I've always been intrigued by the electronic book, but none of the models that has hit the market to date--from Sony, RCA and others--has jazzed me enough to want to invest in the medium. After all, I like books. I like to store them on a shelf...
You say you've (re)discovered vinyl? Fuhgeddaboudit! The LP simply isn't old-fangled enough. To really go reelin' in the years, it seems, you must go all the way back to open-reel tape! The Tape Project, a label for reissuing recordings on...
I want to say one word to you. Just one word. (Yes, sir.) Are you listening? (Yes, I am.) Branding. (Just how do you mean that, sir?) Here's how I mean that: When it comes to bands maximizing their potential - when it comes to bands being...
So says the headline of a press release we received about the first annual High-Def Disc Awards, presented primarily by the weekly B2B trade publication Home Media Magazine. Specifically, 300 won two different awards for its two different...
Here we don't go again: According to a report on Billboard.com, Epic/Legacy will release a 25th-anniversary edition of Michael Jackson's Thriller on February 12. (Actually, last year was the 25th birthday of this 1982 album, although it did make...
Wii users, stop banging on your speakers. It's not your system or your ears. Your Pearl Jam solo is suffering from a glitch in the Wii version of Guitar Hero 3 that's putting out mono sound rather than a multi-channel version advertised as Dolby...
Yes, from all accounts, they pulled it off last night. Exhibit A: Just look at those photos! Exhibit B: Ben Ratliff's review in The New York Times and David Fricke's review at Rolling Stone's Rock & Roll Daily. Exhibit C: The set list: ...
Yes, my friends, the Surround-Sound NOTwatch continues! Next up: Beck's 1996 album, Odelay. Seems that Geffen is releasing a Deluxe Edition on January 29. CD+DVD-A? No. CD+DVD-V? Sorry. SACD? Nope. DualDisc? Ha! MVI? That's only from Warner,...
For those of you who enjoyed my piece on Peter Gabriel (and other folks at the AES Convention) in the January 2008 issue (Random Play, page 16), the quotes had to be severely trimmed for the print edition. (What else is new?) Want more? Here ya...
What? You think it's too late for my guide to the season's holiday CDs? HUMBUG! That's why they made Twelve Days of Christmas, Rudolph! After all, just ask the artist who has the biggest-selling CD of 2007. Springsteen? Kanye? Eagles? Those High...
Our Best CDs of 2007 list will appear soonly in the Feb/March '08 issue (you may even find it posted on the site before that if you dig around some), but I wanted to take a moment and bulletpoint a ten-spot of discs I enjoyed in '07 that 1) didn't...
According to a Dec. 31 article in The New York Times, most buyers are still on the fence when it comes to the high-def disc battle, with neither camp reporting impressive numbers. Citing data from Adams Media Research, 578,000 HD DVD and 370,000...
Got a gift card for the holidays? Better use it or lose it to a company that could double its money if the card isn't used within a certain period of time. Earlier this year, says Consumer Reports, the TowerGroup research firm in Needham, Mass.,...
Flush with cash from the holidays? Eager to ka-ching those checks and hit the stores? I hear ya! I help ya! All through the past year, I've been gathering nuts & nuggets, squirrel-like, that just couldn't fit into the print mag or anywhere...
The rumors got louder and louder and today they became truth: Warner Bros. - the "Switzerland" studio in the high-def format wars (they produced Blu-ray and HD DVD discs) - just dumped the red states (HD DVD) and went exclusively Blu. A...