Go On, Say It’ by Blind Pilot, is quite a pleasant listen. According to the iTunes Store, it’s “an exemplary bit of minialist melancholy from the Portland duo”.

The track starts with a sharp, steady beat, almost along the lines of the White Stripes, and then just merges into a soft alternative sound. The lead singer has a very harmonious voice and sounds very much like Badly Drawn Boy, which is a good thing. With strings thrown in for good measure, acoustic guitars filling in and the steady beating of the snare, this one makes for a very good alternative track. 

If Travis, Pete Murray or Train is your kind of artist, then go ahead and grab this one. And even if you have no idea who those artists are, grab it anyway because it certainly won’t hurt your ears. 

And hey, it’s free.

This week’s free Single of the Week at the iTunes store is ‘You are Goodbye’ by Holly Conlan. From the iTunes store, “Holly Conlan’s songs are graceful and lyrical—her lack of pretension, blessed also with fierce confidence at the piano, makes her music easy to admire and difficult to forget.”

‘You Are Goodbye’ is a very soft folk track for when you need some light music to relax your senses. With the grand piano dominating the entire track, Holly Conlan’s voice is a sharp contrast yet soothing. And the addition of some strings and other soft sounds throughout the song makes it all the more soulful. I wouldn’t say this is going to be a chart topper, but it definitely is a pleasant listen.

So for those of you who appreciate soft piano love songs, even if it is just on a PC in your basement where no one can hear it, get this free track while you still can. For those who don’t have a PC in the basement, you will have to wait a while till a heavy metal track surfaces in the iTunes free singles list.

Taking a break from the usual country songs, this week’s iTunes’ “Single of the Week” (SOTW) brings us the semi-hit single ‘Black and Gold’ by Sam Sparro.

Starting with a soft dance beat, this track just picks up into a rhythmic tempo that could very well hit the dance charts. With deep melancholic lyrics, Sparro almost speaks to the listener throughout the song with his smooth vocals. However, only so much can be written about a song; hearing it is the best way to decide.

So, what are you waiting for? Come Tuesday, this song will have its free-dom snatched away from it. Hurry up and get downloading, while you still can.