New to our family of sites is The Audio Speakeasy, a forum dedicated to music and audio/video hardware. If you are interested in discussing some of the newest releases and their sound quality, or want to improve your listening experience, we’re the new, up and coming place to do it at! We aim to provide an upbeat, informative discussion forum where you can speak your honest opinion. Register today at the site! Visit the main page, and follow the links to the forum to do so. You never know who you may run into at the Speakeasy…
A Lost Classic: Junior’s “Ji”
Criminally overlooked. That is how I would describe Norman “Junior” Giscombe. A pioneer of the UK R&B invasion of the 80s (which would include Sade, Loose Ends, Billy Ocean, Soul II Soul and others), Junior landed at #2 on the R&B charts (and #30 on the Top 40) with “Mama Used To Say,” a major hit that was unavoidable in 1982. The follow-up hits were “Too Late” and “I Can’t Help It.” The album, Ji, made a splash in the U.S. when it was released, but his subsequent albums failed to make much of an impression, and nowadays, most remember him only for his biggest hit.
Motorola Droid: I Haz It!
I admit that I’m the geeky type that likes all sorts of new gadgets. But we were in a bit of a quandry here. Our Sprint/Nextel phones were long in the tooth, and Sprint showed no interest in giving any loyalty deals. I had almost settled on a Blackberry Curve, as I liked the keyboard, and there seemed to be a lot of Apps available. But as I investigated the phones further, it occured to me that perhaps there may be something better out there. And I found it!
Motorola Droid Quick Report
While looking for a smartphone, I wanted something affordable yet powerful. Thanks to a good deal online, I managed to find a Motorola Droid with a two year plan for only $19.99. It’s quite a new experience for me, but it is also very amazing to have this much power in a handheld device. As it has the Android OS, it integrates tightly with Google. I will have a full report once I get acquainted with the many apparently available for this phone. Stay tuned!
Review: Pat Metheny’s “Orchestrion”
Fascinating! That is one word I can think of to describe Pat Metheny’s latest recording, Orchestrion. Musically, long-time fans of Metheny’s work will immediately notice how much this solo project resembles some of his past projects with the Pat Metheny Group. But for this particular project, quite unique in the world of music (and especially, jazz), the fascinating part is not how the music sounds, but how it was made. Metheny’s idea stems from a fascination with an instrument in his grandfather’s basement, and was finally able to fulfill his desire to take the same concept and apply it to his music.