rock

If you haven't heard of The Wooden Birds, maybe you know Andrew Kenny from his other band The American Analog Set. Or perhaps Matt Pond from Matt Pond PA?

If you haven't heard of any of these guys, well, you have some catching up to do on your indie rock. The new quartet stopped by the CBS Interactive studios to share some thoughts and tunes from their new LP "Magnolia." The lineup features Andrew Kenny on lead vocals and guitar; Leslie Sisson on vocals; Sean Haskins on drums; and, unexpectedly, Matt Pond on guitar.

Check out … Read more

With the popularity of music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero continuing to climb, there's no surprise that companies outside of video game development are trying to make a few extra bucks on those titles.

Thus it its that on Tuesday, Altec Lansing announced the Stage-Gig amplified speaker. The accessory is designed to work with Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and DJ Hero. According to the company, the amp puts out 40 watts of power. It works with any current gaming console.

Altec Lansing believes gamers who play popular music games want better sound. The company said that with … Read more

Rock Band. For iPhone and iPod Touch. Right now in the App Store for $9.99.

Just thought I'd cut right to the crucial information, as hard-core fans of the console mega-hit probably don't need to hear anything more. "Rock Band? iPhone? Ten bucks? Sweet!"

Everyone else should listen up before plunking down that sawbuck. EA's official, real-deal port brings the jamfest to the iPhone in style, with gorgeous visuals, great songs, and some solid multiplayer action.

Unfortunately, compromises abound. The songs are great, but you get only 20 of them (and 5 are locked). … Read more

Episode 53 of the Digital City, where we explore Netbook gaming, thanks to the Nivida Ion and HP's Mini 311; the thin-is-in designs of the new Dell Adamo and Sony X-series; T-Mobile and Microsoft's Sidekick problems; and Scott's Forza 3 obsession.

Plus, a quick sneak-peek of Rock Band for iPhone and -- just in time for Halloween -- tech celebrity jack-lantern carvings.

Related links: >>Netbook gaming arrives: HP's Mini 311 >>Dell teases with new Adamo shots >>Sony's pencil-thin X-series laptop >>Forza 3 hands-on: Never underestimate the power of a British accent &… Read more

The availability of instant digital downloads from services like iTunes, Amazon, or Netflix has made it convenient for me watch TV shows on my time, without the commercials. Isn't it obvious? I choose when to watch a show and I save about 15 minutes worth of useless advertising.

Similarly, one might use a DVR to record shows and watch them at a later time, with the liberty of fast-forwarding through ads. Although there are those who don't mind commercials, most would probably skip them. So it's not surprising that TiVo reported "nearly all of the television … Read more

A clever press pitch crossed our desk recently that takes interest in music and rhythm video games and uses them to push the age-old business of selling sheet music.

Sheet Music Plus sells sheet music and songbooks for guitar, piano, and other instruments, and in a recent press release, ties that into the popularity of The Beatles: Rock Band and similar games, saying, "As music-driven video games continue to explode in popularity," the company aims to "help gamers channel their passion into becoming active musicians."

Being musically minded, that sounds like a laudable goal, but surprisingly, … Read more

If you're even remotely interested in The Beatles, today's episode of The 404 is a must listen. CNET Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg helps us out today for all things Beatles. To set it all up, Steve gives the three of us a lesson in how the band essentially shaped a decade of music and culture and how they became innovators in the way that bands record music. For example, did you know that it only took the band 4 hours to record and mix the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?" Later on in the show, Steve tells us about how the Beatles used a vacuum tube-based machine to record their earlier albums and later switched to solid-state, with adverse affects to the low-end sounds. Lots more Beatles trivia on the show!

We also talk extensively about the latest Beatles Remasters and whether or not they're worth the extra investment. Some claim that there are "near-miraculous improvements in the key areas of information retrieval, hidden details, expanded midrange, etc...," but Steve makes the argument that simply remastering doesn't necessarily improve sound quality. Check out the Audiophiliac blog for Steve's Beatles box set review coming soon, but in the meantime you can enter for a chance to win the entire remastered Beatles CD collection!

I'm following Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" event along with the CNET staff, but even before the event started, I saw that Apple has revealed its new LP format for iTunes.

It's called iTunes LP, and you can access it by clicking the top item on the "More to Explore" box in the left side of the iTunes Store front page. The new format includes more album art, lyrics, writing about the record, video (such as interviews with band members), and perhaps additional songs.

There are only a handful of albums … Read more

On September 9, classic rock fans will have a chance to strap on a plastic guitar and jam along with the biggest act in popular music history.

Artfully orchestrated buzz has been building for The Beatles: Rock Band since the start of 2009, and the team of developer Harmonix and publisher MTV Games (and distribution partner EA) hope to provide a bright spot in an otherwise drab video game market with one of the few video game products for the 2009 holiday season that has a real chance of appealing beyond core gamers.

We've gotten our hands on a final retail version of the game (minus the new Beatles-inspired instruments, but our old Rock Band gear worked fine), and gave it a test drive in CNET's AV Lab. Check out this video to see our extremely shaky music skills, and read our hands-on impressions below.

Dan: Music aside, this is essentially the same Rock Band game you've been playing for two years, but with nicely done overhauls of the menus, graphics, and interface, including some very cool animated Beatles segments. The biggest change to the actual gameplay is the inclusion of three-part vocal harmonies (you'll need three USB mics). We found out the hard way that these songs are actually pretty tough to sing, and nailing the harmonies is even tougher. … Read more