For Happier Christmases And Birthdays Don't Buy Google Music All Access

As I get older, it gets harder and harder to make Christmas and birthday lists for my wife and kids. I'm not much for having material things in the first place, so it's become a gigantic chore to give them ideas for presents. Music is the exception. I've always got CDs I'd like to add to my collection. Google Music All Access eliminates all of those gift ideas for the family.

I've been trying it out for almost a month now and found two things.

1. There are some interesting artists whose music I'd love to have available to me. Helen Kane and George Formby, for example.
2. There is a lot, and I mean a lot of really terrible music out there. Many albums and artists that I used to like have turned out to be truly awful. Almost everything, as a matter of fact. Just like painting, sports and algebraic topology, there are a few superstars and then there is everyone else. Iron Butterfly, for one. Please, no more Iron Butterfly. Ever.

This means that there will always be a few albums I'd like to have, but it also means that most of the material available on Google is stuff I'd rather never hear again.

So I'm going back to Pandora and putting CDs on my Amazon wish list when I hear something new and interesting. It will give the kids options when it comes time for gifts and take the stress out of their lives. It's always panic time when you have to buy a gift for someone and have no ideas at all. All Access may or may not be cheaper in the long run, but not everything is about money. I'd rather have more fun on my birthday and Christmas.

As an added bonus, here's a very nice fan video of Electric Light Orchestra's Yours Truly 2095 off of their Time album. Previously, I had blogged that I saw them on the Time tour and had heard they had lip-synched at least some of their songs. Someone had recorded one of those concerts and uploaded the music to YouTube. After hearing a few of them, there's no way they were lip-synching. Instead, they might have layered recorded music over the top of their playing to give us the rich, orchestral ELO sound.