Free Music Friday : It’s Been A While Edition

// July 17th, 2009 // 13913 Comments »2009-07-17+04%3A07%3A11Jason+Bradford // Totally Free Music!

A lot of things going on this summer and I’ve been a super slacker on Free Music Friday. I’m gonna try and make up for it now and hit you with some new stuff.

On a side note and NOT free note… check out The Dead Weather‘s new album Horehound out this week. Amazing!!!

OK, let’s roll with this Free Music.

Out of the gate we’ll go with some super pop rock from Above Envy. While not completely original, it is completely fun. This track will be featured on ABC Family’s new show “10 Things I Hate About You”… Have fun.

Above Envy
“Revolution” (mp3)
from “Start It Up”
(Louis Yoelin Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

Next up is the Schizoid Club from the UK. Some great downtempo/breakbeat/old school hip-hop mixtures on their debut self-titled release. Enjoy the sounds…

Schizoid Club
“Outlaw” (mp3)
from “Schizoid Club”
(Per Capita Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

Not sure how I missed this guy but this is an unreleased track from Kelly Joe Phelps… one of the most pure and amazing singer songwriters I’ve heard in some time…oh, and this stuff is 15 years old! Amazing slide player and raw vocalist. Really good.

Kelly Joe Phelps
“We Got to Meet Death One Day” (mp3)
from “Lead Me On (15 Year Anniversary Edition)”
(Burnside Records)

Buy at Allegro Music Direct
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

I know I do a lot of unknown indie music from all genres but this week I scored a track from one of my favorite bands Cake… actually one of my favorite tracks too, Rock and Roll Lifestyle. Enjoy!

Cake
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle” (mp3)
from “Motorcade of Generosity”
(Upbeat Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Puretracks
Buy at appliedSB / Groupietunes
Buy at mTraks
More On This Album

The Dead Weather Makes Me Want To Rock (again)

// July 15th, 2009 // 1379No Comments »2009-07-15+14%3A12%3A11Jason+Bradford // Music & Entertainment

51Im6ID56oL._SS500_ I gave up the live music scene around 1999 when I realized there were some great musicians out there who had it covered. I was determined to let them rock and I’d help them get out there so people could hear them (visit Tone Box for those details).

Since then I’ve written tons of music, even contributed over a 100 tracks to a TV catalog that has been on every major network and many other cable networks.

It may seem silly but I still have this urge to pick up my guitar and make music. New music, something is just built in. I’m pretty sure I’ll dabble but it won’t be anything major (at least no plans). So where am I going with this? What’s the point.

The point is The Dead Weather. Jack White’s new experiment with Kills’ singer Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita from the Queen’s Of The Stoneage and Jack Lawrence from the The Raconteurs. I heard the single “Hang You From The Heavens” a while back and was so ready for this album. The album Horehoud landed yesterday and I can’t quit listening to it. I mean, it’s that good. Wait, it’s that refreshing. It’s not the same old fluff that labels are putting out and it really pushes some new territories with some old sounds.

The reason for this post is basically, if I ever made a record again this is the record I would have wanted to make. This takes so many styles and sounds and just creates a new fresh rock.

To be honest, most music people won’t get into it. They probably won’t even like it, but I urge you to listen. Listen to the arrangements, listen to the drum patterns, listen to the synth/guitar lines… there are many, many gems in this one.

Ok, enough being a fan boy. Check it out @ Amazon

This video is just bit outside the box too… but cool song.
The Dead Weather – Treat Me Like Your Mother

My Life. The Circus.

// July 10th, 2009 // 1335No Comments »My+Life.+The+Circus.2009-07-10+05%3A11%3A08Jason+Bradford // life

mycircus It’s been a very busy past two weeks. I feel like my life is a circus.

In the middle of moving to Tennessee my blog site was hacked and I lost my last template. For now, I’ve settled on a Circus type thing to go right along with my life right now.

No matter the circus, I’m blessed beyond belief. Our move has been pretty easy on the kids and the only real negative is getting pushed off by AT&T two times for internet/tv service.

Inked Digital has taken off well. Daniel Island is keeping me very busy, but I’ve signed on to help 5 new clients in just the past two weeks. I must say that I was a little nervous about jumping on my own again but wow, it’s been amazing.

Thanks for hanging in there with me and laugh at my theme once again. I hope to life under control soon thus getting a blog theme to match my “control”. We’ll see.

Excessive Celebration: Never Gets Old

// July 8th, 2009 // 1354No Comments »Excessive+Celebration%3A+Never+Gets+Old2009-07-08+05%3A29%3A23Jason+Bradford // Funny

Steve McNair: 1973-2009

// July 5th, 2009 // 1312No Comments »Steve+McNair%3A+1973-20092009-07-05+00%3A48%3A50Jason+Bradford // life

I love the Titans. It’s no secret. One of the reasons I fell in love with the Titans was because of Steve “Air” McNair and Eddie George. Steve McNair was found dead today in Nashville and I’m just sick.

McNair had a huge heart, he was a huge contributor to the Nashville community and to others as well. He didn’t know the word “quit”. He played through more injuries, aches and pains than any other player I’ve ever seen. He was a warrior.

Just wanted to give you a shout out my friend. You were an amazing human being and a pretty dang good football player. You will be missed.

My Twitter Suspension; Can We Depend On Twitter?

// July 4th, 2009 // 13059 Comments »2009-07-04+04%3A06%3A13Jason+Bradford // Technology

suspendedsucks The answer currently is… no.

Let me be the first to say that I’m a fan of Twitter. Twitter has revolutionized the way we communicate and connect with others. It’s an amazing tool. However, I discovered a pretty big snag last week with Twitter, one that made me look silly for depending on a free communication tool.

Let me also say that I’m not bashing Twitter, I’m simply offering some constructive criticism to help Twitter become that dependable and even “critical” application. Enough build up… Here are the details.

On Wed, June 23rd I wrapped up my day with a simple Tweet about the day being long or something along those lines. The next morning I grabbed my phone to see what was happening in Twitter world. Uh, oh. It wouldn’t take my password. I panicked and immediately thought my account had been hacked. Crap. I tried to get a password reset and that process worked but when I saw my actual account on Twitter.com it said the account had been suspended. Not only did I think my account had been hacked but it had been hacked and someone used it to spam the Twitterati. Great I’m suspended. Hasn’t happened since high school.

No worries. I would email Twitter support and get this taken care of immediately. After all, I’ve been using Twitter over a year, have a pretty healthy group of friends (followers sounds so cultish!) and was very vocal against spam and all the crappy auto direct messaging that has been going on. Easy fix, so I thought.

I went to the help desk and submitted a request. I was given this <a href=”http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/26257/entries/15790″ target=”_blank”>link</a> and continued to read that my account could be held for 30 days for “research”. 30 days? Not me, I use Twitter to communicate with clients and to stay on top of the happenings in my area of work! I NEED Twitter. This is where the problem comes in. I needed Twitter. I had just successfully landed a new client and was a Twitter evangelist only for them to see that I was actually a suspended evangelist. Talk about looking silly.

Here’s where the kicker comes in. I have never been told exactly why my account was suspended. I was sent an automated response saying it could be one of many things. After reading the list I’ve determined that my account was suspended because my personal blog site had been hacked. My blog. Not Twitter, my blog. After connecting some dots I’m pretty sure that when my blog was hacked the hacker put a piece of code on my site that linked to malware/spyware. Twitter saw this link in my bio and thought I was distributing the malware/spyware. Technically they were right, but I had no clue this was going on. Thankfully it was brought to my attention and cleared up quickly. Google had put notice on my site that is was a malware site, however I contacted and updated them and was taken off that list in less than 24 hours.

While I’m happy that Twitter is watching out for this sort of thing and keeping us all clear from the crap that floats the internet, that is NOT why I think they are not dependable. My problem was the communication and the customer service. This is what I had to figure out on my own.

Account suspended
No notice of account suspension except red box on twitter.com (I use Seesmic and don’t go to Twitter.com so it makes it tough to see that)
No explanation of suspension
Request from help offered no information immediately
30 day estimated resolve time

Again, I’m glad that Twitter is taking the time to protect us from the crap that is floating the web on some sites. I believe there is a better way to handle these issues and the contact from customer support. Some simple ideas to help Twitter out:

Send email to address on file notifying of suspension
Give exact reason of suspension
Suggest ways to correct/fix the issue
Automate the research process- It’s easy to read and see if a user is a participating asset to the Twitter community
Setup @helpusers to assist suspended/questionable accounts
Don’t put up that it takes 30 days to “research”. That sends users into an immediate panic.
Create an automated process that users can use to “protest” their suspension. With my problem I could have easily taken off the link to my blog, submitted a ticket to re-check my account and been back up and running in minutes.
Listen to other users in the community. I had multiple friends contact the Twitter help users on Twitter to see how to get help with no response.

These aren’t the answers to all of Twitter’s customer support problems but this is a start for some one who depends on and uses Twitter daily. And just for the record my account was offline for 7 days not 30.

As Twitter moves into being a critical app for business I hope they will take the time to realize that most users are legit and want to be a part of their community.

This Sucks. Still Suspended. Twitter? Hello?

// June 27th, 2009 // 13006 Comments »2009-06-26+21%3A01%3A43Jason+Bradford // Technology, life

Yeah, day three of no response from Twitter. Anyone care to help me? Let Twitter know I’m a legit and contributing friend and follower? I don’t spam, I don’t even DM 99% of you guys, right!?

Oh, Twitter. I’m going to help you re-write your suspension guidelines and more importantly your appeal and re-instatement guidelines.

Frustration.

Michael Jackson, Thanks.

// June 26th, 2009 // 1278No Comments »Michael+Jackson%2C+Thanks.2009-06-26+04%3A51%3A56Jason+Bradford // Music & Entertainment, life

michaelj Like many folks I’m shocked at the death of Michael Jackson. I think what I’m more shocked at is the news coverage… These are the same vultures who were ready to skin him alive and let him waste away in Neverland.

The news coverage has now jumped on the band wagon of loving MJ. It’s sad to think he thought many in the world hated him and only thought of him as a joke… he died thinking that.

I’m not without fault. The dude went off the deep end with some of the stuff he pulled and the way he acted, but when it comes down to it, he had a child, he had a mom, he had a dad, he had brothers and he had sisters.

Michael Jackson, thanks for recording your life. Thanks for making some of the best records ever. You truly were Off The Wall.

Check out this collection of Michael Jackson Music… Lot’s of amazing stuff, you’ll be surprised.