Folk

Christmas songs, both low and high

Are you ready for the holidays? We realize that for some people that's a heavy-duty question. Of course, many find Christmastime to be the jolly, feel-good season of sharing and caring so many of us read about in storybooks and maybe even experienced during childhood. (And to those who do, we raise a toast.) For others, however, the mere mention of words like "Santa," "sleigh," "snow," and "drummer boy" just might cause a stroke.… Read more

Axiom Audiobyte: The Bentley of PC speakers?

Most PC speakers are afterthoughts--the computer equivalent of those awful earbud headphones that come bundled "for free" with portable media players. But Canada's Axiom Audio is offering a high-end alternative with its new Audiobyte PC speakers. At 6.5 inches high by 5.5 inches wide by 4 inches deep, the stereo speakers aren't too much larger than standard computer audio offerings, but they're effectively miniaturized versions of high-quality bookshelf speakers, sporting two-way designs with a 1-inch titanium dome tweeter and 3-inch aluminum cone woofer.

The Audiobyte is now available in a variety of finishes … Read more

CD review: the soundtrack to Todd Haynes' new Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There"

Todd Haynes' new Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" stars Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw playing different aspects of Dylan's life. The film comes out later this month, but the soundtrack is here now. The 34 track, two-CD set mixes interpretations by what I call "Baby Bobs," artists, many born before the music was originally recorded, and "Boomer Bobs," Dylan's contemporaries. And curiously enough, the Baby Bobs mostly dish out for note-for-note recreations of the originals, while the oldsters veer off in different directions.

Jeff … Read more

Hank Thompson R.I.P.

Just a short time after the death of Porter Wagoner, country music has suffered the loss of another pioneer and legend, the great country songwriter, western-swing bandleader, and Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Thompson. He died of lung cancer November 6 at his home in Forth Worth, Texas, at age 82. … Read more

Screenwriters strike playlist

While some 12,000 TV and film screenwriters go on strike this week, people are filling the void by turning to other forms of media, such as DVDs and the Internet. Ironically, these outlets are exactly what the members of the Writers Guild want more of the profit of (and don't want people to support). They're hoping to come to an agreement soon, although the last walk out like this (in 1988) lasted for five months. Ouch.

We'll miss The Office, Desperate Housewives and Conan O'brien, but it's not the end of the world, right? … Read more

iTunes 7.5: Updated, but who cares?

Apple's omnipresent media player iTunes has quietly upgraded to version 7.5 for both Windows and Mac. There's no grand new interface, no code-scrubbing to make the Window version load quicker, and certainly no support for Linux users. There's not a lot to bother with, period, unless you're a Old World iPhone customer.

… Read more

Remix and remake

One of the most interesting jazz releases of 2007 has to be Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters. On it, the legendary composer and pianist covers a number of classic Joni Mitchell songs--only "cover" doesn't quite describe it. In true modern jazz fashion, the takes are more thematic and spiritual than literal. The combination of Mitchell's haunting lyrics, Hancock's revamped melodies, and vocal cameos by artists from Norah Jones to Tina Turner is often stunning.

River's Hancock-Turner duet, "Edith and the Kingpin," is a highlight of a new jazz playlist, Remix and remake, … Read more

John Ralston podcast

While on tour with Vagrant Records labelmate Dashboard Confessional, John Ralston stopped by Studio C at CNET to share unplugged tracks from his latest album Sorry Vampire. He performed "Ghetto Tested," "Fragile" plus an exclusive bonus track--for all the Ralston-heads out there. Listen to tracks from the album here, and hear the podcast here.

New releases: Dylan, The Fray and more

We take pride in our diverse catalog on Download Music. Whether it's hip-hop, indie rock, electronica or whatever you're into--we dish out the freshness every week in our newsletter. This week we got a taste of Bob Dylan's new box set (aptly named Dylan) for you to hear. Plus, The Fray just reissued its career-changing 2003 EP The Reason, while Motley Crue unleashed a new live double disc. If you're looking for something new and different, check out Mobius Band, Tunng, and Prefuse 73. Since there's some much to swallow, we made it simple for … Read more