It’s been so long since there was a new Goldfrapp album out… “Felt Mountain” is clearly one of my favorite albums ever. I enjoyed Goldfrapp’s followups “Black Cherry” and “Supernature” slightly less than their first album, but they’re still full of great music.

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At least, semi-officially. The store is now in “public beta”.

Click through here to check it out.

Salient points:

• Tracks are encoded as 256Kbps VBR MP3 files, without any DRM restricting your ability to use them
• Most songs are 89 or 99 cents, compared to $1.29 for iTunes Plus
• If you buy an album, you must download it using Amazon’s MP3 Installer. You can download individual songs with or without the installer
• Amazon’s MP3 Installer will automatically add the song to iTunes or Microsoft’s Windows Media Player
• Downloaded songs should be compatible with any iPod, Zune or other MP3 player or device
• You should be able to burn downloaded songs to CD if you want
• At this time, I believe that only EMI and Universal are offering MP3
• DRM-free is not a license to scatter them far and wide across the Internet. When you buy, you agree to terms and conditions governing the use of this music.
• Of course, you can’t get a refund on an MP3 after you download it
• Amazon gives you a free sample song - Energy, by The Apples In Stereo - in order to try out the downloader
• On my test download, Amazon’s MP3 Installer downloaded the file and installed it into iTunes without any interruption in what I was currently listening to
• It appears that you cannot re-download a song once you’ve downloaded it (you can with the free song - because it’s free)

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Today Apple launched “iTunes Plus” - iTunes Store music that’s not protected by DRM. About a month ago, Apple and EMI announced that they were going to do this, and today it’s finally arrived and we can now see what form it takes.

I think this is a particularly bold experiment by Apple and EMI. It may not seem that way to the average user, but this is EMI taking a chance on consumers not pirating the hell out of their music, and this is Apple taking a chance on selling music that will play on devices other than iPods. Both are risky. Of course there’s been a lot of unprotected music sold already, but this is the first time one of the major labels has been willing to try it. And they’re not just releasing a bunch of dusty old music that no one wants to listen to. Music by Coldplay, Gorillaz, Air, Goldfrapp, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra is available - staples of EMI’s catalog - so I have to conclude that they’re sincere and they’re really putting themselves out there.

Here’s how it works:
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Speck ToughSkin for iPod Nano

Speck ToughSkin for iPod with Video

Amazon has a rebate on Speck’s ToughSkin case for the iPod Nano (2nd generation - the ones with the metal case) or iPod with Video. The rebate makes the case free before shipping. If you don’t have Amazon Prime, ordering a book or CD or something else to bring the total to $25 or more will get you free shipping. Click on one of the two above to check it out on Amazon

The ToughSkin is a ruggedized case for your iPod that doesn’t just protect it from casual scratches when you throw it in your pocket or bag that’s full of coins and keys and bottle caps; it also protects it from being dropped or knocked to the floor. The case allows access to all the functions of the iPod, and includes a screen protector.

I’ve never yet met a case that would work in my iPod dock, unfortunately. I’ve read about a company doing a “dock extender”, which would lift the iPod slightly up from the dock so that you can dock it in its case. I don’t believe they’re shipping yet. In the meantime, I find it’s worth more to me to protect my iPod by keeping it in its case than it is to have it sit pretty in its dock.
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I’m sitting around still sniffling with a cold, reading PD James’ “The Children of Men” and listening to Thomas Dolby’s new album, “The Sole Inhabitant” (which led to me listening to “The Golden Age of Wireless” and “The Flat Earth”.

I’ll get to “The Children of Men” another time. It’s rather different from the film, but I’m only 60 pages in so I can’t tell you precisely how different. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the film and I’m enjoying the book. Thomas Dolby is a good accompaniment to it… moody, a bit futuristic.

It’s a bit of a tease to call “The Sole Inhabitant” a new album. It’s a live recording from his 2006 tour. The track list runs like this:

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The iTunes Store has made Sufjan Stevens’ “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever” available as a free download. Free songs are usually available for a couple of weeks at the iTunes Store. It’s a pretty good song, and a welcome relief from most holiday music. Click on the icon to download it:

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I generally can’t wait for the holiday music to subside, but if you’re in the mood for it, iTunes’ free song of the week this week is Sarah McLachlan’s version of “Silent Night”. I you want a copy, click on .

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I’m tempted to post this on my Apocalypse Blog.

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The AirPlay is an FM Transmitter for iPods which have a remote control jack - that would be most iPods up to but not including the current generation of iPods with video and the iPod nano’s or the iPod shuffle (but does include the iPod photo, U2 iPod, iPod mini and most other iPods).

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