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So I had a lot on my mind over the weekend, much of it tied up in the recent passing of Michael Jackson, and for whatever reason, I just decided to sit down and talk about it. I didn’t write any of this down beforehand, so I don’t think it came out quite the way I wanted it to, but there was no point in trying to make it better. After all, at some point, perfectionism becomes the enemy of art…

Thanks for bearing with me here. I’ll put a regular show together next week.

Background Music:

1. Permanent4, "Lazy Sunday"  Download from: Last.FM
2. Alan Mecan, "Stylus"
3. Permanent4 v. Red Joy Reid, "Fresone (P4 Requiem Mix)"
4. All India Radio, "Life and How You Do It"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
5. The Tao of Groove, "Superspectral"  Buy from: eMusic
6. Dive Index, "The World Is Kind"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic

Not an eMusic member? Click here to sign up for a free 15-day trial and receive 25 free MP3 downloads, plus 30 MP3s a month for only $11.99. It’s a great value for indie music lovers and a great way to support both the artists and this podcast.

If you’d like to listen to this episode or any other on your iPhone, check out the Dave’s Lounge direct download page.

Enjoy the show!

This showed up in my inbox this morning:

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 26, 2009. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme expected to be passed any day now by the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) and signed by the governor. As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 26. We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of uncertainties surrounding the legislation’s effective date.

Please be assured that all qualifying referral fees earned prior to June 26, 2009 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with our regular referral fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of June 26, 2009, any final payments will be paid by September 1, 2009.

In the event that North Carolina repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to North Carolina residents.

The North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.

We have enjoyed working with you and other North Carolina-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

You can read more about this issue here. This isn’t as huge a loss for Dave’s Lounge as it is for some others, as I was only making $20/month on the average from Amazon, and that was in part because of some help from other listeners. (Robert Fischer was a big help in this regard.) Still, Amazon Associates commissions were usually enough to cover web site and podcast hosting for a year, and now that’s gone.

So until this matter between Amazon and NC lawmakers is settled, I would advise everyone out there not to use the Amazon links on this web site. I plan to remove some Amazon links from this site in the next few days. I’m also going to look for some alternatives to Amazon, because unless iTunes sales pick up (or lots of listeners start signing up for eMusic accounts this weekend), I’ll need some other way to help cover this podcast’s expenses. Dave’s Lounge has always been able to pay for itself, and I’d really like that to continue.

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Two things this week:

1.) Dave’s Lounge has a shiny new Facebook page. Go become a fan today and meet other listeners from around the world.

2.) I have been convinced by quite a few listeners to continue my relationship with eMusic for now. So if you’d like to give eMusic a try, click here to sign up for a free 15-day trial and receive 25 free MP3 downloads, plus 30 MP3s a month for only $11.99. It’s a good value for indie music lovers and a great way to support both the artists and this podcast.

Playlist for Dave’s Lounge #162:

1. Shuta Hasunuma, "Power Osci"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
2. Abigail Washburn & The Shanghai Restoration Project, "Little Birdie"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
3. Daniel Artner, "Area 51"
4. Naoned, "Beyrouth Ouest Beyrouth Est"  Free download from: Electrobel.fr
5. Monodeluxe, "How You Doing"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
6. Soul Avenue, "Try"  Buy from: iTunes
7. The Flavor Foundation, "Duality"  Buy from: iTunes

If you’d like to listen to this episode or any other on your iPhone, check out the Dave’s Lounge direct download page.

Enjoy the show!

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A couple years ago, I stumbled upon the work of the late Alan Watts, a 20th century writer and speaker who helped to popularize Eastern philosophy with Western audiences. You can hear more of Watts’ speeches by subscribing to the Alan Watts Podcast.

This encore episode combines the words of Watts with the music of MoShang, who also combines Eastern and Western ideas. MoShang’s remix compilation, Asian Variations, was released under a Creative Commons license, and you can get a free copy for yourself at AsianVariations.com.

Playlist for Dave’s Lounge #93:

1. Viba, “In the Orchard Lies a Secret (MoShang Bonsai Mix)”
2. Gordon’s Suitcase, “In Development (MoShang Asian Elaboration Mix)”
3. Big Red Devil, “The Wicked Thoughts of You (MoShang Asian Space Mix)”
4. Toao, “Slush (MoShang Bubble Tea Mix)”
5. Brad Reason, “Cruisin’ ‘Round Second Life (MoShang Do Re Mix)”
6. André van Rensburg, “You and Me (MoShang Under the Speaker Tree Mix)”
7. Akihiko Matsumoto & Chage, “Missing Pages Soundtrack (MoShang Upstream Downstream Mix)”

New music returns next week, when I’m not so sleep deprived and not so annoyed at Giuseppe Rossi. I’ll get over that soon. Honest.

Enjoy the show!

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Some of you might have heard about eMusic’s recent deal with Sony Music and the price increase that went along with it. I’m a bit torn about this deal myself. On the one hand, even though eMusic’s prices have jumped 66%, eMusic subscribers will still pay less per MP3 than they would buying music from iTunes or Amazon, and there’s still a great selection of indie music there. On the other hand, that price jump is an obvious concession to an RIAA label — especially one that once thought releasing CDs filled with malicious rootkit software was "no big deal" — and it makes eMusic less valuable to existing customers. Plus, eMusic has not handled its critics well.

If you’re an eMusic customer, I’d like to know your reaction to all this. Do you plan to remain with eMusic in spite of this deal, or are you canceling your subscription? Please answer this poll, and feel free to leave a comment here, too, and let me know if you think Dave’s Lounge should continue its marketing relationship with eMusic.

Playlist for Dave’s Lounge #161:

1. Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy, "Maybe Soon"  Buy from: iTunes
2. Under, "Beam of Light"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
3. Deborah Anderson, "Breathe"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
4. Mouchette, "Dusk"  Buy from: iTunes
5. Norine Braun, "Be Brave (Blaxcot Remix)"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
6. Blind Divine, "Disillusioned"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
7. Mooli, "Awaken"  Buy from: iTunes

If you’d like to listen to this episode or any other on your iPhone, check out the Dave’s Lounge direct download page.

Enjoy the show!

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Well, I guess I can’t say I’ve never been featured on iTunes anymore…

Thanks a bunch to Wizzard Media’s Rob Walch, host of Today in iPhone and Podcast411, for getting in touch with the iTunes team and making this happen. Rob often does a better job of promoting my show than I do. I’ve seen a nice little boost in downloads as a result of this, and I hope all you new listeners out there will enjoy this episode, past episodes, and those yet to come…

Playlist for Dave’s Lounge #160:

1. The Hampdens, "Croupier"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
2. Ramirez, "Kilimanjaro"  Buy from: iTunes
3. Green Tea, "Cruise Control"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
4. Mark Rae, "Gato"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
5. Su Round, "La Baja"  Buy from: iTunes
6. Nude v. Flashbaxx, "Something Good"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
7. Goldlix, "Atoll Moao"  Buy from: iTunes | eMusic

Not an eMusic member? Click here to sign up for a free 15-day trial and receive 25 free MP3 downloads, plus 30 MP3s a month for only $9.99. It’s a great value for indie music lovers and a great way to support both the artists and this podcast.

If you’d like to listen to this episode or any other on your iPhone, check out the Dave’s Lounge direct download page.

Enjoy the show!