The past week was a bit of a music renaissance for me, after having become disgusted with the lack of good music on the radio lately. I discovered that there are a few good songs out there, and to fill in the gaps I downloaded a few oldies I had forgotten about.

Firstly, if you haven't heard Crazy Frog's remix of Axel F (the theme from Beverly Hills Cop) you should dowload it immediately. It began it's life as a ringtone, then grew in popularity to the point where it charted on Billboard. The first time I heard this song I had two reactions. During the first half of the song I thought to myself, "This is probably the dumbest song I ever heard." Then, as I continued to listen, I couldn't stop laughing at it, so I downloaded it. It's worth a listen.

A few years ago when I picked up a Rhett Miller CD, I had no idea who the gangly fellow on the front was. When I heard he was the former frontman of the Old 97s, I decided to give it a try, and I was not disappointed. He gives a good mix of heartfelt ballads and fun rock, and not one of his songs is derivative or boring, so go pick up The Instigator and you won't be disappointed. May I particularly recommend "Our Love" and "Terrible Vision".

I went through a little phase of downloading songs I hadn't heard since the 90's, and I've included a few here. I had White Town's "Your Woman" stuck in my head a couple of days ago, so that made it on my list. Also noteworthy was the Meat Puppets' "Backwater," which is the kind of rock we haven't heard since we were teenagers. May I also recommend anything by Collective Soul - I hear they may be coming back soon.

And let me just take a moment to say I advocate legal downloading - I don't want to get sued here.