Rock 'n' Relief for Haiti

The devastation in Haiti is simply unprecedented. It's a terrible, terrible situation and people will continue to die. It's a race against time. Money speaks, so if you want to help with a small donation, there are a few really easy ways to do it through a simple text message. The donations will appear on your next phone bill. You can donate $5 to Wyclef Jean's fund by texting ""Yele" to 501501 and hit send. I did read that some of the accounting in Jean's organization was a little shady, but I would have to imagine Jean would ensure everything's legit for this cause. But if you want more peace of mind, you can also donate $10 through the Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999 or the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund by texting "Quake" to 20222.

But for those of you who want dig a little deeper and get rock out to some great music. Here are two opportunities:
Emergency Benefit Concert for Haiti in NYC Jan. 20 - 21, 24-25
Haiti Mizik Relief in Miami, Fla. Jan. 23-24

New Section - Freebies

Occasionally, I come across places to download free music (legally). So I am creating a new section called "Freebies," where I will post links to free music.

More Free Music

Spin Magazine has 10 free songs to download from artists that will be hot 2010. Of course among the bands is the XX, which are so 2009. If you haven't already picked them up, this is your formal introduction. If you're into somber lyrics with a thick emotional bass line in the spirit of Joy Division or even the Cure, this is a must-have band for you. It will go well with your Interpol and Editors collection.

Little Bleases Get All Elfy for the Holidays

Huh-larious. The folks at JibJab let you clone yourself into a elves and make hilarious videos like this one starring my cousin Bobby "Boob" Blease, Cynthia Mora Blease, Baby Santiago David Blease and the incomparable Johnny "Stitches" Blease--together known as the Little Bleases. Enjoy.

Mario Iván Oña Photo Gallery

Enjoy a sample of some of the photos that I have taken at concerts, during travel and as the editor of The Washington Post employee newsletter.



Note: To view the slide show in full-screen, start the slide show by clicking on the center of the image and at the bottom right corner, next to the thumbnail images you should see a logo with four arrows pointing at the corners. Click on it.

Free Music on Amazon.com

Following a string of hefty lawsuits by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal downloading, I think many of us got scared straight into paying for every cotton-pickin' music download. So we bid farewell to freeness and yanked Limewire off our computers. Because of the simplicity of iTunes' click-n-download (not to mention that unlike Limewire, when you bust out a buck for a song on iTunes, you are guaranteed the whole song and the MP3s are properly named and attributed to the right singer--most of the time), we began to click our way into a recession. Then, Amazon.com came along with it's online music store and not as many of us took note. After all, we stick to what we know. And we know iTunes, iPods and iPhones. So after getting tired of iTunes' stingy free offerings--one or two songs per week (and not very good songs, though this week's Tonino Carotone's "Amar y VIvir" is quite good)--I started looking closer at Amazon.com. Just in time for the holidays, give yourself the gift of free, good music. There are over 1,500 songs to download. You'll need to download an Amazon.com music downloader/player, but it's totally worth it. You can then simply drag your new free downloaded MP3s into iTunes. I work on a MAC and actually the music downloads directly into iTunes--not sure if this is the case on PCs. Just to give you a taste, there is free music by Rodrigo y Gabriela, David Byrne, Ziggy Marley, Anti- and Nacional Records samplers, a Buddha Loung compilation and a bunch of Holiday music. And the nice thing is that you can hit "Preview All" at the top of the link and listen through endless music samples before downloading. Enjoy and your welcome.

Interview: Devendra Banhart

I recently interviewed Devendra Banhart for La Banda Elástica. It was a wild ride to say the least.