Editorial Product Review: :With the help of some friends (James Taylor and Alison Krauss lend some vocal support), the trio of Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor have created yet another fascinating hybrid of chamber music and bluegrass. This follow-up to 1996's Appalachia Waltz is filled with highly lyrical string passages, a homage or two to Copland, and plenty of tracks where Meyer's bass vamps with the best of them. This is reflective (and relaxing) music, lacking the intricate structure of classical music and the rough edges ...
Editorial Product Review: 's Best of 2001:When we last left the ever-confounding saga that is Bob Dylan's now-superhuman recording career, he'd reunited with producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he cut 1997's Time Out of Mind, his most coherent and appealing collection in nearly a decade. Now the still-reigning prince of musical contrariety and potent wordplay is back with his most focused, well-played collection since 1989's Oh Mercy, another Lanois production. One listen to the fade-in of the opener 'Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum' and it's clear that all ...
Editorial Product Review:Album Description:As a songwriter and performer, Mary Chapin Carpenter has long since transcended the traditional notions of genre and style, finding widespread acclaim for her poetic, elegantly - observed compositions. The Calling, her first release for Zoë/Rounder, is the most topical album she's made in her twenty-year career. While it unequivocally addresses issues both public and political - from the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina to religious zealotry to the trial-by-radio of the Dixie Chicks -- there is also something deeply personal about this extraordinary collection ...
Editorial Product Review: :A concept album about gigantic household appliances taking over the world? No such luck. As the images of Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Sun-era Elvis floating in the background might indicate, this Nashville band is strictly old school, singing about unemployed riverboat workers, covering Woody Guthrie and plucking banjos like there was no tomorrow. Produced by David Rawlings, Big Iron World boasts the expected barnstormers ('Cocaine Habit') and late-night meditations ('God's Got It') alongside a handful of folkie sing-a-longs ('Down Home Girl') and a thoroughly ...
Editorial Product Review: :A concept album about gigantic household appliances taking over the world? No such luck. As the images of Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Sun-era Elvis floating in the background might indicate, this Nashville band is strictly old school, singing about unemployed riverboat workers, covering Woody Guthrie and plucking banjos like there was no tomorrow. Produced by David Rawlings, Big Iron World boasts the expected barnstormers ('Cocaine Habit') and late-night meditations ('God's Got It') alongside a handful of folkie sing-a-longs ('Down Home Girl') and a thoroughly ...
Editorial Product Review: :A concept album about gigantic household appliances taking over the world? No such luck. As the images of Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Sun-era Elvis floating in the background might indicate, this Nashville band is strictly old school, singing about unemployed riverboat workers, covering Woody Guthrie and plucking banjos like there was no tomorrow. Produced by David Rawlings, Big Iron World boasts the expected barnstormers ('Cocaine Habit') and late-night meditations ('God's Got It') alongside a handful of folkie sing-a-longs ('Down Home Girl') and a thoroughly ...
Editorial Product Review:Album Description:Hello, Tristan Prettyman's second album is an appealing portrait of this freewheeling San Diego, CA, native as she narrates stories about her life, loves and heartbreaks in her seductive, smoky alto. With laid-back melodies springing from finger-picked acoustic guitar, plaintive pedal-steel guitar, Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, and strings, Hello explores Prettyman's love of country-blues and folk from the '60s and '70s, on songs like the first single 'Madly', as well as 'Echo', and 'Just A Little Bit'. Recorded over six weeks in London with Martin ...
Editorial Product Review: :The thumbnail description of Matisyahu: File under Hasidic Beatbox Reggae. Despite having markings of novelty, it's really nothing of the sort. Fronted by a man named Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller), they are truly a band. Two independently released CDs brought them a rapid and well-deserved ascent, making their signing with a major label a logical step. Youth benefits from a more expansive sound and production by the fantastic Bill Laswell (Golden Palominos, Laurie Anderson, the Last Poets). Matisyahu's singing and the substance of his songs ...
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:Despite denied claims that it's about marijuana, 'Puff the Magic Dragon' now ranks as one of the finest children's songs in musical history. It's sung around campfires and in nursery schools to this very day (while still occasionally taking a tug at adults' heartstrings as well). So, it only made sense when Peter, Paul & Mary released this 'kiddies' LP in 1969, beginning a trend they've returned to throughout their career. Mary Travers had indeed recently become a 'mommy,' and the trio celebrate ...
Editorial Product Review: :Pete Seeger's recording career covers more than 60 years, so a single-CD collection is bound to leave out more than a few worthy songs. But the 16 selections on Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits include indispensable Seeger-composed classics like 'Turn! Turn! Turn!,' 'Bells of Rhymney,' and an abbreviated a cappella version of 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' Also included are songs Seeger popularized, such as 'Wimoweh,' which he learned from Solomon Linda's original South African recording in the 1940s, and 'Guantanamera,' which he picked up ...
On paper, the Mio DigiWalker P550 looks to be an attractive gadget for the mobile professional, combining the capabilities of a PDA and GPS into one device. However, its poor battery life and subpar navigation skills tell a different story.
Though it won't appeal to the masses quite yet, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is a nice, portable device for on-the-go Web browsing, and it has some worthy upgrades.
Though it's expensive, the Sony VAIO VGN-TX670P delivers a great combination of business and entertainment features, long battery life, and unparalleled connectivity in an incredibly ultraportable package.