albums

How to find and fix missing art in iTunes

In this video, CNET Editor Donald Bell shows you how to find and fix album art in iTunes.

Get over 1,000 MP3 albums for $5 apiece

Got five bucks to spare? Then you're in trouble, because choosing one of Amazon's thousand-plus $5 MP3 albums is darn near impossible.

This represents a considerable expansion of the company's regular $5-album promotion, which I think usually tops out at 50 each month.

Until the end of August, you can choose from a seriously impressive library of pop, rock, alternative, greatest hits, country, dance, classical, and other genres.

I mean, there's something for everyone here. Huey Lewis, Lady Gaga, Belle & Sebastian, Coldplay, Kenny Rogers, John Coltrane, Brahms, and Shakira. There's even the Phineas and Ferb soundtrack! (… Read more

Picnik's editor now built into Picasa Web Albums

It was only a matter of time, but three months after acquiring Web-based photo editor Picnik, Google has gotten around to integrating the service into Picasa Web Albums.

Now, if a Picasa Web Albums user wants to make a quick edit to a photo, they can do so without leaving the photo page. Previously a user would have needed the software version of Picasa installed, or to use an external editor (such as Picnik)--both of which made for a disjointed experience.

While a seemingly minor move, it's the first step by Google to integrate the Picnik editor into … Read more

The art of the LP

Sure, to some a record might be just a piece of plastic, but to me an LP is a beautiful object. It feels great in my hands, and looks amazing spinning on a turntable. There are dozens of LP cover art books, but just looking at light dancing on a LP's spiral groove is something I never tire of.

I own thousands of LPs and sometimes use them in my art. Of course the LP's prime attraction is its sound, so even as CD sales continue to decline, the LP looks like it will be around for the … Read more

Unintuitive albums

The exploding popularity of digital photography has given rise to a variety of different means for displaying digital photos. We've seen many programs that seek to reproduce the experience of flipping through a physical photo album by creating a digital version that can be paged through, just like the real thing. Normally, creating digital albums is a fairly simple process, but Seaside Book Manager makes it entirely too difficult. We like the idea of digital photo albums, but this is not the way to do it.

The problem with Seaside Book Manager is simply that its interface is a … Read more

Accessible album

As digital photography has grown in popularity, so, too, have digital means of displaying photographs. Bix Photo Book is an easy way to duplicate the experience of flipping through a physical photo album without having to print and mount your photos.

The program's interface consists of an animated photo album displayed on what looks like a hardwood floor. To populate the album with images, simply select any image in the desired folder, and all images in the folder will be included. From there, the album is fairly customizable; users can specify the color of the pages and the background … Read more

Google launches Chrome Web Store

Isn't the Chrome Web Store just an online software store? Or a SaaS store? Why don't we use the terms software or SaaS anymore? Not sexy?

Google announced the Chrome Web Store at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. It is a place to find and install programs that run in the Chrome browser, and most likely in the Chrome operating system in the near future. So it's Web-based software. Or SaaS.

Now why do we care about this when we can easily just go to a Web site and accomplish the same … Read more

Should you buy the remastered 'Exile on Main Street'?

The Rolling Stones' 1972 masterpiece "Exile on Main Street" is being re-released today in a new remastered version, complete with 10 outtakes or alternate versions that have never been released before. A friend posted the question on Facebook: "should I buy the remastered vinyl version?" The answer to this question is more complicated than you might expect: there are five different versions of the re-release available.

If you like rock music (or country or soul) and don't know "Exile," then I would start with the Original Recording Remastered. It's the original album … Read more

Live at the Fillmore East

The Fillmore East didn't last all that long, from March 8, 1968 to June 27, 1971, but a ton of great music was played there. Pretty much every legendary 1960s band--except the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Bob Dylan--graced the stage. Led Zeppelin; The Who; Pink Floyd; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Elton John; Fleetwood Mac; Derek and the Dominos; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Santana; and the Doors rocked the 2,700 seat theater in the East Village, in NYC. Ticket prices, as I recall, were always affordable: $3, $4 and $5, and there were usually three acts … Read more