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  • More to Music Players Than iPods

    LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 06: Attorney Mark Ger...
    Good rule. If you're in court, don't bring a music player and don't ask the judge to listen to Jordin Sparks. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

    One of the coolest sites catering to all music fans doesn’t have downloads.

    There are no pictures of Beyonce flashing leg, Justin flashing a grin or Janet flashing, well, having a wardrobe malfunction.

    Really useful site, Musicplayer.me covers the convergence of music and the Internet, which has nothing to do with browsers sometimes. If you didn’t know that, you will after reading one of the reviewers take apart a Twitter application or Firefox plugin synchronizing last.fm.

    The site’s management gets the tech vibe, which is nice, but really gets the music vibe too. “It’s not our policy to discourage their [the site’s reviewing team] sometimes acerbic or snarky opinions towards particular products or companies.”

    How cool is that?  That attitude is the same one Money Mike, Double G, David Middleton and the other Sonic Clash writers bring when they jump into a track, or take apart the music news or charts or just keep banging on Chris Brown for being a big dummy who deserves some county lockup time.  And if that’s too snarky for you, remember who chose the photos for the front of the site, including Ms. Rihanna in all her umbrella glory.  (AP reported today that she is looking to get back the jewelry she was wearing as they drove to the Grammys that night.    All $1.4 million worth.  Yowch!)

    Even an old dog like me learned how I could listen to Disturbia when I’m at the office and it’s still not on my iPod.  Do you know what a Tumblelog is?   Me neither until I read the site’s review on how to listen to a new music stream with a concept like Disturbia at the start  and turn a mix tape experience into an art form like nothing Pandora ever considered.

    Musicplayer.me is definitely worth a drive by.  There is far more to mobile music than iTunes and Rhapsody, but they’ll tell you all about that.

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  • First Listen: Kristinia DeBarge “Goodbye”

    debarge

    That last name looks familiar, doesn’t it?

    Well, it should. Newcomer Kristinia DeBarge is the daughter of James DeBarge, who was 1/5 of the act containing his three brothers and sister back in the early Eighties. For those who can’t pick the members apart, he was the one who was briefly married to Janet Jackson.

    Anyway, Kristinia’s debut single is called “Goodbye”, and it’s pretty interesting insofar as that her record label sounds like they’re trying hard to pitch her as the next Rihanna. First, there’s the look. Same skin tone, similar facial structure. Then there’s the song itself. Using the well-known “nananana…hey hey hey” refrain from the Steam song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”, it’s bound to appeal to kids who’ve heard the original song at a sporting event or something of that nature. Musically, it bears distinct similarities to Rihanna’s “S.O.S.”, from the song’s tempo to the bed of icy synthesizers that dominates the arrangement.

    Folks, because I’m a good guy and it’s Friday, you will have three videos to feast your eyes on.

    First up, here’s a YouTube vid playing Kristinia’s song while the lyrics flash on a screen. Guess they haven’t shot an actual video clip yet…

    Here’s Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” video. Check out the similarities, huh?

    That song’s still a banger. Finally, here’s Kristinia’s dad in action as a member of DeBarge. Look for them in an upcoming installment of Respect Due.

    James is fourth from the left, right before lead singer El.

  • First Listen: Rob Thomas “Her Diamonds”

    robthomas

    I, like everyone else, got sick of Matchbox 20 real fast. Hearing “Push” and “3 AM” at all hours of the day and night wore me to pieces. It got even worse when Rob paired up with Carlos Santana for “Smooth”, which won a bajillion Grammy Awards and was #1 for, like, a year. Then something happened.

    Rob improved by leaps and bounds as a singer and a songwriter. Matchbox’s second and third albums were superior examples of pop songcraft, and Thomas started to sound…almost soulful. Then, inevitably, Thomas went solo. His debut album “…Something to Be”, had a few nice ballads, but his songwriting wasn’t always on the “A” game (it’s still worth getting if you can find it cheap). He returned to his band for a greatest hits album, and now he’s back for solo Round 2.

    The new album’s called “Cradlesong”, it comes out June 30th, and if you hear Rob tell it, will have some sort of experimental flair to it. He mentioned Paul Simon’s “Rhythm of the Saints” as an influence, which made me shudder a little bit, but I think as long as he doesn’t lose his gift for melody, he’ll at least be worth checking out. Anyway, the first single is called “Her Diamonds”, and while it’s not “If You’re Gone” or “Bright Lights” or “Ever the Same”, it’s still pretty decent. Check it out.