The 1 GB iPod Shuffle is now at the low low price of $49. Why the price cut? Because there will now be a 2 GB Shuffle for $69. I would think that the extra 20 bucks is worth it for double the storage space. The 2 GB Shuffle will be available later this month.

Hi we’re The Impossibles from Austin, Texas! Not exactly, but I wish. It’s the latest from former Impossibles front man Rory Alan Philips (the one in the middle of the photo), Rory and the Artificial Heart.

Rory Allen Phillips hails from Austin, Texas and has had a part in many a band. Possibly the most notable being one of my favorite bands of all time The Impossibles. Some of the other bands he’s been a part of include Imbroco, The Stereo, and most recently Slowreader (the Elliot Smith inspired acoustical, soft indie type thing done with fellow former Impossibles member Gabe Hascall).

While Rory has mainly been producing music the past few years, including Recover, At All Cost, and Kissing Chaos, he’s had his share of personal endeavors including the20goto10, Amex, and Nineteen Ninety Now. Rory’s current project is Rory and the Artificial Heart along with former Impossible bassist Craig Tweedy (in the photo, on the right).

Official-ish Bio: Rory and the Artificial Heart are a five piece rock outfit hailing from beautiful Austin, Texas. The band started playing shows in June of 2006 with their sound evolving from a fusion of new school rock and up tempo disco by way of a raw emotional state characterized by the vocals and tense guitar hooks. Featuring some of the best local musicians from all genres Rory and the Artificial Heart bring the rock in a way missing from the current music scene.

This is Rory and the Artificial Heart, the song is Self Esteem, the album not yet named. You can hear this on the CounterAgent podcast episode 26. You can also listen to more on their MySpace page.

Boom!

This weeks featured artist is… Alucard! The song, Resignation Song. The album, After Dark. Fun Fact: Alucard spells Dracula backwards.

Band Members: Mike, Ryan, Colin, Tommy and Nick

Bio:

This is where we tell you about our band, Alucard. We’ve never been very good at writing these stupid things, even after years of playing in bands and having to think of slick, interesting ways to relate mundane information about what we listen to, what other bands we play with, why you should buy our new record, and so on.

Even describing the sound of our music with words like “fast”, “melodic”, “emotional”, and “dark” seems pointless because by the time you read this, you will have no doubt heard at least one or two of the songs we have posted online and you can decide what you think it sounds like yourself.

I suppose we could try to impress you by telling you about the bands we’ve played with, like Chiodos, The Black Dahlia Murder, Finger Eleven, Silverstein, Boys Night Out, Ultimate Fakebook, Misery Signals, No Motiv, etc. etc. But this just seems silly. How many times have you gone and seen a really good band play with a bunch of other bands that suck?

Check them out online at: Official Site, PureVolume

Listen to them on Episode 25 of the CounterAgent Podcast.

Boom!

Any surprise that all the top downloads are all the most pop songs of the year? What was the most popular song of the year? Ready for it? Fergie with Big Girls Don’t Cry. That’s definitely my pick. I mean, I bought that song several times and gifted it several more. Check out the full list on iTunes. The list kind of proves why iTunes is the leader and not a more indie artist focused music download service like eMusic (which is great if you like stuff nobody knows about).

Boom!

The social music revolution

Last.fm is a site filled to the brim with music. It syncs to your iTunes and Windows media player to create a personalized station. Last.fm will play songs it thinks you may like. This will introduce you to new artists. I have Last.fm downloaded onto my PC and prefer playing this rather than my own library. One of my favorite things it provides is the bio of the artist. I like to have some insight into the singer’s life. This can sometimes make or break the song for me. I know, I’m that fickle. Also you can “start a station” by typing in a band. Last.fm will then start playing all songs linked up to that artist. You can share music, create playlists.

And for all the musicians out there, you can promote your music FREE on Last.fm. That’s not all! You can also get weekly airplay stats. Isn’t that incredible! Go already and sign up! And let me know what you think.

Wouldn’t life without DRM be grand? The folks at Warner Music and Amazon.com are going to start offering DRM free tracks. It took a while but finally Warner was convinced to start offering their music DRM free on Amazon. Looks like iTunes might have a bit of competition.

While there is still no word on Sony BMG going DRM free with anybody, this is a pretty big force that they will have to reckon with. If Sony gets on board with the DRM free craze it could be curtains for the CD. I personally am a fan of Cd’s. I like have the jewel cases and the booklets. That said I haven’t listened to a CD in years. It gets ripped onto my PC and then put on my iPod right away for the first listen. Granted the end of Cd’s is far off, this might be a sign of the times.

Run to Your Grave from the mae shi on Vimeo.

I found this great band and they had this great video, it’s The Mae Shi with the song Run To Your Grave. I found them on Chime.tv, which is a great place to watch videos online. The video is actually over at Vimeo, which is another great place to find stuff not on YouTube. I just thought I’d share it with the CounterAgent audience. I was also wondering, should I continue writing and posting about music related stuff here on CounterAgent or on the new SuperLame spinoff?

Boom!

This deal comes to us thanks to TechBargains.com. Griffin Technology, the makers of some great, and overpriced, iPod accessories and peripherals has a Coupon Code to get you 20% off anything they sell.

If you enter: “BeThankful” you’ll get the 20%. It expires 11/27/07, minus the quotes. Add the code to one of their Holiday Specials for the best deal. Oh, and they’re also offering Free shipping on orders over $50.

Boom!

The miShare is a cute little device that makes file swapping from iPod to iPod really easy. It opens an iPod as a mass storage device using a Linux based platform. You can set the miShare to transfer music, video and pictures, and when in music mode it’ll automatically transfer the most recently played song, or if you hold the button it’ll transfer everything marked in your On-the-Go playlist. This little magic maker will set you back $100. Will this kick start Apple into making sharing possible between iPods? Let’s hope so.Check it out here miShareP.S my colleague here at Counter Agent says it reminds him of 2 dogs making love???

While i posted the other day about the bonus tracks on Rock Band and how I had no idea about who most of the bands where. The DLC for Rock Band is a whole other story. It looks pretty good with some really good artists packs and some great individual songs. The price will be anywhere from $.99 to $2.99 with most clocking in at $1.99.

Here’s a small taste of what you can get.
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