Music Archives - Page 14 of 19

Coffee Talk #296: Where Do You Buy Your Music?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, 20+ hours on an airplane in two days becoming a cold, where you’d go if you had a time machine, or your favorite element, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Google is holding a press conference today and one of the strong rumors is that it will finally reveal more details on Google Music. The company’s music service will differ from Amazon’s MP3 store and Apple iTunes in that it will store music on the cloud. Last year at Google I/O, the company showed some cool functionality that allowed you to stream music from your desktop to your phone; this could be part of the rumored service too.

The rumor made me wonder about your music purchasing habits? Where do you buy your music from? Do you still buy physical CDs from a store? Do you buy mostly through iTunes or Amazon (and really, you should buy all your MP3s from Amazon, *snicker*). Perhaps you don’t “buy” music at all and resort to…Captain Jack Sparrow behavior. Kindly take today’s Coffee Talk poll and let me know (please)!

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Coffee Talk #294: Celebs You Should Hate, But Actually Like

Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Timmy Bradley’s disappointing victory, Ozzy Osbourne’s sudden illness, or last-minute international jobs, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles. (To be fair, it wasn’t just him. Every party had at least on person from That ’70s Show and American Pie.)

The truth is…I find him funny and charming in some of his movies. I’ve enjoyed listening to him talk about his politics (fiscally conservative, socially liberal). I like that he’s perceived as this idiot pretty boy, but is much smarter than he looks. I love that he was one of the first celebrities to use Twitter in a hardcore way. Although his restaurants — Dolce and Geisha House — draw a hipster crowd, they’re actually very good. The Demi Moore thing is pretty cool too.

Ah, I feel better now that I’ve come clean about all of that. Do you have any celebrities you like but, on paper, should hate? Whether they’re from movies, music, or TV, please share your celebrity confessions today!

Coffee Talk #267: Your Favorite Music of 2010

It’s time for more of your 2010 favorites! This time around it’s music…because you can’t stop the music.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, following Scarlett Johansson to Jamaica to console her, dreaming about the MacBook Air, or Paul Pierce giving Nate Robinson a back body drop, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

It’s time for more of your 2010 favorites! This time around it’s music…because you can’t stop the music. This’ll actually be really good for me too since I shy away from modern music. All the indie-pop bands I loved in 2001 have broken up and the only new music I’ve listened to a lot this year is Infant Sorrow. Hopefully some of you will inspire me to buy some new tunes!

Now give it a go (please)! What was some of your favorite music in 2010?

Remembering John Lennon Oct-9 1940 – Dec-8 1980

I remembering hearing about John Lennon’s death the day after it happened. I was still a small boy, so I was fast asleep when he was murdered on December 8, 1980. It was all over the news the next day. I remember watching NBC news as I was eating dinner with my family. We had a small black-and-white television in the kitchen. Of course I didn’t really have a concept of mortality at that age, but I loved The Beatles from the numerous times my dad would play Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour on the record player. I just wondered why anyone would shoot this wonderful man.

Although I’ve come to love Lennon’s song writing and music, I was more inspired by what he did socially. He took his fame and used it to make powerful anti-war statements. Similar to how Muhammad Ali — one of my other favorite people that ever existed — leveraged his fame in the sports world, Lennon made people think whether you agreed with him or not. He was an amazing man on so many levels.

Let’s talk about what John Lennon meant to you. Did you he influence your taste in music or your social stances?

Jack Black and Jason Segel Team Up on “Little Drummer Boy”

Actors Jack Black and Jason Segel have teamed up for charity in a rock-infused version of “Little Drummer Boy”. According to People, “The song goes on sale on iTunes beginning Tuesday, with proceeds going to Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that connects, supports and empowers military families.” I’m a fan of both actors and love their take on the Christmas carol (similar to the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version). I’ll buy the song to support their charitable efforts.

Check out the clip above and let me know what you think of the song (please)!

Update: I’ve added the Bing Crosby and David Bowie version below because it’s awesome.

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Kara DioGuardi Memoir Coming April 2011…Dear God

I’m not sure how I missed this — former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is writing a memoir called A Helluva High Note! She was absolutely useless on the show and wrote one of the crappiest songs ever recorded (“No Boundaries”). That said, prior to Idol she was a successful song writer and producer. Here are more details from EW:

A spokesperson for It Books (a division of HarperCollins) confirms with EW that the songwriter/TV personality’s memoir, A Helluva High Note, will hit shelves on April 26, 2011. (The news was first reported by Radar earlier today.) The tome won’t only cover DioGuardi’s two-season stint on Idol, but also “her life and career as a producer, songwriter and artist,” according to an It Books publicist.

I might have to buy this for the unintentional comedy. There’s a good chance it will top Dave Batista’s Batista Unleashed for the highest concentration of unintentional idiocy per page. Anyway, enjoy Kara’s naked picture from Allure (above) and her crappy song (below).

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Axl Rose Sues Activision Because He Hates Slash

Guns N’ Roses frontman W. Axl Rose is suing Activision…pretty much because he hates former bandmate Slash. Rose was under the impression that Slash and his new band Velvet Revolver would not be in Guitar Hero III. He was under the impression that Slash imagery would be used for a tradeshow and not in the actual game. Here’s the skinny from The Hollywood Reporter:

The Guns N’ Roses frontman has just filed a $20 million lawsuit against Guitar Hero maker Activision claiming its use of the GNR song “Welcome to the Jungle” violated a deal not to include any imagery of ex-guitarist Saul Hudson (aka Slash) in the popular game.

In an amusing lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose and his Black Frog Music claim that Activision Blizzard fraudulently induced Rose into authorizing “Jungle” for use in Guitar Hero III by telling him during negotiations that it wouldn’t feature any reference to the former GNR member or his subsequent band, Velvet Revolver.

As much as I loved GNR back in the day, I always thought Axl was a dick. This confirms it.

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Will Ferrell and Manny Pacquiao Butcher “Imagine”

John Lennon is one of my favorite people that ever existed. I enjoy Will Ferrell’s comedy. Although I don’t particularly like his boxing style, I enjoy watching Manny Pacquiao fight and I’m proud of what he means to the Philippines. All that said, it was kind of painful to watch Ferrell and Pacquiao butcher John Lennon’s “Imagine” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ferrell was hamming it up and can actually sing better than this. Pacquiao is under the delusion that he’s a good singer. The whole thing ended up being unintentionally funny…and wince inducing.

Check out the clip and let me know what you think (please)!

Video Games Live: Level 2 Available This Week

Video Games Live: Level 2 comes out this week on Blu-ray and DVD. If you haven’t seen one of these shows — an excellent orchestral and rock performance of numerous popular videogame songs — then I highly recommend picking up this disc. Check out the trailer above for a glimpse of the new disc. I’m going to bug the show’s co-founder, my pal Tommy Tallarico, to see if I can get an interview. He’s cool like that.

Coffee Talk #229: What Kind of Headphones Do You Use?

Whether it’s playing games, listening to music, or watching a movie, a good pair of headphones can drastically alter your experience. Today I’m going to talk about the headphones I use and get some recommendations from you.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Christina Aguilera being single, your ALCS/NLCS predictions, or touchscreen phones having more bacteria than urinal handles, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve been using the same headphones for the last eight years and am extremely happy with my gear. At home, I use Grado’s SR125 open-ear cans; they offer incredible sound quality at an incredible price — the SR 125s sound as good or better than cans that cost two to three times as much. On the road, I opt for in-ear headsets with foam tips. The foam tips completely rule at blocking out airplane noise. My Etymotic ER-4Ps offer a perfectly balanced sound, while my Shure E4Gs offer more bass and a sound most people prefer for pop music.

What kind of headphones do you guys and dolls use?