the violence could be dangerous for young'uns.
-Eric Braem
Directors Label DVDs
Palm Pictures recently released three DVDs showcasing the best of the best of music video directors and they are, hands-down, incredible. Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry have produced amazing videos for Beastie Boys, Bjork, Weezer, Fatboy Slim, Rolling Stones, Aphex Twin, Madonna, Oui Oui and many, many more. Gondry's edition is paramount, with the three greatest videos of all time: Foo Fighters' "Everlong", Chemical Brothers' "Let Forever Be" and Daft Punk's "Around the World."
You give a lot for $14 to $15, too. Each DVD is double-sided, containing not only the artists' best music videos, but other short works they have produced, interviews, musician commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries. Each case also boasts a 52-page color booklet
of stories, storyboards, drawings, interviews and photographs. These DVDs will make a fantastic gift for anyone who appreciates art in music videos and not simply booty-shakin'. Amazon.com offers the trio together for $34.87.
—Eric Braem
Musicmatch Jukebox Plus and MX
Over the last few years, Musicmatch Jukebox has transformed into the best free digital music player because of the ease of organizing your music, of track tagging—including the option to add thumbnails of the album a particular song is on—of downloading music and most importantly, Artist MATCH radio. Say you scroll down your playlist and
Musicmatch Jukebox Plus, for $19.99, tops the free version with faster burning and ripping, Super Tagging, which searches Musicmatch's database for song
MATCH radio will compile an excellent playlist of songs by similar artists like Pulp, Doves, Coldplay, Radiohead, Muse, Travis, The Smiths and Supergrass in, get this, CD-quality sound. You can skip tracks if you don't like them and learn everything you want to about the band and read album reviews. You can purchase songs or full albums to instantly download; Musicmatch provides an incredible number of options.
Musicmatch MX Platinum, which, in
addition to the preset and Artist MATCH radio stations, offers Artist ON DEMAND. This gives the listener access to entire music libraries of a growing army of 10,500 artists. You cannot burn these songs without purchasing them, but you can access them at any time on any computer for $4.95 per month. Yummy.
Eric Braem
Nokia N-gage
Put this one on your wish list. The Nokia N-gage can apparently do it all. This 3-inch tall by 5-inch wide hand-held device is a phone, MP3 player, wireless browser and gaming deck all in one. The 3D graphics make games like Tomb Raider and Tony Hawk actually visible although not as clear as your television at home. N-gage also has a multiplayer function that connects you wirelessly to two- to- four other players. Most of the games cannot be stored on the N-gage, but small game cards you can carry with you will hook you up. Several big name games can be played on N-gage including Madden and Red Faction. Most game cards sell for about $35 a piece. This one will cost your parents a pretty penny, though. At Target the N-gage starts at $299 and accessories and games are extra. The best deal seems to be at www.gamestop.com, where you can get the N-gage plus Tony Hawk, Sonic N and Tomb Raider for $200.
—Becky Rogers
thursday, december 11, 2003
jayplay
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