Reviews

from rollingstone.com

Well, this is unfortunate. While judges debate her child-visitation rights, Britney Spears has released an album whose title seems to have been inspired by a major flirtini binge. On Blackout, she's singing that she's "so damn high I can't come down," anticipating a night of "dancing tabletop," and issuing a proclamation that's enough to make Sean Preston use Jayden as a protective shield from Mommy:

from rollingstone.com

Reggae covers and dub-wise improvising are regular features of Gov't Mule's marathon shows. Mighty High focuses on that heavy Jamaica in singer-guitarist Warren Haynes' modern-Dixie redesign of classic British blues rock. Actually, there is as much Free as Lee Perry in the opening detonation of "I'm a Ram" — from Al Green's 1971 album Gets Next to You — while drummer Matt Abts' New Orleans backbeat under the Band's "Shape I'm In" affirms the mix of Crescent City and funky Kingston in the original.

from rollingstone.com

A Daft Punk live album loses some of the essential experience: the robot costumes, the giant glowing pyramid, the sweaty bodies next to you. And the drugs, definitely the drugs. But the whoops of the human-after-all audience add plenty to the French filter-disco duo's surprisingly consistent career-spanning show.

from ilounge.com

Shure makes what we strongly feel are the greatest in-canal earphones available today: the SE530, also known as the E500. Since that exclusive, triple-driver model carries a $500 MSRP -- discounted more than occasionally to as little as $250 -- it's no shock that the bulk of Shure's sales come from lower-priced models,

from ilounge.com

A few years ago, we occasionally had to include multiple iPod-specific ratings in our reviews, but we haven't had to do that in a while. Pacific Design's iPod nano Flip Wallet ($25) requires that unusual treatment: it's a flip-closed wallet supposedly designed to fit first- and second-generation iPod nanos.

from ilounge.com

This new pair of Sport Series Headphones ($30) from H2O Audio is designed for outdoor activities and use during sports, but unlike the company's earlier Waterproof Headphones is not water-submersible.

from ilounge.com

Billed as audiophile-grade noise-cancelling headphones for use during travel, Sennheiser's new PXC450 Headphones ($450) feature NoiseGard 2.0, which is an "active noise compensation" technology that promises to reduce ambient noise by up to 90%.

from bellaonline.com

If you've been looking to get more serious with your cycling, need a better organised way to record your cycling training, performances and your progress one great way is to keep a training journal. The Editors of Bicycling Magazine have come up with a great solution to enable you to keep track of your progress.

from playlist.com

Marware's Slyder is a transparent polycarbonate hardshell case for the second generation (2G) iPod nano -- with a twist. Or should I say "with a slide."

Transparent hardshell cases are appealing because they let you show off your colorful, sleek iPod while still keeping it protected from the occasional dings and scratches that befall us all. However, rather than providing a circular opening for the nano's Click Wheel, like most cases of its kind, the Slyder completely covers the Click Wheel when closed.

from playlist.com

The new second-generation (2G) iPod nanos are so shiny and colorful, it's only natural that you'd want to show yours off. That doesn't mean, of course, that you don't want to keep it safe from harm. Can you accomplish both of these seemingly paradoxical goals? That's what Speck's SeeThru Lucid case attempts to do.

Constructed from resilient, transparent polycarbonate, the SeeThru is a hardshell case in two parts, joined together with a hinge at the case's top.

from ilounge.com

Pros: A dock that lets you keep your iPod permanently connected to a home AV system, updating and spooling its contents wirelessly using your 802.11b/g network. Compatible with the Apple Remote (sold separately), Macs, and PCs; includes audio cable, Universal Dock Adapters, and software. More

from ilounge.com

Pros: A lightweight pair of Bluetooth 2.0 stereo earphones with the first-ever ability to fit inside your ear canals rather than on top of or around your ears. Includes adapter for connection to iPod; earphones work reliably at distances of 30 feet away. Aggregate sound quality is close to company’s award-winning ER-4P wired earphones, a major step forward for wireless technology, and though battery life varies by iPod model, it’s comparable to other wireless systems out there.

from versiontracker.com

NOTE: We've longed for an automated track analyzer to assign bpm to our iTunes track library, but have often been disappointed with the results. It turns out that bpm is very difficult to analyze because subtle polyrhythms can easily confuse the analysis and result in doubletime measurements. Other times the results are just plain wrong. We return again and again to our own sense of rhythm and a tap widget. Now comes beaTunes, which, in addition to boasting the ability to analyze and assign bpms to all the music in your iTunes library (with some exceptions), also suggests pairings of musical types and recommends purchases. It's an extremely cool tool and a great aid in getting bpm data, but don't trash your bpm tap widget yet. Even beaTunes ain't perfect. Read reviews from versiontracker.com. Here's a product description.

from ilounge

Apple Computer iPod with video (Enhanced Fifth-Generation 30GB/80GB)

Pros: Better-featured, less expensive updates to last year’s top-of-line iPods, featuring brighter 2.5” screens, superior video playback time, a new search feature, superior earbuds, and the option of up to 80GB of storage capacity.