Google Music (Google Play)

Today I got a new (for me [but brand new copy]) CD/DVD – Flyleaf … name of CD and group name. I haven’t always been aware of all the kinds of music coming out that I like or may eventually like or don’t like or will absolutely hate.

I’ve been on an Octane XM 37 (sat. radio) kick for many months now. One artist they didn’t (to me) play until more recently is Flyleaf. As it goes, in music there are less female singers than male, and the ones that are any good are even less … I prefer male voices, high or low, more dry than rich, depends though. Female voices, I’m totally disgusted by so many, not worth listing even one of them. I can say I like Evanescence … I can listen to them anytime. Flyleaf is new to me these last couple of months.

My male voice prejudice for music would have had me neglect them if I had heard of them though. Evanescence came to my attention when some kid on Youtube used one of their songs with a Bionicle video, and I was hooked immediately. I had heard of Amy before, but didn’t particularly like her on the Seether album I have with her singing on one song. Evanescence is totally a different story.

So today I got my Flyleaf CD and ripped it and Google Music starts uploading it.

Why, don’t know, but whyever, they don’t usually upload an album intact and ready to go without my intervention in the browser editing one or two or three albums and/or their album covers.

Way back when Google Music started, once I got an invite, I immediately didn’t like the album cover problem that was glaringly obvious on my HTC Evo 4g phone … pictures were ugly, grainy distorted (worse than grainy) like tiny graphics blown up hugely. I contacted them via email and got a reply that only MP3’s will upload the high resolution album art, or obtain it somehow or other, and that, like in my case, .wma’s only uploaded a small pic and I’d have to manually add hi-res pics for them.

Urg! I was using wma for a long time since I could do quality variable bit rate in less space with their proprietary format. Since then I’ve ripped a lot of new music as .mp3 and have to for certain uses of the music for other devices, but for my HTC Evo, not the case, Google Music, not the case. But because I now use Google Music on my android devices and I want nice pictures for the album covers … with little fuss and muss … it pains me when I try to get something ripped and uploaded fast so I can take it on the road …. but I can’t.

Some albums go up without a problem. Most do though. I had 3 of one sitting there one day. And once you have that cleaned up, the HOME screen of Google Music in the browser keeps those defunct folders around until you listen to enough other music to recycle their position to “gone”. So it’s ugly.

Plus, how many times do I get a whole album uploaded, .mp3’s and the picture stinks of horribleness but the album info is kosher.

So today both things happened, divided album (lack of artist in artist field on half of the tracks) plus both had low-res pictures for album covers. So I had to fiddle faddle and because of that I noticed something Google Play had on the home screen, under my recent albums (they have stuff from their Play store, tracks to buy) and so I looked at one thing, and that led me to see something else, and I saw something called Cults/Cults … which brings this post full circle. UGH!! I listened to a few seconds of at least three tracks and I was like… gag! Give me YES or Slipknot or 12 Stones or Clan of Xymox or The Cure or Cinderella or The Cult or … on and on .. up to Evanescence … but no, no, no to “Cults” whatever they are, yuck! Yes, a sickening female voice. Scratch my own eyes out.