(Credit:
W Joey Jones)
What happens when one extremely popular tech TV show with an attractive female host blatantly takes the slogan of a much lesser known Internet radio show with three mildly humorous, if not a bit awkward, post-pubescent manboys? You're about to find out on today's episode of The 404, where Attack of the Show's GadgetPr0n stole our tagline, "High Tech, Low Brow." Now, I'm a little unwilling to compromise my relationship with Olivia Munn, the , but Jeff and Wilson are heated and propose an all-out battle for the right to the slogan!
The new simulated reality video game DJ Hero keeps on adding musicians to the growing list of special guests- this time, they just recently announced a collaboration with Daft Punk. The game will come out on October 30th, but we're pretty psyched to mash-up tracks from those French Robots. Well, Jeff and I are- Wilson is still confused about how the game works and why people listen to music in the first place.
Which brings us to a huge Calls From the Public- we got so many voicemails over our three-day weekend that we have to take the entire second half of the show just to play them all. Of course, we have to re-visit the dreadful washing machine/computer hypothetical that got drummed up on Thursday's show. In a world where humans are enslaved by free-thinking computers, the man atop the washing machine reigns supreme King. This fall, look out for Wilson G. Tang break-out role in...THE CLEANER.
EPISODE 428
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They're not the first to combine punk and reggae, yet with bands like Sublime long gone, it's refreshing to hear this hybrid sound again. Their latest single, "Dead to Me," takes its listener on a roller coaster of moods from chill to aggressive.
We're kickin' it old school with some technology that might not be so modern, but you can't deny that this stuff is cool!
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EPISODE 113 |
Datamancer Ergo keyboard takes steampunk in an oddly comfortable direction
Teac LP-R500: The 20th century CD-LP-cassette geek re-education box
Retro plasma HDTV looks like an ancient TV set
Hand Crank Locomotives Are A Child's Dream Toy
Your MacBook is too classy to be wrapped in neoprene
NES-inspired Nike sneakers take us back to ‘85
$2,500 titanium tricycle seems reasonable
It’s About time (retro edition!)
Alarm clock lets you wake up a winner
Pink Watch
Calling all lady DJs--do we have a turntable for you
Hello Kitty Watch
Hello Kitty’s birthday! (Thanks, Dr. Karl)
FUG
Nintendo garter belt--sexy fun gaming times
Kill Me (I will kill someone edition)
The Keyboard for Blondes makes my blood boil
Kill Me (this will probably kill someone edition)
Burning hair remover lets your hygiene play with fire
The view from inside Rockit Scientist Records
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)It's in the East Village around the corner from where the 1960s rock Mecca, the Fillmore East once stood. Rockit Scientist Records is a blast from the past, a 'Village record shop that's a treasure trove for collector oriented psychedelia, '60s, '70s, and '80s garage rock, underground, progressive, punk, blues, soul, reggae, and jazz.
Rockit carries mostly CDs, but there's a lot of new and used vinyl, with a smattering of music DVDs. Owner John Kioussis is there six days a week and always multitasking. "It's not rocket science," heh, heh--drop in, and you'll likely find him sorting records, chatting on the phone and serving in-store customers--all at the same time.
Asked if downloads are killing his business, John got a little worked up, "Anybody who legally downloads music is an idiot! You can get it for free, why pay for it? Download it illegally, who's going to catch you? Legal or illegal, they sound the same."
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The Maine
Although "emo rock" may be more of a '90s term, contemporary bands such as Fall Out Boy, The Maine, and Dashboard Confessional have revitalized the genre. To avoid a style debate, it's safer to call them "punk-pop" or simply a "popular rock band." (Even Paramore's Hayley Williams questions whether they're even an emo band.) Whatever you prefer to call 'em, we can all agree that these talented young acts all share a common emo-tional quality to them. With that in mind, listen to and enjoy our Finding Emo playlist below.
Britain's second generation of post-punk is no longer a new and thrilling thing; the trade-off may come as it gets smarter and more refined. These Oxford lads make sinewy vocals stick with rhythmic punctuations as fine as their town's native comma--a good thing, no matter what Vampire Weekend says.
For most bands, taking a decade off from recording can mean risking the permanent loss of the musical thread. Not so for the inimitable Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider, who will always sound just like themselves. Long-awaited new LP "Funplex" is electric, irreverent, and clever.
What WAW lack in originality--another lupine name, another Gang of Four sound--they make up for in execution. Post-punk's polyrhythmic slams and torqued guitars sound fresh again (and again) in the trio's abuzz production, blues-driven songwriting, and sheer belief in the cause.
Should troubled file-sharing site Qtrax, eventually strike licensing deals with the major music companies, it still may face a significant hurdle.
Web Sheriff, a company representing music acts such as Prince, Van Morrison, and The Black Crowes, has notified Qtrax that it shouldn't think about offering their music, photographs, or other intellectual property until it has secured the artists' OK.
"Whilst Qtrax is an interesting model, many major label and indie artists will not be happy about their music being given away free (to consumers) in return for a currently opaque return from advertising revenues," said John Giacobbi, Web Sheriff's president, in an e-mail.
A British firm that protects digital content from piracy, Web Sheriff has informed Qtrax that in some instances artists must give permission--in addition to the music labels--before their songs can be legally distributed, Giacobbi said.
While Qtrax doesn't appear to have begun offering music downloads, there are photos posted to the site of artists such as the Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, and Wyclef Jean.
Daft Punk is on the EMI label while Jean and the Foo Fighters are represented by Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Representatives from Qtrax and the labels could not be reached for comment late Monday evening. It's unclear whether Qtrax has permission to use the photos.
"Any unauthorized use of copyright photos and/or copyright artwork is in violation of (the law)," Giacobbi said.
Qtrax wants to harness the popularity of illegal file sharing by offering a free, legal peer-to-peer service. The company said that it had deals in place that called for it to share ad revenue with music companies.
But Qtrax has been awash in controversy since Sunday, when questions were raised about whether the company possessed the rights to offer music from the four largest record companies.
For weeks, Qtrax managers had led reporters to believe that it had locked up licensing deals with the top record companies. Just hours before the site's scheduled Monday-morning launch, the labels began denying that the deals existed. Qtrax executives responded by holding up the unveiling of the music service.
Since then, sources close to the company said that Qtrax executives have waged an all-out campaign to tie up the loose ends. They have held numerous meetings with the labels during the Midem music conference in Cannes, France.
If nothing else, Qtrax's troubles show how hard it is to secure the many varied rights and releases needed to legally distribute music.
Giacobbi said he informed Qtrax's leaders that before offering music online, the start-up would first have to obtain master recording copyrights, musical composition copyrights, artwork copyrights, trademarks, performers' rights, moral rights, and publicity rights.
Daft Punk
(Credit: Stephane Queme aka DJ Falcon Virgin Records )With three stellar albums under its shiny metallic belts, Homework (1997), Discovery (2001), and Human After All (2005), the helmet-wearing heroes known as Daft Punk continue to win new fans across the globe with the group's bangin' blend of acid-house, funk, electro, hip-hop, and love of a good sample as heard in hits including "Da Funk," "Around The World," and "Harder Better Faster Stronger," among others. Speaking of which, I couldn't believe it took someone like Kanye to discover the talent behind the duo which in turn went on and sampled "Harder Better Faster Stronger" for his hit single "Stronger." Since then, Daft Punk received more publicity in '07 than any other year with sold out shows to prove it.
If you weren't lucky enough to catch Daft Punk on its inexplicably rockin' live arena tour this past summer, check out the next best thing: an official live recording of the duo's June 2007 show in Paris (as if you needed more proof of Daft Punk's subhuman awesomeness).
Listen to the new album "Alive 2007" here!
Watch the video shot by fans during the "Alive 2007" tour in Brooklyn on August 9 here!
Free music download of "Human After All" remixed by Justice here!
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