This week's recommended female singer-songwriters

Cat Power, Camille Dalmais, Olivia Ruiz MORE...

Using ipod without itunes

Hundreds of people still stop by this blog each month looking for information on how to use an ipod without using itunes. Here is some updated information. MORE...

Today, Anders is listening to

Check out Regina Spektor, Jake Shimabukuro and the BBC Now show. Feed your iPod. You won't regret it! MORE...

'Norwegian Voices' - or how to spoil a great opportunity

Terje Isungsset - scratching his pieces of stone and shaking pieces of wood - and Sidsel Endresen howling a piece commissioned especially for the event - brought listeners' faces to grimaces... MORE...

Farmer's Market UK tour

I'm going with some friends to Norwegian Balkan-turbo-jazz-boogie group Farmers Market's concert at the Marquee Club, Leicester Square, London tomorrow night. MORE...

Tonight: Moses, The Famous Last Words etc

Need an indie gig for tonight? Moses, The Famous Last Words, The Jolly Company and more are playing at The Water Rats theatre, London WC1, tonight 13 June 05 @ eight pm-ish and onwards. MORE...

Tomorrow: Sambassadeur & more @ Water Rats Theatre, London

Sambassadeur has a style that sounds like more-than-a-slight nod to Belle & Sebastian, and I like it. Get a flyer for discounted entry here & come along! MORE...

Tonight: Alys and Aquilina @ The Betsey Trotwood

Tonight I'm off to shoot the gigs of Alys and Aquilina at The Betsey Trotwood (eight-ish pm). Get your quid off vouchers here. MORE...

Tonight in London: Honeymoon Machine

I'm off to watch The Honeymoon Machine tonight at Bar Academy. If anyone wants to tag along, it's only 5 quid... MORE...

The Gift - AM FM

A great, energetic band playing music that is very hard to categorize. Imagine, if you dare, a mix of Björk, Anastacia and Sigur Rós, all playing and singing together, on speed... or something... In either case a great live-alternative-pop/rock-band; if you've got an opportunity and you're into that sort of music, you really should check them out on stage (3 concerts coming up in US the next days, 1 in NY, 1 in Santa Monica, 1 in Santa Fe). MORE...

Operacaféen

A combined restaurant and 'opera á la Carte'-concept, it was an opportunity to catch up with my old friends, sample some decent food and broaden my horizon with live opera performances by local freelance artists all night. MORE...

Ben's Brother

Here's a tidbit for those interested in up and coming artists: check out singer/songwriter Ben's Brother! MORE...

How do noise cancelling headphones work?

I've decided to start properly answering questions that have led people to this site. One visitor last month was someone searching for information about 'How do noise cancelling headphones work?' MORE...

U-MYX - mix the music yourself

I have, somewhere at the back of my mind a lingering thought that I've seen this or a similar customer-remixes-artist's music software before somewhere. I just can't remember where - does it ring a bell for you? Prior art? Give a shout in the comments... MORE...

KOSS PortaPro

The Koss PortaPros are lightweight, come with a life-time guarantee, have superb bass for their size (rated frequency response 15-25,000 Hz, which is a larger envelope than what the iPod can reproduce) MORE...

Morcheeba, Badly Drawn Boy++ in London next week

All Londoners take note: Royal Festival Hall's Heroes & Villains series still has tickets left for Spiritualized (Sunday), Air (Tuesday), Lee Hazlewood+Morcheeba (Wednesday, 50% online discount) and last but not least to the man who wrote the wildly popular About a Boy sountrack, Badly Drawn Boy (Fri + Sat). MORE...

Free {MP3,FLAC,AAC,...} ripping software

dBpowerAMP Music Converter - a free AudioGrabber replacement. Downloaded. Installed. To be tested. MORE...

Consumers versus DRM

''Damn, I wish Sony would devote some expensive engineering effort in order that I may do less with my music.'' MORE...

Visual enhancement to live classical music

The Concert Companion is the 21st Century's version of programme notes - a hand-held computer which displays commentary on the music being performed, as it is being played, with real-time video. MORE...

Where is Placebo from?

While listening to music by rock band Placebo with some friends yesterday, the question of where they were really from came up. Sweden, US, London, many different opinions were heard and no definitive information was at hand. Today, Google and MTV solve the problem: [...] MORE...

Yet another reason to love the W hotels

''Once a month, remix your Tuesday with iTunes® Day at W Hotels. This is your invitation to mix it up in a digital soundscape. Join other W Hotel guests and live DJs for this monthly event in select cities.'' MORE...

Sigur Rós

Although not exactly mainstream boyband pop, the music is very melodic and nice. Apparently, however, the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow listened to them while giving birth over the weekend was exotic enough for it to be picked up both by The Sun and Ananova's 'Quirkies' MORE...

Breaking iTunes copy protection

Jon Lech Johansen, aka DVD-Jon, has broken the copyprotection of iTunes musictracks. MORE...

LAMB Live @ Brixton Academy

Lamb was playing live at the Brixton Academy Friday 13th Feb. I took some photos with my mobile phone. MORE...

Parallell import of CDs to UK stopped

I imagine the price elasticity of music will lead consumers to look for alternatives if the British Phonographic Industry keeps pushing CD prices higher instead of helping their artists reach a wider audience by lowering the prices. Who's looking after who's interests in the recent legal battle in UK (between BPI and CDWOW?) MORE...

A true story about noise cancelling

It's true what they say; these babies work. Even at reasonably low volumes, all you hear is your music. Good bye temporary deafness form playing loud music in attempts to drown out ambient noise. Hello Pink Floyd! MORE...

Comparison of MP3 and AAC

Now that the iPod is running - what format is preferable to rip music in? AAC 160 kbps? MP3 192 kbps? Thankfully, others have done the comparisons and posted their views online[...] MORE...

Hooking an iPod up to a PC

A heads-up to anyone considering buying one for PC use (I don't have a Mac so I don't know how well they work together), make note that you will either a FireWire port on toyr PC or a special cable (sold separately) + possibly an OS upgrade... MORE...

iPod, therefore I am

I now am too... A sleek 40 gig iPod has found its way to me as a wonderful post Christmas gift. May this Christmas never end ;-) MORE...

Internet - a journalist's friend or foe?

Norwegian newspaper VG has an online competition about REM. Unfortunately their journalists haven't done all the research (or so it seems from REM fan pages online)... MORE...

Why I am not buying Lene Marlin's new CD

I'm old-fashioned. I'm the kind of guy that, despite being "online" in all sorts of ways, is still buying those good old CDs. When record companies push "near"-CDs (with "copy protection") I don't buy. Bad for business, I'd say. MORE...

Etymotic ER-6 Isolator Earphones: Tested and Reviewed

A fantastic product: I heard nothing of what people next to me were talking about, nor did I hear anything when the flight attendants asked me about drink- and meal-options. MORE...

Etymotic ER-6 Isolator™ Earphones Ordered

Following excellent and thorough advice from fellow bloggers, I've ordered a pair of Etymotic ER-6s to be delivered to a US address on an upcoming business trip. MORE...

Noise cancelling headphones reviews

I have a couple of intercontinental flights lined up for the summer, and I am considering investing in a decent set of noise-cancelling earplugs / headphones to reduce travel fatigue and to have a more enjoyable musical experience on the flights. [...] MORE...

Massive Attack vs Sony MiniDisc

My Sony stereo comes with a limited copy protection. I admit to not quite having researched this properly before buying... MORE...

Looking for Case Logic CD bags

I have lots of CDs. Lots. I want to take about a hundred with me from my flat in France to my flat in UK, and I want my CDs to travel in first class = in Case Logic :-) Please help me find the CD 60 in Europe? MORE...

Experiences so far with my CMT-CP505MD

Having a stationary as well as a mobile MD player is going to increase my MD use several fold; I can feel it. To rip/upload Mp3s to the NetMD is actually a bit of a pain in the butt in the long term, and with my new quad-speed copy, I suspect I will make a lot more MDs and enjoy more of my music while on the road! MORE...

New mini-stereo ordered

I ordered the Sony CMT-CP505MD combined CD/MiniDisc/RDS-radio box for £269.99 from amazon.co.uk today. MORE...

Gåte

This week's musical discovery: the Norwegian band Gaate combines traditional folk songs with modern music. Check it out! MORE...

"Symphonie portuaire"

Visiting Montreal in the weekend led to a first time in my life-experience, attending what the French call a ''Symphonie portuaire'' ( = ''harbour symphony'') MORE...

Popularizing Classical Music?

''Classical concert attendances have plummeted among younger people, according to a survey by the Policy Studies Institute think-tank.'' Conundrum: Quality classical music was one of the first widespread applications of the CD format -- for a variety of reasons exactly the opposite seems to be true for classical music on MP3s... MORE...