Spontaneity doesn't come naturally to everyone. Neither is it welcomed by everyone.
So please imagine how those who visited the new Microsoft store in Mission Viejo, Calif., a few days back must have felt when store employees suddenly decided to drop their trousers, wave their Zunes in the air, and sing a couple of Maria Callas' greatest hits.
No, it really wasn't quite like that. However, I feel sure that one or two people might have preferred the trouser-dropping and Zune-waving over the spectacle that actually occurred.
As the Black Eyed Peas were forced to propel some of their entirely commercial stimulation down the sound system, the employees performed their own version of the line dance for the one-legged. Because I am consumer-focused at every moment of my waking day, I found myself concentrating more on the reactions of the customers than on the techniques Spike Jonze might have used to make this an MTV VMA winner.
As the employees line up for this troubling, tourettesy Texas One-Step, one already feels a strange squeezing sensation on behalf of some of the customers.
Around the 1.15 mark, a little girl, her hair ponytailed with a yellow scrunchy, makes as if her vicinity has not been invaded by dancing, clapping, or stray employee sweat. She sits. She stares into her screen. The adults make fools of themselves.
Yes, this is the Microsoft store version of "The Ice Storm."
Two minutes of constricting visual constipation are temporarily saved by three ladies who rush in from the mall to join in. These women, their purses held in place by a determined gravity, begin to show the employees just why Fergie's tunes are precursors to a fiery personal life.
Look, I'm lying. But they are definitely better than the tall, blond string bean of a chap whose twisted movements are rather too similar those of certain people who bought Vista and couldn't make it work.
I want to like this microcosmic flash mob of dance. I really do. However, once the balding chap holding the Brookstone bag joins the shifting knee-lifting, I find myself searching again for the little ponytailed girl staring into a very fine PC. She has not turned her neck one degree to observe these escapees from reality. She seems to have decided that this is not Miley Cyrus, this is not even Cyrus Vance, ergo this is not happening.
But it did happen, spontaneously, in Mission Viejo. That's the place where the mission is old, right?
(Credit:
CNET.com)
Testing out a set of PC speakers is practically begging for an interoffice dance party, so when Lacie's USB speakers arrived at the office, we couldn't wait to bust open the box and get it started. Unfortunately, the speakers don't sound nearly as good as they look, and the high price tag is the final nail in the coffin.
French designer Neil Poulton helped Lacie design this set of PC speakers that use USB connectivity alone for both power and audio. We're typically all for a product that lets us chuck another wire out of the window, so the fact that these speakers don't need to be plugged into an outlet is very appealing. In addition, the housing is just plain sexy. The curved angles, black mesh faceplates, and smooth white surface attracted plenty of attention at the office; that is, until we tried pumping some music through the set.
Needless to say, the quality of sound just isn't up to par. They're a two-piece system so we weren't expecting room-shaking bass or mellifluous harmony, but these things barely sound better than the speakers in the average laptop. We desperately tried to find a decent sounding track, but failed, miserably. And what good are speakers if you can't use them to get down in the privacy of your own home? Even at low volume, our music (tested across several genres) sounds distant and uneven. Finally, $60 price tag adds insult to injury. These speakers simply can't do the music justice; we'd rather hear The Boss through a set of cheap, quality headphones.
Check out our full-length review for more in-depth descriptions and details.
It's only symmetrical that Santi White would remix "L.E.S. Artistes" with Diplo. He's been a key M.I.A. collaborator, and she's the first to seriously replicate M.I.A.'s panache. Their mashing up sets off a shower of sparks, as classic house beats joust with soulful singing and indie-kid spirit.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
There are several ways one can harness natural energy. In addition to the sun, wind, tides, and geothermal activities, the human body itself is increasingly being used to produce energy charge all sorts of electricity-hungry devices.
Music company Orange and GotWind, a firm specializing in renewable energy, have teamed up to create a device called the Dance Charge. Weighing 180 grams (about 6.3 ounces), you strap it around your arm. Dance Charge then uses the kinetic energy generated by your body in motion to juice up your phone.
It also uses a system of weights and magnets to produce electric current to top up the storage battery, which can later be used to charge your handset. A prototype of the device will be shown and tested at this year's Glastonbury Festival.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Argy can move a dance floor of sweaty bodies with house music without resorting to the hands-in-the-air syncopated beats that often have wailing house divas behind them. His sound is still house but much more refined and multilayered--which you'll hear on "Poke Her Flat."
The Rolly comes in black, too. Click the picture to see more.
(Credit: Sony)At this point, the Sony Rolly has been pretty much done to death around here. Murmurings about the music device started surfacing as early as August of last year, and then it finally visited the U.S. during CES 2008. But it wasn't until last month that the Rolly actually went on sale in the States, which means we only just got our hands on the thing. I know: you're so over it already, but if you're curious about what the "music egg robot thing" is like in person, read on.
Oh, where to begin. I won't deny that the Sony Rolly is pretty amusing--I couldn't stop giggling the first time I saw it in action in front of me. It's cute. It's fun. It's unique and different. It's also a glorified MP3 player that'll set you back a startling $399. Clearly, this device is not for everyone. So who is it for? Well, my cat seemed a little bit interested at first, but she ultimately decided the Rolly packaging and the video camera were much more exciting. And I love my cat and all, but a four hundred dollar toy is just a bit excessive. Really, the Rolly is for the gadget head that has everything and some cash to burn. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have an interest in robot choreography.
At its core, the Rolly is simply an MP3 player with 2GB of internal memory and MP3 and AAC audio playback. It's portable, but this is not a device you're going to be carrying around in your pocket: it weighs over 11 ounces and features the girth and shape of an oversized plastic Easter egg. The rated battery life of five hours is also substandard for a typical MP3 player. Plus, there's no headphone jack anyway, just two flap-covered speakers built into each end of the egg.
But the Rolly is not simply a portable speaker with an integrated music player--it's a party machine...and it likes to dance. It accomplishes this with a variety of characteristics. First are the two wheels that surround the body and allow the unit to roll around as well as wiggle and spin. Next to each wheel is an LED capable of displaying 700 shades of colors (best viewed in the dark). Then, there are the end flaps that are built on two rotating hinges. The flaps act a lot like hands and offer the most personality. (One fluttering motion is distinctly "jazz hands".) The Rolly can dance to any song loaded on the device based on song analysis, but this is a little underwhelming. By far the best and most amusing dances are those that are choreographed, and the unit comes with a few preloaded. You can also choreograph any of your songs using the included software, and you can share the motion files with others, who can then pair them to the specific songs for which they are made.
Rolly enjoys music with beats, jazz hands, and long spins in the dark.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)As far as usability goes, the Rolly is unsurprisingly atypical. The controls consist of the two wheels mentioned above, a power/Bluetooth switch, and a play button on the top of the device. Once the device is on, you click play once to simply listen to music or twice quickly to activate the motion along with the audio playback. The wheels work differently depending on whether the Rolly is resting horizontally on a surface or held vertically in your hand (it utilizes Sony's G-Sensor technology to sense positioning). While it's on a surface, a quick roll forward or backward skips through tracks while a longer roll shuttles through folders. Folders can be designate in Windows Explorer, or if you use a program such as Rhapsody, they are automatically created by artist. When you're holding the Rolly, the top ring skips tracks and folders while the bottom adjusts volume.
Finally, there's the matter of sound quality, an important consideration in any music device. The Rolly is a reasonable performer in this regard, though I have been thus far underwhelmed by the bass response. The built-in soft dome speakers feature neodymium magnets and this combined with the speaker flaps directs sound and conveys the shape of the sound by reflecting it from surfaces. Overall, music sounds pretty good but not great; the Rolly suffers like many other speakers of this size from shallow sounding audio. But then how many portable speaker/MP3 player/robotic eggs dance to your music?
He might keep a lax tone throughout his detached raps, but his "I'm-not-really-trying" vibe syncs perfectly with the dancefloor-devastating beats that sound like they take from every dark corner of every subgenre of EDM and hip-hop. "Day N Night" is a great track that fits perfectly with the leftist dance/hip-hop vibe of Cudi's new label home: DJ A-Trak's Fool's Gold.
Representing the dirty hipsters of BK, Santogold is like a slightly more pop version of political club-rap queen, M.I.A. Big, warbly basslines stumble drunkenly behind the lead singer's brassy, robot sass--and the end result is music you can rage out and endless drink Pabst to all night long.
Just when you think you can't possibly stand to hear another electronic group that dances coyly over the line between indie and club culture, Cut Copy comes along and slices that notion to bits. The trio born from DJ Dan Whitford sound like Americans shopping in hot Paris record stores and blaring their selections over crackling amps with infectious excitement.
With so many other artists making that Earth-rocking apocalyptic electro (e.g. Justice and Busy P) that's so en vogue of late, Boyz Noise (aka Alex Ridha) stands out with his skilled hand behind the boards and the way he presents electro that's as toxically loud as it is pleasurably flawless. We bet genre godfathers Daft Punk are fans.
