EW's 25 Best Music Websites

[MARV]

From the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, I'd like to share it's compilation of the Web's best destinations for music aquisition over the next few days. Some you will know, some you may not know but I think there's definitely something to be found for everybody here.

[b]1. iTunes[/b]

Praising iTunes is like endorsing puppies and chocolate: well, duh. Even so, any discussion of music on the Web has to start here. With it's supersize catalog (more than 2 million tracks so far) fair pricing, and any-idiot-can-figure-it-out interface,it's most people's first stop for downloading the latest Kelly Clarkson single or Mariah Carey remix. Since it launched in 2003, iTunes has trounced it's competitors, capturing close to 75 percent of the marketplace and selling more than a billion tracks.
But while everyone knows iTunes is big, fewer people realize how useful it can be for finding new tunes. Start with it's top 100 downloads - updated daily - and you'll see an instant, direct reflection of American musical tastes: the newest Dixie chicks single; surprise emo phenoms Panic! At the Disco; that Daniel Powter song that's on American Idol every week. Then move on to the "essentials" playlists, full of offbeat cult favorites. (Thanks to the "Folk 101 Essentials", John Prine's epic "Angel From Montgomery" is our new after-work beer-sipping soundtrack.) And one of iTunes best features is actually free: The site has grown into a portal for thousands of Web radio stations and eccentric podcats, offering everything from rowdy dancehall reggae to classical music. Happy hunting.
[i]Great find: RJD2 & Ric Ocasek's "Through the Walls".[/i]

[b]2. emusic.com[/b]

This underappreciated, expertly curated MP3 store is the music geek's alternative to iTunes. It's packed with fantastic choices, and at $9.99 a month for 40 downloads, it's a great deal. Emusic sells tunes only from independent labels, which means you won't find most current pop hits here. But spend some time sifting throught its 1.2 million tracks - including new stuff from Neko Case and Spoon and classics by Johnny Cash and Otis Redding - and you won't care. Best of all, the site's sharp editorial team steers you toward the good stuff with articles on the best Parisian jazz or the latest Brazilian pop. And their "Dozens" lists are essential 12-album starting points in categories like "boomer friendly rock", "English folk", or "old school punk".
[i]Great find: Art Brut's "Bang Bang Rock & Roll".[/i]

[b]3. pandora.com[/b]

Perfect for anyone who likes surprises, Pandora is a wizardly website that lets you customize a radio station to fit your own tastes. After logging in, users type in the name of a song or a band (the Beatles, for example); then Pandora uses a complex mathematical algorithm to find tracks matching the Liverpool lads' musical characteristics. In addition to Fab Four songs, our station came up with some Kinks and Stones, lots of obscure '60's nuggets, and contemporary acts like Pernice brothers.
[i]Great find: The Moves' "Curly".[/i]

[b]4. rhapsody.com[/b]

If other MP3 stores leave you hungry, tuck into this musical buffet. Pop gluttons will love Rhapsody's all-you-can-eat subscription service, which lets you download as many songs as you like for $9.99 a month. (Though the tracks will vanish from your hard drive when you stop paying. And it won't work with an iPod.) Another draw is the playlists, the most creative and well thought out of any MP3 store. Their genre mixes go way beyond the obvious into left-field genres like "pub rock explosion" and "80's paisley underground". And somebody on staff obviously has a sensee of humor: "Yacht rock" features smooth-sailing soft pop (Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald) fit for a day of sipping Cape Codders down at the marina.
[i]Great find: Firefall's "Just Remember I Love You".[/i]

[b]5. myspace.com[/b]

There's alot to dislike about Myspace. It's uglier than a Commodore 64, the music tracks are slow to load, and it has been co-opted by record labels, which pay for prime placement. Still, with more than 1.8 million bands offering their own homepages, it's impossible to ignore - it seems like every act you've heard of (and countless unsigned acts you have'nt) post free songs here. Read about a band? Head to MySpace and you're basically guaranteed to get something for your time: a prerelease album preview a new single, or even a raw demo. Weezer and Nine Inch Nails debuted their latest albums here, and Fred Durst recently posted a rant about former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland. Maybe that's not a compelling advertisement but hey, there are at least 999,999 non-Durst bands there too.
[i]Great find: Love Is All's "Talk Talk Talk Talk".[/i]

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[MikeP]

As a subscriber, I was reading thru this just the other day. ITunes ... no surprise there! I've been meaning to check out emusic.com -- I'm all for using a subscription-based service as long as when I cancel I don't lose access to my tunes.

One I've tried out that didn't make EW's Top 25 is <a target="new" href="http://www.bleep.com">[b]Bleep.com[/b]</a> (affiliated with Warp Records) -- a great source for electronica and various indie bands. Marv, you should check it out if you haven't already.

[MARV]

Yeah, that's an issue I have with Rhapsody. The inability to keep what I download when I cancel my subscription. Thanks for the tip on Bleep.com. I'll definitely check it out!

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[SwampThing]

Thanks for posting this. I just started a trial subscription with eMusic. eMusic's MP3's are DRM-Free, plus they are better quality than the iTunes format. The search engine is also far superior to iTunes.

The only downside is that none of the major labels are participating. But if you love independent labels, then this is the site for you. They have most (if not all) of the 4AD, One Little Indian and Cherry Red catalog plus larger indie labels like Vice (Bloc Party, The Stills, The Streets), V2 (Elbow), XL Recordings (Badly Drawn Boy), Matador (Pavemnet), Merge (Arcade Fire), SST (Black Flag) Beggars Banquet, Razor & Tie and Rykodisc.

<font size="1">"I've been playing the joker and dumbass for too long here, out of pity for the intellectually challenged that frequent this site" -- Hutter</font>

[Bitter Almonds]

They've obviously not checked out this site[8D]

[MARV]

[b]6. The Live Music Archive
archive.org/audio/etree.php[/b]

The utopian ideal of the '60s thrives free on this concert swapping forum, where the old Grateful Dead tape trading community has set up shop. But there's far more here than the latest Phil Lesh & Friends show. Ryan Adams, Jack Johnson, and Death Cab for Cutie are just a few of the nearly 2,000 bands with concerts on the nonprofit site.
[i]Great find: My Morning Jacket, 11/23/05, Lousville Palace.[/i]

[b]7. stereogum.com[/b]

Like a snarky best friend, this blog is the prime Web destination for rock & roll gossip and breaking Britney news. Despite it's trashy celeb obsession and often goofy tone, the music is no joke. Stereogum picks next-hot-bands with uncanny accuracy. (Current choice: the folk pop of Beirut.) Count on the site to point you toward the latest indie-rock crushes (Sufjan Stevens), fun covers (the Postal Service do Phil Collins), and prerelease singles from the likes of Kayne West.
[i]Great find: Kevin Federline's "Popozao".[/i]

[b]8. turntablelab.com[/b]

The beat junkies at this Web store are intensely dedicated cool-hunters, combing the globe for the latest obscure mash-up mixtape from Belgium, the rarest dub-reggae compilation from Jamaica, and underground MCs from Brooklyn whom everyone will be raving about six months from now. Stock up on mix CDs drawn from their cache of hard-to-find music before your next party and prepare to move the furniture.
[i]Great find: DJ Spinbad's '80s Megamix Volume 2.[/i]

[b]9. KCRW'S and KEXP'S Song OF THE DAY
KCRW.com and KEXP.org[/b]

Imagine booting up the computer every morning and finding a free new MP3 on your hard drive from the Shins, post punk legends Gang of Four, or indie-pop singer Jenny Lewis. That's the appeal of these podcasts offered by Santa Monica's KCRW and Seattle's KEXP, two quality public stations that have updated NPR's boomer slant for the blog generation.
[i]Great find: Band of Horses' "The Funeral".[/i]

[b]10. fluxblog.org[/b]

Site founder Matthew Perpetua has been posting MP3s nearly every day since 2002, which makes him a veteran on the scene. His experience has honed his autoblogging skills. Biased towards anything catchy and upbeat, Fluxblog is like an aural dose of Saint-John's-wort. Visitors can expect shiny dance-pop (Scissor Sisters), hard to find remixes (Hot Chip's remake of Gorillaz's "Kids With Guns"), and plenty of Kylie Minogue-style disco princesses (Robyn), all long before they hit brick-and-mortar stle stores.
[i]Great fibd: Robyn's "Crash and Burn Girl".

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[MARV]

[b]11. smithsonianglobalsound.org[/b]

The best government progman since the New Deal, this site opens up the Smithsonian's massive archive of ethnological recordings. It's an astounding resource for world-music fans, who can instantly sample, download, or buy CDs of jaunty Caribbean calypso, epic Indian ragas, or croaking Uzbeki bards (yes, that's a good thing). And folk-music obsessives will drool over the unrivaled collection of exclusive Americana. A sampling of Alan Lomax's famous field recordings can be found here, along with Moses Asch's Folkways collection of legends like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, and Son House.
[i]Great find: Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train".[/i]

[b]12. NPR's All Songs Considered Podcast
npr.org[/b]

The radio network for the Volvo set actually has a lot more music to offer than Norah Jones and Garrison Keillor. Just listen to gentle-voiced host Bob Boilen, who each week briefly introduces a note-worthy new release, then plays an entire track or two. And unlike many podcasts, the focus here is on [i]playing music[/i], not talking about it. Expect lots of songs from dad-rock favorites like Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, but Boilen also spotlights newer groups such as the Concretes and the Raconteurs. In other words, it'll make your station wagon the coolest ride in the car-pool lane.
[i]Great find: Mountain Con's "The Escape Artist".[/i]

[b]13. soul-sides.com[/b]

Run by a vinyl obsessive in California named Oliver Wang, Soul-Sides posts free MP3s of ultra rare funk and soul, often from his personal collection of dusty 7-inches (We're talking [i]really[/i] rare stuff. Heard of the Romano Mussolini Trio? Did'nt think so.) A professor in his non-virtual life, Wang also likes to educate his readers, offering history lessons on obscurities sampled in modern hip-hop hits.
[i]Great find: Linda Lyndell's original version of "What A Man".[/i]

[b]14. I Love Music
ILXOR.com[/b]

For the uninitiated, this message board can be an uninviting place. Threads areoften filled with obscure Web slang, vicious flaming, and know-it-all 'tude. But it's also an amazing place to learn about music, both new and old. Fierce debate takes up the bulk of the bandwidth, often leading to some of the most intelligent music talk around (many posters are music critics). Last year's long-running thread on Sri Lanka-born rapper M.I.A., to pick one example, was worthy of a grad school seminar.
[i]Great find: Annie's "Anniemal".[/i]

[b]15. mixunit.com[/b]

Unless you live in a city with a thriving street-vendor scene, this is your best choice for staying up-to-date with the who's who (and who hates who) of the hip-hop universe. That's because Mix Unit offers a massive selection of "official" mixtapes - artist-sanctionedCDs that fall in a legal gray area - where hungry rhyme spitters and established rappers try out their latest material and vent their anger. Did you hear that Cam'ron mixtape where he dissed Jay-Z for wearing open toed mandals? That's harsh.
[i]Great find: The Clipse's "We Got it For Cheap, Vol. 2".[/i]

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[MARV]

[b]16. Pitchfork
pitchforkmedia.com[/b]

A webzine people love to dis. Its dense reviews are often overwritten, underedited thickets of pretentious prose. The attitude? Frequently flip, mean and smarmy. Grudgingly, however, we admit that the Chicago-based site has become a tastemaking institution that's impossible to ignore. When it anoints an obscure band with a glowing review, - as it did with a then unknown Arcade-Fire - we pay attention.
[i] Great find: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's self titled debut.[/i]

[b]17. Radio David Byrne
davidbyrne.com/radio[/b]

We're dying for a Talking Heads reunion, but we'd be bummed if it took Byrne away from this fascinating monthly show. Each program is based on a them: "Latin Rock" or "Rednecks, Racists and Reactionaries: Country Classics" or the unexpected "All Missy Elliot". He also pens related essays that are as insightful as you'd expect from the pop smarty.
[i]Great find: Ray Baretto's "Indestructible".[/i]

[b]18. insound.com[/b]

An Amazon-type megastore for hipsters, Insound makes it simple to explore the newest indie boomlet or Brit-rock trend. Most folks come for underground and import-only CDs that iTunes or the local best Buy does'nt stock, but we're also partial to the excellent in-house music stream, which is a great summary of what's on college radio stations nationwide. Recent selections included Nick Drake soundalikes Jose Gonzalez, raunchy Baltimore rappers Spank Rock, and lo-fi bizarro folkies Wooden Wand. if you hear anything you like, buy it with an easy mouse click.
[i]Alexi Murdoch's "Breathe".[/i]

[b]19. lemon-red.org[/b]

This audioblog is the cheapest and easiest way to experience the hedonistic thrill of a sweaty late-night dance club without paying a cover, risking a hangover, or even leaving your sofa. Every month, expect a substantial new set from such DJs as Montreal's Ghislian Poirier and Rhode Island's Certified Bananas. No single genre dominates - Sounthern hip-hop, Jamaican dancehall, and old school funk have all been tackled - though a mash up aesthetic dominates. Never heard the Beach Boys, Young Jeezy, and Black Sabbath in a single mix? Time to log on.
[i]Great find: DJs Caps & Jones.[/i]

[b]20. music.for-robots.com[/b]

A blog run by eight different people, which explains its broad unclassifiable taste. Minimalist techno, ragged indie rock, spiky post-punk, and earthy hip-hop all make regular appearances on the slickly designed site, which posts a couple of MP3s a day. May's highlights include a song from Texas-born chanteuse Jolie Holland's new album, a prerelease Sufjan Stevens track, and a stunning psych-folk meditation by singer Findlay Brown, who just became our favorite artist. That is, until we visit again.
[i]Great find: Hysteric's "Potato Famine".[/i]

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[marie3]

Marv, this is some great info. Thanks for posting it.

[Horrorgrrl]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned download.com. It's a great place to find new indie music, and they have it all listed in convenient musical genres INCLUDING New Wave, Classic Alternative, Post-Punk, Shoegaze, Goth, Punk, etc. For someone like me who runs an internet radio station, it is a God (or Goddess) send. I also have a Tess's Indie-Wave Myspace site, and my God (or Goddess) I've made a ton of musical friends. In fact, nearly all my friends are bands and musical artists, ranging from classic New Wave, Post-Punk, Goth and Alternative acts to today's Next Wave. I have discovered so many great indie bands through both Myspace and download.com, that in retrospect, I really don't know how I could've managed an indie station without their resources. Here's the link to download.com:

http://www.download.com

Rock!

Tess[8D]

------------------------

<p align="center"><a href="http://www.live365.com/stations/horrorfreak13"><img src="http://www.bigdaddycool.net/Tess3666.gif"></a></p>

[MARV]

[b]21. woxy.com[/b]

A casualty of FM radio consolidation, Cincinatti's WOXY went off the air in 2004, but it soon reemerged on the Web. The delivery system might have changed, but the message has'nt. WOXY remains dedicated to alternative acts like the Walkmen and Bloc party. Also check out their "vinatge" stream, whre Generation-Xers can reminisce to a soundtrack of the Smiths, R.E.M., and other not-so-modern "modern rock" acts.
[i]Great find: Cold War Kids' "Hospital Beds".[/i]

[b]22. Little Steven's Underground Garage
littlestevensundergroundgarage.com[/b]

On his weekly online radio show, Springsteen and Tony Soprano sideman Steven Van Zandt is the nation's premier priest of garage rock, spreading the gospel of no-frills, fist-pumping rock & roll. Punctuating the music with his hepcat patter, Little Stevens spins old-school fuzz-rock (the Yardbirds, the Kinks), their 21st century descendants (the White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys), and anyone who thinks less is more, gritty is good, and louder is better.
[i]Great find: The Woggles' "Soul Sizzling".[/i]

[b]23. BBC Radio
bbc.co.uk/radio[/b]

Don't let the Atlantic Ocean get between you and the world's most respected radio network. The Beeb's website offers extensive free radio streams and podcats, making it a must-bookmark for all Anglophiles. Shows dedicated to only-in-England genres such as grime, U.K. garage, and Northern soul are plentiful, along with live in-studio sessions from hit bands like Snow patrol. Dance-music sets from the DJs Gilles Peterson, Judge Jules, and Pete Tong bring London's famed nightlife to your PC, and Steve Lamacq's influential weekly show is the place to hear the next Franz Ferdinand well before they're on Saturday Night Live.
[i]Great find[/i]Great find: The Long Blondes' "Lust in the Movies".[/i]

[b]24. AOL Music's Listening Party and MTV's the Leak
music.aol.com, mtv.com[/b]

Ever felt bad about illegally downloading a leaked album before its official release? Now you don't have to. This pair of sites lets you hear streams of, say, the latest from Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen without any of the guilt. MTV's focuses on TRL types like Nick Lachey, while AOL's offerings are a little more wide-reaching.
[i]Great find: Paul Simon's Surprise.[/i]

[b]25. Dusty Groove America
dustygroove.com[/b]

After you've burned out on Miles Coltrane, expand your jazz-listening habits at this Chicago-based site. Full of bebop oddities, avant-jazz imports, and little known swing composers, Dusty Groove boasts a connoisseur-friendly selection that's impeccable and far-flung. Whether you want to explore Hungarian violin fusion (Csaba Deseo) or Brazilian funk (Deodato), it's there. Beyond jazz, Dusty Groove carries plenty of curios for the open-minded, including unusual soul reissues, kitschy soundtracks, and lots of Afro-Latin grooves. One complaint: Why are'nt there any audio samples? If there were, we'd buy even more.
[i]Great find: Mulatu Astatke's Ethio Jazz.[/i]

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>