PlayStationSpot

I used to have these big mp3 players with big hard drives. I shot out a lot of these players with my expensive Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 pro Headphones. In the end, I bought the Sony Walkman pictured above. It came with decent headphones that by themselves would cost you 80 bucks. I don’t use them thanks to my Ultimate ears but, If I could not afford expensive ear buds, the ones that come with this walkman sure are great for pack in headphones. I hate the ipods. They sound like shit. Crappy DACs. I hate that you cannot view the file system, like by directory and folder etc. That is why I never recommend any ipod to anyone. This walkman doesn’t have the ipod limitations. Not to mention I don’t really like itunes, bad sound quality on most of the music, and DRM. (I’m all about amazon.com mp3, they are all 256, drm free and cheaper usually). Sony got rid of all the DRM in their newer mp3 players. I can plug this into any pc, mac, and i think Linux as well. It shows up as a drive. You charge it up via usb only though. I prefer to view the file tree by folder and files and not by id tags. It can do id tags as well though. It shows LP art as well. No it doesn’t have cover flow but who cares, that gets old in 3 seconds. The competition just doesn’t even come close.

The converters on this walkman are great. I think it sounds amazing. More real and flat. Not hyped. There are fx and eqs that help a lot, and you can do a custom eq as well. The limiter is nice and can help when you listen to old music that is not mastered as hot and loud as todays music. I thought this unit sounded the best. I think the Iaudio and Iriver give it a run for its money on the DAC quality. But not with the pack in headphones, or video playback and size. This thing is tiny, but it does have a decent display for being so small. You can watch videos on this. I use ffmpegx to convert to mp4 low res. This is great to take with you. A couple of videos. or Anime can really make time pass when waiting on car repairs or anything like that. This thing has saved my life from pure boredom when I am out and about waiting. I only need about 8gb. That works for me. Transfering to this device is a little slower than my old iriver 320. But once it’s on there, it’s great. I used to work out at the gym a lot, and I would get long pauses on my hd mp3 players if I was running hard when it would try and switch songs. Not the case on the walkman. It plays perfect with out hickups no matter how much I jump around.

The thing that really pushed this unit over the top for me was the size. I hated carrying around this huge brick of an mp3 player when i would go to the gym. I needed something smaller. I looked at the Ipod nano before i looked at this. And man the converters on that thing sound like ass. I hate the nav wheel on the apple crap as well. The Sony walkman navs great, with a directional button, a center click, and two other buttons on the front. Volume control on the side! This is a big plus compared to the Ipod as well. For the price and the money, you get the best pack in headphones. The best audio quality. The best screen and video playback. DRM free, and copy files from any os, it shows up as a hard drive, you can open it up and copy to it drag and drop. (you are not forced to use windows media player or itunes, which I hate) Seriously, amazon is selling them for 177 dollars for the 8 gig. They come in 3 colors, silver, white, and black. They all look cool. Seriously, this is about the size of a credit card, a little smaller actually. The battery life is about 33 hours of mp3 playback on about half of the total volume setting. I get about 24 when i blast it. Watching movies on it cuts the battery life by more than in half. I love the sleek stylish design of the unit. Only draw back is the short cable on the head phones. Other than that one small thing, I love it. I give this a 5 out of 5. Click here to buy the Sony Walkman 8 gb version for 177 dollars.

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Death Note. This is one of those anime series that had me riveted from the beginning. Sure the story kind of moves slow. There is some times a lack of action. What is lacking in action is more than made up for with intelligent story telling, and a very psychological intense scenario. A high school kid finds a note book, if he sees a picture, and knows their name, he can write it in the book and kill them, and write how it will happen. This power corrupts. The story gets intense as they call in a special investigator who is as witty and intelligent as the killer. The two battle in a chess match of death.

For sure this is one of the best anime to hit the shelves in the past 10 years. If you are into intelligent story telling, and character driven anime, I highly recommend this. This is a very cool dark and Erie series. Perfect for us weirdos. Check it… I give this a 5 out of 5. Click here to buy Death Note.

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The Looks Work on You Easy Love She’s Good For Business Paris The Looks Street Justice Bodywork Neon Knights

I freaked out when I found out this band was a side project from the band “Death From Above 1979” Totally Different sounding band. I think that band has disband now though. These guys are talented. This is some of the best dance music I have heard in ages. I will throw out a comparison though. It does remind me of a more upbeat Daft Punk.

I seriously have listened to this LP a lot since I bought it and downloaded it from amazon’s mp3 store. I discovered it from buying LCD Sound system and Digitalism, it was one of those “other people who bought this, bought this” Thingies. What luck. I thought it was super corny when I first listened to it but it grew on me. I saw the video for “EASY LOVE” first, and this is what really made me like it. I couldnt get it out of my head. Sure its a tad perverted, but it kind of reminds me of the benny benassi “satisfaction” video in a weird way.

This kind of reminds me of the newer toxic coma We’ve been doing as well, it has the upbeat disco techno vibe. With catchy hooks. Even though this is a dance lp, i consider it to be very musical, there are cool synthleads all over the record, nifty bass lines that are pretty complex as well.

The track Street Justice reminds me of something the Chemical Brothers would do. The best way to describe the whole lp is “infectious”. I seriously can’t get this out of my head. I prefer it to most of the techno lps I have heard over the last 10 years. I think it has more bite than the chemical brothers, it’s more musical and catchier as well. I never thought I would say something like that about a new techno band.

My favorite tracks are Easy Love, Paris, She’s Good For Business, and Work on you. I love their remixes as well. Ontario is blessed to have such a kick ass techno project. If you are into techno, don’t over look this LP.. Buy now! Click Here to buy The Looks by MSTRKRFT. Click Here to buy MSTRKRFT: THE LOOKS mp3s high quality DRM free for 7.92.

Bonus: MSTRKRFT REMIXES:
Death From Above 1979 - Sexy Results (Mstrkrft Edition), This video is so fucking weird:

Metric - Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT RMX). I like This video as well.

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I normally loath reality TV. For some reason I love LA INK. Probably because the girls kick ass. I love the art and the show is heavy. People really open up when they get ink’d and it does in fact make for interesting TV. Sure you get a little LA plastic, but you really do get to see the human side of the people on the show. All the artists are interesting to me. To me this is a fine art and not just junk or trash like some idiots tend to think. I only have one self given tat on my entire body. Someday, I might get more work done who knows. I must say I really like tats, and when I see good work on people, I always compliment it. I have tried to watch the other ink shows, but for some reason I just preferred the vibe of KAT’s shop and artists. I like how it tends to show a balanced side of the business, feminine, and masculine. Cory is great too, his free hand is amazing. If your into tats check out this show. They have a lot of musicians and celebrities come in as well. It’s on TLC. Click Here to check out their site.

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Here is the high quality divx version of the video on stage6. you might need to download divx and install it to see the embeded video, on the mac i sure had to.

Moog Freqbox: Okay, let me start first with the moog. When I first got it, it didn’t scale worth a damn, I had to open it up and calibrate it, even then i only could get about 2 and a half octaves of stable tuning. The plan b was better, but would lose its calibration all together after a few hours. Not the case here, the moog holds it’s calibration. 2 and half octaves is awful. But what makes me forgive it? This thing is huge, big bass, big sound. even if it gets sour, I still love it, its so fat. The plan b and mfb only wish it could sound as fat as this oscillator does. This is not stable enough or musical enough to really hold the fort. To me this is the perfect add on to something more stable to fatten up bass lines and kicks. I have not used it as an FX processor, but man this thing can crazy modulate other stuff great, and a nice big frequency knob to boot, something most of these modular modules do not have.. I like the moog a lot, but i sure wish it tracked a little better. A great addition to a stable modular system.  

Okay now onto the Harvestman Polivoks filter. Wow. The resonance on this thing is great, it can rip your face off. I love it for aggressive acid sounds, a new flavor. Its not moog, its not roland, and its not korg. It’s something new, even though it’s old. I’ve never even heard a filter that sounds like this before. The sound still stays big, even with a lot of resonance. This is what the original minimoog did well too, but its smooth, this is mean, and rough, and aggressive, much different. The bandpass is ok, but i prefer the bandpass in the livewire frequenseiner. This is the perfect addition to my ssm and livewire filters. I highly recomend this!  

I am set on filters. This gives me evil acid. SSM gives me the girthy glass 80s chip sound. And the frequensteiner gives me a great band and high pass, bland if you don’t saturate the inputs, but if you push the filter with a big sound and drive it hard, nothing beats that high pass. On the oscilator front, if and when the livewire AFG comes out, i will probably pick one of those up and an analog systems r95. This will get me by for now. Its big, and the demo I made shows that off.. Hope you enjoyed this video and review. Peace out.. A fellow gear whore.. hexfix93  

BTW: here is al ink to the crappy lofi low res youtube version of the video that ruins the sound quality and looks worse.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_wAH_Z6R3Q .

If you want to hear a better version of the audio click : http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/synth/polivoks.mp3

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Utopia, Dystopia. a Future tale. Character driven. Interesting story. Starts kind of slow and drags in parts. But over all this is a great anime series. I love the art style. Starts out with the main character not knowing what or who he is. I don’t want to give away to much so. Any how, there are these regions in their world, with ergo proxy to watch over each. The autoraves are probably my favorite aspect of the entire story. They are personal slave robots for the rich aristocrats of the cities. Some use the autoraves to replace people. Somehow the autoraves inherit a soul and makes the humans freak out. Over all this is a very psychological anime. But don’t worry, because there is enough action stuff to keep it from getting boring. The art is well done and very end of the world looking. The music is pretty good too, I love how they use the “paranoid android by radio head” as the closing credit music.

This really makes the cyberpunk in me happy. This is definatly one of the better dark animes out on the market today. I highly recommend renting or buying this series. I give this anime a 4 out of 5. Click here to buy Ergo Proxy.

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From the Cradle to Enslave EP From the Cradle to Enslave Of Dark Blood And Fucking Death Comes Ripping (misfits cover) Sleepless Funeral In Carpathia (Be Quick Or Be Dead Version) Dawn of Eternity (massacre cover)

I know, I know. These guys are really popular now, but I liked them a long time ago when they first came out. When they were still amazing. Classically trained musicians who can really play. Seriously, a couple of COF tours back, when they had the gargoyle’s and ramps on stage, with the cirque de sole girls spinning from curtains. This was one of the best live shows I had ever seen. I have seen them since and have not been as impressed. That show is how they won me over as a die hard fan. This EP is my favorite cradle of filth CD. It kicks ass from start to finish. The video below, From the Cradle to Enslave is not safe for kids or work. Do not watch this unless you are 18 years of age. I love it.

Don’t laugh. But I am also a huge fan of the first 3 Metallica records (kill em all, ride the lightning, and master of puppets), the point is, at times, this music reminds me of the speed and anger of those old records. With a musical theatrical twist on top. Classical gothic keyboard lines and female vox from time to time. Also, Cradle covers the misfits like metallica did back in the day. They pull it off great in my book. Below is a fan made video for death comes ripping, with a ton of horror film clips. This also is not work safe, and should not be viewed unless you are 18 years of age or above.

A lot of people have a problem with the cookie monster vocals. COF really does both cookie monster and insane screeching zombie vocals. But why was I a huge skinny puppy fan back in the day? Because OGRE SOUNDED LIKE A FUCKING OGRE, right out of a movie. I love the horror style of vocals. So this has never been a problem for me. I love old speed metal, and grind core, death metal too. I don’t listen to it all the time. But I get in the mood every summer. Why? Because these are the best live shows to watch. This scene has the best looking people as well. Oh my god, Death Metal girls. Need I say more…

My favorite songs on this lp are the title track, Sleepless, Death Comes Ripping, and Dawn of Eternity. It’s a short EP, but by far my favorite from cradle of filth. I always go and see death metal shows. I always go see Cradle of Filth, Napalm Death, Arch Enemy, and Strapping Young Lad. These bands always put on a great shows with high energy music. Buy now! Click Here to buy From the Cradle to Enslave by Cradle Of Filth.

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LCD Soundsystem Double CD Daft Punk Is Playing At My House Too Much Love Tribulations Movement Never As Tired as when I’m Waking up On Repeat Thrills Disco Infiltrator Great Release Losing My Edge Beat Connection Give It Up Tired Yeah (crass version) Yeah (pretentious mix) Yr City’s A Sucker (album version)

How did I discover this band? When I first booted up the full retail version of Burnout Paradise(playstation 3), I hear this strange song when I started playing the game “Us v Them”. I hated it, in fact it made me post this awful message on the sony ps3 forums about a lot of the bad music in the game(which I take back a little now, and is a whole other story). I was like, man does all of their music suck this bad? Was I in for a surprise. I found tons of youtube videos on the band, and found some amazing songs. Was blown away. The song that sold me to the point ov where I had to go buy all of their lps was the song “Tribulations”. This song reminds me of New Order. Love it.

What makes me like this band so much? I was not expecting it at all, the guy sings very unique, the music is very different. It’s a huge melting pot of ideas and diversity. I’m old so I can hear all the influences in it, and a lot of it is form music i know and love. I can hear a lot of analog synths as well and tight kick ass real drums. I love “Losing My Edge”, this song is great, it reminds me of Meatbeat Manifesto, with a talking heads vocal spoken word over the top. and the line, “I hear your buying a synthesizer and an arppegiator, and throwing your computer out the window, because you want to make something real”, is one of the best lines I have ever heard in a song.

I love how this lp uses funk, rock, electro, disco, big beat, techno, punk, and a 70s vibe with a modern edge. I also like the song “Movement” as well. It’s electronic Punk! with some psycho beatnik. Reminds me of old punk and the white stripes.

To me this band is like if you took, the talking heads, meatbeat manifesto, new order, pfunk, the white stripes, pinky floyd, the b52s(old stuff, more for the guitar strumming), and the chemical brothers and mixed in a bag, out would come LCD Soundsystem. The song “Never as tired as when i’m waking up” Sounds like pink floyd, it’s so strange to hear how different all the songs are, and to pull it off that well takes an immense amount of talent.

On the song “Give it Up”, the vocals remind me of the vocals robert smith did on the “boys don’t cry” LP. His vocals are all over the place on this record, it’s amazing how versatile the vocalist is. The opening track “daft punk is playing in my house” sounds like something out of the 70s, I know I’ve heard those hooks in old music before, be he twisted it all up kind of like revolting cocks.

This is not for your standard goth or rivet heads. In fact this appeals to the side of me that likes the talking heads, b52s, chemical brothers, new order, and meatbeat manifesto. It’s something new, and that is why I reviewed it, I cannot just review the old music I like hahahaah. I Highly recommend this if you like any of the bands I mention above. Buy now! Click Here to buy LCD Soundsystem on CD. Click Here to buy LCD Soundsystem mp3s high quality DRM free for 8.99, double lp. That is a seriously kick ass deal for a double lp.

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The good: Click Here to listen to the mfb osc-01 in action, first sound is osc sync bass through the ssm filter, 2nd sound is pwm sync detuned lead through the frequensteiner high pass. This thing sounds great for a dco, I can get good bass and pwm and sync sounds out of it really easy. It’s pretty stable, I had to calibrate the tracking for intonation. Once I did, I was able to get 4 good octaves out of it, and it was stable. Better than any osc in this doepfer rack stuff I have tried so far (only plan b). It’s a great deal, 3 oscillators for about 220 US dollars. I got it used for 170. I would compare this to an alpha juno oscillator on steroids. Since the junos don’t do sync sounds it gets hard to compare there. The saw is ok, but it’s the pwm that really shines on this. When using all 3 oscillators, it always sounds like a polysynth in unison. This oscillator shines when played down low or in the mids.

The bad: The output volume is bad on the combined output, and a little bit better on the individual outs, but this thing is not nearly as loud as my plan b oscillators. But they get the job done. It is not quite as fat as the plan b, especially the SAWS. The saw is strange on it. If i have set on 16, osc 1 and 2 the signal gets really weak on the c0 octave when controlling it from my kenton pro solo via midi, but only in saw mode. Osc 3 does not have that problem at all. It sounds strange up high, and I think I can hear some aliasing, not sure, but something strange when I play way up on the keyboard. So I think this osc is sub par on high leads.

Final Word: If you want to add some alpha juno oscillators into your modular rack, this is the ticket. It doesnt do as many wave forms as the alpha juno, but the sound is similar. This does OSC SYNC, and its great. It does all those buzzy techno sounds similar to the alpha juno. It sounds very 80s roland, dco that is. And I am a huge fan of the junos. This is a great buy for me.

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Bjork’s Greatest Hits All Is Full Of Love Hyperballad Human Behavior Joga Bachelorrette Army Of Me Pagan Poetry Big Time Sensuality Venus as a Boy Hunter Beauty Hidden Place Isobel Possibly Maybe Play Dead It’s In Our Hands

Had to go with the greatest hits. Bjork. Wow. Seriously amazing, Such a strange voice. Powerful. There a lot of videos for this Compilation. Holy shit, a ton. I wont use them all. Seriously, she is one ov my favorite female artists. Usually very edgy and abstract which I can totally relate to. The video for All is full of love by Chris Cunningham(aphex twin videos) and who also worked with Stanley Kubrick. Rumor has it that the robots in this video were originally going to be used in the move “AI” but it got axed by Steven Spielberg and didn’t get used. But found a home in this Amazing Bjork Video.

When bjork belts out, like she usually does in most of her songs, there is this resonance in her voice that just pierces my soul. It hypnotizes me, and blasts me into another emotional state that is beyond the usual ones. So much power in that voice. So unique, not like anyone else. Some people hate it, but that usually is because they have very bad vanilla taste in vocals. I love hyperballad a lot, the video is ok, but I love how she sings about falling down the side of a mountain, that is what really sells me on this track. Strange.

The song that really got me into Bjork’s solo music after the Sugar Cubes was Army of me. That Huge fat bass line. It’s trippy and varies in intensity as the song progresses, repetitive but perfect. I love the video as well. Again, i love the lyrics, If you complain once more, you’ll meet an Army Of Me. heeheheh.

I love the Bachelorette as well, the strings, the piano and that daunting haunting voice that sends chills down my spine. Her voice is what sells it. But the song dynamic is perfect, how it builds up and fades, then the melodies change, so great. Kick ass song writing. I seriously am very envious of songs like this. I wish i could get strings and piano to sound that great. I wish I could work with a female singer that could sing as well as she can..

I loved pagan poetry as well, I would listen to this over and over again. I love the harp sounds and how they are played. I love how it sounds like a demented toybox. I love how bjork’s music blends the synthetic and organic. Cool synths with very lush harps and music box instruments. I love the pink dots for doing things like this on their older lps but Bjork mastered this. Simply amazing. Not to mention, this video is amazing, we get to see crazy piercings. Oh, did I forget? she is nude in this video. It’s not work safe…

The hunter is very psychedelic. This video fucked with me so hard core when I was tripping. Very minimal song, but well done.. Watch…

Even if you don’t like bjork, you have to admit, the videos are simply amazing and worth owning. This is one of my most listened to cds that I own. I Highly recommend this. Buy now! Click Here to buy Bjorks Greatest Hits on CD. Click Here to buy Bjorks Greatest Videos Volumen.

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