Even if you haven’t heard of Joel Fan yet, you may have already heard him on Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project. If not, be good to yourself and catch up (with Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet) immediately! He just released his spectacular debut record, World Keys, featuring premieres of compositions from around our beautiful globe. I’m partial to La Nuit du Destin, a gorgeous swirling romantic piece by Syrian composer Dia Succari that builds up over time. Possibly because it’s been playing in my head since December, 2005, when i heard a live preview, and I’ve been longing to hear it again ever since. Looking forward to letting the other tunes blossom inside my head and heart… will report back later perhaps with new favorites as they emerge.

World Keys isn’t up on iTunes (yet), but it is available for immediate gratification on eMusic, which inspired me to revisit. You can sign up for a free trial (requires credit card and cancellation before pay period begins) of 25 free downloads (World Keys = 12 tracks for download but 13 on CD). Found lots of other cool stuff on eMusic I’d been looking forward to hearing, including the “Let’s Get Out of This Country” by Camera Obscura and “Bitter Tea” by the Fiery Furnaces. The downloaded files are MP3 with no DRM (digital rights management), which means no passwords so you can use them freely amongst your different devices. At a variable bit rate of 179-185 (among what i’ve downloaded so far, the quality also beats iTunes (128kbs). 40 tunes a month for $9.99. Hmm…. maybe I won’t unsubscribe. But even though I spend more money for less music on iTunes, eMusic’s automatic monthly charge and the burden on me to remember to use it up each month keeps me from getting more excited about staying with the service. Perhaps if they let the credits roll over monthly like Audible does it would make sense.

It also seems hard to justify a monthly subscription anymore when there are so many great music podcasts streaming freely into my computer. (I unsubscribed from Audible too — will share some great spoken word podcasts in a future post!) Right now I’m enjoying KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and Top Tune, the lovely Joy’s Pink Belt Rage, Raj Bala’s LoudSpeakers At InternmentCamp, the Wilson family’s Positively 10th Street and last but not at all least, the Ben Lee Podcast. Always open to new tunes, so please do send me your recommendations.
Perhaps