Cheap Music Albums

How’d you like to get classic Guster albums (and many others) for a great price? I was skeptical about this at first, but eight months ago, I found a great deal that allowed me to do just that.

Yourmusic.com is a music club similar to BMG that has some Guster classics among their offerings, including Lost and Gone Forever and Keep it Together. You can get each one for $6.99, with free shipping. Other multi-disc albums, like Guster on Ice: Live from Portland, Maine are a good deal at $13.98 each. That’s cheaper than downloading them on iTunes! Plus, then you can rip them at higher bit rates AND have a tangible CD copy of your music.

Now, before you completely dismiss this, let me describe. There are so many things that kept me from joining other music clubs, and I found none of them on yourmusic.com

1. Most music clubs require that you buy a certain number of albums. Yourmusic.com does not. You can sign up, get one album, and then cancel online immediately afterward. With yourmusic.com, there is no minimum to buy.



2. Most music clubs send you stuff you don’t want—CDs you didn’t ask for, cards to fill out and return, etc. Yourmusic doesn’t do any of that stuff. All you have to do is choose what album you want from their large catalog and they’ll send it to you. It’s a monthly subscription, but you can cancel as soon as there’s nothing else you want (which will probably take a while).
   
   If you don’t believe in the whole ongoing subscription thing, they even have gift subscriptions you can sign up for or send to someone else. That way, you know you won’t be locked in for more than just the term you sign up for.



3. Most other clubs don’t have good music, or they don’t have new music. YourMusic.com has both. I paid full price for Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open the day it came out, then saw it on YourMusic.com for about half the price just a couple of weeks later. I’m sure Guster isn’t the only band you ever listen to, either. They have stuff from some of my other favorite musicians, like The Killers, Barenaked Ladies, U2, Coldplay, John Mayer, The Fray, Beyoncé, Lifehouse, Dave Matthews Band, Carrie Underwood, Yellowcard and tons of others.

If you’re not sure, just go to yourmusic.com, check it out, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. As a Guster fan, what do you have to lose? I’ve been a member of the club for a while, and I’ve been completely satisfied with my experience. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, too.

Satellite Music Video

Hey,
Sorry it's been a while since the last post...my Christmas has been just as busy as everyone else's, if not more so. Enough excuses though...back to Guster.

If you haven't seen this yet, you're in for a treat Guster's new Satellite music video is finally finished. I watched it tonight, and was blown away by some of the really cool things Guster's done in stop-motion animation for this album. The One Man Wrecking Machine Music Video featuring a pillow tearing his world apart was awesome. The Satellite video isn't quite as cute and funny, but it makes up for its lack ov humor with a dramatic increase in style. Adam Bizanski, an Israeli indie filmmaker, put the piece together for the band just recently. He's done stuff for Zero 7 and Wolf Parade, too, all in this really cool cinematic style, playing with different stop motion techniques.

Satellite has really worn on me as a song. I find that the layering is quite amazing, the lyrics are fantastic, and the melody is quite catchy. This video seems to capture the essence of what this song is all about, too, with its slightly melancholy tone and satellite-like movement in sound. The hint of regret in the idea that "maybe you will always be a little out of reach" tugged at my heartstrings just a little bit. I've known some girls like that.

Anyway, check out the new video. It's amazing. It has cutouts of the band. It SPINS! I've stuck a YouTube connection below for your convenience. Please comment--let everyone out there know what you think of thi latest music video effort. Enjoy!

Scooter for a Day Contest Results

New news from the Guster road journal at guster.com

It's been a pretty tight competition on You Tube to become Scooter for a day. Scooter now signs just as many autographs as Ryan, and he's adored by people of all ages all over the country. Amazing what happens when people have a chance to become you for a day while on a cruise with Guster. I was quite impressed by the quality of a couple of these videos.

I have to congratulate Denise Cook, who posted a comment on my blog's initial "Scooter for a Day" post to show us her video entry. I was impressed with the effort--I'm glad to see she won at least some backstage passes and show tickets. I'm happy for her and jealous at the same time. Too bad it wasn't the big prize. She deserved it with all of those cardboard signs. Here's a direct quote from Guster.com's announcement:

After a couple months of watching homemade videos ooze their way onto the internet, we can finally declare a winner for the "Scooter For A Day" contest we held on YouTube. In a nutshell, the winner gets an all-expense paid trip for two on our January cruise to Turks & Caicos with Barenaked Ladies under the guise of taking over for Scooter as drum tech for a day.

I want you to know that the decision was not easy, and that we didn't take it lightly. We watched every single video. We laughed, we cried, and we were forced to listen to songs that we wrote 15 years ago. For instance, Joe asked me "what's that one old song I heard that had a great riff and a cool verse and then suddenly took a terrible emo turn at the chorus?" That song is "Love For Me," Joe -- and you're right. It was sounding great until everything fell apart at the chorus.

I need to stay on track. We took the decision seriously, even calling in legends from the past like "Pasty" to weigh in. And it was a close vote. So we're adding some runner-up prizes into the mix.

The 1st place winner will go on the cruise with a friend. In the event that the 1st place winner cannot fulfill his/her duties as Scooter for a day, the runner-up will be expected to step in, just like when Vanessa Williams posed for Playboy and relinquished her Miss America crown to someone else.

So here are the top 8, in reverse order. Everyone below will get free tickets and backstage passes to a show of their choice this spring. Thanks for all the effort, everyone. How about a round of applause for all our contestants!!

8th Place: Rena
7th Place: Alf
6th Place: Top Down 5
5th Place: Jane
4th Place: Bunnie
3rd Place: Andrew Deaver
2nd Place: Denise Cook
1st Place: Jeremy P.

Congratulations to all you winners in the Scooter for a Day Contest!

Ganging Up on the Sun Review

I thought this blog post on the Mule News was quite interesting. It's good to hear that Guster gets some justly deserved attention from the critics for Ganging Up on the Sun. It really says something when a music critic chooses to put Guster in his CD on his own time--he hears it all.

Anyway, check it out, Gusterkids.

Guster Concert Photos

I found a pretty good set of band photos taken at a Guster concert you might want to check out. I've attached an example to this blog for your consideration. The photos are at Cynical Wordsmith, another blog out there in the blogosphere. Aren't you glad I sift through all the junk for you? This is a pretty good set of shots. Who knows, maybe one of them will decorate your desktop, or become a fitting compliment to your Guster-devoted décor.

Reverb, Adam Gardner, and Guster

Have you ever wondered what your favorite rock group does for the environment? Most don't do much at all, but Adam Gardner, his wife, and Guster are doing a lot to help out the environment--even though their tours use a lot of resources.

Reverb is a non-profit organization that helps bands to get involved in environmental causes, especially when they are on tour. They help bands to encourage recycling, counteract their fuel emissions by planting trees, and use renewable energy as a power source for concerts and venues--all in an effort to keep their tours clean.

Guster isn't the only band that participate with Reverb. Others involved in the cause are the Barenaked Ladies (participating in the Ships and Dip cruise show with Guster this month), Jack Johnson, Avril Lavigne, the Dave Matthews Band, Bonnie Raitt, and others.

Visit the Reverb site to find out how you can help your band be more economically sound, or how you can donate to such a worthy cause. Find out who's participating, and support artists that value our environment.