Cuz We Said So

Apple Event Post Mortem

So the ‘Pod rumors were pretty close to the mark this time around, barring the usual sprinkling of surprises from His Steveness.  Apple did indeed release the “fattie” iPod nano ‘3G and the iPhone-without-the-phone iPod touch.  Disappointingly, however, it’s a flash-only device.  Hard drives are confined to the I-didn’t-hear-any-rumors-in-advance iPod classic, a mild upgrade of the legacy iPod design with a slim new metal case, an OS refresh, and bigger drives.  This effectively splits the features I want in my next iPod across two models.  Nice try, Steve—but I’m not buying two!  I think capacity will win, this time; I’ll probably snare a classic model.

Apple also whacked two hundred Washingtons off the price of the iPhone, which I’m sure will leave Russell glad he didn’t guy one a while back, and hack off a bunch of people who did.

And, alas, no Beatles this time, though their songs and cover art made some suspicious cameo appearances in the demos.

Beatles iTunes Speculation

Oh, and my—entirely unsubstantiated—guess? 

I'm thinking this will be the event in which Apple announces the availability of the Beatles catalog via the iTunes store. 

I believe John and Paul's solo works have been available in the ITS for a while now, I noticed Ringo Starr's solo catalog was featured on the store's home page last week, and the announcements for the press event next Wednesday bears the words "The Beat Goes On", an apparent reference to the press release issued on behalf of the band when it broke up in 1970.

Pod Waiting

I’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading my 30 GB fifth-generation iPod for a while now, ever since I started having to pick and choose which files I synced.  (Video and podcast subscriptions take up more room than you'd think.)  But I've held off, partly because buying another iPod when I have a perfectly good one is a case of wanton excess, but mostly because I know Apple is overdue for an iPod refresh, and I'd rather direct my wanton excess at something new.  Is my wait finally at an end?

The most widespread rumors appear to be that Apple will release new 'Pods next Wednesday, the “iPod Nano Fattie”, resembling a reduced scale version of the full 5G iPod, device, and a new 6G iPod that would be, in effect, an iPhone minus the phone.  The latter would definitely be in the running for the title of David's Next Gadget.

Some rumors have Apple abandoning hard drives in the new 'Pods, and moving entirely to flash memory.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  The idea appeals in theory, but I wonder at the cost of a high capacity flash device.  My mail goal in an upgrade would be to... well, okay, to feed my insatiable hunger for new gadgets.  But it would also be to move to a device with a capacity well in excess of 30GB.  The largest capacity 5G iPods are good for what, 80GB?  How much would that kind of storage cost implemented as flash?

Maybe my best hope is that Apple will field an entry-level device that is flash-based, and a higher capacity model with a thicker form-factor and a hard drive?

Pleasantry Lane Expands!

PLS Expansion

My studio, Pleasantry Lane, is finally expanding!

We're almost doubling the size of our control room, and raising the ceiling.  The increased size, as well as professional acoustical design from Bob Suffolk, means that we're going to have a world-class monitoring & mixing room available at last.

The pics really won't do the space justice, but I'll be posting more as construction and finish-out continue.

"The Drummer, the Private Eye, and Me"

One man’s tale of how he wrote a story, inspired a song, and 35 years later, went riding with the world’s greatest drummer.

"Public Warning"

So now I'm going to review an album from a diminutive non-American with crazy fashion sense and a desire to seem iconoclastic when she's really pretty much a total product of her chosen genre. No, I'm not talking about Avril Lavigne again. This is a review of "Public Warning" by an English rap artist, Lady Sovereign.

This is officially the first rap CD I've purchased... since they invented CDs. I stumbled across her music while listening to something else on Yahoo!, and I found it strangely compelling. Yeah, there's an extraordinary amount of language, of which in music I have never been a fan, but the ideas behind the songs aren't nearly as dark as I expected. "9 to 5" is about (you guessed it) working normal hours for a normal wage. "My England" is similarly obviously titled, wherein young Miss Sovereign deconstructs the myths about her countrymen ("Cricket, bowls, croquet, nah PS2 all the way"). My favorite track is "Hoodie" ("Fling on an Adidas hoodie and just boogie woogie with me"), a song about ignoring the concepts of fashion... which is in itself, a fashion, but whatever.

To be sure, I'm unlikely to rush out and get the latest from Unk or Young Jeezy, but it's kind of cool that I found a rapper who doesn't make me just plain angry.

TBDT

There are, in the galaxy of young, female pop stars, better singers (Mandy Moore), better lyricists (Alanis Morrissette), even better side-show attractions (Britney Spears).

But for sheer get-stuck-in-your-head hooks, I don't know if any of them beat Avril Lavigne. That little Canuck just released her third album, "The Best Damn Thing", and it's just ridiculously enjoyable. I think out of twelve songs there was only one that didn't immediately make me happy. Sure, there's a lot of freakin' language on the CD, which is a bit bothersome given the average age of her fans... but still, I think she did a pretty great job on it.

My two (Canadian) cents.

Show, Don't Tell

And so it begins!  Snakes and Arrows, Rush’s 18th studio album, goes on sale May 1 in both CD and Audio DVD flavors—I know the former, at least, is available for pre-order at Amazon now, because I just bought a copy—and I got an e-mail today announcing the Snakes and Arrows tour.

I didn’t think Vapor Trails was the band’s strongest work, as much for the mix as for anything else, though all things considered, I was really just happy to see the guys back together.  I have high hopes for this new disc…  I was ambivalent at first about Far Cry, the first single, which the band is streaming at their web site, but it’s really growing on me.

And… what’s this?  The tour will be in Seattle on July 20th?  Coincidentally, I think I may be as well.  I call that fate!

Rip Rowan's New CD

Friend and erstwhile Cuz We Said So co-blogger Rip Rowan has released Rhythm/Pleasure 2, and it’s available from Amazon.  I haven’t heard it yet, but my copy should be here in a couple of days, and I’ll let you know what I think.  The original Rhythm/Pleasure was a great album, so I’m really looking forward to Rip’s follow-up. 

By the way, I’m pretty sure that’s not him on the cover.

Benefit Concert for World Access for the Blind

KALX 90.7 FM radio and The Bay Bridged are presenting a benefit concert next Thursday at Cafe DuNord in San Francisco to benefit World Access for the Blind

a non-profit organization that employs unique teaching strategies to help blind and sighted people throughout the world improve their quality of life. Dedicated to the convictions that blind people can learn to see without sight and that sighted people can learn to see better, World Access for the Blind pursues its work through a mixture of educational training programs, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy work.

World Access is run by Dan Kish, who I’ve been fortunate to know for many years, and is a very worthy cause.  (Full disclosure: I was previously on WAFTB's Board of Directors, and help maintain the web site.)  If you’re in San Francisco next week, you may want to stop by and check it out.  Performers include Honeycut, The Ebb and Flow, and Michael Zapruder; doors open at 8:30 pm, and the show starts at 9 pm.. The Bay Bridged has more information on the performers and the link for getting tickets here, on their web page.  Also, if you’re interested in knowing more about World Access for the Blind, you can visit their site, here.