William H Macy The Beatweek interview

Transcription

Queen • Helen Hunt • William H Macy • Goo Goo Dolls
issue #123
The Beatweek
interview with
Avril
Lavigne
Christine Chan Senior Editor
Lance Anderson Creative Consultant
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Goo Goo
Dolls
the Beatweek
interview
With their new record, Goo Goo Dolls want to take you home. “That's the thing that's
most important right now,” says lead singer Johnny Rzeznik of the theme which carries
through more than one song on Something For The Rest Of Us. It’s a long road to have
traveled for a band who fifteen years ago were of a mindset to use a title like “A Boy
Named Goo” for their breakthrough album. But that was a different era, for the world
at large and for the band. Or as co-founding member Robby Takac puts it, “I think a
lot of it i it s just sort of growing up as people.” The band spent a decade
toiling anonymously before being
rocketed to fame in the mid nineties,
only to then be told by critics that they
were all but guaranteed to be a one hit
wonder. A dozen hit songs later, and
Goo Goo Dolls are doing just fine – but
the same can’t be said for the world
around them.
have what we used to have. What do
we have? We have each other. And I
think that's extremely important. I think
it's actually gonna wind up being a
good thing, that people are relying on
each other more, rather than
machines.”
And who better to deliver that message
than a band from Buffalo, New York, a
city that’s been all too familiar with
recession since back before recession
was cool.
“We're in some pretty intense times right
now,” says Robby of the public state of
affairs in 2010. “There's a lot of crazy
stuff going on out there, and I think it's
had a pretty dramatic effect on a lot of
people.”
“I think that they really got to
understand the value and the
importance of having a secure
situation,” Robby says of the band’s
long-struggling hometown, “and having
a job and having a family and people
around you who are going to take care
and watch out for you when you might
be in one of those valleys of the peaks
and valleys of life in a once-booming
town. I think that that might be part of
the reason why twenty-five years later,
But the end of the world as we know it
may not be a bad thing, says Johnny. “I
think America is going through a serious
paradigm shift where they're starting to
realize that having three cars and a half
a million dollar house is not the most
important thing in life, and a new TV
every year and every gizmo and
gadget you can think of. I think that
people are starting to realize we don't
Beatweek Magazine Issue #123
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we're still here right now, doing what
we're doing.”
single, but also in its centerpiece ballad
Johnny wrote entitled Notbroken, after
hearing from a real-life soldier’s wife. “I
was writing that song as a loveletter
from a woman to her husband who was
injured in the war. He didn't want to
come home because he was worried
that he wasn't the man that she loved,
and so he didn't want to come home.
And what she's saying is it doesn't
matter how long I have to wait for you,
I'll be here.”
Although Johnny says that Something
For The Rest Of Us is an emotional but
“not a very sentimental” album, he
nonetheless references It’s A Wonderful
Life to help explain the album’s title. ;I
know it sounds strange, but George
Bailey said it best. People are like "Who's
the rest of us?’ It's like well, George
Bailey said it's the people who do the
living and working and paying and
dying. I always thought that was a
really powerful statement.”
Like all bands who have radio fans and
real fans, Goo Goo Dolls exist on two
levels. But in this case what you get
from the radio and what you get from
the full fan experience differ in ways
casual listeners may not have been
expecting. The most pronounced is the
fact that while guitarist Johnny Rzeznik
sings the Goo Goo Dolls hits you’ve
heard on the radio, and most of what
you’ll hear on one of their albums, the
band in fact has two lead singers. True
to form, Something For The Rest Of Us
features a pair of songs with lead
vocalist duties handled by bassist
Robby Takac, entitled “Now I Hear”
and “Say You’re Free.”
The theme of home shines through not
only in the title of the album’s lead
It’s a trick up the band’s sleeve that’s
been known to catch first time concertgoers off guard. “I sing, and the first
thing they're like ‘What the hell, this guy
sings too?’ and so they're sort of
intrigued by it,” Robby says of the
handful of songs that he sings during a
typical Goo Goo Dolls show. “And by
the second song, there's a parting of
the crowd, man. It's hilarious. A portion
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of them are like rock on, alright,
they're having a great time.” And,
he jokes, “the other ones are
discussing what they're gonna drink
next.”
Giving audiences a little more than
they bargained for is one of the
things that’s kept the band
commercially relevant over the
years. Another is that they’ve
avoided burning themselves out by
consistently pacing their albums four
years apart – although that may be
more out of circumstance than by
any design. After spending a year
putting an album together and then
another two years touring on it, Johnny
says that during the fourth year in the
cycle “we try to take some time off and
get a life for awhile, or go back to some
sort of normalcy. And then we'll get
back together again.”
managed to in some capacity of
relevance stay here, those first ten years
may not have been commercially
relevant, but I think they were pretty
relevant in a lot of ways because there
was a scene that was kind of coming
up. And without that scene, none of this
post punk, none of this alternative radio
stuf f probably ever would have
happened.”
“Do that a few times,” Robby says of
that cycle, ”and all the sudden your
band's been together for twenty-five
years.”
“I'm starting to see really young people
at a lot of our shows right now, a lot of
the time accompanied by an older
person,” he says of the faces he sees in
the crowd at concerts these days. And
when he was recently caught off guard
by the fact that an old friend’s teenage
kids wanted to pose with the band for a
picture, it was his friend who put the
now generation-spanning career of the
Goo Goo Dolls into perspective for him:
“You've got to remember man, to these
kids, you guys have just always been.”
That longevity now sees the band just a
couple of years away from Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame eligibility, “I think
there's about a hundred and fifty
bands, or a hundred and fifty thousand
bands maybe, who need to get in
there way before we do,” Robby says
of the debates springing up on the
internet already regarding whether
Goo Goo Dolls should be inducted.
“But the fact that we've actually
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Review: Ferrari by Logic3 Scuderia FS1
bluetooth stereo dock • $549
Fancy sports cars are a common sight at
the trade show booths of tech
companies looking to attract attention.
But the Ferrari Scuderia at the center of
the Logic3 booth at CES was there with
good reason: the company offers stereos
and headphones carrying the Ferrari
logo.
The Scuderia FS1 is a stereo dock which
offers all the trappings of the Ferrari
lifestyle, from the car logo on the front to
the angular red highlights winding
through the silver and black styling. As
the FS1 sits on my desk for testing it's easily the coolest looking tech item on my desk,
which is saying something. The question then becomes whether this $549 stereo dock
offers an audio experience to match the stylistic one.
The short answer is yes. Despite being only about a foot wide and less than six inches
deep, the audio from the FS1 offers the illusion of a multi unit stereo. In fact it's really a
single-housing 2.1 system, with a pair of tweeters on the front and subwoofer on the
bottom. The treble is extremely crisp, and the bass runs deep and wide. In terms of
audio quality and stereo separation, it's the best audio I've heard from a unit of this
size.
In terms of connectivity, the FS1 aims to please. Front and center is a dock connector
port for previous iPhone and iPod models, while a line-in port and USB port on bottom
allow for the audio connection and charging of other mobile devices. But the built in
bluetooth connection is the most versatile, allowing almost any smartphone, tablet,
Mac or PC to be connected wirelessly. The included remote control features the
same Ferrari logo and styling of the unit.
The only regret with the FS1 is that it's still relying on Apple's old dock connector port
for devices like the iPhone 4S and hasn't yet been updated for Lightning devices,
meaning that iPhone 5 users will only be able to connect via bluetooth and not
docking. But that's not a factor in the star rating of the product.
If I wanted to be picky, I'd point out that Logic3 would have done well to include
play-pause buttons on the unit itself and not merely on the remote, but would be
perhaps too picky. The bottom line is that the FS1 offers the kind of exquisite audio
experience that's worth every penny of its hefty price tag. The fact that it looks like a
Ferrari is just a free bonus.
Review: XtremeMac Tango Air
AirPlay speaker • $299
How best to describe the Tango Air? XtremeMac has essentially taken its diminutive
Soma wireless speaker, blown it up to several times the size, and upgraded the wireless
connectivity from bluetooth to AirPlay, with a resulting significant boost in audio
quality and a $299 price tag to go with it.
The two product lines share quite a bit of DNA, from the same button and battery life
indicator configurations to the metal arch running across one end. Here, however, the
arch is large enough to function essentially as a handle. Although this is not a portable
unit and doesn't run on battery, the handle can be used for standing the unit upright.
AirPlay only works with Apple's iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch,
but it allows for a slightly higher fidelity of wireless audio transfer than bluetooth. Tango
Air sounds strong on the high and low ends, and retains that audio fidelity even when
cranked to high volumes. I've tested slightly better-sounding competing $299 AirPlay
systems, but the Tango Air comes close. And the trendy styling is such that some users
may fall in love with it on looks alone.
While I wish it had play-pause and next-previous buttons on board, it does have the
bonus functionality of including a USB port on the rear so you can recharge your
mobile device.
Helen Hunt
by Dana Feldman
William
H Macy
The
Beatweek
interview
by Dana
Feldman
Fox Searchlight Pictures’ THE SESSIONS is already garnering well-deserved Oscar
buzz for stellar performances from John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.
This film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival winning both the coveted
Audience Award as well as the Jury Prize for ensemble cast.
The cast sat down with Beatweek to talk about the new film and more...
Based on the autobiographical writings
of the journalist and poet known for his
biting honesty and sharp wit, Mark
O’Brien, the Berkeley graduate who
spent spent the majority of his life in an
iron lung due to childhood polio, the
film is justly described by Hawkes as a
beautifully drawn story. At the age of
thirty-eight, O’Brien (Hawkes) decided
that it was time to lose his virginity. With
the help of a sex surrogate, Cheryl
Cohen Greene (Hunt), and the
friendship with his priest (Macy), he set
out to fulfill his goal.
his story is something genuinely
unexpected.”
Filming without rehearsing, Lewin
describes what he calls part of a
process. “There’s no formula, if there
was, I’d bottle and sell it!” He laughs as
he compares this to a romance. “When
it works, you’re grateful.” The film’s
emotional temperature, he says, lives
on its sense of humor. “It was important
for me that this wasn’t just a movie
about a horizontal guy, but that it was
also about the universe around him and
the people surrounding him.”
Writer/director/producer Ben Lewin,
who had also contracted polio as a
child, explains that O’Brien’s 1990
article entitled, “On Seeing a Sex
Surrogate,” published in the literary
magazine “The Sun,” was the blueprint
for what would become the script. “My
take on the subject matter and the
characters changed and expanded as
the journey progressed.” Lewin has
described O’Brien’s article as sad,
despondent and pessimistic.
Lewin produced “The Sessions”
alongside his wife Judi Levine who says
that she’s not big on tearjerkers. “I like
happy endings. I like anything with a
sense of humor.”
Per Hawkes on portraying O’Brien in
what he refers to as a true and
beautiful film. “I knew I would have to
contort my body. Mark only had about
ninety degrees of motion with his head
and his spine was significantly curved so
I began with that reality.” Explaining
that you can’t fake that type of
positioning, Hawkes worked with the
props department to design a soccerball-sized foam ball that he put under
the left side of his spine to have it curve
without the usage of special effects
make-up or CGI. “It was dubbed ‘The
Torture Ball’. But what I went through to
play the role was nothing compared to
O’Brien’s lived experience minute by
minute, day by day.” Staying inside the
iron lung between takes because of the
difficulty getting in and out of it was
another challenge for Hawkes. “It was
difficult to be inside of it for long periods
“These were the writings from a man
who had given up the hope of ever
finding a close romantic relationship
with a woman that non-disabled
people seem to enjoy. But the
melancholic ending he wrote had an
unexpected and joyful coda: her name
was Susan Fernbach.” Explaining that
he always saw this film as a love story,
he adds, “It doesn’t follow the usual
blueprint. But I felt if I could do with the
film what Mark had done to me with
the power and authenticity of his
writing that would be something. I think
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Beatweek.com
of time, but I
wanted
to
capture the reality
of Mark the best I
could. I made the
physicality so
ingrained in me
that I wouldn’t
think about it
during filming. I’d
forget that I was
horizontal.”
With the goal of
bringing
a
recognizable person to those who knew
the real O’Brien who passed away in
1999 at the age of forty-nine, Hawkes
explains the pressures of portraying a
real person. “I want to honor the person
I’m portraying and honor those who
loved and survived him, that’s the first
audience to me, that’s who I want to
connect with. It’s an extra weight to
carry.”
never met anyone like her. The story felt
true and I knew that my job was to be
able to leave this man able to have a
sexual life. But sometimes you feel what
you didn’t expect.” A film, in part,
about self-acceptance, Hunt adds, “I
have a daughter and I want to live in
the world where we say ‘This is the body
God gave me’.” When asked if she felt
that this was a role that took a lot of
courage to embody, she says frankly,
“If courage is being scared and doing it
anyway than I have a bit of that.”
Of not knowing Hunt before the making
of this film, Hawkes reflects advice once
given to him by James Mangold. “He
once said to me that he’d get nervous
if there was great work between actors
in rehearsal with no cameras because
you want to capture things for the first
time on film between the actors. So,
Helen and I decided not to get to know
one another until filming our scenes. It’s
a risky way to work without a net, a
more bare bones, honest approach.”
“The three things I used to ask myself
before taking on a role were: What
does this have to do with the human
condition? How much do I get paid?
And do I have to get wet?” Macy
laughs at this before describing what it
was like to play Father Brendan, the
priest who guides O’Brien on his quest.
“It’s difficult to combine these two
subjects; people with disabilities and sex
and let’s talk about it in a church!”
Adding on a more serious note, “I’m a
proponent that a good script has
everything you need. Everyone will
always know someone with disabilities.“
Per Hunt, who says that it was the story
and the writing that attracted her, “My
life’s work meets good writing.” Of the
real sex surrogate of whom she
portrayed, “When I met Cheryl I’d
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Review: Native Union Switch
bluetooth speaker • $149
The flood of portable bluetooth speakers to market in 2013 means that new arrivals
need to offer something in the name of standing out. The Switch from Native Union
comes in a fairly common size and shape in the form of a roughly eight inch by two
inch rectangular housing, but does stand out in some interesting and largely positive ways.
Switch is perhaps the only rectangular bluetooth speaker which, at least in the promo
shots in its website, encourages you to stand the product up vertically instead of
laying it horizontally. Although it'll work fine in either orientation, the rubber footing on
one end makes it sturdy while standing upright, which takes up less desk real estate.
The unit itself is almost Apple-esque in its lack of visible control buttons. The large
rubber circle sticking out of one end (or the top, as it were) initially appears to be part
of the decor, but instead turns out to be a volume knob. The space inside the circle
doubles as the on-off and pairing button.
The ports are hidden under a rubber flap, and include not only a micro-USB port for
charging the Switch, but a USB port for using the Switch to charge the iPhone or other
mobile device you've paired it with. This feature makes sense here, as the Switch offers
an uncommonly long fourteen hours of battery life, meaning you'll have some to
spare to pinch off for your mobile device if need be. The minimalist single color design
of the unit (choice of black, red, grey, blue, or white) is offset by the charging cable.
My all black test unit, for instance, came with a bright red rope cable.
In the end, a product like this will be judged mainly on its audio output. Switch is a bit
of an anomaly here. Native Union encourages users to put their product up against
the more expensive competing Jambox, and as it turns out the Switch does in fact
sound better. The catch is that the best of the $99 bluetooth speakers, for instance our
Best of 2012 winner JBL Flip, manage to slightly outpace the Switch's audio quality. So
with the Switch you're paying extra for essentially the extra battery life, the charging
port, the choice of colors, and the ability to stand the unit upright. Whether that's
worth an extra fifty bucks is going to different for each user. Still, Switch carves out its
place in the market.
Review: XtremeMac Soma BT
bluetooth speaker • $129
Portable bluetooth speaker units are the runaway hit accessory in 2013, because
they’re small and light enough that you can easily carry them around while, if right,
sounding good enough to add significant audio quality to a device like an iPad or
laptop. The XtremeMac Soma BT aims squarely at that market.
It’s a fairly lightweight unit about eight inches by three inches by two inches. And
while it’s a single speaker housing, it employs the trick of firing its two upper range
tweeters out the front and a lower range passive subwoofer out the bottom in order
to create some degree of spacial stereo separation. As as result the Soma BT sounds
impressive when you’re somewhat close to it, and can be cranked quite loudly while
still sounding decent if you’re looking to use it on the other side of the room from you.
The six hour battery life is about average. The inclusion of detailed a battery life
indicator is a plus. It would be nice if it included play and pause buttons, like some of
its competitors, as opposed to just the volume buttons it offers.
Where this device ranks in terms of the overall bluetooth speaker market depends on
which price point you can find it at. XtremeMac officially sells it for $129, which makes
it a four star product out of five. It sounds about as strong as the very best $99
competing products, which means you’re essentially paying $30 extra for the classy
styling, which almost looks like it could have been designed by Apple. But at the
moment Amazon is selling the Soma BT for a mere $69, which makes it an absolute
steal.
Review: iHome iPL10
dockable stereo alarm • $79
iHome is best known for is $99 dockable stereo alarm clocks for iPhone and iPod. But
its iPL10 offers a new $79 variation on that theme for those who want something with a
smaller footprint or are on a budget. The iPL10 is a square unit about as long and wide
as the long side of an iPhone, and only about three inches tall. There’s a Lightning
dock port on top for the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5.
The iPL10 offers a good range of features for its price. The dimmer button for the front
LED screen has four brightness settings, an FM radio is built in, and there next and
previous track buttons on top. But not surprisingly, there is no remote control included.
There’s also a USB port around back for use with iPads that are too big to dock, or with
older iPhones that use Apple’s previous 30-pin connector port. While several stereo
systems offer this, the difference here is that music can be played and controlled
through the USB port by toggling to it with the Mode button. Still, those still using an
older device like the iPhone 4S would do better to simply buy an older iHome dock
with the older Apple port built in.
The weak point of the iPL10 is that its audio quality is merely okay. The bass is
respectable but the treble is a bit thin. That’s probably unavoidable given that that
this unit is half the size of iHome’s flagship dockable stereo models. That makes the
iPL10 a solid product overall, but it only really makes sense for those users who need
the smaller footprint on their nightstand.
Review: dreamGEAR Twist and bluSound
bluetooth stereos • $79 and $89
Small portable bluetooth wireless speakers are
increasingly common on the market, so the two entries
from dreamGEAR attempt to put a twist on things –
one of them literally. The i.Sound Twist is a ten inch
speaker which, while a rectangular unit on its ends,
has a ninety degree shift in its center which gives the
illusion that someone literally took the speaker and
rotated it in their hands. The i.Sound bluSound is a
smaller unit which has the look of a traditional portable
speaker dock but turns out to be compatible with a
wide variety of devices.
The Twist features a pair of front tweeters and a rear
firing subwoofer, with all three speakers interestingly on
the right side of the unit. On board buttons allow for
control of volume and playback, as well as taking
phone calls, while your iPhone or other device is
paired up with it. It comes in a choice of black red,
graphite, or acrylic white.
BluSound has a similar array of buttons across the top
of the unit, but what differentiates it is the small slideout stand on the front of the unit. It's not a charging
dock, but it allows you to set a device like an iPhone or other smartphone on the front
of the unit while its music is wirelessly streaming to the pair of front facing speakers.
Because there's no charging going on, the stand on BluSound will work with any kind
of smartphone, regardless of charging port, including the new iPhone 5. There's a USB
port on the back for if you do want to run a cable around and charge your device.
Unfortunately, neither device stands out in the audio department. Twist sounds solid at
low volumes, but if you turn it loud enough to use it from more than a few feet away,
the bass gets a bit thuddy and the treble a bit tinny. bluSound, being smaller and
having no subwoofer, sounds a bit tinny at any volume. That's not to say that either
unit sounds bad for its size; mediocre might be the most apt description.
That said, the Twist does look uniquely cool, and bluSound is highly portable and
versatile. It comes down to how you're prioritizing styling vs functionality vs audio
quality.
Incubus
The Beatweek
interview
“The people who were going to be listening to it,” says Mike Einziger matter of
factly of the surprising new album from his band Incubus, “We knew that their
first reaction to it was going to be like, what the fuck is this?” But then again, this
has always been a band known for its high risk, high reward left turns.
During the five years in which Incubus were on hiatus prior to the arrival of If Not
Now, When?, Einziger went and did the last thing you’d expect a rock star to do
if given time off: he enrolled at Harvard. Armed with a new musical perspective,
he’s since reunited with his bandmates to craft their most mellow and
intricately layered album to date, in yet
another gambit for a band which has
spent twenty years challenging its
existing fanbase while scoring a string of
hits along the way. Having just returned
home after traveling for album
promotional purposes, Einziger offered
up a cerebral look at the approach to
the new record, how the time off
changed the band, and how even
when he attempted to crank up the
knobs late in the album process, mellow
still ruled the day. Oh, and he’s got an
answer for whether Incubus fans will
have to wait another five years for the
next record after this one.
time learning about what music was
like during the 1600's and what it was
like during the 1700's and so on and so
forth.
Are you getting used to living on the
road again?
It contextualized my overall picture of
the music landscape. It made it so
much bigger than it ever had been. For
me it felt like it had a massive humbling
effect, is the best way I could put it. I
guess no matter how great of a
musician you think you are or ever
could be, somebody can dedicate an
entire lifetime to it and still not come
anywhere near reaching a level of
mastery. The world of music is such a
huge place, and it got much bigger to
me when I got the time to really explore
that world a little bit.
It's actually kind of nice to get back to
what used to feel normal so many years
ago.
You and your bandmates are old
friends. You were still in contact with
each other during the hiatus, right?
How did what you studied at Harvard
end up impacting your approach to this
new album?
Yeah of course. Obviously going to
school in Cambridge, I was physically
away from them for a couple years. But
we talked pretty regularly, and I'd be in
and out of town between LA and
Boston so I'd get to see them from time
to time. It was a big change though, for
me to be living a long way from them.
That was definitely something that was
very different because I'd been living
with those guys since I was fifteen.
The easiest way to quantify how the
experience of being a student in
general has affected the way that I
think about music is really mostly along
the lines of studying music history. I'd
say that as far as music goes, studying
music history was what hit me the
hardest I guess as far as how I look at
music. Studying music on kind of a
grand timescale, hundreds of years,
how music has changed over large
periods of time as opposed to how rock
music has changed in the last ten
years. My scope of music has
broadened considerably by spending
When you came back together to start
working on the new album, did you
have to shake the rust off or did the
ideas start flowing right away?
It's not that we had to get the rust off or
anything like that. It was just different
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Beatweek.com
though. It was obvious that every single
person in the band had changed a lot.
The last time that we had actually tried
to write music together, really, it had
been three or four years since we had
really tried to make an album and since
we had had any substantial time
together trying to write music or even
really talking about music. So it was a
change. It was definitely a change
because all of us I think changed a lot
during that time period.
This record ended up leaning more
toward the mellow side of your sound.
Did you guys have the sense early on
that you were going to head in that
direction?
Not at all, it just kind of happened.
We've never sat down and tried to
come up with an idea for what kind of
album we want to make or how we
want an album to sound, or even
individual songs. They just kind of
happen. I suppose that we could sit
down and okay, we want to write more
aggressive music or louder music or
harder music or whatever, but that's just
never been the way that we've
operated. So we were going to start by
doing that with this album.
Does it ever weigh on your mind that
you've got twenty years of fans out
there that are all going to have an
opinion on this one?
Of course that thought enters our
minds. But at the same time, allowing
that to influence our creative process
would sort of defeat the purpose of
why we're making that music. I
19
understand that there's expectations
and that fans want certain things, but
as a part of the band I don't even feel
like I'm really a good gauge for what
that would be. I didn't plan what that
other music was going to sound like
either. It all just happened. We're happy
that it happened, and we're happy
that people reacted the way that they
did to it, but it wasn't planned, you
know? So if we started trying to plan it
out that way, that would be the biggest
change that we could ever make to
our music. I don't think any of us,
ethically, that feels like it would pollute
our process somehow. I guess we could
try something like that sometime, but it
just doesn't feel right to any of us to
make music like that. I guess it would
just feel like pandering.
Beatweek.com
We've had plenty of mellow songs. I
think that there's just a noticeable
absence of loud aggressive rock music
on this one. But there have been other
bands and other artists that have made
records that I guess maybe fall outside
of their normal sort of sound, and
sometimes people respond well to it
and sometimes they don't. Trust me, we
were well aware of that risk when we
were making this album. But part of that
risk is what's exciting to us, I guess.
We've gone through similar transitions
earlier in our existence as a band.
When we made the album Make
Yourself back in 1999, we had just come
off the back of touring behind an
album called S.C.I.E.N.C.E., and
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was considerably more
aggressive than Make Yourself was. And
when Make Yourself came out, a lot of
our fans seemed to be very
disappointed at first. But we just
followed our musical compass.
Wherever it seemed to lead us, we
followed it. So we've continued that
philosophy to this day. So yeah the
album sounds different, has a different
sound. We're kind of I think asking our
fans maybe to listen differently to our
music than perhaps they have ever
before.
Of all the songs that are on this record,
which one was the first that emerged?
The first song written was a song called
Tomorrow's Food. It's the very last song
on the album. It's the last song that we
recorded, but it was the first song that
we wrote. I wouldn't say it set the tone
20
for the album because we actually
didn't know whether it was going to be
part of the album or not. It was just the
first song that we had written. I'd say the
song that set the tone for how the
album was going to sound was a song
called In The Company Of Wolves. That
song was really the first song that we
wrote together as a whole band for this
album, and I do feel like it did set the
tone for what the rest of the album was
sort of going to be, I guess
philosophically speaking and just also
as far as its dynamic. It's a song that's
very simple, you know? It's got a lot of
subtlety built into it and a lot of space
built into it, and I think that song
definitely was a pace setter.
Can you talk about how you built up
the title track in terms of the
instrumentation and the sonic angles?
That song was written pretty late. It was
actually written while we were
recording. It was written at a point
during the making of the album when
actually a couple of the other guys in
the band had voiced some concerns
about not having any rock songs, any
hard rock songs or aggressive rock
songs. I actually sat down with the
intention of maybe creating something
that rocked a bit, you know? And that
song, If Not Now, When?, was what
ended up coming out (laughs), just to
give you an idea of where my head
was at. I just sat down and wrote the
music for that song in my studio at
home, and it started off with a bassline
actually. The guitar line is sort of
arpeggiated and really simple. To me it
Beatweek.com
just sounded intriguing and moody and
interesting, and I thought it was
something that Brandon would respond
well to.
I guess there are some elements in it
that I thought were sort of contradictory
to each other. There were these huge
big distorted bass chords that I had put
in for the chorus sections, and they
ended up really low in the mix so they're
not as prominent as they were when I
had first written the musical parts. I think
those at first were part of what made
the song sound so interesting to me. But
once the vocals came in and Brandon
started singing over top of it, his vocals
were so powerful it almost felt like the
song didn't need that anymore. It was
really built in stages, that song. I got all
excited about all these little musical
nuances, and then once Brandon
came in and started singing, a lot of
them disappeared but in a good way
because the lyrics and the melodies, to
me, they sounded really important.
What he was saying sounded really
important, and the power of his voice
really came out. Maybe even some of
those musical nuances might have
gotten in the way of that a little bit.
That song was a surprise. I was surprised
that Brandon reacted to the way that
he did when I showed it to him. He got
really excited about it. The bridge
section of that song, I always thought
was tonally kind of interesting, and I'm
definitely proud of the string
arrangements that I wrote for that song
as well. I didn't have any knowledge of
how to do that before I went and
started studying, so that was definitely a
21
bonus to be able to write a string
arrangement like that.
You know that as soon as the tour winds
down and this album cycle winds
down, the first thing you're going to get
from fans is "Do we have to wait another
five years for the next one?"
(Laughs) I don't think we'll take that
long of a break between albums this
time, because we had never really
taken a break. We worked really hard
and just so many years of touring, so
many years of making records, that
none of us has really been able to start
a family or anything like that. It's really
difficult if we're going to have children
and things like that. I'm thirty-five years
old now. Brandon's thirty-five years old
now. We're getting to an age where
the clock is sort of ticking and we want
to be able to kind of live our lives. The
schedule that we had before really
didn't allow much for that sort of thing.
So being off this time, during these last
few years, I think kind of gave
everybody the first opportunity in their
lives to think about those things. Those
ideas were never options for us. So
we're just trying to figure it all out now
and balance what makes us happy as
human beings with scheduling issues
and doing things like putting out albums
and going on tours. We're at a lucky
place in our lives now where we
actually have a little bit of control over
those things. We don't want to make
people wait for a really long time, but
we'll cross those bridges when we
come to them. We'll do whatever feels
right to us.
Beatweek.com
Review: Mophie Juice Pack Helium
iPhone 5S/5 battery case • $79
What’s lighter than air? Helium, according to Mophie. The battery case maker has
trumped its own long running Juice Pair Air with a new and svelter Juice Pack Helium
for iPhone 5. The two piece case breaks with tradition by making the top piece the
large one, and the bottom piece a small snap-on. The result is a sleek looking case,
silky rubber to the touch but looking like brushed silver metal instead.
The upper cut-outs for controls are well done, particularly the volume cut-out which is
flush with the iPhone’s side on the back, meaning you don’t have to push your finger
into a recess to access them.
The bottom of the case gets a bit trickier. Because the iPhone 5 has its headphone
port on the bottom, it creates a challenge for battery cases, which extend well below
the iPhone’s bottom surface so as to connect to its charging port on the inside of the
case. This leaves the headphone port recessed more than a half inch inside the case,
and only headphone cables with straight and narrow plugs can connect;
perpendicular headphone plugs won’t fit. Mophie works around this by including a
headphone adapter a couple inches long, which ensures compatibility with all
headphones, but that does mean you’ll have to carry the adapter around with you.
Replicating the headphone port on the bottom of the case would have made for a
cleaner solution, but might have upped the cost.
That one issue aside, which all iPhone 5 battery case makers will have to find a way to
deal with, the Juice Pack Helium is a well done product. Its 1500 mAh of battery life
means you’ll come close to doubling your iPhone’s battery life (or close to fully
recharging it if it’s dead to begin with), and while some competing battery cases offer
as much as 2000 mAh of juice, none of them are this thin and light.
Review: PowerSkin PoP’n
iPhone 5S/5 battery pack • $79
Battery cases are built on the idea that if you make a case just a bit heftier than
normal, you can squeeze an extra battery in there which will recharge your iPhone
while you’re using it. But this requires you to use the battery case instead of your
favorite case. PowerSkin aims to split the difference with its PoP’n product, a battery
pack which attaches to the back of your favorite iPhone 5 case via suction and
features a wraparound Lightning port connector on bottom.
PoP’n is well designed. It employs twenty-four small suction cups in the name of
making sure it remains tightly attached. Its ruggedized rubber wraparound connector
is sturdy enough that there’s no fear of it getting damaged in your pocket. And the
battery itself stops short of the iPhone 5 camera, ensuring you can still use it.
In my tests I found that the PoP’n sticks firmly to both hard plastic and soft rubber
cases with smooth flat rear surfaces (I couldn’t get it to stick to one particular soft
rubber case which had a slightly textured rear surface, which I suppose was to be
expected). The Lightning wraparound works with all but the thickest of cases, or those
with rubber flaps covering the iPhone’s Lightning port.
As far as the battery-attached-to-third-party-case approach goes, the PoP’n is about
the best implementation one might imagine. Still, it’s a far less elegant solution than
actual battery cases from PowerSkin and other vendors. Those who want extra
battery power on a consistent basis while their iPhone 5 is in a case would do well to
simply get a battery case. As such, the PoP’n feels aimed more at those users who
want to use their own favorite case regularly but only want to add the extra bulk of
battery power in specific instances. Comes in a choice of black or white.
Review: NuGuard KX
iPhone 5S/5 case
You buy an iPhone case for one or both of two reasons: style and protection. The
NuGuard KX gives you a good amount of the former, and whole heaping of the latter.
It’s a one piece design, with one color ringing the front and a second color covering
the sides and rear, in eight combinations ranging from black on red to a Buzz
Lightyear-evoking yellow on black. But this is no toy.
The case made of a rubberized material which, despite being no thicker or heavier
than any other rubbery case, claims to be so strong that you can toss your KX-clad
iPhone 5 as fiercely as you like, or even drop it from a death defying height, and it’ll
be no worse for wear. I tried throwing it all around the house, and sure enough, my
iPhone was no worse for wear.
As a case, the KX works well. I’ve tested too many one piece cases which were
difficult to attach and especially to remove, but removing this case is as simple as
pressing on a corner. The top and volume buttons are covered with press-through
rubber, and they work well. The bottom cut outs are as protective as they can be
without blocking anything.
Most highly protective iPhone 5 cases are bulky enough that they erase the thin and
light nature of the iPhone 5 itself. But the NuGuard KX is one that I can recommend
not just to those users who work in calamitous environments, but to all iPhone users
have a little klutz in them.
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Tommy Emmanuel
live in concert
Guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel descended on The Plaza Live for his Orlando
concert, an old movie theater that has been made into a concert stage without many
changes. The old rocking chairs were gone (and missed) and replaced with folding
chairs. They still sold popcorn in the lobby. We had great seats about six rows back
and in this intimate setting we could see every move of this great man's fingers. He
took the stage without fanfare, kind of like an old friend walking into your living room.
After the first few songs we were completely entranced in Tommy's music, as was the
entire audience. His amazing rendition of Classical Gas garnished his first of eight
standing ovations and caused my guest to lean in to me and whisper "this man ain't
human!" He received his second ovation after playing a Beatles medley which
included "Here Comes the Sun", "When I'm 64", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Day
Tripper", and "Lady Madonna". What a ride.
He then played one of his new songs "Blood Brother" which I thought was hauntingly
beautiful and then an old favorite "Angelina" which he told us was written for his
youngest daughter. This was the first
tidbit of Tommy's personal life that he
slipped in and around his music. He
also shared with us that he had to retire
his old beat up guitars (one of which he
had broken and had repaired 26 times)
and replace them with new ones. This
news brought groans from the
audience many of whom were
obviously guitar players. He took one
of his new guitars off the pedestal and
said he called it "Lieutenant Dan"
because you never know what you are
gonna get. What we got was a
beautiful rendition of "Somewhere over
the Rainbow" after which he received
another standing ovation.
which he said they recorded in one
take with Chet on the day that he was
taken to the hospital for brain surgery.
One of my favorites of the evening was
a song called "The Trail" which was
about Native Americans and reminded
me of a Pow Wow that I had been to in
Wyoming once. It was one of his many
numbers that made you think there
must have been more guitar players on
stage and several percussionists. He
even joked about this phenomenon
saying, "We don't need no stinking
band, We are the stinking band!"
He also shared how he got his first guitar
at the age of four and learned chords
from his mother who played the
Hawaiian steel guitar. But he loved music from birth and would stand by his
mother's old washing machine and
dance, hence his sometimes strange
movements on stage while he played
which he called his washing machine
dance. He also showed us his "geezer
tuner" which only had two lights, green
if he was in tune and red if he wasn't. But later in the show he mistrusted that
green light and tuned his new guitar
even though the tuner light was green.
Another standing ovation was given for "Guitar Boogie" and he dedicated an
unbelievable rendition of Amazing
grace to a woman in the audience
who was celebrating her 85th birthday. He also dedicated a song to Chet
Atkins, his longtime friend who passed
away 12 years ago from brain cancer.
He played "Smoky Mountain Lullaby"
27
He tried to explain and show us how he
could play rhythm and bass at the
same time and thought he was making
it look easy. It made me dizzy watching
his fingers fly. After opening act Pam
Rose joined him for James Taylor's
"Shower the People" and another
standing ovation, Tommy left the stage
only to return for his encore of the song
my husband (and apparently many
others) were waiting to hear, "Half Way
Home" . When he left the stage after
his final ovation I felt drained. As he
said about himself "I don't gear myself
up for a show, I have to gear myself
down!"
I knew I had been in the presence of
musical genius and yet his warm, down
to earth personality made me feel like I
had just made a new friend. His
Australian charm, his wicked sense of
humor, and his quirky washing machine
moves had truly won me over. If you
have never seen this man perform in
person or heard any of his songs look
him up now. He truly is amazing.
Beatweek.com
Review: Ferrari by Logic3 Cavallino T350
active noise cancelling headphones • $399
If you were to say that the Logic3 Cavallino T350 is the
Ferrari of headphones, you'd be speaking literally, as
these active noise cancelling headphones are Ferraribranded and even sport the familiar luxury car logo. At
$399 the T350 is priced a bit like a Ferrari as well, but it
makes great strides in the name of earning that price tag.
The black design with prominent silver brushed metal
highlights, bold curves, and use of metal grille as a
secondary highlight makes the T350 among the coolest
looking headphones I've tested, and that's before you
get to the prominent Ferrari logo on both cups. Three
cables are included: one with three buttons and a mic for Apple users, one with a
single button for secondary mobile devices, and one with no built in controls for
traditional listeners. Also in the box are a zippered black hardshell case which is
coated with what appears to be reflective carbon fiber, along with stereo and airline
adapters.
The audio quality is crisp across the board, with the bass sounding excellent, and the
treble sounding particularly strong. But in comparison to other high end noise
cancelling headphones, the T350 falls in line with the best in the $300-$359 range,
which means you're paying a bit extra here for the Ferrari logo and styling – not
necessarily a bad thing, considering how sleek these headphones look. I did find in my
tests that even though I had a comfortable and tight fit, the noise cancelling
functionality is more or less average; I've encountered stronger and weaker noise
cancelling abilities on competing headphones.
The functionality is a bit unusual in two ways. The first is that while most active noise
cancelling headphones can still be used for listening to music in the "off" position
(without noise cancelling) for times when a user needs to be attuned to outside noise
or when the batteries have died, the T350 is completely off when in the "off" position. If
you're out and about and the batteries die, you'll need to wait until you can get
home or get fresh ones before you can go back to listening. This is something that
may be a deal breaker for some users, but will be of no consequence to others. The
other unusual functionality is that the Ferrari logo on the right cup is actually a large
button which, while held down, mutes the audio entirely – which may be more easily
activated than fishing for the pause button on the cable when someone is trying to
get your attention.
In all, while the Cavallino T350 may not be quite as perfect as the companion Ferrari
stereo docks, this set of headphones still commands attention and features
phenomenal styling.
Review: Moonlight Studio Monitor
headphones • $349
In this age of mobile devices, headphone
makers are increasingly trying to shrink the
size and weight of their products. Spider goes
decidedly in the other direction with its
Moonlight Studio Monitor headphones. They
feature (by far) the largest cup size of any
headphone product I’ve tested, and even
the cable is hefty. As its name implies, these
headphones are for studio-style listening.
The audio quality is brilliant, as its $349 price
tag and large size would seem to demand.
The treble and bass are both crystal clear,
with an equal balance between the two. That
means they sound great on any genre of music.
The styling is rather unique, with the cup design consisting of a reflective black
acrylic oval set inside of, and against one side of, a larger brushed metal oval.
Combine that with the silver “setting sun” motif of the sliders, and the Moonlight
has a styling which, while on the “tech themed” side, is elegant enough to
avoid crossing over into gamer territory. The oval pads are some of the more
comfortable I’ve encountered.
Owing to their size, the Moonlight headphones are on the heavy side. Combine
that with the Y-cable, which is a quarter inch thick and a good ten feet long,
and it’s clear that this is a product not intended for taking with you on your
morning jog. Instead, the Moonlight is more suited to sitting in front of your home
stereo, or sitting at your computer, or perhaps sitting motionless with your iPad on
the couch.
And in that role it does quite well. It features an eighth inch plug with a 35mm
adapter, which makes it compatible with everything. The zippered hardshell
carrying case, which is ten by eight by six inches itself, gives them some degree
of travel credibility, but the lack of an included airline adapter seems to drive
home the point that these are home and studio headphones.
Review: AblePlanet True Fidelity PS400BG
on-ear headphones • $99
In this era of flashy expensive celebrity endorsed headphones, the $99 True Fidelity
PS400BG headphones simply aim to deliver a quality listening experience. They
feature an all black design save for a silver logo on each side, and offer more
comfortable cup and headband padding than most headphones in their price
range.
The audio from the PS400BG is solid across the bass and treble ranges, and in my tests
sounded appropriate on the various music genres I tested. The bass stands out as
being particularly high fidelity for $99 headphones, both on the traditional bass lines of
rock songs and with the synthetic bass of hip hop.
Included are a quarter inch stereo adapter, airline adapter, and drawstring carrying
pouch. The pouch isn’t as sophisticated as the zippered hardshell cases which often
come with two and three hundred dollar systems, but in fairness the majority of
headphones in the price range of the PS400BG don’t come with a carrying case at
all.
Built in to the cabling is a volume wheel. iPhone users may end up wishing AblePlanet
had more familiar up and down volume buttons instead, but that’s perhaps not the
specific market being aimed at here. Regardless of whom the PS400BG is marketed
at, they’re highly impressive headphones and feel underpriced.
Review: Cygnett InSound
noise canceling headphones • $129
Quality noise canceling headphones, which surround your head with white noise to
create a virtual bubble for you and your music without outside noise interruption, are
often priced in the two to three hundred dollar range. That makes the $129 InSound
from Cygnett a potential value play. The all-black InSound looks like a fairly standard
headphone product – until you turn it on.
Powered by a pair of AAA batteries inside the left headphone cup, the InSound offers
an audio experience which is impressive for its price range. The higher and lower
ranges are crisply enunciated, and despite a slightly emphasized bass, the audio is
balanced enough that it sounded good with every genre I tested it against. The
active noise canceling technology, while not as absolute as that found on
significantly more expensive products, is enough to mostly drown out a noisy neighbor
or an airplane engine.
InSound can also be used with the noise cancelling turned off. However, in this mode
the treble goes a bit flat and the bass fades to the background. The headphones are
usable in this mode, but it's not ideal, which means that you're best off leaving the
noise canceling turned on all the time, only switching to the off position when you're
not wearing them or when the battery is dead.
That said, noise canceling headphones are aimed at users who want the noise
canceling technology turned on more or all of the time, and the InSound sounds
great in that mode. Included are a zippered hard carrying case, an airplane adapter,
and black and red headphone cables which can be interchanged. I'd like the
InSound a little more if the cables included a mic and three buttons for full interaction
with devices like the iPhone; as it stands you'll need to control playback directly via
your mobile device itself. But the InSound does have a volume wheel on right
headphone cup, so you won't need to go reaching for your mobile device for volume
control.
Review: I-MEGO Throne Gold and Poison
headphones • $129
If headphones are judged by their audio, their physical
design, and their cosmetic styling, then the Throne
headphones from I-MEGO manage to stand out in all
three categories. The "Gold" model has golden cups with
horizontal black slats running across them, creating one of
the most unusual looks I've seen for a headphone product,
and sure to be noticed from across a room. The pattern is
repeated on the posts, with gold sliders running in
between, and a black leather headband. The "Poison"
model has the same physical design, but has silver cups
with dark purple slats.
I've tested headphones with cup shapes ranging from fully
circular to various oval shapes, but the Throne has cups
that are about twice as tall as they are wide. The design
adds to the effect of the gold and black styling, but I
wondered how they'd fit. As it turned out, they're plenty
comfortable despite the cups being about three and a
half inches tall.
But surprisingly enough, the most unusual aspect of the Throne headphones might be
their audio. Both the Gold and the Throne offer solid sound in the high, middle, and
low range. But the bass on the Gold is <i>heavy</i>, so much so that those who prefer
a balanced bass to treble ratio will likely decide that these headphones aren't for
them. The good news for those who love their bass loud and thick is that it's good
quality bass, well enunciated. The Throne does a nice job of emphasizing the bass in
genres like rock and hip hop and electronica, for those who like their bass to stand
out. But with quieter and gentler genres, the heavy bass just sounds odd. So the Gold
is only really for those who like heavier bass and more active genres. Then there's the
Poison, which emphasizes the vocal ranges and sounds ideal on acoustic or piano
driven music, but isn't quite so suited for rock and roll.
I'm left wishing I-MEGO simply created a single audio with a more mainstream bass to
treble ratio and offered it in both style choices, but that's not the case. For those who
love their bass, or love their acoustic music, and want their headphones to stand out
in a crowd, the Throne is a solid option. I'd like it a little more if it had three buttons built
in for volume control instead of just the one button for playback.
Everything Worth Doing Takes Time
by Chris Brogan
START SOMEWHERE
People complain all the time that
nurturing the digital channel takes
time. “I just got on Twitter. I don’t
have time to get a hundred
thousand followers!” Of course you
don’t. You have all the time in the
world to figure out ways to
automate or falsely inflate or do a
hundred other efforts that won’t
help. And you’ve neglected to just
start.
Do you know who also says it will
take to long? Kids. On everything they don’t want to do. Homework, room cleaning,
etc.
Start your digital presence accounts and get in the habit of spending even 20
minutes a day on them. 20 minutes.
Spend 10 of it talking and 10 of it listening. Or if you want to really do some amazing
work, spend 5 minutes talking and 15 listening.
When I say “listen,” maybe you’re not following your prospects and potential
community of value. Go to Twitter.com/search and spend time there, searching for
people who might benefit you. On Google+, go to Find People On Plus, who match
your demographic needs in some way.
NO ONE STARTS AS A CELEBRITY
Imagine being a young woman working on your high school radio station. From
there, you get the improbable job of working at the local TV news show. You work for
years and then are given the lowest-rated spots on the air and told to make
something of them. Eventually, it starts to pick up. But this is years later, almost a
decade. And then, ten years later, you’re given your own TV show.
Now, at a net worth of over $2.7 billion, Oprah Winfrey is the richest self-made woman
in the history of America.
A decade.
BUT I DON’T HAVE TIME
I hear this often, too. No
one has time, if they’re
fortunate enough to have
work worth doing. But
when you say you don’t
have time to build a
platform of value, you’re
saying, “I am working on
my health but I have to
swing by the Drive Thru
window for lunch.”
grown before, they forage. This is the
basics of what platform building is
about. You eat what you have while
you plant and nurture what is to come.
There’s no other way to do this. Buying
your way into the future is purchasing
an expensive lie that won’t pay you
back.
“Time” comes from preparation. I told
you 20 minutes before. Would it surprise
you that it really doesn’t take much
more than 20 minutes a day for most of
what needs doing even now, after
years and years of building a platform?
THE TIME PROBLEM IS A BRAVERY
PROBLEM
What does take time in building up a
network of any kind of value is creating
interesting content that is of actual use
to your community. That takes time. I
can’t see a way around that. But the
acts required to show people that you
care? To connect and make people
feel seen doesn’t take very long at all
and pays off greatly. Because it’s
people that will fuel your growth.
The trick is this: we always have time for
that which brings us great success. We
find it. When something gives us
feedback and that feedback feels
rewarding, we’ll do more of it. But what
happens is that when you’re starting
out, when your voice isn’t quite as
heard (yet!), you fear it will never be
heard. You can’t hear the roar of the
crowd because you’re still working your
way up to that stage.
BUT I HAVE TO EAT TODAY!
Here’s a truth: farmers don’t starve
while they plan their crops. They eat the
yield of the previous harvest. And if they
can’t make a meal of what they’ve
Be brave. It takes work, yes, but the
value is there. You’ll see.
34
Beatweek.com
Avril
Lavigne
The Beatweek
interview
Avril Lavigne has nothing against the two lead singles from her new self titled
record, both of which are right in her wheelhouse stylistically. But the other songs
are the ones she really wants you to hear. "The rest of the record I like better,"
she says of the more diverse album tracks which see her venturing in several
new directions and diving into some of her deepest lyrics to date...
There's the duet with new husband
Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, a
ballad called Let Me Go. There's the
"super heavy" dark rocker called Bad
Girl. “And then I did something
different when I wrote a song called
Hello Kitty," she reveals. "It's got an
electronic vibe to it, so it's kind of
crazy. Then I've got some summer
songs. There's a song called Bitchin'
Summer and Sipping On Sunshine.
They're kind of campfire songs."
cool conceptualizing with him and
trying new stuff. He always makes me
feel really good about my vocal
picks, and it's nice working with
another singer because he
understands."
Bad Girl allows her to finally work with
old pal Marilyn Manson. "We've
known each other for ten years," she
says. "I went to his concert when I
was eighteen and then we hung out
backstage and then we kept in
contact and we've been buds for
awhile. When I had this song I called
him up and I was like 'Yo, come over
to the studio and hear this tune.' And
he was like 'Okay, I'll be over there at
four.' Four o'clock in the morning.
The collaborative efforts with Kroeger
go beyond their duet, as they cowrote half the record together. "He's
a pretty badass songwriter," she says
of the collaboration. "His band has
like fucking seventeen number one
hits. So when he says
something I trust his
opinion: 'okay, you
win on this one.' So
he's a really good
lyricist. He's good at
ideas. When we do
stuff for me, he has
to think outside the
box differently
because I'm a chick
and I like to really be
able to empower my
female fans. I also
like my music to
reach everybody,
different ages, guys
and girls. So it's been
37
Beatweek.com
Okay, I guess I'm staying up
all night. He liked the song,
he put vocals down, and
he killed it. It's one of my
favorite ones on the
record."
But the songs aren't the only
new territory into which Avril
ventures. The album cover
photo unlike any she's
posed for before. "I wanted
to put my hair up because I
never do that. And so it's
kind of a couture goth thing
too. There's different
elements. It's new looking
for me. A lot of the fashion
that I'm doing now is
glammed up a bit, glam rock. I have
fun with leather jackets and spikes
and studs and black, black, black
everything. Black and red. Kind of
where I'm at fashion wise."
seventeen in conversation. I'll always
be like, yeah, I did that when I was
seventeen. So much happened to
me in that year that I've always
wanted to write a song about being
seventeen."
Those fashion leanings carry over to
her Abbey Dawn fashion line. "I
always make clothing that I like and
that I'm wearing at the time. And so
it's literally my personal style, things
that I want to wear."
Five albums into her career, Avril
approaches her live setlists with fans
in mind. "All the singles from all the
records. I think that's important
because when people come out
they want that." But that doesn't
mean her concerts are predictable:
"Sometimes I play drums live, I play
the piano, and I play the guitar. So I
break the show up in different
For all its new angles, the album does
have its moments of past reflection.
The song 17 sees her revisiting the
year in which her career first took off.
"I always find myself going back to
38
Beatweek.com
sections and then I pick my
favorite stuff."
Some of the new songs will
find their way into the setlist
as well, with Hello Kitty
being the wildcard. "It has
an electronic feel and I
haven't done that before,
so I don't know how it's
gonna sound. But I look
forward to playing Give
You What You Like because
it's mysterious and it's a
character in a story."
Three years after launching
t h e Av r i l L a v i g n e
Foundation to benefit
children, she's expanding
her efforts into new territory.
"This year we started a
campership program and
we sent fifty kids with
disabilities to summer
camp, which is important
to them because it's
something that they look
forward to, seeing their friends. They
stay connected with their friends that
they're going to see all year. So when
I went and visited a camp last
summer I was like, for sure I wanted
to send kids to camp. So we gave
grants, and we do auctions and stuff
to try to get the fans involved. We
keep a rock star theme to it."
With the self titled record scoring yet
another top ten chart debut this
week, and east coast tour dates
kicking off in December, Avril Lavigne
is as on top of the world as ever. But
she's keeping it humble: "I'm so
excited to be here today and be still
making music."
39
Beatweek.com
the app wirelessly without checking its
size first. Apps of that size do not install
well wirelessly. This proved to be too
much for my iPad and I had to reinstall
The Elements by connecting directly to
iTunes on my iMac.
Once you’re up and running, you keep
getting reminded of the awesome
graphics and inter face this app
provides. The Elements truly deserves
the recognition Apple give it in ads
and in the iTunes Store. Selecting an
element from the Periodic Table gives
you a wealth of information about the
element, including important
information about the element’s
electronegativity, electron
configuration, density, native states,
etc. Selecting any of these data gives
you to Wolfram Alpha’s rundown of the
element — a nice addition to any
scientific application.
If you want an application that will
make people drool when you’re
showing off your iPad, The Elements is
it. As a chemistry teacher, I can’t
recommend it enough.
The Elements for iPad is available in the
iTunes App Store for $13.99
The Elements for iPhone is available in
the iTunes App Store for $9.99
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Review: STM Bags Blazer
15” laptop sleeve
At a time when even fifteen inch laptops are growing increasingly thinner, the
Blazer from STM aims for svelteness to match. It's about a thin as a reasonably
well padded laptop sleeve can be, not much more than an inch thick, yet
manages to be fairly versatile.
The Blazer comes with three low profile ways of carrying it: a small built-in handle
on the side, and a detachable top strap which slides out to either be a
handstrap or a shoulder strap. In addition the main zippered laptop sleeve there
is also one nearly full-height pocket on each side, one zippered, one open.
There's also a small corner pocket on the one side.
That's a good amount of storage for a slim profile laptop sleeve, and a solid
product all around. The fifteen inch Blazer sells for $44.99, while the ten, eleven,
and thirteen inch versions (not tested) sell for lesser prices.
Review: Chrome Barrage Cargo
laptop backpack
If most laptop backpacks feel like variations on the same theme, Chrome Industries
tries to bury that blueprint with the Barrage Cargo. It’s a rolltop waterproof bag which
manages to be almost zipper-free while replacing the traditional shoulder strap
adjustment system with something which very much resembles a seatbelt, along with
a see through mesh pouch on the outside and a logo which looks like it belongs on an
expensive sports car.
Of course a statement like that only matter if it can be backed up properly with
functionality. The Barrage Cargo is somewhat unique in that it doesn’t employ a series
of progressively shorter pockets as most backpacks do. Instead there’s the main
rolltop pouch, height adjustable depending on how tightly you roll it, inside of which is
a laptop slot and a general storage area. On the front of that is the lone zippered
pouch, also the full height of the bag. The mesh on front is capable of holding quite a
bit of gear, though you’d only want to stash stuff there that you want others to see.
The storage is rounded out by a drink bottle pocket on each side.
That’s all good news for those users who are looking to pack a lot of gear and aren’t
concerned about keeping it all separated, who tend to view the series of
progressively smaller pockets as a divisive waste of space. Those who depend on
having a large number of smaller pockets are probably looking at the wrong bag.
The most fascinating feature may be the way in which the shoulder straps work. Metal
latches hold the adjustable straps in place. A belt across your chest holds the two
straps together, connecting into an actual miniature seat belt buckle, complete with
a logo which again looks like it belongs on a sports car. The buckle helps reinforce the
idea that the Chrome Barrage Cargo Backpack can be used to tote a heavy
payload, while also adding to the uniqueness of its styling.
Review: STM Bags Velo 2
15” laptop bag
With the Velo 2, STM aims for the kitchen sink of laptop shoulder bags, throwing in
pockets and zippers left and right in an attempt to appeal to the accessory-happy
traveler. The result is a product which, while a bit busy in a design sense, offers copious
amounts of storage space and plenty of ways to keep various gadgets separated.
The Velo 2 is carried by an adjustable length padded shoulder strap or a top mounted
handle, and its front flap opens via a pair of plastic release clips to reveal a treasure
trove of pockets inside.
The main storage area has room for a fifteen inch laptop along with a tablet slot and
adjoining space for cables. In front of it are two more layered zippered pouches.
Each side of the bag has a horizontal zippered pocket of its own. There's also a strap
along the back for attaching the bag to a luggage handle. And in a detail most such
bags overlook, there's an extra layer of padding on the back where it's most likely to
rub against the side of your body while carrying it.
I was initially unsure of how to get the plastic clips open until I realized you press right
on the STM logo, after which opening them became very easy. The only thing I can
knock the Velo 2 for is that its shoulder strap isn't removable for those times when you
might only want to carry it by the handle. But aside from that this is a nice solid bag.
Comes in black, blue, or grey. Also available in a smaller thirteen inch size (not tested)
for the same price.
Review: Kensington KeyCover
hard shell keyboard for iPad
Kensington has long offered fold-open folio style keyboard cases for the iPad, and
with the KeyCover it tries a different approach: a hard shell keyboard which snaps
onto the front face of the iPad and acts as a screen-protecting case. The keyboard is
used by removing it from the iPad entirely, and then folding out a stand leg to prop
up the iPad at an angle. The two pair wirelessly via bluetooth so there's no cable
running between them. That setup means the iPad can be used in either portrait or
landscape mode.
The keyboard itself is designed in a similar fashion to Apple's own keyboards, which
each key its own raised chiclet tile with rounded corners and a bit of space in
between each. Typing on it will feel familiar to those accustomed to using a Mac, and
the top row of iPad-specific playback and navigation keys are handy. A few of the
modifier keys are narrower than they would be on a full size keyboard, but it's not an
issue. When not in use the KeyCover plugs into USB for recharging.
I've tested other products of a similar nature which offered more bells and whistles like
backlit keys and a metal outer shell, making the no-frills hard plastic KeyCover feel
utilitarian. But those fancier competing options are also significantly more expensive,
making the KeyCover a nice value play at its $79 price tag. Works with iPad 2, iPad 3,
and the current iPad 4. Not compatible with iPad mini.
Review: Logitech Keyboard Folio
hard shell keyboard for iPad
With its Keyboard Folio for iPad, Logitech follows a familiar structural concept: place
the iPad inside a folio case, build a physical keyboard into the inside face, and pair
the two over bluetooth to allow the case to be propped open sideways as a
makeshift mobile workstation. But while the function has been done before, the form
and styling differ here aggressively.
Most iPad keyboard cases are made of black leather or brushed metal aluminum,
screaming “formal businessperson” at onlookers. But Logitech tries a different tack
entirely, using hard fabric on the outside in colors like blue or pink or yellow (and yes
black) with rubber siding. The result is a bright and friendly looking product which aims
to reel in personal users and not merely people who wear suits.
But looks only count for so much, so we come back to the function of Logitech’s
Keyboard Folio. There are a couple niceties here. One is that when you set the iPad
up for typing, a magnet locks it into place just in front of the keyboard, saving you
from having to rely on mere gravity to hold it in place. And the keyboard layout itself is
nicely done, with chiclet keys similar in design to Apple’s own MacBook keyboard, but
slightly rounder in shape, and bright white against a light grey plastic backdrop. All
four arrow keys are full size, and the only complaint might be that there’s a single
command key instead of two.
There are a number of good iPad keyboard folio cases on the market. The Logitech
Keyboard Folio ranks in the upper crust in terms of function, and offers a breath of
fresh air in terms of styling. Works with iPad 2, iPad 3, and current iPad 4.
Review: Sensu Brush
touchscreen stylus
With its cap on, the Sensu Brush resembles any other iPad stylus with a rubber tip. With
its cap removed and placed on the other end, the device is indistinguishable from a
paint brush, right down to the bristles. But this is not a novelty product; Sensu is aiming
to deliver a stylus for touchscreen devices with two very different kinds of functionality.
The rubber tip stylus is common for users who either don't want to use their own
fingertips, or who want more precise control for use with a creative app such as a
drawing program. The brush stylus is a more niche product aimed squarely at artists
who want to "paint" on their touchscreen using brush strokes. Of course in the iPad
era, anyone can be an artist if they like. And so the Sensu becomes a nice starting
point for those users who are looking to evolve beyond digital fingerpainting, so to
speak.
In my tests with the Sensu Brush, I tried using both the rubber and brush tips in not only
artistic apps, but also in basic navigation of my iPad and iPhone. I found that it
worked well in each of the various scenarios. It seems the product was designed to be
used more often in brush mode than rubber mode, as the configuration of the former
gives your a nicely rubber padded grip right where your fingers are inclined to hold it,
while the latter leaves you simply gripping the metal material of the cap. So I'd
recommend the Sensu more for users who intend to put both ends of the device to
good use, rather than users who only really plan to use the rubber tip with regularity.
At $39, the Sensu Brush is not inexpensive as far as the stylus market goes. But its
combination of dual functionality and a nice solid look and feel makes it a worthy
consideration for artists and wannabe artists alike.
Review: ZAGGsparq 6000
USB battery• $69
High capacity USB battery bricks are becoming more common as we rely on mobile
devices more heavily, but those batteries eventually need to be recharged
themselves via wall socket. The idea behind the ZAGGsparq 6000 is to combine a
battery with a wall charger by simply including a flip-out electrical plug on the bottom
of the battery. This facilitates recharging your devices and the ZAGGsparq at the
same time, and when retracted, doesn't detract from its ability to function as a
portable battery.
The 6000 mAh of included power is enough to come close to recharging a device like
the iPhone four times, and the pair of USB ports means that you can charge two
devices at a time if need be. I've tested similar batteries which offer slightly more juice
for less money, but the difference here is that the USB ports on the ZAGGsparq are
2.1amps which means that they charge devices at a much faster speed than the 1.0
amp ports found on cheaper batteries; this is particularly evident when charging a
power hungry device like the iPad.
So while the ZAGGsparq 6000 is far from the least expensive device of its type and
size, it's one of the most appealing – both because it doubles as a wall charger and
because of its fast charging.
Review: Just Mobile Slide
iPad and iPad mini stand • $39
The in-between size of the iPad mini means that the physics behind existing stands for
both the full size iPad and smaller iPhone may or may not properly apply. So when
Just Mobile announced that its brushed metal aluminum Slide stand for iPad is now
also aimed at the iPad mini, I had to try it for myself. Slide is one of those minimalist
products where if you weren’t familiar with Just Mobile’s penchant for clever
minimalism, you might be tempted to dismiss it as a simple thin piece of metal at the
outset. But as has so often been the case with its products, Slide is a deceptively
sturdy and adjustable product.
The secret to Slide is that it has a heavy black rubberized cylinder hiding inside its
rolled up end, giving enough heft to the product to keep an iPad properly balanced
on its shelf end. But the cylinder also provides the adjustability: take it out and place it
anywhere along the top of the device to position your iPad at any angle you like. It’s
almost too clever, and yet my tests that showed that it has no problem keeping the
iPad steady and sturdy at any angle. As it turns out, Slide handles the iPad mini just as
well as it handles the full size iPad.
I’ve tested competing metal iPad mini stands that were more expensive and
significantly bulkier yet didn’t keep the mini as steady. That makes the Just Mobile
Slide the best in its category, and possibly underpriced.
Review: LapDawg X4
adjustable lap desk • $69
Most laptop stands are designed for your desk, aimed at slightly elevating and
angling and nothing more. But the LapDawg X4 aims for a much wider variety of
positions and uses. It has a pair of legs which pivot in three places, forward or
backward, which allows for use anywhere from a desk to in bed to on the floor.
The pivot points are the key to the flexibility of the product. You can lock them in at
nearly any increment, meaning that you can turn the X4 into whatever kind of stand
you want it to be. If you’re sitting on the floor, you might position the two two sections
vertically, the bottom section horizontally on the floor, and the stand section at
whatever angle you want to view your laptop. In bed, you might set the bottom two
sections horizontally. On your desk you wouldn’t need the bottom section, and so it
conveniently folds up parallel with the midsection. LapDawg also points out that in
addition to being a laptop stand, the X4 can be used to support anything from
breakfast to a book.
In my tests I found it to be highly versatile. It took me a bit to determine precisely
which configurations worked best in what locations, but once I figured them out,
adjusting the legs from one position to another way easy. My 17” MacBook Pro was
plenty sturdy on it, so any size laptop should be the same.
The LapDawg X4 would be overkill if you’re merely looking for a desk stand and don’t
plan to use it in any other manner. But if you tend to use your laptop around the house
in various positions, this product might be what you’ve always been looking for.
Review: Just Mobile AluBase and AluRack
MacBook stands
Laptops take up a good chuck of desk space when not in use, and Just Mobile
attempts to rectify that with products which stand a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air
upright. The $49 AluBase is a freestanding product which turns your MacBook vertical,
while the $59 AluRack mounts to the rear of an iMac or Apple monitor and allows you
to tuck your MacBook away behind it.
The two brushed metal silver aluminum products manage to sidestep any metal-onmetal concerns by use of a white rubber inner lining which keeps your MacBook
securely in place with no opportunity to slide around. The AluBase is designed for the
Retina Display MacBook Pro, but comes with an insert for use with the much thinner
MacBook Air. I like the AluBase quite a bit for use with the Pro. With the insert it holds
the Air quite securely in place as well, but I’d like to have seen a separate narrower
AluBase product to complement the Air’s svelteness.
The AluRack, because it’s slightly tilted, doesn’t need to form-fit the product it
supports. So you can lean a MacBook Pro or Air in there without the need for an
insert. And as Just Mobile points out, slimmer hard drives will fit back there as well,
potentially giving you a place to stash your iMac’s backup drive without it taking up
desk space.
While both products will hold your MacBook plenty securely, setting your MacBook
upright is likely best done if you’re not in the kind of hectic, bustling environment
where things often get bumped into. But as if often the case with Just Mobile
products, the AluBase and AluRack are both elegant in a minimalist manner, and fit
right in stylistically with Apple’s silver brushed metal computer designs.
Review: CableJive dockBoss air
bluetooth wireless dock adapter • $34
Take the general trend of users increasingly wanting to
keep their iPhone in their hands so they can use it for
things rather than docked in a stereo where they
can’t, throw in all the iPhone 5 users who can’t use
their existing dockable stereos because the new
Lightning port doesn’t fit with the old 30-pin docking
port, and you’ve got a healthy number of people who
wish their docking stereo had wireless capabilities.
CableJive looks to solve that with its dockBoss air, a
little stub product which slides into your stereo’s 30-pin
docking port and acts a bluetooth receiver. This allows
you to send your audio from any iPhone, iPad, or iPod
touch (or for that matter any bluetooth-enabled device such as Android) wirelessly to
your docking stereo.
It sounds nice in theory, and in my tests I found that the dockBoss air indeed works as it
should. The wireless range is about thirty to forty feet, less if walls are involved. The
audio quality is about what you’d expect from bluetooth, which is to say that it’s
almost but not quite the same quality as what you’d get if your device were physically
docked (only audiophiles or those with super high end stereos are going to notice the
difference). And while there’s no way to confirm that this product is 100% compatible
with every docking stereo out there, it worked just fine with the five random stereos of
various brands that I tried it with.
For iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5 users, the question becomes whether this is the way to
go instead of a Lighting dock adapter. For a lot of users, the answer is yes. First, it saves
you from the physical awkwardness (and potential liability) of having your iPhone
sitting on top of an adapter on top of a dock. Second, it places your iPhone in your
hands so you can do your email and your Facebook and your games, while your music
is sent wirelessly to your stereo. The obvious caveat is that, as with any wireless stereo
experience, your iPhone’s battery isn’t getting recharged as it would be if it were
docked.
Thirty-five bucks for an adapter isn’t exactly chump change, and might not make
sense for use with a fifty dollar dockable stereo. But if you’re trying to rescue a hundred
dollar-plus dockable stereo system that you would otherwise be casting aside due to
lack or port compatibility or lack or built in bluetooth, the dockBoss air is a lot more cost
efficient than buying a whole new stereo.
Review: Urban Crew
laptop backpack with alarm • $99
iSafe Bags takes the fact that people are increasingly carrying
whistle or noisemaker devices in case of attack, throws in the fact
that carrying a backpack makes you more of a target due to the
assumption that there’s a valuable laptop or tablet inside, and
offers the novel solution of a backpack with a panic alarm built
into it. The Urban Crew Campus Laptop Backpack looks and
functions just like any other backpack, with the exception of a ripcord hidden under the right shoulder strap which sounds an alarm.
As a backpack, the Urban Crew features a main zippered pocket for any device up a
15.6 inch laptop, along with three progressively smaller zippered pockets for holding
other items. The smallest includes pencil slots and a mesh pocket for supplies. On top is
yet another zippered pouch for small items. The backpack is black, but comes with an
optional choice of color highlights ranging from pink to neon green.
But the defining feature of course is the alarm. It works much like a rip cord on a
parachute, where all you have to do is lift the flap on your right shoulder and yank the
cable underneath it. The result is an alarm that’s louder and more piercing than a fire
alarm, and more closely resembles a Star Trek “red alarm” siren. If you don’t know it’s
coming, and you don’t immediately know how to shut if off, the alarm is going to send
you into a distracted panic. After testing it out a few times in a row, I had enough of a
headache that I had to sit down. This is, of course, precisely what you want it to do. If
you’re being assaulted, the attacker is going to be paralyzed by the alarm. And if
someone is trying to steal the backpack, they won’t get more than a few feet before
ditching the bag and running away from it just to get away from the noise. Even if your
attacker is determined enough to keep assaulting you through the piercing noise,
anyone who’s remotely near you is going to be made keenly aware that there’s an
emergency going on so they can help out.
If you’re going to buy this for your kids, make sure you show them precisely where the
rip cord is. It’s very easy to get to once you know where it is, but you’ll want them to
have that knowledge beforehand rather than trying to find it during an emergency.
Advise them not to tell their classmates about the alarm, so that no pranksters get any
funny ideas. And if you have the misfortunate to have to use the alarm a number of
times, you’ll eventually need to replace its batteries. My experience with laptop
backpacks tells me that the Urban Crew has the build, materials, and durability of a
very nice $49 laptop backpack. That means you’re paying an extra fifty dollars (forty
dollars right now, due to the introductory price) for the alarm functionality. That’s a lot
of money if you or your kids are unlikely to be in a situation where they’d ever need it.
But if you do have legitimate safety concerns, then the Urban Crew is a great way to
make sure your kids not only have a safety alarm system, but never forget to take it
with them when going to and from school.
Review: Earloomz NBA Team Logo
bluetooth headsets • $34
When bluetooth earpieces first arrived, debate raged
as to whether those seen wearing them were really
that pressed for time or were merely trying to get
noticed. But as more States have enacted hands-free
driving laws, such headsets have become more the
norm. The market has essentially divided itself into two
kind of headsets: those in the fifty to one hundred
dollar range which feature high quality audio with
bells and whistles like noise canceling mics, and those
in the sub-fifty dollar range which aren’t anything
special and simply get the job done. Earloomz aims
to split the difference with its NBA themed bluetooth
headsets which clock in at $34 and, while not offering any standout features, will still
get you noticed.
Headsets are so long and narrow that getting any kind of team logo is a challenge.
On the unit I tested, Earloomz approached the Miami Heat by including as much of
its flaming basketball logo as possible, along with a white “MH” and an orange
background. That’s likely enough to get you recognized as being a Heat fan by those
who walk past you on the street in Miami, even if those in other cities might not get
the reference when you’re traveling. On the other models, the word “Lakers” is
squeezed tightly above the team’s yellow and purple logo, while the Clippers model
simply consists of a stylized C over top of LA.
The headset is of about average size and is lightweight. I found its circular rubber
padding to be comfortable, and it stayed in my ear plenty well, with or without the
included very thin plastic wraparound clips (one black and one clear), which are
removable. Also in the package is a black rope lanyard, an unusual inclusion for such
a product, which gives you some place other than your pocket to put it when you
need to take it out of your ear.
Assuming you’re planning to use this product to make phone calls and not merely
support your favorite teams, audio quality is as important here as styling. In my tests I
found the call quality to be plenty acceptable under normal conditions. You’ll be fine
in a light breeze, but a big wind gust could prove troublesome. That’s where the bells
and whistles of the more expensive headsets come in handy. But for $34, the
Earloomz offers about what you’d expect as an audio product. That means you’re
essentially not paying anything extra for the NBA team styling.
Review: NewerTech NuStand Alloy
Apple TV stand • $15
NewerTech says that the Apple TV looks silly just
sitting there on your television stand, and offers
a simple vertical stand as an alternative. And
here all this time I thought my Apple TV looked
just fine sitting flat, all by itself, looking like an
overgrown black drink coaster. Hmm, maybe
they’re right. So I decided to test out their
NuStand Alloy.
The stand is a lightweight black metal arch with
a rubber padded slot in the middle. Setup took
literally a second or two, as you simply slide your
Apple TV into the slot. There’s a red and white
NewerTech logo on the tip of the stand, but
because it’s fully symmetrical, you can choose to position the logo on the rear of the
stand where no one can see it if you prefer.
By default the Apple TV sits fully upright in the stand with its ports on the back. On a
whim I rotates my Apple TV forty-five degrees and reinserted it diagonally, just
because I thought it looked cool that way, and it worked just as well, although in this
instance it blocked access to the audio and ethernet ports, which I’m not using
anyway. To be clear, all four ports are fully accessible when you position the Apple TV
fully upright as intended.
It’s worth noting that despite being a vertical stand, the NuStand Alloy isn’t designed
to save any space. It takes up about as much space left to right as my Apple TV did
when it was just sitting there, and of course it takes up more vertical space. But this
isn’t about saving space. It’s about taking the square-hockey-puck known as Apple
TV and making it look like it’s on your television stand on purpose.
In the end it’s the black metal look of the NuStand that sold me, as it matches
stylistically with my Apple TV and also with the black frame of my television above it.
As is always the case, your mileage may vary when it comes to style points.
Two items of note: this is for the current smaller Apple TV, not the sandwich tin-sized
model of years past. And although I didn’t test it, NewerTech offers a similar stand for
the Mac mini.
Review: Red Vintage CoFi Case
leather iPad case • $49
Some users want their iPad’s screen visible and accessible at all times while carrying it
around with them, while others simply want to shish it away in something elegant
while toting it. The Red Vintage CoFi Case is aimed squarely at the latter. It’s a
zippered top pouch which leaves your iPad unrecognizable inside its confines. And
it’s certainly elegant.
The entire exterior of the CoFi Case consists of red textured leather, emanating with
the unmistakable scent of cowhide. The inside is lined with white fleece padding
aimed at keeping your iPad safe. It works with any generation of iPad, including the
new iPad 4, along with any other full sized tablet that’s no larger than an iPad.
The black zipper features a silver loop with a three inch red leather pull tab on it.
Perhaps this could have been made into a finger loop instead, so as to provide the
case with some method of being carried other than simply grabbing the entire case
with your hand. But that’s a minor concern. Overall the Red Vintage CoFi Case is
nicely done and well made. As far as genuine leather iPad cases are concerned, the
$49 price tag on this one is a good value.
Review: ibattz Mojo Battstation Tough Dual Pro
USB battery • $29
Battery cases which form-fit your mobile device are
all the rage, but sometimes more power is needed
than can be crammed into a case, or more than one
device needs power, and so external battery bricks
come in handy. iBattz offers the Mojo Battstation
Tough Dual Pro, whose pair of USB ports allow you to
charge any two USB devices at a time, from iPhones
and iPads to Brand-B tablets and so on.
The Battstation offers several appealing
characteristics. Unlike most of its competitors it’s
encased in ruggedized rubber, in a nod to the fact
that external batteries are more likely to get used on
the go and therefore get banged around. It has a built in small flashlight, again in
recognition of the decent chance that this product will be used either outdoors or
during a power outage. And while it comes with a generic micro-USB cable, it also
includes a pair of 30-pin adapter heads for use with devices like the iPhone 4S and
iPad 3 (those with a new Lightning-based device like the iPhone 5 or iPad mini can
use the Lightning cable which came with their device).
But perhaps the most important thing to like about this product is that while it offers
7200 mAh of power, enough to charge multiple devices multiple times, it costs a mere
$29. For reference, similar competing products offer 4400 mAh for $49, 10000 mAh for
$99, and so on. That makes the Battstation an absolute steal.
There are two points of caution here. The minor one is that because this is intended as
a rugged product, the ports are covered by rubber flaps. It’ll take you a few seconds
to get your fingernail in there to pull them back, as there are no pull-tabs. However,
the entire rubber layer can be removed, leaving you with just the plastic battery
module which makes the whole thing smaller and the ports more accessible. The
major caveat, for some users at least, is that this is a 1.0 amp product, not a 2.1 amp
product. That means that while iPhone and iPod users may notice much of a
difference, power hungry devices like the iPad will take a long, long time to charge.
That makes the product more geared toward those who are mostly charging smaller
devices, or who are charging tablets overnight and don’t care how long it takes. Still,
this product from iBattz is a huge bargain and it makes all other external USB battery
bricks suddenly look overpriced.
The Battstation unit I tested is 7200 mAh for $29, an absolute steal. Also offered is an
8400 mAh for $39, which offers fractionally more juice but isn’t quite such a bargain.
Review: RadTech BT600
bluetooth mouse • $59
Apple's Magic Mouse is an innovative buttonless
contraption, but some Mac users may end up wishing
they had a more normal mouse. And while Windows
users often find great bargains on their latest PC,
there's a good chance that the peripherals which
come bundled with it leave something to be desired.
That leaves some users from both platforms looking for
a third party alternative. RadTech offers the BT600, a
full sized bluetooth wireless mouse with five physical
buttons, and a novel way of recharging the unit.
BT600 is a laser mouse, which means no ball inside and therefore no mouse pad
needed. Its curved top surface has a pair of large embedded buttons, and turns
convex on the sides for gripping. Another pair of buttons is on the right, and the
scrolling wheel is the fifth button. A round power button on top triggers a blue light
within the scroll wheel to let you know it's been turned on.
Included are two rechargeable AA batteries, which can be recharged while still
inside the mouse by connecting the entire mouse to the computer via USB. This means
that you never need to remove the batteries, and you can keep using the mouse
while they're recharging – a trick which some other vendors could take note of. This
trick alone means that the BT600 is one of the better bluetooth mouse products I've
ever laid my hand on.
When it comes to cosmetics, this mouse comes in a choice of black or white, with
prominent silver highlighting. The top surface is textured rubber, while the sides are
smooth plastic. Customizing the five buttons can be done with RadTech's own Mac
app, which is easy to use, or with a choice of third party Windows apps, which I didn't
test.
About the only thing not to like here is that while the almost-symmetrical design
means that you can use it with your left hand if you need to, the side buttons are
clearly positioned for right hand use. But while left handers may want to look
elsewhere, the other ninety percent of the population is in for an impressive mousing
experience – particularly when the batteries eventually run down.
Review: iLuv HearSay iEP515
in-ear headphones • $59
With the HearSay, iLuv ventures into territory oft neglected by the overall market: a
set of earbuds which aims to offer all the niceties of a $99 product while clocking in
with a more value oriented $59 price tag. The means the inclusion of a built in mic
and volume buttons. It also means the inclusion of increasingly trendy – and less
tangle prone – flat ribbon cabling, along with a choice of colors including red, black,
and white.
The key for an earbud product like the HearSay (model number iEP515) which looks
and feels like a more expensive product is that it has to offer decent sound quality as
well. In my tests I found that the HearSay is strong in the lower and middle ranges,
with the bass in particular being solid, while the upper treble ranges are merely
adequate. Earbuds in this price range never get more than two of the three ranges
right, so this is acceptable for what you’re paying, so long as you’re not fanatical
about your treble. The overall audio quality of the HearSay is better than most of the
competition in this range.
The one oddity is that the rubber posts which go in your ear canal are right up
against the fattest part of the earbud ,instead of being tapered or set back a bit as is
the case with most earbuds. Users with smaller ear canals may find this design
uncomfortable, while users with larger ear canals are unlikely to notice one way or
the other. So the recommendability of the HearSay iEP515 is different for each user.
But for those who don’t have small ear canals, the above-average audio quality,
built in mic and buttons, and striking design are all apt motivators.
Review: Fanny Wang WangBuds
Headphone maker Fanny Wang makes its first foray into earbuds with the WangBuds,
and rather than taking the predictable route of adding to the veritable sea of in-ear
earbuds on the market, the company instead offers something completely different.
The earbuds bundled with the iPhone and other audio products offer flat grilles which
sit next to your ear canal, while most brand name third party earbuds are designed
around small rubber buds which are slide inside your ear canal. WangBuds employ
something of a hybrid between the two: the have a flat grille, but are covered by
rubber pieces which steer the audio directly to the edge of your ear canal. I’ve seen
this concept employed before on single-ear bluetooth headsets, but never on a set
of mainstream earbuds. That alone left me intrigued.
My tests with the WangBuds left me with a new appreciation for what can be done
audio-wise with on-ear earbuds. The audio is far and away better than what you get
from Apple’s bundled earbuds, and the rubber routing system also created a more
intimate and noise-isolated listening experience. The catch is that the WangBuds do
not offer as intimate a listening experience as the best similarly priced in-ear earbuds
do. That then begs the question of whom this product is for.
There are a good number of users who complain that they don’t like in-ear earbuds,
because none of the various sized rubber tips will stay in place for long, or because
having something inside their ear canals throws off their balance. So for that crowd,
who are otherwise stuck with the earbuds which came with their device, the
WangBuds offer an appealing alternative. They’re likely a niche product, but a useful
one whose niche has been up to this point underserved.
The choice of white, red, or black also provides some stylistic flexibility. And the
inclusion of a built in mic and three buttons makes the WangBuds a true replacement
for the iPhone and iPod bundled earbuds.
Review: NeoBuds Pro Musician
Can the word “Pro” be used to legitimately describe any twenty dollar product? That
question gets put to the test with the NeoBuds earbuds from POCKETLABWORKS, a
company which makes audio gear aimed at musicians. These all white earbuds
piqued my curiosity because even the least expensive of in-ear earbuds tend to
sound better than the on-ear earbuds which Apple ships with its iPod and iPhone.
Most people don’t want to pay anywhere from fifty to hundreds of dollars for the inear buds which dominate the market, so could the NeoBuds fill that role?
That comes down, of course, to a test of their audio prowess. Intriguingly enough, the
NeoBuds sound really, really good for their price. The offer a respectable listening
experience across the low, mid, and high ranges, and sound good across every
genre I tested them with. Spend fifty bucks elsewhere and you’ll get much better
audio. But if twenty dollars is your budget, the NeoBuds represent a fantastic value.
Two caveats keep me from being able to recommend them as enthusiastically as
they’d like. One is that the metal buds run right up against the rubber bud tips,
meaning that users with small ear canals may find them to be only moderately
comfortable; it would be better if the metal casing were either tapered or further
back from the tips. The second is that the NeoBuds don’t have a mic or buttons built
into their cabling, as is the case with Apple’s bundled earbuds and most third party
in-ear earbuds. That means that in order to control the volume or pause the music
you’ll need to pull your iPod or iPhone out of your pocket, and making phone calls
through the NeoBuds isn’t an option. Adding such controls would likely boost the
price tag slightly, but it would make for a full fledged replacement for Apple’s
earbuds instead of a compromise.
That said, for those users who have medium or large sized ear canals and don’t have
any use for the built in mic or buttons anyway, the NeoBuds are a steal.
Review: MoKo Slim-Fit
iPad mini case • $7
One of the main reason people purchase the iPad mini is
for the size and weight. Sometimes adding a case to
protect it may make it feel bulky. But the MoKo Slim-Fit
Multi-angle Folio Cover Case for the iPad mini is different.
It’s light-weight, protects the important parts of the iPad
Mini, and best of all, is quite inexpensive.
To use the case, open the folio and push the iPad mini in
securely on the four corners of the case’s interior. The
farthest right of the case (or top if in landscape mode)
has two holders to keep the iPad Mini securely in. The left
side of the case (or bottom in landscape mode) only
have one holder on each side so you can remove it easily when viewing in different
angles.
One of the most functional features of this case is the option for viewing your iPad
mini in multiple angles. Once you have your iPad Mini in the case, put it in landscape
mode and remove the two bottom holders. This will allow your iPad mini to be placed
on one of the bevel grooves on the case. There are four viewing angles. The first is
perfectly perpendicular. And the last at about a 30 degree angle.
This case conveniently comes with a hand strap on the interior cover which makes it
easy to hold when you are doing a presentation or need to show someone
something on your device. It puts less strain in your fingers since you are holding it with
the palm of your hand. To use, flip the front cover to the back of the iPad mini. Use
the rubber thin strap and pull it over the device. This keeps the iPad Mini in place.
Then put your hand in the larger strap on the cover. Now your device fits securely in
your hand.
Another feature in this case is the addition of a loop on the side. You can fit a stylist
there if you use one. The front cover also has the wake up feature. When closed, the
iPad Mini will turn off. When open, it will wake up.
Overall, the case is lightweight and protects your iPad Mini from most scratches and
bumps. It also protects the front glass display which is the most important part. The
case is also versatile, so you can find many ways of using it to fit your needs. There are
some drawbacks to consider though. The edges of your iPad Mini are not fully
protected. There’s only protection around the corners of the edges. The middle parts
are all exposed (but this also means all the ports are easily accessible, so not exactly
a bad thing). The cover sometimes doesn’t always closed properly either. There’s a
small gap between the screen and the cover. But considering the cost of the case
($6.98 for black), it’s more than well-worth it. The MoKo Slim-Fit Multi-angle Folio Cover
Case is available in black, orange, and green.
PC Weenies
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by Krishna Sadasivam
...more at pcweenies.com
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