first of all, how is it that you are listening to pandora? are RBC's server's located in the US? has a canadian version of the site been created (if so, pandora.ca is not the correct url, as it leads to an online fiction store)? when i try to connect to their site, i get this message.

as to your questions, hard to say how i'd define this decade, or even what i'd call it. the 'zeros' is slightly preferable to the 'two thousands', but both don't seem a little awkward. what's really defined the decade for me is the increasing number of releases each year, in an expanding number of genres and sub-genres, that make it extremely difficult to identify a broad trend. the popular music scene is diversifying more each week, it seems. there have been cross-over artists, as there always are, Feist and Kanye West are two that come to mind for this decade, but these seem fewer than in the past.

maybe the best way to proceed is to figure out what this decade definitely isn't about and that is 'modern rock' or any of the 'grunge'-like or -lite sound that typified the 1990s. musical acts that came to prominence during the last decade have forged a new sound with their releases of the last 8 years, either by embracing electronic sampling and collage (radiohead, the flaming lips) or by adopting a more acoustic singer-songwriting direction (beck). other than coldplay, i can't think of a really big name alt rock band of this decade, and i'd say they've pretty much faded from view over the last couple of years. does anybody give a shit about the red hot chili peppers or the latest chris cornell or billy corgan side project? hard to even find in in the mini-story ap/reuters section of arts pages these days (though to be fair, they may be getting bumped by important updates on the downward trajections of ladies winehouse and spears).

the only trends i'm noticing in my own music purchases over the last couple of years are:

-25% hip hop and electronica
-25% jazz and classical
-25% folk-influenced acoustic guitar based music
-25% all other electric guitar indie music

but i'm not sure that i'd be willing to extrapolate a trend from my own experiences.

as for your earlier question regarding 2008 releases, i've been enjoying:

-There Will Be Blood soundtrack
-Adele - 19 - bit too much of the same throughout but strong arrangements, vocals
-Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth - kind of growing on me

Has anybody purchased the new British Sea Power album? If so, is it worthy of the critical praise?

Update [2:50pm] For all you emusic subscribers out there, they have a pretty good feature on some of the albums that were released yesterday (February 19th), with some interesting sounding bands to whom I've yet to listen. Downloaded the Raveonettes but will have to wait until March and my download refresh to get the others. Atlas Sound, No Kids, Ben Benjamin, Pete & the Pirates, Headlights, and Bon Iver contain some interesting tracks.

check on Field Music and Besnard Lakes, which I've got but have yet to play. As Bezaly's Nordic disc featuring Aho, Thomasson, and Lindberg auspiciously contains the exact number of tracks i had remaining this month (13), i've downloaded it as well. thanks for the suggestion.

on the topic of classical music, did anybody read REG's Globe column on Monday about boxed sets? apparently, canada is the cheapest place in the world to buy classical music. evidence in favour:

A complete Mozart set from Brilliant Classics has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide since its launch last year. That 170-cd box sells for about $130, less than a buck a disc.

i take the point that discs featuring bigger name conductors and musicians may set them aside from the usual naxos recordings but is Vladimir Ashkenazy really a household name? i imagine that if i mentioned this name in any household that allows me to cross its threshold, i'd either receive blank stares or a tongue-in-cheek 'gezundheit' but perhaps i know too many philistines.

has anybody downloaded/bought/stolen or at least listened to the latest Apples in Stereo? If so, is it worth getting? At 24 tracks, if it's crap i don't want to waste my monthly allotment of mp3s from emusic.

i'm experiencing my monthly nearing billing with downloads remaining dilemna and am spending far too much time mulling over my options for 13 tracks, which i realize only works out to $2.50 but still...it's the principle that counts. i don't want crap.

just grabbed the new panda bear disc, which at 7 tracks and 45 minutes, certainly offers bang for the buck. not sure how i feel about it yet.

any suggestions for an album with a dozen or so tracks?

hey, at least you got the hyperlink thing down, marc, and that's half the battle. just try not to be so triggy happy on that 'publish' button.

really like what i'm hearing from pawa up first, and the fact that you can listen to snippets of the music on their website. in retrospect, you should have led with that one. is the dolphin-music disc really entitled, 'fukyo'? fantastic! for emusic-ers, pawa up first have two recent albums available for download.