mp3s

We have a diverse batch of goodies for you this year. New additions include a duet with Elvis Presley and Martina McBride; a New Kids on the Block reissue; Stephen Colbert's debut Christmas album; and a Hanukkah jam from Erran Baron Cohen. And the great thing about holiday tunes is that you can recycle them every year! So, get acquainted with the new stuff, and then dig into our archive to resurrect the classic favorites.

Holiday Music '08 feature page

Now that Daylight Savings Time has ended, it's that odd time of the year when it gets dark while we're still at work (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere with day jobs). Sun worshippers may be bummed, but night owls should be psyched about the extra hours of darkness. Either way, it's a good time for everyone to get out and embrace the nightlife!

Listen to our free playlist "Night Moves" featuring Bloc Party, New Order, Black Sheep, Metallica, Kid Cudi, Juliana Hatfield and more. To launch, click the green button … Read more

I don't like math (English was always my subject), but here are some numbers I can admire: Buy.com has the 8GB SanDisk Sansa View media player (refurbished) for $49.99 shipped. That's 10 bucks less than the older Sansa e280 I spotlighted in July and 50 bucks less than the equivalent refurb iPod.

Speaking of iPods, SanDisk's players tend to blow them out of the water in the feature department (the exception being the iPod touch). The Sansa View sports a 2.4-inch screen, a microSD slot for bumping up the memory (here's an 8GB card for just $19.99), … Read more

Dell on Wednesday began offering bundles of songs on new computers ordered through its Web site.

Just like you can add a copy of Microsoft Office or an extra hard drive, you can pick a bundle of 50 MP3 files for an extra $25 or 100 MP3s for an extra $45--that's about half the price of most download stores. The deal's limited to songs owned by Universal Music Group, one of the big four record labels.

When I first read about this, it seemed an afterthought for newbies too clueless to know how to rip CDs to their … Read more

In a bid to help novice downloaders jump-start their digital-music collections, Universal Music Group is offering "curated" playlists to Dell PC buyers.

Starting at $25, selected bundles 50 or 100 DRM-free songs can be added while building a custom PC on Dell's Web site. The songs will come preloaded on the computer, ready to play as soon as it's booted up.

The music option is available only on the Inspiron 1525, Studio 15, and XPS 1535 laptops and Inspiron 530, 530s, Studio Desktop, and XPS 420 desktops. The XPS One and Dell Mini 9 netbook are … Read more

There may be a chill in the air, but summer's not over yet! Two big music festivals remain this year: San Francisco's Treasure Island Music Festival (this weekend) and Austin City Limits (next weekend). There's an overlap of indie rockers at both events, such as The Raconteurs, CSS, and Jenny Lewis. But with an extra day and more stages to work with, ACL offers a wider array of acts such as Foo Fighters, Beck, Iron and Wine, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

If you can't make the shows--or just want to get pumped for them--cue … Read more

If you didn't make it to the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco last weekend (or you did and want to relive it), check out our free playlist and photo gallery below featuring some of the top acts. While everyone had their own unique experience, the climatic triple threat of Bon Iver, Broken Social Scene and Wilco on Sunday was my personal highlight. A common theme throughout the day was crowd participation (there were several occasions when the audience was invited to clap, sing, and scream along). From the reviews that I've read, and from general word-of-mouth buzz, the festival appeared to be a great success. Hopefully the artists and promoters feel the same way and will book a second annual Outside Lands next year!

Free playlist featuring Manu Chao, Radiohead, The Cool Kids, Nicole Atkins, Beck, The Walkmen and more:

Outside Lands photo gallery below courtesy of Ryan Salm - Ryansalmphotography.com

More photos...… Read more

Make no mistake: I think the iPod Shuffle (currently $39.99 for a refurbished 1GB model) is a fantastic MP3 player for joggers, gym-goers, and anyone fascinated by tiny electronics. But let's get real: the SanDisk Sansa Clip, which Woot.com has today only for $19.99 (plus $5 shipping), whups the Shuffle at almost every turn. (Note: This is a refurbished model.)

For starters, it has a screen. Granted, it's a very small screen (1 inch), but it does let you choose the song you want to hear--unlike the screen-less Shuffle. Next, it offers 2GB of storage … Read more

The last time I posted about the 8GB Creative Zen media player, it was $150. Now you can pick one up (new) for just $89.99 shipped--10 bucks less than the price of a refurbished, 4GB iPod nano. Now, lest you think I'm dumping on Apple or something (the suggestion did arise after last Thursday's post about the Sansa), let me explain why this is by far the better buy.

The Zen has a larger screen (2.5 inches), an FM tuner, twice the storage, and an SD card slot for adding even more storage. (Care for … Read more