ObviousPop

The 88 records entire song using an iPhone

The new single from 80's influenced inovators The 88 is good...but it's great if you consider the entire song was recorded on an iPhone using the killer new app "FourTrack." The song is called "Love Is The Thing" and it is available now on iTunes. While not quite as quirky as some of The 88's catchier singles, it's a good tune with plenty of harmonies, guitar and keys, all recorded on an iPhone. There is a great "making of" video that shows the process: http://the88.net/love.htm

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The list of things you can't do with an iPhone is shrinking rapidly!

New Mew EP - No More Stories

Weaving strands of progressive art rock around elements of alternative, eletronic and modern music, Mew is a group that creates a unique sound that has already influenced scores of other bands and earned them a large following of dedicated fans worldwide. I love their music and if you haven't heard Frengers or And The Glass Handed Kites, start with either of those. You won't be disappointed. Now they're back with a brand new EP. You can download it on iTunes and a few other places on the net and the buzz is good and the music is great. It's usually the other way around but once again Mew does not dissapoint. Apparently there is a CD version of this EP available overseas but not in the U.S. The full length album is set to be released on August 25th.

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Here's the track listing for the EP:

No More Stories EP

1. Introducing Palace Players
2. Repeater Beater
3. Owl (B-side)
4. Start (B-side)
5. Swimmers Chant (B-side)

UK Band Makes Video Using Surveillance Cameras

Bands like OKGO have pretty much launched their careers by coming up with clever and quirky ideas for music videos. Now an unsigned band from the UK The Get Out Clause has come up with a unique way of filming a video that is as inexpensive as it is original. They performed in front of a number of surveillance cameras on buses, streets and other public areas. Then they used The Data Protection Act (the UK's version of the U.S. Freedom Of Information Act) to get copies of the tapes and then they edited them into a video that is now an internet hit. The song isn't bad either, but the video is the hook here.

"The Latest" on the Greatest Cheap Trick Release! - UPDATE

If you have not been following my post about the new Cheap Trick release and the Amazon.com CD-R fiasco and all the latest comments and related huh-bub please do so in the post below this one. Then come on back for the update... A very nice person at CheapTrick.com has responded with an explenation of the release and you can read that here: http://tinyurl.com/l2co38

Apparently the CDs being presold on CheapTrick.com through MusicToday are actual replicated discs with professional print. I haven't been able to confirm this yet but the post on the bands site seems to imply that. It sounds like Amazon was in charge of manufacturing their own for this exclusive they had on the June 23rd date and they are doing those via their on-demand service which is a CD-R and quick digital print. Again, this is a problem because from my experience that service has been for reissues of old and out of print titles or small independent releases. Not a new release from a major artist.

Which brings us to my Amazon.com review. Apparently there a couple of people that are upset that I gave it a one star review on Amazon. My review stands and I'll defend it because that is a review of the product I received. Amazon did not make it clear enough that this was a CD-R with short run print. They have one line included in the "Editorial Review" section 2 thirds of the way down on the page. Nothing in the product description. Also, I have RAVED about this record. The music and even the artwork design is excellent. It's my favorite Cheap Trick album since One On One! These are some of the best songs they have ever done. "Sick Man Of Europe" is up there with Dream Police for me! I have told everyone I know and all the readers of this blog to buy this CD! My Amazon review begins by talking about how great the music is... so get this record! However, I do maintain that if you want the actual professional disc you order it from CheapTrick.com and it will ship in just a few days, or that you wait until the official July 21st release and find it in a retail store. If you need it NOW you will have to go download it from Amazon. I'm going to do that or order it from CheapTrick.com (I returned my CD-R version to Amazon.com first thing this morning).

 

DO NOT buy the new Cheap Trick CD from Amazon.com!

I have always tried to avoid going negative on this site. I rarely bother posting negative reviews, choosing to stay positive and devote the time and space I have here to promoting music and albums that I like. I am now going to make an exception to that...for Amazon.com. The new Cheap Trick album The Latest is a great sounding record and contains some of the best songs they've ever done (including the amazingly fun "Sick Man of Europe"). Cheap Trick have really outdone themselves with this one and I highly recommend it. The problem is the deal they made with Amazon.com. For some strange reason Amazon.com is the only place you can purchase or download the album right now, at least for the next month. It will be available later from other sites and retail outlets. This is a limited exclusive and it wasn't publicized with the news of the release date from what I had seen. They promote the 23rd as the release date, but it's only available from Amazon or via pre-order from the bands site. I could deal with that, the real problem is what you get if you make the mistake of ordering the CD from Amazon (like I did). What you get is a CD-R, not an actual replicated CD. The print in the jewel case that comes with it is so poorly printed and trimmed that I must say I have never, ever, in 23 years in the music industry and with more than 7,000 CD's in my collection seen such poorly manufactured jewel case print. The paper is thinner than the 1 ply toilet paper in a porta-pottie and the booklet pages are all cut to different lengths. My 6 year old daughter could have done it better trimming by hand. The spines on the tray card don't even line up with the spines of the jewel case. This is not a criticism of the design, I love the cover art, there are some cool pics in the book and the disc face art is clean and nice. But even so, the CD is not a professional disc, but a recordable CD-R. In other words, it's made on-demand, quick and cheap. On demand CD's are nothing new, but what is new is an on-demand CD-R with cheap digital print for a new release of a major band. I buy thousands of CD and have been involved with the release of thousands of others and I am pretty sure this has never ever happened. Which is one of the many reasons why I went onto Amazon a week or so ago and preordered the new Cheap Trick CD with no reason to question the packaging or whether or not it would be a professionally replicated disc (or a CD-R that is not the same). I somehow failed to notice the sentence in a tiny font that is right after the editorial review that says, "This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply."
In other words, Amazon is telling you here, in this one sentence made to look like the last line of the editorial review where you'll never read it that it's a CDR so when you want to return it you can't.
This is what I call a REALLY cheap trick.
So here are the questions that remain:
* When the disc is finally released via other outlets on 7/21 will it still be a CDR?
* Is the disc they're selling on their site also a CDR with the same horrible print?
* Will Amazon refund my money and accept the return?
I am trying to find these things out and will post my findings here. When this album is available on iTunes or they finally release it on a professionally replicated disc with professional packaging, it is well worth getting. Cheap Trick is great. This Amazon.com deal is not. If anyone has any thoughts, insight or opinions on this I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment.

ObviousPopCast Episode 17 - Exclusive New Music and More!

Episode 17 of the ObviousPopCast is already here! It's ALL NEW!! Exclusive new music and world premiers. Brand new music from All Star United, Starlight Mints, Patrick Wolf, Weird Al Yankovic and more! This is 50 minutes of music that can be streamed or downloaded as a high quality MP3 and best of all, it's free.

To stream it now click play:

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 17

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

Cheap Trick - The Latest

ObviousPopCast Episode 16 - New music is here!

Episode 16 of the ObviousPopCast is finally finished and it is wall to wall with brand new music, including a new song from power pop super group Tinted Windows, featuring members of Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne, Smashing Pumpkins and Hanson. Episode 16 also includes new music from Richard Barone, Phoenix, Owl City and more! This is 50 minutes of fun that can be streamed or downloaded as a high quality MP3.

To stream it now click play:

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 16

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

Tech Review: LADYBUG!

There are a myriad of portable and not so portable docking station speakers for the iPod and iPhone. I’ve used and heard a number of them. The Bose SoundDock Portable is the best sounding of the portables, but it’s $359 price tag is prohibitive for most, and it’s still a fairly large and bulky device. The smallest device with the best sound that I have found is the Vestalife Ladybug Portable Speaker Dock. It easily wins the best design category. It’s round and easy to use and carry and looks incredibly cool with the fold out speakers. For its size the sound is big and full. Nothing like the Bose or JBL sound docks, but it looks better and is much more portable and at $99, much more affordable. It comes with audio inputs and outputs as well as a USB jack to link it directly to your computer. I had no trouble hooking it up to my MacBook and to my PC. When it’s hooked to your computer it will sync your iPod. It also charges your iPod or iPhone. It comes with a power cord or you can use batteries. Lastly, it comes with a remote that will navigate the menus on your iPod when docked, which is something I didn’t think I would use but found very helpful and handy. I’m hooked! The one bad thing about the Ladybug is the power button. It’s big and its right in front and it can easily turn on if bumped. So if you’re carrying it in the cloth bag that it comes with or in a backpack, the power button often gets pressed and this can drain the batteries. Other than that I love the Ladybug!

The name of the band is US

For awhile in 2006 and 2007 there was a supergroup in Britain called The Producers. It featured Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson and Lol Creme. They put out one single called Barking Up The Wrong Tree featuring the amazing tune, "Freeway." That single from The Producers is currently available on Amazon, but apparently they finally realized that there are (or were) a million and one other bands called The Producers so they have now changed the name of the group to US. It's turned into a concept album called The Path of Sydney Arthur and the group is now helmed by Horn and Creme. No release date has been set but there's a brand new song and very odd promo video that the band has released... check it out:

The Path