It’s probably just me – but for about a year I have struggled to find any ‘new’ music that I enjoy.  It’s partly my fault, because I’m admittedly picky about music for some reason.  But that has seemed to start changing lately…

First, I made a point to start using my ipod as it was MEANT to be used. Instead of hacking it, linuxing it, rockboxing it, etc;  I decided to push the default apple firmware onto it,  I upgraded to itunes 8,  and finally synced some new music over to it.

My ‘new’ music is mostly it’s new; but some is just new to me.  I’ve been listening to the following:

• Taproot’s new CD
• Metallica’s new CD
• All that remains’ new CD 
• Austrian Death Machine
• “Metal” in general

I really like Metallica’s new CD.  It’s cool to see they’ve gone back to their “roots” a bit with this new album… I didnt hate  albums like Load or Re-Load; but their older stuff was definitely better.

Taproot seems to continually improve;  They’re just a great band overall and their new Cd is just awesome.  I would even say I love Taproot.  

Finally, I simply must thank Russelteee for putting me into Austrian Death Machine.  This band plays sheer metal; and their subject matter is all based on Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.  The lead singer acts like Arnold, and the songs are based on movies like Terminator, Total Recall, and Predator.   It does sound a bit ridiculous, but the music is good and I cannot get enough of this band.  

Finally, it’s been good to be able to take advantage of my ipod.  Particularly in my car.  I previously used a DLO transpod, which is an FM transmitter that has never fit very well in my car because of where my lighter jack is located.  But I recently talked Mickeyvb into trading me FM transmitters; so I’ve been using the Griffin iTrip instead.  It works way better in my car, and has helped me in gaining a renewed appreciation for music.