How web 2.0 of us. Here’s where we’ll tweet:
We’ll be posting tweets every time a new list goes live on the site and random musical ephemera, too.
Please note that @selectiveservice was a single character too long (curses!), so be sure to follow @selectivesrvice (no first “e” in service) to be in the know ASAP!
Folks, every so often we receive an email or comment from someone who’s mistaken our little Selective Service: The MP3 Blog with Selective Service: The Government Agency (neither of which are as fun as Spaceballs: The Flamethrower). I suppose it could be a little confusing, having “Uncle Sam” (me) as an author and the rotating-and-more-convincing-than-I’d-thought photoshopped Uncle Sam image there to the right, but I guess we need to be a little more explicit, because earlier this week someone emailed us their contact information and SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER in the hopes that we’d be able to let him know the status of his paperwork.
I’ll be shortly adding a second disclaimer to the sidebar, but until then, please be aware:
This website has no affiliation whatsoever with the Selective Service System of the United States Government. This website is an MP3 blog and cannot help you in any way regarding your registration. Any personal information you send us will be promptly deleted and disregarded. Please visit http://sss.gov for information about the Selective Service System.
Clear enough? Please be careful when sending out extremely important personal information like SSNs! Does anyone really think that the US Government can be reached at a GMail account? Please, please, PLEASE read before sending info like that in anywhere.
Download: Wilco, “Misunderstood” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)
Sorry for any bumps over the last 20-ish minutes — I just finished upgrading Selective Service to WordPress 2.5. If you encounter anything that’s more funky than functional, please drop us a line — thanks.
More musical merriment tomorrow!
So what do you think? Selective Service has gotten a new coat of paint and a few feature teaks: the layout is wider and a little more eyeball-friendly, and the new links at the top take you to the most popular stuff here: links to posts by author, a link to all of our nearly-monthly selections, and a link to all posts containing mp3s for download. Bear with us: we’re going back & re-tagging all our content to bring it in line, so be patient if something isn’t where you expect it to be.
Come back tomorrow for a new Draft Board highlighting the week’s new releases, and later this week for our monthly crushes. Thanks!
Download: Eels, “Fresh Feeling” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)
Hi, folks. Sorry we’ve been gone so long — life happens. We’ve been getting busy in the last couple of weeks, tho, and we’re officially back open for business! Look for a new trio playlists on December 1, and our picks for the best of ‘07 about halfway through the month. Thanks for your patience, and check back soon!
Download: Flight of the Conchords, “Business Time” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)
Sorry to be the bearer of bad(ish) news, kids, but our playlists for December won’t be live today. They’re completed, but the challenge this month was extra-interesting, and there’s a good deal of accompanying work that needs to be wrapped up before they’re ready for public consumption. Look for them to go live sometime this weekend — an email will be sent when they do. Want to get the word first? Join the Selective Service email mailing list.
I know, I know, like Tom Petty sez, “the waiting is the hardest part,” but if Steve Earle can wait maybe you can, too:
Download:
Steve Earle, “I Can Wait”(mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)
Well, the EZArchive transition appears to be over, and I’m not pleased. The threat (”shared music files will be played at a lower quality than in EZArchive 2.0 outside of your archive, while still being enjoyable for your friends to listen to”) was unfortunately real — when I tried downloading a 7+MB mp3 file, what got delivered to my desktop was a 1.7MB mp3 that sounded like complete garbage. Shared mp3s are being severely stripped of their quality to save on bandwidth, and I won’t stand for it. So no more EZArchive links, kids.
How does this affect you? Mp3 links on this site and on You Can Take The Boy Outta Brooklyn… are no longer valid. I may go and re-upload some of the files with a new service, but I won’t be going back too far in the archives — sorry.
How does this affect me? I’ve got to find another way to deliver y’all the best music, so I’m trying out a couple of different services. The mp3 in the Hold Steady post is being hosted 4Shared — try it out & let me know how it goes by posting your experiences in a comment here.
As always, more updates will follow, and I thank you for your continued patience…
– Uncle Sam
Just a lil’ FYI, folks — EZArchive, who’s been hosting my mp3 files, is in the middle of a large service upgrade.
Last night my account was upgraded from EZ 2.0 to the new, lemon-scented, flash-burdened EZ 3.0. They’re claiming that the upgrade will be well worth it, but there may be some hiccups along the way: access to posted mp3s will be limited if not totally down during the upgrade; all of the links to files will no longer be valid in a month, so I’ll have to update all the links on this site and You Can Take The Boy Outta Brooklyn (wheeee!); and, cryptically, the EZ powers that be state that “shared music files will be played at a lower quality than in EZArchive 2.0 outside of your archive, while still being enjoyable for your friends to listen to.” Hmmm.
I tried monkeying around with the new interface, and absolutely everything was wrapped up in flash, making it impossible to download. I was told that a “Create New Link” function will properly be added to the UI (which might alleviate the issue), but I’m nervous. Stay tuned & thanks for your patience…
– Uncle Sam
Hello there, Selective Service faithful. Sorry things have been quiet around here. All sorts of vacations, scheduling mishaps, and technical glitches have conspired to delay July’s selections by a couple of weeks, but rest assured that you’ll be seeing them and our monthly crushes in the next few days. In fact, because we’ve been so late, you’ll be getting a special treat from us. More on that when our Selections debut in a couple of days.
If you just can’t wait for more music, try checking out my other blog, You Can Take The Boy Outta Brooklyn…. It’s updated daily and features music news, album & concert reviews, highlights of the week’s new releases, excellent free mp3s, and links to where you can get the best bang for your music-purchasing buck. Enjoy:
See you back here in a few days!
Any hosted mp3 files are offered for your private evaluation & enjoyment, not commercial use. If you hold the copyright to one of them and would like it removed, please contact us and we will do so immediately.