Music

When Stephen Colbert launched his "Green Screen Challenge" a few months ago--encouraging fans to fill in the background of a video of himself running around with a "Star Wars" lightsaber--it was kind of a dorky novelty, much like Colbert himself. Now, brainy indie-rock act The Decemberists are jumping on the bandwagon. The five-piece Portland, Oregon-based group, best known for accordion-filled sea-shanty rock and lyrics full of words that you haven't seen since the SAT, has teamed up with MTVU for its own green-screen challenge.

Here's the lowdown, thanks to music blog Stereogum: The Decemberists … Read more

This is one of those products that can either be really hot or really stupid, depending on how it's being used and by whom. We sadly think we'd fall into the latter category, so Fujitsu's "Turn Table PC" will probably remain a concept for us even if it does go into production as promised in the next couple of years.

Still, we can look, can't we? The laptop's unique design, as described by OhGizmo, features a cover that doubles as a touch-sensitive LCD panel that allows you to control your MP3 player. The … Read more

Given the types of headgear on the market these days, you'd think everyone was either trying out for the Olympics or trying to kill themselves in some type of "extreme" activity. For the record, we at Crave are not in either camp.

We are, however, very much into creature comforts. Like hats. Especially in the winter. And what better way to fend off the cold than to do it while entertaining oneself with a built-in MP3 player? The Audex Padded Hat made by Burton and Motorola, which we found on Gearlog, is our kind of roughing it: … Read more

It's one of the perennial problems of the digital-music era. You buy a couple of songs from an album at 99 cents each and, after listening to them a few times, you think you might want the album.

Trouble is, you've either got to buy the other nine tracks individually or pay the full $9.99 for the album. Either way, you don't get any credit for the songs you've bought.

A source tells us that Apple Computer and the record labels are onto this. Supposedly, iTunes customers may soon be able to buy the album … Read more

So we're on this anti-small kick. Yeah, that's right. Small is not always better in our book, especially where our increasingly feeble eyesight is concerned.

Last week, for example, we kvetched about the 3- by 2-inch Cube Mini media player, which we're sure we would lose in a week. But at least it made good use of its cramped space, with a 2.4-inch screen that occupied most of its surface area. Then today, we spotted this TA 454 player that is truly Lilliputian in stature, which The Raw Feed describes as smaller than a car key remote. … Read more

Swimmers aren't the only ones who need head-mounted MP3 players. Terrestrial adventurers who also could use some audio inspiration can now turn to Shred Ready's Freestyle Audio helmet player with earflap speakers, which Red Ferret says would be ideal for "submerging, crashing, bashing and all things energetic." But for $200, we thought they could do a little better with the headgear's design, which looks like a cross between a London bobby helmet and standard issue for World War II paratroopers. Then again, that may be the appropriate fashion for playing tank paintball.

Having more than just a few gray hairs, we're still more comfortable with knobs and dials on our toys.

But if you're into all this new-fangled wireless stuff these days, you might want to check out the "Motion Speaker" from Question Mark Entertainment (even if it does look like an alien). You can work the controls with a wave of the hand that signals sensors to adjust the volume or change radio channel, according to Electronista. It also has a built-in ambient lighting system to set the mood that's appropriate for your music. Alcoholic beverages … Read more

I'm one of those wannabe Luddites who doesn't even own an iPod. I nearly scoff whenever I spy those telltale white strings dangling from ADHD-afflicted ears around town. Nor do I use any other MP3 player in public; the ambient sounds of belching engines and Super Mario Bros ring tones are street music to these ears. But if I did have an iPod Nano 1.0, I'd probably get one of these $15 recycled plastic Jimi cases. The U.S.-made, polypropylene and polycarbonate Jimis come in red, blue, clear, and orange flavors. You can keep … Read more

We've lost track of how many expensive pens and lighters we've misplaced over the years, which is why it probably wouldn't be wise for us to get this MP3 player.

At 3 inches long and 1 inch thick, the appropriately named P.Pod probably wouldn't last a day in our unreliable possession. The 256MB player's specs aren't the most impressive, but with its dimunitive stature we'd be surprised if it did half the things its manufacturer says it does. And for $27, it might be disposable enough for us to take a chance--if … Read more