Category: Music

Gear by Joe WilcoxDec 10, 20151:00 pm

Google’s Sharing Spirit of the Season

Ho. Ho. Ho. Google gives early Christmas presents this holiday, by focusing on ways that families (or roomies) can better share that which is contextually precious: music, photos, online, payments, and videos. But Big G also trails Apple, which already offers its customers many of the same benefits.

Fresh today: Google Photos Shared Albums, which applies collaborative concepts that Apps users should find familiar. “People receiving the shared album can join to add their own photos and videos, and also get notifications when new pics are added”, according to the official announcement. “You can even save photos and videos from a shared album to your Google Photos library, so that you can hold onto them even if you weren’t the one holding the camera”.

Web by Joe WilcoxDec 9, 20159:55 am

Indochine My Morning

I can’t speak, nor do I comprehend, more than ten words of French. But I love this band’s music, nevertheless. At 10:45 PST this morning, Indochine streams live from Paris, and I am so down for it. Maybe I’ll Chromecast to the tellie from one device, while working on another (got lots of writing to do).

The live stream is one of the many benefits subscribing to Tidal, which now sells lossless albums, too. Oh la la. The $19.99 monthly service gets better and better. I hear the difference listening to tracks encoded with the 1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec versus AAC or MP3.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 3, 20157:22 am

Flickr a Day 337: ‘Halsey”

The portrait of singer Halsey isn’t the first musical selection of the series, but it is likely last. See Days 8, 16, 85, 100, 167, 178, 235, 276, 298, 315. DeShaun Craddock captured the moment on Sept. 6, 2015, using Nikon D750 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. […]

Gear by Joe WilcoxNov 25, 201512:40 am

Painful Parting

Last night, I returned to Amazon the Sennheiser Momentum 2 wireless headphones received on Nov.8, 2015. The retailer promises full refund. My ears ache from using them, even with the volume low. The problem is bass response, which is too intense for my aged ears. At the same time, I removed the Grado Labs RS1e from Craigslist. I will keep the wired cans.

I let go the Bluetooth set reluctantly. I like the design, construction, materials, and controls. Wireless connects easily and provides ample volume. But bass booms, and the devices on which I listen have limited graphic equalizer or none at all.

Living by Joe WilcoxNov 17, 20153:25 pm

‘Paris, I Love You’

I haven’t quite abandoned Tidal, despite bassy boom when using my new Sennheiser Momentum 2 headphones. Lossless listening is otherwise enjoyable; the problem starts with the cans and ends with the music streaming service not providing a graphic equalizer. I understand there being no EQ, if the point is high-fidelity that fairly accurately represents the original recording. That said, I really need to throttle back bass, or my ears ache. Aging sucks.

Tidal’s playlists are consistently fresh and superbly curated. Today’s delight: “Paris Je T’aime“, or “Paris, I Love You”, which timing isn’t coincidental, following Friday the 13th terrorist attacks that killed 129 around the city. “Memoria”, by Indochine, is the 22-track playlist’s standout.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 13, 20157:22 am

Flickr a Day 317: ‘Jacky’

Are you feeling lucky? We come to our third Friday the 13th in 2015 (there is but one next year). The other two were in February and March on Days 44 and 72. Good photographers make their own luck, as Teymur Madjderey did the last time there was Friday 13th in November, 2009, while traveling in southern Germany (he lives in Cologne, which is his hometown).

“This was taken in a very nice hotel in Karlsruhe”, he says, “in the Hotel Der Blaue Reiter. Gotta get back there at some point and discover the other great rooms they have”. Our runner-up better shows off the room. Teymur used the same model for both photos. He shot self-titled “Jacky” using Nikon D3 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/200 sec, 29mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 11, 20157:11 am

Flickr a Day 315: ‘A Contemporary Fairytale’

I had to lean in and look closely before my brain rationalized this interesting and unexpected concert capture. Matilde Zacchigna shot self-titled “A Contemporary Fairytale” on June 20, 2008, using Nikon D40. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 800, […]

Gear by Joe WilcoxOct 26, 20157:25 pm

I Couldn’t Break the Surface Tension

Today, Microsoft started selling Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, and I strongly considered buying either. During the past 10 days, I visited the company’s Fashion Valley store four different times specifically to play with the devices. The hardware dazzles, but I couldn’t get beyond Windows 10 when compared to benefits I receive using Chromebook Pixel LS. SB’s price, which starts at $1,499, is another impediment.

There is something to be said for straightforward, simple, and efficient computing, which Google gets right. Contextual sync is among Chrome OS’s biggest benefits. Little things, like popping my camera’s SD card into Pixel’s slot and the laptop backing up photos to Google Drive, which is accessible from the file manager as if local storage. Granted, there are application gaps, but the overall user experience fills them in.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 25, 20157:01 am

Flickr a Day 298: ‘Violinist at Pike Place Market’

After a hiatus, we return to street photography for the next couple of days. “During my walk around Pike Place Market, I encountered a street performer who was playing a violin”, Lan Phan says. Hence […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 3, 20157:03 am

Flickr a Day 276: ‘My Kingdom Band Promo 1’

Music photographer Chris Romano captures emotion and vigor in his live performance shots. But his band promos are irresistibly charismatic. He shot self-titled “My Kingdom Band Promo 1” on Nov. 7, 2014, using Nikon D600 and […]

Music by Joe WilcoxSep 29, 201512:00 pm

My Apple Music Swan Song

Look what email greeted when I rolled out of bed and in front of the computer this AM (Pacific Time). Apple Music wants my business. That’s not happening. After signing up for the three-month trial, which ends September 30, I returned to using Chromebook Pixel LS and Nexus 6. The streaming service supports neither device, so, yes, I turned off autorenewal.

This brief post is a reminder to you to do likewise, if having signed up you’re not planning to keep the service. Apple Music turns on autorenew by default, so if you want out, don’t wait. Opt out now. On the other hand, if you enjoy the service, do nothing and listen. You’re covered.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 201512:30 pm

I Like Apple Music, But…

Yesterday, I joined the 61 percent. The figure represents the people who, in a MusicWatch survey of 5,000, had turned off auto-renew on their free Apple Music trial, which for all ends September 30. Unless something really big comes out of this week’s media event, where new iPhones could debut and iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan receive release dates, I will listen elsewhere. For now, I will stream higher-fidelity tracks from Tidal, and expand my musical horizons at services like SoundCloud.

Strange thing: I don’t dislike Apple Music. Curated playlists are “frak me” good. Family pricing, $14.99 per month, is very reasonable. The library is voluminous; if I want to listen to it, Apple Music likely has it. Then there is the benefit of easy access to my own library of about 14,000 tracks alongside juicy fruit picked from the orchard.