If you’re in the market for a new music system, there has never been a better time to get one with every feature you could imagine.  Most of us can remember the clunky methods of listening to our digital music before the coming of iPods and other devices that made this much easier.

Now Sonos had made things even better.  They’ve created a platform that allows you to listen to all of the music in your personal collection, in addition to any online music platforms you use.

From one easy interface you can access Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, and much much more.  Navigating the interface is about as intuitive as anything I’ve ever used. You simply install the Sonos app on your iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad and off you go.

There are a few different pieces of equipment that you can choose from.  One is a stand-alone music box that produces excellent sound quality with a very small footprint.  You can even pair two of these Sonos unites together to form a stereo pair.  You will be amazed at the sound quality.

Another unit is an amplified version that can hook up directly to speakers you already own.  It has a decent amount of power, though you probably wouldn’t want to use it on a pair of floor-standing speakers.  At most you would want to drive a small pair of bookshelf speakers.  All of the functionality is exactly the same though.  Volume and music can all be controlled from within the Sonos app on your smart device.

Finally there is a passive unit that is connected to your stereo or surround sound receiver.  Again this piece incorporates the exact same interface as the others.  Volume control can be initiated from the app or through the remote you use to control your receiver.

When it comes to a whole house solution, it doesn’t get any easier than this system.  Once you have installed all of the unis, you will use software to configure the system and identify which room is which.  Then you can listen to an independent source in each room, or you can group multiple rooms together and control them at the same time.  Volume can be controlled independently in each room.

Installation is a snap.  The software leads you through everything.  One important point is to make sure you leave the units in an area that is easy to access.  Installation requires that you press a button on each unit to initiate it onto the system.  And occasionally you’ll need to be able to access in case the system goes down, though I’ve owned mine for several years and have only had to reset the system on a couple of occasions.  And that was typically because my network was down for an extended period of time.

If you want a music system that is incredibly easy to use very affordable, you can’t beat the Sonos Music system.  You can find more information on this website.

Pop music continues it’s steady decline into complete crap.  Every year we hear songs that sound exactly the same as songs of the recent past.  Hell, half of the artists with top songs sample or remix songs that are recent hits. It’s hard to imagine music getting much worse than what’s currently popular.

Maybe I’m just getting old.  Perhaps my parents were saying the same thing when I was listening to Nirvana or Radiohead.  But those bands were on the cutting edge of music.  The sounds they produced were things that no one had heard before.

Now days, bands and singers are manufactured like cars.  They are fine tuned using a variety of computer software and synthesizers that give them the ‘hot’ new sound.

Anyway, here’s a recent list from voices.yahoo.com containing five of the current top songs.

1. David Guetta Ft. Chris Brown & Lil Wayne – “I Can Only Imagine”

“I Can Only Imagine” is one of the latest rap songs out right now. The album called “Nothing But The Beat” released from David Guetta in 2011 has been an impressive album. The newest rap song “I Can Only Imagine” is one of the best rap songs of 2012 and 2013 and will be playing in the nightclubs for a long time to come. David Guetta made a collaboration with Lil Wayne and Chris Brown which put this song over the top.

2. Wiz Khalifa – “Work Hard Play Hard”

“Work Hard Play Hard” was the first single off Wiz Khalifa’s second studio album called “O.N.I.F.C.” This is one of the hottest and latest rap songs out right now and is one of my favorites in my music library. The music video for this new rap single was filmed in Pittsburgh and also has Wiz Khalifa dressed as a hippie which was his tribute to the late Jimi Hendrix. This is one of the best new rap songs in 2012 and check out other new song releases from Wiz Khalifa. Other songs I like a lot from Wiz Khalifa are “When I’m Gone”, “Still Blazin”,”No Sleep”,”Get Your Shit,” and there are many others you should check them out for yourself. Send me feedback on your favorite Wiz Khalifa songs.

3. Flo Rida – “Wild Ones”

Flo Rida was originally going to name this album, which is his fourth studio album,” ‘Only One Flo’ (Part 1).” This was a slightly different title from the third Flo Rida studio album and it was originally suppose to the sequel to his third album but later on that idea was declined but Flo Rida and he went ahead and named it “Wild Ones.” “Wild Ones” was also the second single released on the album following the first new single called “Good Feeling.” Chris Brown had a part in helping produce this album and it has a strong club vibe to it.

4. Gym Class Heroes ft Ryan Tedder – “The Fighter”

One of my personal favorites of the latest rap songs is “The Fighter” by Gym Class Heroes that kind of has a rock and roll vibe to it, kind of like a lot of Gym Class Heroes songs. This song was a song Travie McCoy wrote for his friend that is currently battling cancer and the song is really inspirational and is one of the best rap songs of 2012 and 2013 to me. Gym Class Heroes have done very well with their new music in 2012 this year and have been all over the charts and have expanded their fan base greatly the past few years.

5. B.O.B – “Strange Clouds”

“Strange Clouds” is the name of the album release by B.o.B in 2012 and is also the title to the popular track as well. This is B.o.B’s second studio album and it was under Grand Hustle Records, Atlantic Records, and Rebel Rock Entertainment. The album has a number of collaborations and has some of the best new music of 2012 and 2013 because these songs are going to be played well into next year on music television and in the nightclubs. It also has a very popular new single off of the “Strange Clouds” album called “Both of Us” which is a song featuring Taylor Swift. It’s a good song but I couldn’t put it on my best new hip hop songs for 2012 list, just because it’s almost a pop rock song but a good song.

I can’t say that I particularly like any of these songs.  In fact I would venture to say that I probably wouldn’t choose to listen to any of them other than just for the writing of this article.  But in today’s world of music where one sound becomes popular and suddenly 20 bands appear on the scene belting out tunes that sounds 90% the same, what else would you expect.

Thanks for listening to my rant.  Come check out one of my other websites at www.weekenderbagsforwomen.net.  It’s nothing like this, but it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than this crap we now call music.

One of the best parts of running this website is the ability to rant.  My biggest gripe about the music industry is that it truly encourages conformity above all else.  Every once in a while, a truly great band with totally new sound comes along and changes the music landscape.  And then the industry begins the equivalent of a Google search for bands with that exact same sound or something close to it.

What we then end up with is a couple dozen bands that sounds remarkably similar to one another, all hitting the mainstream at the same time.

I understand that all of this is governed by the fact that the music industry is around to make money, and I don’t fault them for that.  It can just sometimes be frustrating that many of these bands are ‘waiting in the wings’ for the right trend maker to come along before their music is thought to be ‘ready’ for public consumption.  I guess the advent of the Internet and alternative sources of music have helped this to a certain extent.  But it still seems like there must be a better way.

That’s my rant.  :-)  Needless to say, there is still great music coming out all the time.

And 2012 has been a great year for new music.  In true music industry fashion, they’ve taken what was successful and multiplied it many times over.

While often times this leads to a glut of new bands and music that sound so much alike  that it’s hard to tell one from the other, the most recent iteration in the Alternative genre has some true gems.

Manchester Orchestra- while by no means new onto the music scene, MO’s sound and style seems to be the classic example of the current popular sound.  Here they demonstrate their Scottish folky sound mixed with an alternative edge that really seems to have struck a nerve with the music listening public.  Their first big album, Simple Math, was released in May of 2011.

Fun – here is another band that has been around for a while now.  They offer another fine example of the current sound that is so popular.  Their two albums, Aim and Ignite and Some Nights both mix a bit of hip hop with a seventy’s Queen or Electric Light Orchestra sound.  It’s fun.

Passion Pit – this band offers a very unique sound.  They have become very popular.  Currently their track ‘Take a Walk’ is number one on the Alt 18 countdown on Sirius/XM’s alternative station Alt Nation.  Their sound is catchy and fun and their album Gossamer has been selling really well since it’s release a couple weeks ago.  Definitely worth a listen.

Imagine Dragons – with the release of their first album ‘Night Visions’ just a little less than a month away, Imagine Dragons have already made a name for themselves.  Currently ‘It’s Time’ is sitting in the number 3 spot as the third most requested song on Alt Nation.  They are both bold and versatile in their musical abilities.  And this is very well highlighted on their album.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to any of these bands yet, be sure to check out their websites to have a listen.