music - page 30

Nothing helps me turn my swag on more than when I’m listening to rap music during my morning jogs. Swimming in a tidal wave of beats fused with magically crass lyrics, I get this uncontrollable tick that slowly mutates into spasms of weird arm movements as I trot along. I think it’s called “crunking”, but I’m not sure. All I know is I need my terribly cheesy rap music to survive my jogs, but today I loaded up songs on my iPhone using iTunes Match and there was a subtle but devastating difference in the tracks I listened to: all the curse words were gone!

iTunes Match had successfully filtered out all the profane and derogatory words by changing the tracks to clean versions of the albums, which pretty much ruined my jog because I was really really wanting to sing along and drop 50 “F-bombs” a minute. Maybe this is just a rare glitch in iTunes Match’s system, but it’s a travesty tantamount to treason in my eyes and I want it fixed.

Here’s how to access a secret setting to make your Mac’s volume very quiet indeed—ideal if you’re trying to listen to something in a very quiet room where somebody else is working or sleeping, for example. As a tip this can be filed under the category, “Cool! I never knew that!”.

Every once and a while, some big box retail pricer huffs a little too much of Apple’s pixie dust and goes mad enough to start selling iTunes gift cards for less than their actual value. Ladies and gentlemen, now is just such a time of madness, as Best Buy is now selling iTunes Gift Cards for 20% off (digital delivery only). That means every $25 of iTunes credit — useable on songs, movies, Mac software, iOS apps, iBooks and in-app purchases — can be had for just $20.

That’s a pretty swank deal if you make most of your purchases in Apple’s digital ecosystem, which is most of us. Get buying here, but be fast about it: you only have until 7PM!

Thanks, Dave!

Recording artist Neil Young has revealed in an interview Apple had plans to launch a high-definition music format that never came to fruition. Young says he met with Steve Jobs personally to discuss the service prior to his passing, but “not much” happened with it in the end.

The Flaming Lips are huge Apple fans. Heck, they covered The Beatles’ famous song “Revolution” in tribute to Steve Jobs. But their latest track takes it a step further. Frontman Wayne Coyne roped in Siri to lay down some vocals on “Now I Understand” — a “sound construction” piece available for one week only.

There are those faithful who will never surrender their little white Apple earbuds. To them we say: Wear proudly. But for the rest, for those who don’t want to deal with sub-par sound, earbuds flopping around and having to hunt for foam covers, come with us — and we’ll show you a world of possibilities.

Last August, Spotify launched a public API for mobile developers to piggy back off of their system and release their own apps. The hope was the abiogenesis of a series of cool new music apps that pushed the boundaries of how we discover music, with Spotify’s library of 15 million tracks as the lifeblood.

The first app to really come from Spotify’s initiative and impress? SpotON Radio, a Pandora-like service built upon Spotify that allows you to create custom tailored music stations, share them with friends and sync them across the iCloud. Plus, it’s got a really swank visual aesthetic that just sings on iOS devices.

I distinctly recall a bit of maneuvering when Joe Daileda, head of sales and marketing at MEElectronics, contacted us about reviewing some of their earphones. Joe seemed particularly keen on getting a pair of their ceramic CC51Ps in our hands, but I wanted none of it — being the armature junkie I am, I was fixated on their armature-powered A151s ($75). Joe eventually ended up sending us three models (impressions of the unique, modular SP51 coming soon to a review near you).

Joe’s favoritism may have been entirely in my head — I get like that sometimes; but true enough, the CC51Ps turned out to be a stunning revelation. The A151s? Not so much.

Jailbreakers can bring Apple’s Cover Flow effect to their iOS docks with a new tweak called Overflow. Created by App Store and jailbreak developer Adam Bell, Overflow works with tweaks like Infinidock and Springtomize to let you easily scroll through docked apps like album covers in the Music app.

Apple has expanded the reach of iTunes Match this week by adding support for an additional 19 countries across Latin America and Europe. The music matching service, which only launched late last year, is now available to users in 37 countries in total.

The music streaming service Grooveshark, which was pulled from the App Store a while ago after it upset a number of major record labels, has returned to the iPhone — and other mobile devices — with a new HTML5 web app. The app can’t be pulled by Apple this time, but how long will it last?

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Or maybe it’s that they’re pretending even less. The amount of bling at the Monster “booth” — it was actually more of a compound, complete with a super-secret inner sanctum — would make Snooki (who was at the show) blush. Their three newly released headphones seemed far more focused on fashion than sound; even Monster founder Nole Lee’s Segway (was it a Segway?) rolled around on gold-rimmed wheels. Then there were the booth fashion shows…

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Amazing to think Sony has never offered an armature-driven earphone before; now that they are, they’re diving in huge time with eleven models. Aussie new kid on the block Audiofly just have one in their new lineup, but it’s a doozy, and it sounded absolutely stunning; we fully expect these to be a huge hit.

Popular music service Shazam has released a free iPhone app today called Shazam Player. The application is meant to serve as a replacement for the stock iOS 5 Music app, and Shazam is hoping to set itself apart with several marque features.

Firstly, Shazam Player brings LyricPlay to your iPhone’s music library, meaning that you can get fullscreen lyrics for tracks as you listen. You can also watch music videos on YouTube in-app, get tour information, read artist bios, and share what you’re listening to on Twitter and Facebook.

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LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 — The last Altec Lansing dock we reviewed, the Bluetooth-equipped InMotion Air, left us with a weird taste — it was just too funky. AL’s new LIVE 5000 more than makes up for this: It looks *really* stunning up close — and sounds fantastic to boot.

If you’re listening to music in the background while you use other apps on your iOS device, it’s quick and easy to control your Music app by using the buttons in the multitasking tray. If you have a faulty home button, however — which is a common problem on Apple’s iOS devices — you may have an issue.

Thankfully, SpringPod offers an alternative solution by adding music controls to your home screen.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Professional audio and music equipment maker Behringer wants to sell you an iPhone sound bar, but if that doesn’t interest you, they’ve got 49 other new just-announced-at-CES consumer electronic products that just might.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Last night the Cult of Mac staff was given a sneak peek at the latest and greatest products at the CES Unveiled event. Here is a small sample of what was shown.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Fish and chips and Jony Ive may remain Britain’s most favorite imports among Cult staffers, but maybe Pure’s new Contour 200i Air will get close.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Go to House of Marley’s booth at CES and the first thing you’ll see is Bob Marley’s sell-out son mugging and aping for the press with not a care in the world, artlessly singing along to the lyrics of his father’s songs.

It can be embarrassing, not just for spiritual rastafarians but for any person who appreciates legacy and finds himself cringing in embarrassment at the betrayal of what they might think to be a grander, less capitalistic ideal. That said, as silly as you might think the motif of House of Marley’s gadgets (“Stereo for stoners”), it’s hard not to admire their design or construction. These are sound systems that are trying to make a point.

One of the nifty little features in Apple’s iOS operating system is the ability to “swipe to delete” certain items. You can use the gesture to remove songs, podcasts, videos, text messages, emails, and more from your device, but for some bizarre reason, not audiobooks.

Here’s how to delete audiobooks directly from your iOS device — without the need for a computer.

Kanye West is not known for his modesty. He once appeared on a Rolling Stone cover portraying Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. In 2004, he stormed out of the American Music Awards after not winning Best New Artist, saying “I was definitely robbed… I was the best new artist of the year.” Even President Obama has called Kanye West a “jackass.”

With all that in mind… hey guys! Guess who just declared himself the next Steve Jobs?

It would seem that popular music streaming service Spotify is cooking something especially juicy in the voice department. Forbes is reporting that Spotify’s CEO has shown off a “hack” that involved telling the service’s iOS app to play some tunes.

Launched a few weeks ago, the Pogoplug Series 4 ($100) is Cloud Engines’ latest attempt at making their network-attached storage device as ubiquitous as the microwave oven. Like its predecessors, the S4 allows you to attach a hard drive or flash drive to create your own cloud, which you can use to stream media, share files or create slideshows, all of which can be accessed over the Internet and shared with others. Additionally, it can also be used for remote backup.

The Sennheiser HD 650’s ($500) audio performance is among the best available, but they won’t be worth their high price tag unless you’re willing to listen to them correctly, and for some, the hassle may not be worth it.