Category: music

Quintessential Player

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it previously, but my current CD/Ogg/MP3 player of choice is Quintessential Player. I was never much a fan of Winamp — if only because its fixed-pixel interface becomes concerningly small at 1600x1200. But, don’t worry, Quintessential Player still supports skinz.

I used to use FreeAmp, but its interface always had little quirks to it. And, at the moment, I can’t even get its webpage to resolve (I hope it”s not dead).

Of course, I prefer the sound quality of CDs for everyday listening, but Quintessential Player suits my needs when I have an Ogg to play. And, it’s also freeware (I don't deal with shareware anymore, these days).

BlogAmp

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

BlogAmp is a free Winamp plugin that allows the user to keep in his personal web page a list with the last songs played in his Winamp. This list is update by FTP in real time.

Hmm, it looks somewhat interesting. Of course, I don’t listen to mp3s much due to their low sound quality, but perhaps others would find this useful. So, hey, leave a comment if you give this a try.

(Link from the mailing list of WebWord, a usability website)

Ogg Vorbis goes gold

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

As mentioned at The Register, “Ogg Vorbis goes gold” today.

For music fans the hope is that major hardware vendors will back the format, which is promoted as offering higher quality playback in less space than MP3. [...]

However, the code isn’t quite ready for download by the masses:

News of the release came to us in an email from Reg reader Douglas Gore, who told us: “Ogg Vorbis officially become version 1.0 today as announced on the developers mailing list, they haven't announced this officially yet as they are preparing it for full release, but the code is in the CVS and already people have compiles of the final code floating around in the Internet.” [...]

The big-win for me is that Ogg isn’t encumbered by patents, unlike mp3.

New In Flames Album

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

As mentioned in Century Media’s monthly newsletter, In Flames is coming out with a new album “Reroute To Remain” on September 3rd. As In Flames is my second-favorite band, I’m so excited about this! (Nevermore is first, for those curious, due to their spectacular “Dreaming Neon Black” album.)

And, just for Josh, I’ll pass along that the Century Media newsletter also mentioned that Meshuggah has completed their new disc Nothing.

Midway through their Ozzfest venture, Nothing will crash onto the scene. Fans attending Ozzfest can pre-order the disc for 5 bucks at the FYE booth. Not only will that reserve a copy of Nothing, but those that pre-order will also receive a free Nothing booklet right then to have the band autograph at one of the many signings held everyday on Ozzfest. What a deal!

Nothing will be released on August 6th.

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

Well, it looks like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are coming out with a new album on Tuesday (July 9th), “A Jackknife to a Swan”. If early reviews are any indication, this one may not be bad. They kinda fell off the ska wagon with Pay Attention, but perhaps they’ll be back in good form for this album.

The band brings back some of the old, while trying something new. It has an overall happy, upbeat, and sometimes relaxed feel. […]

I look forward to reading what MetaCritic has to say about it, as their aggregated-review system is usually reliable.