Dan Deacon is featured in a recent episode of The Daily Fix.

Getting Used to Awful
Next time you rip a file from CD to iTunes, consider this: an article from seattlepi.com states that, due to the compression that happens during the CD-to-MP3 process, the latter actually contains less than 10 percent of the original music file. As record producer Phil Ramone so eloquently states, “You can get used to awful. You can appreciate nothing. We’ve done it with fast food.”

Speaking of awful, Virgin Megastore is hosting its first-ever Battle of the Bands contest. Should you stoop so low, you can submit songs to all 11 stores, until August 31. Chosen bands will battle via live performance in select locations, and the grand-prize winner gets to meet, uh, some Virgin executives.

The oh-so modern entrance of the Tate Modern.

Desperate to be Hip
When he’s not campaigning for global warming with Leo, Al Gore is apparently getting hip to what the cool kids are listening to. Sort of. His viewer-supplied content channel, Current TV, launched The Daily Fix this week, television’s first music blog that will “help to break emerging artists from a slew of genres.” But with the inaugural features being Dan Deacon, Dizzee Rascal, and Josh Ritter, it seems there’s a little more digging to do before the station hits the cusp of cutting-edge.

Rarely do fine art and hipster counter-culture cross paths, but the Tate Modern is trying to change that, with the Tate Tracks series. New Young Pony Club makes for the latest signing to the series, which invites bands to walk around the museum, choose a work of art, and write a song inspired by the piece. The gallery also launched a competition that invites the lowly public to create and upload their tracks. Winners get to meet the Basement Jaxx. Yeah. 

Finally, Happy 25th Birthday to the Compact Disc. Remember those?