Imagine being able to dip in and listen to the unadorned music from the whole of this pioneer's musical career, along with preserved historical spoken words. His career truly represents the major turning point in country music's history, and this box set is as much a social history of America at mid-20th century as it is a music document.

The Complete Hank Williams

Do you like to own your music? Or do you prefer to rent? Either way, Virgin Digital has it.

From the Software License Agreement:

The Virgin Digital Service affords you the unique and thrilling opportunity to experience 30 second samples of music and to stream, download and think about digitized sound recordings and related nifty digital content.

The entire Agreement, as well as the FAQ, is peppered with this sort of forced cheekiness.

The service is still in beta, and the client software shows it. It is nice to see they have integrated the All Music Guide into the client.

A quick review of the breadth and depth of the catalog finds minor differences from Rhapsody. However, if an artist or album is unavailable on one service, chances are that it's not available on the other, either.

Also, something is amiss when Scissor Sisters, Blues Explosion, and Toots & The Maytals are on the front page, filed under "Most Popular."

Virgin Digital

From the artist snapshot on Rhapsody:

Drunk Texans play lo-fi hillbilly boogie that is so funny you'll laugh your ass right off.

It's like country music, only funny!

They do a stumbling Honky-Tonk cover of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise." Can you imagine?!

The Dallas Observer wrote:

You haven't lived until you've heard Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" turned into a white-trash stomp, its call-to-arms sung though a white man's nasal passages until the rhyme animal squeals in what's either pain or delight.

These boys play the song like they just learned it on a stage at the local VFW hall during nickel-beer night, clunking and clattering through it until PE starts whistling with "Dixie" and makes you wonder why we all just can't get along, especially by the time guitarist Morgan Geer gets around to insisting Farrakhan's a prophet he thinks you oughta listen to.

"Ternitup," Geer snarls in a bastard twang, while drummer Jamie Stirling goes looking for the beat in someone else's back pocket. Then, the punch line: "Braaaang the noise," and you can't tell whether the Trio's makin' fun or just havin' fun, though there's a fine line anyway."

Note: The streaming video link at SXSW is no longer active. The audio is available on Rhapsody and iTunes.

Bring The Noise, by Unholy Trio

Colin Powell kept a set of rules on his desk. Here are a few:

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Get mad, then get over it.

Have a vision. Be demanding.

Check small things.

You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

Be careful what you choose. You may get it.

I've posted these before, but it's worth reviewing them periodically.

Powell's Rules

The Levin report is a primer on how intelligence can be cooked to fit a political agenda. It is another sad reminder of this administration's refusal to hold anyone accountable for the way the public was led into the war with Iraq.

As far as I'm concerned, the voting public must share the blame for not being more demanding, skeptical, and interested.

With two exceptions, the President of the United States is not your father. Do not expect him to treat you like his son or daughter.

If you play the sucker, expect to get taken. The world stage is bigger than your living room.

How To Skew Intelligence

This report is highly relevant to the current Congressional consideration of intelligence reform. As the House and Senate consider legislation in response to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, it is of critical importance that any new structure or organization correct, to the greatest possible degree, one of the most serious and persistent flaws of the current system of intelligence analysis and estimates: the politicization of intelligence.

Full text of the 46-page report is available here.

Pre-War Intelligence Report by SASC

"A straightforward yet fascinating description of the labyrinth beneath the feet of any city dweller. And what a complex covered world David Macaulay reveals! He invents an intersection of two streets and proceeds to show what we all might find if we dared to descend through that Alice-in-Wonderland manhole."

Underground, by David Macaulay

For all the excitement on opening day, it didn't take New Yorkers long to revert to their jaded selves.

This brief article on the history of subway technology brings David Macaulay to mind. Be sure to check out the illustrations.

Looking Back As The New York Subway Turns 100

Nevertheless, it should be used.

This op-ed by Michael Schrage recently appeared in the Washington Post.

In Wartime, Deceit Can Be the Better Part of Valor

Neko Case is what happens when punk rock goes country. Needless to say, it's a beautiful thing.

Rhapsody says: "Neko Case bridges the gap between honest-to-gosh country music and Alt Country with a voice that could make a dog cry."

All Music Guide says: "Her big, bold, but silky smooth voice is a thing of beauty. She has won a steadily growing cult audience for her smoky, sophisticated vocals and the downcast beauty of her music."

About her latest album, Blacklisted, Amazon says: "Neko Case's third solo effort is a moody, atmospheric affair that both satisfies and mystifies. Recorded in Tucson with a stellar band, Blacklisted charms you with its haunting, reverb-soaked songs, most of which were written by Case herself."

"The overall mood of the album is one of loss and melancholy. Soaring above it all is Case's remarkable Patsy Cline-meets-Judy Garland voice, which she uses to great effect."

Neko Case