My number one request for Google Music has been fulfilled. There is now a mobile site for Google Music on the iPhone (and I’m assuming all iOS devices featuring the Safari browser) that allows you to easily browse through your ENTIRE music collection and listen to what you want…for FREE (not counting your 3G data bill, of course).

So what are you waiting for Google Music fans with iPhones? Fire up Safari and start rocking out right now! Point your mobile browser to http://music.google.com and hail hail the cloud!!!

PS – I have at least 6 Google Music invites available if you’d like one. Post a comment below, contact me on twitter @foochuck or on Google+ here: http://gplus.to/foochuck

See sometimes I actually read these spam comments. And if you look at tidbits of what these spammers are writing, some of this stuff is hilarious, if you don’t need to ingest too much at once. In fact most of those little gems of BS comments fit right under 140 characters or so. And thus the new Twitter account @WPComments was born.

I’m posting the funniest WordPress spam comments I can find to this Twitter account. In fact, this idea has got me actually reading through several pages upon pages of WordPress spam comments and it’s actually made spam comments actually fun for me, for once.

I don’t know how long the fun will last, but I invite you to follow this new Twitter creation and enjoy the WordPress spam, 140 characters at a time:

@WPComments

A few days passed before I tried to test out the beta, however what really drew me in was when I heard that you can upload up to 20,000 songs for free. There weren’t any limitations on file size, but simply the number count of songs that you upload to the service. It was at that point that my obsession grew and I immediately started uploading my iTunes library via the “Music Manager” software that you download after joining the service.

Off the bat it took a couple of days to upload my library of roughly 11,700+ songs. Unfortunately my library isn’t on a desktop or even laptop computer, but an external hard drive, so I would let it sync through my laptop throughout the day while at work.

Since I’ve owned an iPhone, it’s been my primary iPod and compared to my previous 60GB iPod, the size limitation of what I could carry around with me was a bit disappointing. With Google Music, my music goes everywhere I’m at and it’s not taking up any space on the iPhone. I will admit though, using Google Music through Safari on the iPhone is a bit limiting and I’m hoping that Google will release a mobile friendly site for Google Music someday soon. But then again, since Google is competing with Apple on the mobile front, I’m a bit worried that they aren’t really concerned about releasing a mobile friendly version or even a native iPhone app of Google Music any time soon.

The desktop web interface, on the other hand, rocks. One of Google Music’s biggest strengths is the power of Google’s Search at the top of the page. Type in an artist, album or song name and almost instantly you get a drop down menu of choices. With a quick click you can navigate to that artist, album or song listing and you’ll be enjoying your music library in no time.

The primary controls at the bottom of the screen give you access to playing / pausing, skipping forward or back, scroll through a song, thumbs up or down, repeat, shuffle and volume options. Everything you need to enjoy the current album or playlist.

 If you’re a Google Chrome user, as I am, you’ll also want to check out some of the sleek Chrome Extensions that are available for Google Music, such as “Better Music Beta for Google Music“. This extension adds an icon to the top right of your Chrome browser and gives you quick access to music controls for Google Music. The only thing missing is volume and hopefully they’ll address that in a future release. It’s a great extension for Google Music on the desktop.

Outside some of this core functionality of Google Music Beta, I’m really excited to see how Google will expand Music after it’s out of the beta stages. I’ve thought up a few things I’d really love to see Google integrate with the service, most of which deal with integrating Google Music into Google+. Here’s my list:

1. Embed Google Music Controls into The Google Header: Just as Google has integrated Google+ into the header of all Google products, it would be awesome to have basic controls for Google Music embedded throughout the Google experience. Currently when using Google Music on the desktop, I usually keep a separate tab open for Google Music and it would be sweet to be able to bypass that extra tab and enable music controls right through the Google page controls.
2. Google Music Social Media Integration: Integrating Google Music with social media capabilities, similar to Soundtracking or Apple’s Ping, would be smart and I would be highly surprised if Google doesn’t introduce some sort of social media functionality when Google Music becomes available to the public. Being able to share a song I’m listening to from Google Music to Twitter or Google+ seems like a logical next step for the service.
3. Google Music Integration into Google+ Band Pages: I know that there’s no such thing as “Google+ Band Pages” yet, however much how Google’s Picasa service currently lets you upload your photos and share them to Google+, I think it would be awesome if Google Music would let you share your own music on Google+ through a musician / band page. I currently have a music page on facebook and all of the music I post to it is from external resources, such as YouTube or Soundcloud. If Google integrates Google Music into Google+ band pages, it would make the service even more valuable and powerful not only to Google Music users, but to Google+ users as well.
4. Google Music Syncing: Okay so I’ve synced up over 11,700 songs to Google Music. Now what if my hard drive crashes and I lose all of that music? Sure it exists on Google Music, but they don’t currently give us an option to download these songs. Now I understand that on one side, I could give someone access to download my library, but on the flip side, they should offer this as an option, EVEN if they limit the amount of times you can download your library in a given amount of time.
5. Native iPhone App or Mobile Web Interface: As an iPhone user, the biggest drawback to Google Music has been using it in the Safari mobile browser. Although it works, it’s very tedious to search for songs and navigate the interface. On top of that, even when you load up an album or playlist, unless you keep Safari open, music will not play back continuously and you need to switch back to Safari after a song ends to get the next song to play. If you’re an Android user, you are in luck. There is a Google+ Android native app available.
6. Buy Music Online: Finally one of the biggest things missing from Google Music is the ability to search for and purchase music with the service. Unlike it’s competitors Amazon MP3 and iTunes, it currently only features the music you upload to it. I’m sure that Google is pressing for this, but it hasn’t come about yet.

Look the bottom line for me with Google Music is that it’s great to have all of my music online and available to me wherever I’m at. An added plus is that it acts as an extra backup of all of my music and that gives me some peace of mind. Constantly while I’m working, I use Google Music either to shuffle through every song in my collection or to jump to an artist that I’ve been in the mood to listen to. The interface is simple to learn, the speed of search is beyond what you get with iTunes and there’s so much potential for the future of the service. And of course, let’s not forget that Google Music is FREE.

I can’t wait to see what Google does with it next.

You can watch the stream live on this page or from USTREAM at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chaunce-rodriguez

I will also record the show and post it on this page afterwords.

See ya soon!

-Charley

When it comes to cover songs, I’m really only interested in covering songs that move me. From the moment I first heard this song when listening to Silverchair’s album Neon Ballroom, I fell in love with this song. According to interviews with the band, this song was one of the last tunes written for the album and actually almost didn’t make it on the album.

Take note that I recorded this in my bathroom. I feel that if I’m not using a microphone, I need some good acoustics for my voice, basically need all the help I can get.

Hope you enjoy!

If you navigate to your profile page and click the blue “Edit Profile” button, you’ll notice there’s an area under your name / tagline where you can add photos. I kept noticing an empty album in Picasa called “Scrapbook Photos” and I finally realized what that album is for.

Similar to facebook where images that you’ve been tagged in appear on your profile, you can manually add photos to your profile page. The five photos that you choose end up in your Picasa album named “Scrapbook Photos”.

As a bonus tip, once you select the five photos, if you’d like to re-arrange them, go into Picasa, open the Scrapbook Photos album and click on the button at the top called Organize. You can now drag the five photos in the order that you’d prefer, save the album and the photos will automatically get updated on your Google+ profile.

You can add me on Google+ plus at http://gplus.to/foochuck

1. The UI: Prior to using Google+ I had been noticing Google’s updates to their greatest products; Search, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc and I really liked the design updates they’ve been making. The consistency looks great across their products and it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the Google+ interface.

From the simplicity of the stream (I really like how embedded videos look on the stream as seen above), through Photos, Profile & Circles, the Google+ team has done a great job at keeping things simple, yet intuitive. Compared to the Facebook stream that’s now cluttered with ads, events, & those annoying game requests and other random things that show up, Google+ has the edge in my opinion.

2. Photos: About a year ago I started using Picasa. I finally managed to organize all of my digital photo albums, along with my ever growing iPhone photos and I chose Picasa over Flickr, which I’m very happy about right now. First off, Google+ users now get unlimited photo space (up to 2,048 x 2,048 pixels) as well as unlimited space for videos that are under 15 minutes in length. Besides using Picasa to share to Google+, you can pretty much keep all of your photos / videos backed up to “the cloud” in a sense by syncing up your albums using the free desktop version of Picasa that syncs to your Google account.

On top of all the free storage goodness, the layout of photo albums is awesome. I really like how Google has laid out the photo albums (as seen above from my “Family” album on G+). You’ll see for images that have comments, there’s a number count of comments shown on the top right of the thumbnail. Beyond this the lightbox that powers the full sized photos works great, because Google has moved the comment flow to the right of the page, no need to scroll down and read comments beneath the full sized images. It’s a great interface and the ability to tag people is also integrated through Picasa, so for all of the people I had already tagged, once I share certain albums with family or friends, those tags should show up automatically.

3. Profile: The Google Plus profile doesn’t disappoint. Again it’s a very clean interface, similar to the Google Plus Stream, and it gives you the ability to look at a user’s posts, info about them, photos, videos & +1′s. The +1′s listed on a user’s profile are the items that a user has “+1′ed” through either a Google Search or through a +1 button on an external website. In a way, it’s sort of like a public list of bookmarks, so you may want to be conscious of what you +1 and who you’re sharing that list with from your profile.

One other interesting yet subtle feature on a profile page; if you click on a user’s main profile image, if they have added more than one profile image, it flips to reveal their previous profile images. Part of the fun with Google+ for me has been discovering these little touches that Google built into it all.

4. Google Plus Notifications & Sharing Through Google: Another subtle, yet awesome feature is how Google has integrated Google Plus throughout most of the main Google sites you visit. As long as you are signed into your Google account, you’ll notice on the top right there is a notifications area and also a share button.

Now if I was a little more popular, I could show you how the notifications light up red with a number count, however my notifications were at zero with a gray neutral background when I took this screen cap. However this is the bar that appears at the top of the Google experience when you’re signed in as a Google Plus user. When you click the share button, a small window expands so you can post an update, consisting of a photo or video upload, an external web link (or even a YouTube video link) as well as an option to share your location in the post. Very simple, intuitive, clean and nifty if you ask me.

Look, I could probably go on all day about Google+ but I need to bring this blog to a close for now. A few final notes…

• The Google+ iPhone app needs to get approved now! Hurry the hell up Apple.
• Once Google+ is open to the masses, I really believe that Facebook will have some heavy competition on their hands with this new social network. The integration of Google’s already free and awesome services are going to put Google+ over the edge.
• I realize I didn’t mention Circles, but don’t get me wrong, I <3 them too.
• The fact that you can edit a post or a comment is another great, subtle feature, Google is paying attention to the details.

Hope to see you in one of your Google Plus Circles soon! If you haven’t added me yet go for it: foochucks at gmail dot com

So what do you like about Google+ ? Leave a comment below and let me know!

“Since You’ve Been Down” is an original song I wrote about the ups & downs of being in a long distance relationship.

I tried playing this in standard tuning (as opposed to my regular 1/2 step down) I think it turned out alright. Check it!

Since You’ve Been Down music & lyrics by Charley Campbell

It’s in your life
It’s in the way
It’s suicide
Everyday

On Monday we would stay up late
Tuesday never hesitate
Wednesday you’d start feeling great
On Thursday I would fly away
On Friday I would hold you tight
All Saturday right through the night
Then Sunday I would let you go
And Monday I’m back here at home

It’s since you’ve been down

Now who’s to blame
And who is right?
It’s insane
Every night

Don’t fall down

I’d like to dedicate this cover of the Foo Fighter’s My Hero to my late Grandfather, Theodore Janas.

I wrote this song back in August 2004 when I was living alone in Richland, NJ. Little did I know that it would be one of my last months living there before relocating to Mays Landing. It was the first time in my life that I lived alone and this song helped me live through it.

“Mojito” Music & Lyrics by Charley Campbell

It’s a bastard of an evening
It’s a bastard of a night
When you feel like you’re forgotten
It’s alright (it’s alright)

All the stories in my memory
They are clouding up my sight
And I don’t know what is real
Not tonight (not tonight)

I will tell you how I feel when I’m singing my goodbyes
Up to this point there is nothing
And it’s right (it feels right)

Now I’m forcing something evil
Cause my weakness let’s me down
I am pent up with all anger
Hit the ground (hit the ground)

Leave me high and leave me alone
I will never let you go
Carcasses and open veins
This track has left me insance

Leave me high and leave me alone
I will never let you go
Carcasses and broken veins
This track has left me insane

The end

Being a music listener for the past 5 years has also been a pleasure. But my hiatus from playing music has also come to an end and I need the therapy that these six strings bring to my fingers and my soul.

The 7 year relationship I was in up until April 2011 kept me focused to a point, but everything comes to an end. I’m not really sure if I remember how to be single, I’ll assume it’s like riding a bike. Can I borrow your helmet?

I find myself in the middle of nowhere, a place where some people consider it to be home. I live in Nashville, TN now. On my way here, playing music and the single life were the furthest things from my mind. It’s kind of funny where life takes me. I put my mind towards a goal and soon after, that goal is unreachable…however new goals are born.

I’ve never been one to give up. No matter how tough things get, I find a laugh in my dark humor, through a tweet, in someone’s picture or sanity through a song. And that’s my life. I’ve finally updated this website to bring together the things that help me get by, whether it’s music, family, friends, nerd talk, ranting / raving, movies, tv shows, technology, videos, social media or work…this is where I’ll be posting everything.

Mostly everything I’ve written in the past 7 or 8 years is on this site in one form or another. Some of you might remember my MySpace blogs or earlier blogs and all of that is here if you want to check it out again. Just about everything excluding a blog post about a proposal, but I’ll save that story for another day.

Through this site and the social media sites I’m on, I’m going to share some music with you if you care to listen. I’m gonna post crazy pictures of my cats and hopefully they make you smile they like make me smile. I’m gonna share weird stories and let you look through my outlook, but I’d like your input too. So take a look around and hopefully you’ll come across something that helps you get through the day, if you need it.

Finally, I honestly feel good where I’m at; there are a few things holding me back though and a few hurdles I need to overcome. I’m not really sure if I’ve reached rock bottom yet, but I wish I knew, because I’m ready to return to the top any day now.

-Charley

PS – On the verge of this new horizon is a new social network known as Google+. You can find me there with the email: foochucks at gmail dot com

A live USTREAM “bedroom concert” recorded on July 9, 2011. The set list consists of original & cover songs.

This is just a simple love song I wrote, once upon a time…

“Climbing Bedroom Walls (Happy)” music & lyrics by Charley Campbell

Happy, I climbed into your life
I climbed into your room
But I’ll lose you soon

Happy,  I figured out the past
The times that wouldn’t last
They went with you

But don’t you cry tonight
Don’t you cry, tonight…

This could be the greatest Slipknot song ever. I know that hardcore fans of the band will hate me for that statement, but this song really speaks to me. I know it’s an acoustic ballad, but it shows they aren’t just a balls to the wall metal band. I had a lot of fun recording this song.

Take note of the keyboard at the end of the song, it’s probably the only time I’ve ever recorded a keyboard part into a song.

This is a cover of the Weezer song, “My Name Is Jonas”.

This is a song I wrote called Stalker. It’s kind of started as a joke about how people latch on to you when you play music in a band. The verse is sung by the person being stalked and the chorus is sung by the stalker. The bridge connects the both.

“Stalker” music & lyrics by Charley Campbell

Don’t be thinkin’ about my money
Seen you passin’ by my place
You’ve been dressing like my honey
Now you tried to touch my face

Well hold I’m gonna mess with you
You said you wanna play and I’m gonna make it true
Well hold on, hold on, I’m gonna think of you
Okay?

I got a flight but you blocked my driveway
In my window you’re first place
All these years I’ve been sleeping sideways
Now my cats wanna scratch your face

Well hold I’m gonna think of you
You said you wanna play and I’m gonna make it true
Well hold on, hold on, I’m gonna mess with you
Okay?

What’s left? Watch left!
She don’t know her right from left

This is a cover of a Cyndi Lauper song, from the movie ‘The Goonies’.

If you stick around long enough, you might spot an easter egg…

Spur of the moment recording of Radiohead’s Creep. I always make fun of this song because to some people, it’s the only Radiohead song they’ve ever heard.

This is an unreleased song I wrote that barely anyone has ever heard. And I wrote it before Kelly Clarkson ever came along, so the name is original

This is my pop song writing side, if there is a pop song writing side to me.

“Since You’ve Been Down” music & lyrics by Charley Campbell

It’s in your life, it’s in the way
It’s suicide, but who’s to blame?

On Monday we would stay up late and
Tuesday never hesitate
Wednesday you’d start feeling great
On Thursday I would fly away
Then Friday I would hold you tight
All Saturday right through the night
On Sunday I would let you go and
Monday I’m back here at home

It’s since you’ve been down

Now who’s to blame? And who is right?
It’s insane, every night

It’s since you’ve been down
Don’t fall down