It's Friday, time for a knife fight! In this corner we've got The Knife from Sweden...and in the opposite corner we've got "Knife" by Grizzly Bear! It doesn't work perfectly, but it is genius in concept.
PARRKA - Knife/Heartbeats (Grizzly Bear vs The Knife)
Grizzly Bear on MySpace
The Knife on MySpace
Labels: GRIZZLY BEAR, MASHUP, THE KNIFE
Ok, ok, time was right for me to get into the Christmas mood. I'm in the depths of holiday party season. Mostly fun bits with the occasional awkward encounters.
In any case, down here we have a Sufjan xmas song (who would have guessed) whose title was inspired by The White Stripes, Richard Cheese's xmas-y take on "Personal Jesus", a sort of creepy xmas song by The Knife, and Max Raabe's flapper take on the now xmas staple, "Last Christmas". Enjoy, guys!
Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa!
Richard Cheese - Personal Jesus
The Knife - Christmas Reindeer
Das Palast Orchester & Max Raabe - Last Christmas
Labels: COVER, MAX RAABE, RICHARD CHEESE, SUFJAN STEVENS, THE KNIFE, XMAS
This is a little tack from my usual music journalism, but I think it's applicable to us, purveyors of the digital era - I can tell you guys I had a hands on with the much hyped Zune, the latest and greatest iPod killer. Let me first hedge a bit to say that it's not as bad as I would have expected from a first attempt from Microsoft. That being said, onto the critique!
The feel and texture of the Zune is rather plastic-y with a chalky texture. Feels kind of cheap. Of the 3 color combinations, white looks the best. Is this because it looks like an iPod? Not necessarily. On the white model they shoot a clear plastic over the opaque white. However, on the black model, they shoot a poorly chosen blue over the black, and on the oft-griped brown model, they shoot an ill advised light green over brown. As Engadget put it, "My Zune looks like swamp water Jello".
The UI of the Zune looks good at first. Animated transitions, some interesting menu ideas. However, after about 30 seconds you realize it is way too busy and distracting. On top of that, there is a slight delay before the transition begins, where the menu actually blanks out. This delay is also from the button press. Speaking of buttons, they feel kinda cheap, and loose. The UI itself is a cross between the Xbox 360 interface (which is decent) and the Windows Media Center interface (which is horrible). Way too many clicks just to play one song.
To make concessions, the wireless feature is an interesting idea, but will need to mature a bit. I don't like the fact that it wraps all songs, even ones by your band or originally DRM free tracks, with a 3 play/3 day DRM. I don't understand why Microsoft disabled use of it as an external HD. Why is it also 60% bigger than the 30GB iPod? And still bigger than the 60GB iPod? Also, giving Universal Music a royalty for each player sold is simply retarded. Should every DVD player manufacturer give the movie studios a cut of each player sold? Maybe the baseball bat companies should pay the ball companies for every bat they sell.
In any case, Microsoft has put their foot in the arena, and we all know they have the resources to throw at it until it becomes viable. They did decently with the Xbox. I expect the 2nd generation Zune to be much more competitive. Probably still retain the microsoft wonkyness, though. For now, pass.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving, folks. Some rarities:
Animal Collective - Polly (Nirvana Cover)
The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Ratatat Remix)
Animal Collective on MySpace
Ratatat on MySpace
Labels: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, RATATAT, REVIEW, THE KNIFE, ZUNE
Since it's close to Thanksgiving, let's have a utensil face-off. Knife vs. Spoon! In this corner, from Sweden, we have The Knife, with their hit song, "Heartbeats"...and in the other corner we have Spoon, from Austin, with their new song from the Stranger Than Fiction movie soundtrack, "The Book I Write". FIGHT!
The Knife - Heartbeats
Spoon - The Book I Write
The Knife official site
The Knife on MySpace
Spoon official site
Spoon on Myspace
Labels: DANCE, ELECTRONIC, INDIE ROCK, SPOON, THE KNIFE
