Top stories

Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

Homemade Album Tops UK iTunes

 Kate1

This is London:

Acoustic guitarist Kate Walsh has knocked Take That off the top of the iTunes download album chart – but does not even own an iPod.

The 23-year-old guitarist recorded her album in a friend’s bedroom and named it Tim’s House in his honour.

The homemade album has proved a unexpected hit with iPod fans who had downloaded it from the iTunes website in their thousands – knocking Take That and Kaiser Chiefs from the top spots.

Miss Walsh said: “You end up looking at it every day to see if you’re still number one. I think I’m ahead of Elton.

“I don’t actually have an iPod yet. I hear they are quite good for ten hour flights.

“I set up my own record label called Blueberry Pie and just got the music out there. It’s pretty easy. Anyone can do it.”

The classically trained pianist from Brighton said she built up a fan base by putting her music onto her MySpace page and eventually persuaded iTunes to sell it.

Kate Walsh’s MySpace Page.

About the author

Leander Kahney

Leander Kahney is senior editor of Cult of Mac, editor of two books about technology culture, Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, and has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Observer in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

Email the author | Read more posts by Leander Kahney.

2 comments

    [...] It’s been a good month for music. No, not music companies: music. EMI released their catalog on iTunes minus crippling and consumer-hostile DRM schemes. The RIAA has lost more cases, including one that was dismissed with prejudice (meaning the defendant may be able to recover their attorney’s fees). Plus, a home-made album is topping the charts. [...]

    And a damn fine album it is too. I downloaded the free iTunes song and, when I noticed it was number one, decided I ought to check out the rest of the album.

    Very good it is too. Chilled. Mellow. Beautifully-recorded. And she has a beautiful voice.

    The fact it was less than £5 ($10) didn’t hurt either.

    Congratulations Kate – I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Buy Inside Steve's Brain Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Barnes & Noble