Portable Internet Radio to take on XM? 231
TheDude writes "A friend who works for a design company attended the Australian EDN awards last night and was impressed with one of the winners, in the wireless category, which was won by Grey Innovation for their Infusion device . It's a Linux based portable internet radio that streams Internet Radio over WiFi. Is this the future of Radio? Given the big push by XM and Sirus , the potential of Podcasting and now the "inFusion", in which direction is mass-audio-broadcast heading? And why isn't anyone really pushing Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), like they have in the UK ?"
I want one! (Score:2)
Re:I want one! (Score:2)
Nevertheless, this device, or ones like it, will catch on with listeners. I wonder when conventional analog radio will croak altogether. If Internet radio keeps gathering steam, that moment may come sooner than anybody can predict. The Internet is transforming the breadth of radio from a narrow range of choices limited to the ones on the dial, to a vast range of "stations" that are really just IP addresses. The old paradigm of radio is like visiting a restaraunt (i.e., a geographic location with its particular stations,) whereas the new model, Internet radio, is like being able to order whatever you desire from virtually any location in the world with no dimunition in quality over distance.
Re:I want one! (Score:2)
Re:I want one! (Score:2)
Ferchrissakes, quit spamming. Once is enough, K?
But... (Score:1, Funny)
The best Radio is FREE. (Score:5, Interesting)
http://209.235.176.54/reverse_evolutionblues.mp3 [209.235.176.54]
Best heard under Heavy surround sound because it hasn't been mixed yet.lol
However I live by words, and YES i do suck. But here is my take. And its free for you. You need surround sound and good stereo to appreciate it, but i give it to you. That way its still mine. :P
And yes I wrote this and performed all the instruments. So its mine to give.
Re:The best Radio is FREE. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The best Radio is FREE. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The best Radio is FREE. (Score:2)
Re:The best Radio is FREE. (Score:2)
smt 5600 (Score:2, Interesting)
I heard of some people streaming live tv through a home computer and a program called orb to their cell phone.
It looks like wireless media is here.
Affordable? (Score:1)
I stream radio from the internet to my Audiovox SMT 5600 cell phone. Unlimited data plan so there is no charge for me other then the monthly.
How much does an unlimited data plan cost compared to a service such as XM Radio?
Re:Affordable? (Score:1)
Its still a little on the expensive side, but I like having internet everywhere I go.
Re:Affordable? (Score:1)
Re:Affordable? (Score:2)
Having Internet access is nice, but using it via a tiny phone screen is not my idea of fun, I think my phone is 150 pixels in each direction. I was given a two month's trial but cancelled it within a couple weeks.
Re:Affordable? (Score:2)
Also, the $25/month is IP traffic, not just "music" traffic. You can use it for all number of things while mobile, including real-time traffic updates, directories, you name it.
Re:Affordable? (Score:2)
I wonder (Score:2, Funny)
Not gonna happen (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:1)
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:1)
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:3, Interesting)
Basically the government spends money on what it wants to, and it's too bad if you don't like it. I want WiFi, you want roads. You can't always get what you want...
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:2, Interesting)
Why should that be? Because you say so?
The fact that so many people think the first is good enough is probably why the government costs the average person over half their income now, as opposed to less than a tenth in 1920.
Go and live in 1920 then. Living standards and general wealth are much higher these days, even with the government taking so much money. I'm sure there are plenty of places that charge little tax - but I'm not sure you would want to live in those places.
it makes it a bit hard to suggest we have local governments indulge us with something like free wireless when it can already be done in the private sector
Theoretically it could be done by private industry, but in reality, it is not. And it would be inefficient to have multiple competing services, instead of sharing resources. How long do we have to wait for industry to get their shit together? Just because something can be done by private industry, doesn't mean it should. After all, the government doesn't need to make a profit. With private industry you are paying a large "tax" so they make money. Why waste all that money?
and quit suggesting your neighbor be forced to chip in against her will for your luxury.
For many people it is not a luxury - it's a chance to get a step-up in life, and get some of the things that the privileged take for granted. For many people it could mean the difference between being educated and being uneducated or indoctrinated.
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:2)
I agree with you that government is not the most efficient agent to implement something as complex as wi-fi, but there are real benefits to be realized by universal access that may transcend the inevitable corruption and inefficiencies that would accompany it.
Just imagine if everyone, and I mean everyone, in a twenty-square mile area could IM each other, quickly check a restaurant's hours and menu and reservations, access global positioning info while on the road, be warned of accidents or obstacles on their route via "push" messages, and basically be totally connected.
It would be bad for companies like Verizon and Comcast who obviously want to monopolize broadband services, but on the other hand these companies would likely get fat contracts to implement and manage a lot of the infrastructure. It would be great for companies that market cheap wireless gadgets.
Regarding the topic of streaming audio, it would empower basically everyone to broadcast their own shows. You would have hundreds if not thousands of little "radio" stations, each spewing its own take on affairs of the day, music (somehow regulated for royalties), and whatever creative applications people come up with.
It seems to me the plusses will outweigh the minuses.
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:1)
Why? Couldn't a company come in and put up WiFi access points all over and have people pay a subscription fee to use them? I personally feel that would be a much better solution to wireless internet than these dial up cell phone based services. I don't see why it would have to be a city to do it and I think the city would do a much worse job than a for-profit company.
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:2)
As an example, I'll offer WOXY, a Cincinnati traditional radio station that has gone 100% internet. http://woxy.com/ [woxy.com]
They have 6 different streams for you to choose from depending on your taste in bandwidth and player.
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:2)
I would hope so.
Re:Not gonna happen (Score:2)
<slinks off>
hey, anyone listening? (Score:1)
i guess wifi is the only way to deliver this, airtunes style.
this functionality could be built into future ipods and other music players. i'd pay more for it.
No - the future is EDGE/WDCMA/EDVO (Score:3, Informative)
Internet radio is also a very good application when done well (check the radio stations in iTunes if you haven't already), but you can do a lot more than just radio if you have Internet access. With Internet access you can also have music on demand. Rhapsody, Napster or the new Yahoo! Music Unlimited all provide this for a small subscription fee of $5-$10 US per month - much less than XM or Sirius charges. Their catalogues are pretty sizable, over 1 million tracks each.
The key is to link this all together with a reasonable user interface. It would manifest itself in the form of a device (either standalone or built into an automobile) capable of tuning into these radio streams, or connecting to one of the music-on-demand services, with a Bluetooth interface using the Dial-Up Networking profile. Tether that to your Bluetooth-capable mobile phone, and voila. Instant kick-ass.
I've already got a portable EV-DO solution! (Score:2)
I had tried the same thing with a Treo650 on Cingular's EDGE but encountered nothing but headaches with the Treo. I've been a Palm fanboi since `97 and sadly the Treo650 changed all of that. It was completely unreliable even in factory settings just being used as a phone! The damn thing crashed when I received phone calls, when I received Emails/SMS, and once got into a reboot loop when I had the nerve to receive a SMS while on a phone call. I had it for 2 weeks and unable to resolve my troubles.
There are a few things I should warn about though in going the route I have. This burns through an amazing amount of battery, especially when used in conjunction with my iTech Bluetooth Stereo Headset [itechdynamic.com] which I highly recommend to anyone thinking of pursuing this route. It instantly makes this the coolest portable music route to take. But you'll need to also invest in a much bigger battery, I personally opted for a 2200mAh Li-Ion but there are 3300mAh also available [simplyonline.com]. Of course you'll need a stylish case that can comfortably fit the engorged battery. My 2200 barely fits in my Covertec [mobileplanet.com]. Lastly, you'll need a decent SD Card [tigerdirect.com] if you don't have one already. You will be amazed at how much difference a spare gig of storage can make, and this actually makes for a nice portable video player as well.
Let us review the cost of convergence:
Audiovox XV6600 = $600
Stereo Bluetooth Headset = $70
2200mAh Li-Ion Battery = $80
Covertec Leather Case = $40
Corsair 1Gig SD Card = $80
Never being alone in the harshness of meatspace without the warm buzz of the collective = Priceless.
There are some things money can't buy, for everything else resistance is futile.
Re:No - the future is EDGE/WDCMA/EDVO (Score:2)
Re:No - the future is EDGE/WDCMA/EDVO (Score:2)
Re:DIY Music distro system. (Score:2, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
DAB isn't the last word in radio (Score:3, Informative)
Re:DAB isn't the last word in radio (Score:2)
DVB tv (freeview) suffers from the same problem, though at least when they eventually switch off analog tv broadcasting (currently looking at around 2010) there'll be a huge amount of bandwidth freed up for all sorts of services, including more and higher rate digital broadcasting.
Broadcast = good (Score:2)
The funny thing about this though is that broadcast => someone has to decide what the more popular channels are => corporate control => will never be as popular or as cheap as P2P / intelligence-at-the-edges. So even though unicast streaming to everyone is much less effecient, it'll still eventually be cheaper. Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it.
Cache? (Score:1)
First radio, then comes t.v. (Score:2)
Sorry, this was phrased real badly.
Bad fit for a packet network (Score:2, Funny)
Not enough satellite bandwidth! (Score:2)
That's not much room at all for tons of broadcast channels.
Re:Not enough satellite bandwidth! (Score:2)
In the last round of negotiating for spectrum, 25mhz was allocated for SDARS (satellite digital audio radio services). Originally it was going to be much more, but congress decided to order the FCC to allocate/auction a lot of that bandwidth to terrestrial wireless uses. XM and Sirius both paid around $90 each for their 12.5 mhz.
This scarcity of satellite bandwidth is why DirecTV has to upgrade all their receivers for their future expansion, to move to MPEG4 rather than MPEG2, more efficiency of the bandwidth they have now.
For a mobile service like XM or Sirius, selectively pointing a high gain antenna a different sats on the same frequencies from a mobile or handheld device is not very practical right now. So frequency re-use is out of the question. I understand that they both use multiple satellites for diversity, that is, the same content is transmitted from both sats and your receiver picks the strongest receiver.
Satellite also means that I won't have any interactive features as it would a 2-way system based on a huge network of wireless access points. And these networks of access points are coming, be it over your wireless phone or vi WiMax or similar technologies.
Just because a protocol isn't ideal doesn't mean it won't make business sense. If that was the case no one would be using VoIP!
(FYI- I spend only $20 to get unlimited wireless data with Tmobile, and only $15 with Sprint on my Treo)
Re:Not enough satellite bandwidth! (Score:2)
For popular programming, IP multicasting is effectively broadcasting over IP networks. Multicasting hasn't taken off big on the internet because of issues relating to ISP peering and routing protocol standards. However, universities and large corporations are using Multicast to deliver real time video to thousands of desktops at the same time.
But you're right, for large scale mass media, a satellite broadcast makes a lot of sense (except in areas where the sat can't be received well - e.g. office buildings). But for larger amounts of niche programming (there are well over 10,000 internet radio stations now) the bandwidth isn't there for satellite services to be broadcasting all of them all the time.
An interesting possibility (Score:2)
XM is quite horrendous (Score:2)
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:2)
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:2)
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:2)
That's what FM/Clearchannel is for.
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:5, Insightful)
You're persuading me to give XM serious thought. Avoiding Top 40 isn't a bug, it's a feature.
For example...the problem with "oldies" stations is that they're not oldies stations; they're oldies Top 40 stations. The only thing that keeps them from being as wretched as modern Top N stations is that they select their material from a time when radio was less specialized, so that they achieve some variety despite themselves. Even so, you'll never hear Quicksilver Messenger Service, or Pearls Before Swine on most oldies stations. Heck, you won't even hear the Nazz's "Hello, It's Me" as opposed to Todd Rundgren's solo version.
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:3, Informative)
On XM, there is more than one "rock station" that would play music that broadcast stations must play on the same station, save some of your huge market cities where there may be a bit more selection of stations. XM offers quite a few different "genres" of rock stations-- Ethel plays songs from the alternative genre.. from Blink 182 to Nirvana. Boneyard plays your hard rock, which has a pretty huge fanbase...
Aww hell, just look for yourself. The description on the XM Radio [xmradio.com] [XMRadio.com] website does a fairly good job in explaining this anyway.
Re:XM is quite horrendous (Score:2)
Nah... (Score:2)
Digital Audio Radio in the US (Score:2, Interesting)
Because DAB is shared across all stations. They take the spectrum and use wavelength division multiplexing and time division multiplexing to spread all of the stations with digital broadcasts across the spectrum. This allows high station density and no problems associated with signal drop out from distance nodes. However, this situation requires cooperation between competitors vying for listeners, something that is nearly impossible to achieve in the fiercly independent business environment of the USA.
The US alternative is Digital Audio Radio (DAR) using In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) broadcasting. IBOC uses a station's existing carrier frequency and puts the digital signal in the low-power extremeties of the carrier as mandated by the FCC. This is not as efficient as DAB because you don't eliminate the issue of signal dropout from fequency nodes, and you may suffer from interference when listening to the analog signal. The good thing is that setup costs are much lower compared to DAB and, as is true with all digital audio radio situations, the digital signal carries further with lower power than analog.
So why isn't IBOC popular? It's not as robust as DAB and there is little incentive for stations to switch. Who has a DAR receiver in their car? Here's hoping that one day this will be a reality.
Re:Digital Audio Radio in the US (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Digital Audio Radio in the US (Score:2)
On the other hand, digital radio has distinct advantages, especially in moving vehicles. Even when using RDS/EON to track the best frequency to receive a station on, the frequency switches are audible on analog. Digital doesn't care that the signal is fading, it either works or doesnt, and if it works, the sound is always the same volume. Getting good reception out of digital with simple, low-quality components is a lot easier than building an analog set that filters out all those analog hisses and pops and whatnots. You just need to build a checksum, do some errorcorrection, and if you can't recover the frame, drop in some silence.
I'd much prefer this over the upsetting noises my car radio can sometimes scare me with when driving (especially crosstalk from other stations when crossing bridges).
Re:Digital Audio Radio in the US (Score:2)
Also, as per receivers in cars and what not-- nobody had XM or Sirius until recently... The only incentive that manufacturers need is some companies and organizations committing to making real broadcast stations and infrastructure setup. Honestly I don't see how consumers could ignore the fact that you could get quality on par with satellite radio (correct me if I'm wrong) and no subscription fee. You would get nation-wide, as they explain that stations in France carry the same signal in the UK still.
I would love this tech!
well, here's how "alternative" radio works (Score:3, Insightful)
now, that's the original alternative radio format, and you control it yourself, all of it, every bit. with shuffle and random play options on most everything except linear tape products, it's truly random (most-played on the 'pod is about the same as top rock radio.)
radio when it works has always been a locally-focussed medium... the jukebox aspect is the filler for the local chatter, news, information, sports, and the like. radio when it doesn't comes off the big bird and you get two drop-in spots at the half hour and can donut the top of the hour.
the point is, none of those guys do what you are used to. it once upon a time was a sure thing to expose you to new venues, music types, and new songs and artists, when you could have beach boys bumped up against patsy cline and followed with the frank chacksfield orchestra and nilsson.
three new songs a week on any top-chart station is all the new you get, and it's all of a sameness.
radio has to get back to local to save itself, and I mean without all the invective of screech radio. until then, I format it myself, which I have done since before I strained the ether with my college radio hour.
May You Live in Interesting Times indeed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:May You Live in Interesting Times indeed (Score:2)
Even "Kramer", in his tv show "Mad Money" on CNBC played the death-march for FM-radio last week...
Short answer: YES... (Score:4, Insightful)
I follow the music and technology closely (systems administrator by trade) and have followed both XM and Sirius with a good deal of interest. But there's the catch: the reason I've followed them with such great interest is because the right alternative hasn't been available. And thats (aside from the desktop) internet radio.
Why is internet radio the right format? Because its a totally open system. Look at programs like Off The Hook for example. Thats the kind of programming that couldn't exist in a closed system, but on the internet the field is wide open.
Why on earth we'd want anything less then that is beyond me. We've already had our closed system, its called the public airwaves. Everyone knows Clear Channel perfected it, but they aren't to blame the system was flawed from the start. Anyone can have a website and thats all it takes to run a broadcast.
I don't know anything about this product, but I do know I'm a firm believer that internet radio is the answer to a question a lot of us have been asking ourselves for as long as we've been listening to music.
Props to XM and Sirius for broadening the horizon, but I can't see their (still limited) approach as much more then a stop-gap measure until WIFI broadband becomes ubiquitous enough that people can tune into their favorite radio station or flip on something they've never even heard before.
If I sound a little giddy its because my favorite syles of music aren't available at your local Virgin Mega Store, in fact since the arts and music explosion on the internet I can't even find most of my favorite bands down at the local alternative record store and I live in a major metropolitan city.
Even with all the existing media outlets combined they don't even begin to scratch the surface of whats available. And theres a lot of good stuff out there.
Sorry for going overboard. I feel passionate about it. This is a very exciting time in general and as a art and music lover doubly so. The beauty of the internet is that it's so totally open and I've been doing this for a long time now and I still find myself saying "wow".
Don't ever put this genie back in the bottle.
Sure... (Score:3, Insightful)
Right now Shoutcast.com alone is listing 8,751 stations. Thats just *one* portal.
I define 'closed' as being limited by available resources. You provide college radio as an alternative, but thats just one alternative station per regional market: shoutcast lists 1000's. Do you see the difference?
Radio tuner encoders (Score:2)
I only found cards which could do one channel at the same time.
My question is, does somebody know radio tuner cards which can listen to / encode more than one channel at the time?
Internet Radio=NO CLEAR CHANNEL (Score:2)
Not that DJ's are bad. On rare occassion they can quite pleasant. There are only two stations I've found in my area where the DJ's tell you what songs their playing, toss in some brief trivia, and give you some local news. Unfortunately, my favorite (Oldies 97.1, KISN FM) just got dropped onto the AM band by its owners. So that leaves one with decent sound quality.
With global distribution from any point and relatively low cost, I doubt Clear Channel stands a chance of dominating streaming the way it has the FM band.
Authentication (Score:2)
How about some sort of XMLRPC protocol, so this authentication could be automated? It still sucks that I have to fire up my browser to enter my username/password, which is store in there anyway..
Not exactly portable (Score:2)
Roku Soundbridge [rokulabs.com]. Thank the gods it works with my router.
Convetional radio sucks. Especially the local stations. Moreso now that ClearChannel has a cookie-cutter KISS-FM here.
The wife likes listening to the 80s channel [club977.com] and I like listening to jazz [smoothjazz.com] and traditional irish folk/pop. The latter of which have no market or stations here in Austin, TX. YOU try to give culture to this place. It doesn't work for the most part.
2 Responses (Score:2, Troll)
Re:2 Responses (Score:3, Informative)
Streaming on my Treo (Score:3, Interesting)
This can't compete with XM on quality and obviously not on signal reception. But a treo with a wifi card would beat the device referenced in this article hands down, in my opinion.
Re:Streaming on my Treo (Score:2)
Re:Streaming on my Treo (Score:2)
PS- *BSP* warning, SomaFM now is streaming 3 channels in 40kb aacPlus RTSP/LATM for 3GPP phones. So if you have one of the few Sprint 3GPP phones (Samsung and some Sanyo models) you can get our streams on those phones now.
Does it do Real Media format? (Score:2)
Reciva [reciva.com] who were featured on
uhhh... (Score:2)
Use existing IP satellites (Score:2)
When In Roam (Score:3, Insightful)
WiFi (and its descendants) will be just the place to settle down, or breathe free. But hotspots will be spotty for some time, as our society's P2P buildout continues inexorably, but unplanned. The way this environment will reach a basic mobility platform includes interspot coverage by barely-adequate 3G "phone" networks, with roaming among them and hotspots, interchangeably. Motorola has announced a WLAN/GSM roamer due by Q32005. BT promises a WiFi/GSM "phone" [vnunet.com] by Q42005, and is launching a Bluetooth/GSM project. These vendors are trying to both extend cell/PCS service to enterprise WLANs (SCCAN [sccan.org]), and roam VoWLAN connections to cell/PCS networks (UMA [umatechnology.org]). And the IEEE already has a new "WiFi" descendant, WMM [nwfusion.com], that promises better roaming and QoS over the WLANs, for seamless telephony interop.
The upshot for devices like this cute little inFusion Internet radio is popularity well beyond shoppers at ThinkGeek. Which bigger global market means cheaper devices, easier to use, and more jobs for geeks. But it also means a bigger audience for content, within which niche producers can find supporting consumer scale for even the least popular content. So the leveled multimedia playing field can support people who tie other people together across the globe. Let's get it on!
Broadcast Flag Considered Helpful (Score:2)
Re:No, it's not (Score:2)
Actually, LA is a perfect example of a city where this wouldn't. Unlike NY, the "city" has no center, it's just a huge semi-dense, mostly lo-rise sprawl of thoroughly mixed commercial, residential, and industrial areas. There'll never be more than a patchy ad-hoc WiFi system here in Los Angeles for the same reason we won't ever have a decent public transportation system. There is no heart to the city where you can get a reasonable benefit for your infrastructure investment. Either you spend billions to put a WiFi hub on every third street light, or you got nuthin'...
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No, it's not (Score:2)
What, you mean hip-hop and rap aren't the highest form of musical sophistication and lyrical construct?
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
birge, meet troll. Troll, birge.
Oops, I guess IHBT as well with this reply.
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
I listen to a *lot* of progressive music, and there's a metric buttload of good progressive music coming from just about any part of the world right now - not just the U.K.
Some examples are: Ritual, Echolyn, Hourglass, Nightwish, After Forever, Opeth, Symphony X, Sonata Arctica, Lacuna Coil, Star One, and Dream Theater
That's just a drop in the bucket, and none of them are from the U.K.
If you want to check them out and more, go to Progged Radio [proggedradio.com].
Another great way to hear what's out there is to listen to the Canvas Prog Hour [canvasproductions.net]
Also, Nightwish is on the listening stations in Borders this month.
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure, anytime!
I shouldn't have been so flip, especially about prog rock
Oh, you weren't. You message came across right, I was just adding to it. I guess I came off more "intense" than I was aiming for.
I probably completely abused the term progressive rock.
It's actually a very difficult term to pin down exactly. One person's progressive rock, is another person's plain old rock & roll. For instance, Spock's Beard is very different than Lacuna Coil, and the later has the more radio friendly sound and running times.
Another problem is that bands change over time. For instance, compare "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" era Genesis with "We Can't Dance" era Genesis, "Tales from Topographic Oceans" era Yes with "90125" era Yes, and "2112" era Rush with "Moving Pictures" era Rush. Sometimes the later incarnations are not considered very progressive. Many people have difficulty believing Genesis was a progressive band!
It's made worse, by the fact that the artists don't always see themselves as a progressive band. For instance, Porcupine Tree doesn't consider themselves progressive, but many people classify them as such. They have certainly made progressive music, but they have also changed their sound many, many times.
There are also several genres of progressive rock. You can have progressive metal and progressive folk, for instance.
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
So, what's Hourglass like? Not familiar with them. Thanks!
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
Thanx! :) Apparently there's a lot of us listening to this stuff. Like I said, I saw Nightwish on the Borders listening station this month. You know progressive is coming back when Borders makes a point of displaying obscure Finnish symphonic progressive metal.
(Well, except for the Ritual - hate the second album).
I love the pirates! That song gets blasted a lot. :)
So, what's Hourglass like? Not familiar with them. Thanks!
They're kind of a mix of old-school progressive with modern progressive metal. You can listen to quite a bit of them at their site [hourglassband.com]. You can also get both of their albums for $21.
You can make a request on Progged as well, I know they have at least one of the Hourglass albums, or I wouldn't have heard of them. That radio station has made me spend more money in the past month than alt.music.progressive did in 10 years (and I bought the Ozric Tentacles boxed set through Ranjit!).
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
Speaking of which, I need to call Greg tonight and order some stuff - any recommendations? Tonight is Greg, tomorrow is Ken. On my list, I have Present, White Willow, Univers Zero, Isildur's Bane, Meshuggah, Pain of Salvation, Deus Ex Machina (if they've done anything new in a while), and a few others.
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
LOL! The funny part is, I haven't read a.m.p. in about a decade, so thanks for stressing the old bit. ;)
Speaking of which, I need to call Greg tonight and order some stuff - any recommendations? Tonight is Greg, tomorrow is Ken.
Forgive my ignorance, but who are Greg and Ken?
On my list, I have Present, White Willow, Univers Zero, Isildur's Bane, Meshuggah, Pain of Salvation, Deus Ex Machina (if they've done anything new in a while), and a few others.
Hmmm, I'm going to have to add most of your list to my list of music to look into (I'm not the biggest fan of Pain of Salvation). Meshuggah was already on my list.
Recently, I've been into Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, and Opeth. I managed to find the original two disk set of Lacuna Coil's "Comalies", so I've been blasting it.
So, what do I recommend....
For new progressive rock, I recommend bands like Echolyn, Spock's Beard, or The Flower Kings. Echolyn may be very hard to find, but the newest album is supposed to be amazing. Spock's Beard's latest, Octane, is also very good. Most fans of the Flower Kings don't like their latest album, "Adam & Eve", as much as their older ones.
Ozric Tentacles is interesting if you like instrument rock with some folk and dance music thrown in. I recommend the middle era OT, as it seems to be the most progressive. Their best albums are probably, "Strangitude", "Arborescense", "Become the Other", and "Waterfall Cities".
If you want a completely unpredictable band from album to album, by all means, get Porcupine Tree. Their style varies from 30 minute Pink Floyd meets Ozric Tentacles jams on "The Sky Moves Sideways", to hard rock and Beach Boys choruses on "In Absentia". Their best known works are "Signify" and "In Absentia". If you like a good mix, you basically can't go wrong with "In Absentia" (which is available in DTS 5.1 if you want). Most of the time, I just play their concert albums, "Coma Divine" and "Warszawa".
For progressive metal, I still recommend Dream Theater. "Scenes From a Memory" is good if you like concept albums with a mix of styles, and "Train of Thought" is a more grounded progressive metal sound. The second album, "Images and Words", is a classic, but does suffer a bit from a bad mix.
If you want an interesting DT ripoff, I would suggest Dali's Dilemma, "Manifesto for Futurism". It's interesting in that if you listen to DT, you can hear snippets of DT riffs. The album also has a very nice bass solo on the second song, so as instrumentalists, they aren't bad.
As for DT supergroups, I would go with O.S.I. They don't sound so much like DT, but rather a heavy Pink Floyd. It's very strange. There aren't any amazing solos on the album, but the instrumental sections are still pretty cool. One of the songs features Porcupine Tree's Stephen Wilson. The recommended version of this album is the Limited Edition one, mainly for the fact that the second disk contains an instrumental suite of an early cut of the songs on the album.
If you don't like the DT sound, but still want progressive metal, try Symphony X. They have a different sound than DT, and, like DT, their first album is awful. Subsequent albums are a huge improvement over the first. The definitive SymX album is, "V: The New Mythology Suite", which is a concept album. However, their best song is, "The Divine Wings of Tragedy", off the album of the same name. The latest album, "The Odyssey", is also fantastic. If you like live albums, "Live On The Edge of Forever", is quite the treat, as the live version of "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" is amazing.
If you want a cheesy space opera inspired album, go with Star One's "Space Metal". The vocals are top notch, since it's from the mastermind of supergroups, Arjen Anthony Lucassen. There are also great Hawkwind and David Bow
Re:This whole thread is ludicruous (Score:2)
Echolyn may be very hard to find, but the newest album is supposed to be amazing.
If you're talking about "Mei", it is. Not much of a fan of Spock's Beard or Flower Kings. (I'm also assuming you have stuff like Anekdoten, Anglagard, etc, which aren't metal and probably not Modern, but are damn good anyhow)
Ozric Tentacles is interesting if you like instrument rock
Yeah, I love 'em. Seen them live once - aside from the getting-high-from-simply-breathing, it was a blast. I always describe them as "Space Reggae". My first exposure (and fave album) was Jurassic Shift, but I like the albums you've mentioned. You might try Erpland - that one is really good as well.
If you want a completely unpredictable band from album to album, by all means, get Porcupine Tree.
Oh, yeah. Just got my limited-edition-AC3-dvd-book-cd of Deadwing. My fave albums are probably Sky Moves Sideways, Stupid Dream (which is hilarious, since I remember telling my wife, after the first listen, that they'd "lost it" and put out a crap album)
For progressive metal, I still recommend Dream Theater.
Yup, though I haven't been impressed at all with the last two. A shame, since 6 Degrees was pretty damn good, and I&W and Awake are classics. The only downside to them is all the knockoff bands.
Speaking of which..
If you want an interesting DT ripoff, I would suggest Dali's Dilemma, "Manifesto for Futurism".
LOL. Agreed. I wouldn't mind, except that in interviews they were so... perturbed that people, for some Unknown Reason, thought they were influenced (or knocking off) Dream Theater. Um, yeah. Pull the other one, guys. Admit that you love them, and get on. Don't pretend otherwise. I would've liked a second album. While I'm thinking of it, a couple recommendations: Bozzio/Levin/Stevens, (I'll assume you have or know about Liquid Tension Experiment) & Gordian Knot.
As for DT supergroups, I would go with O.S.I. They don't sound so much like DT, but rather a heavy Pink Floyd.
Agreed. Kevin Moore did a fantastic job, though I equally enjoy the original jam that was "processed" by Kevin to become OSI. Kevin's solo stuff (at least the first two albums) were excellent, though I haven't listened in a while.
If you don't like the DT sound, but still want progressive metal, try Symphony X.
Yup. Of the modern neo-classical prog-metal bands out there, they're probably my favorite. (Close second - Blind Guardian, especially "Nightfall in Middle Earth". Third - either Angra's Holy Land or Rhapsody's Symphony of Enchanted Lands. All of those are neo-classical prog metal)
like DT, their first album is awful.
No kidding. You can see the potential, but it's not there yet. I am _so_ damn glad they keep getting better with each album. Each one is fantastic, and then the next one is Even Better. I love The Odyssey, but I think you're right about V being the best thus far. Eagerly awaiting the new one.
If you want a cheesy space opera inspired album, go with Star One's "Space Metal".
Or anything else by Ayreon. My fave is probably The Final Experiment, or maybe Into the Electric Castle (if you cut it down to 1 CD - Fish was awesome on that). Cheesy beyond belief, but that's part of the fun.
If you like the Progressive Death Metal thing, I recommend Opeth.
Seen them live once, own everything. Some others I heartily recommend:
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - have to be seen to be believed, but their CDs will almost do. Check out their web site. Cross between metal and avant-garde, with a healthy helping of strange.
Meshuggah (get Destroy Erase Improve, I, Nothing, or Catch 33),
Therion (awesome symphonic/orchestral black metal with opera singers - start with Theli or Vovin), Dan Swano (Moontower - Neo-pr
Comment removed (Score:2)
Re:No, it's not (Score:1)
Re:No, it's not (Score:2)
XM sounds very nice but I'm really not ready for it, I have other priorities. Maybe when my iPod breaks, but I'm hoping to be able to use it for a long time. The current portable XM players are more than twice the bulk of an iPod, so there needs to be some improvement in that regard.
Maybe if there was a merge of the two, like it would switch to WiFi if inside a large steel building when reception gets bad, but I bet most of that sort of infrastructure may be for business use, too many people using WiFi might simply degrade the performance of the network too much.
Re:No, it's not (Score:2)
Check it out. They are awesome. http://xmradio.com/myfi/index.jsp [xmradio.com]
Re:XM works a LOT of places Wifi doesn't... (Score:2)
Re:XM works a LOT of places Wifi doesn't... (Score:2)
No argument there. When the things are able to launch a cloud of small steel balls into geosynchronous orbit, let me know.
Re:XM works a LOT of places Wifi doesn't... (Score:2)
Re:-1, Stupid (Score:2)
Re:Sirius (not sirus) (Score:2)
But I could be wrong. Howard could be Satellite Radio's killer app, which would be great for Sirius.
Re:i have an xm radio (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, Ford and Chrysler have partnered with Sirius. I don't know about Chrysler, but Ford doesn't push Sirius at all. You have to get a premium (Mach) radio for it to even be satellite-ready.
Re:Some help here (Score:2)
But that's the problem, isn't it? Congress has mandated the sunset of analog radio and TV. I watch so little TV it seems a shame to spend any money on a new one, but in a couple of years (who knows when, exactly) my set is gonna stop working when they stop broadcasting analog. I don't want to spend gobs of money and I don't want to get stuck with another Betamax. Hopefully the FCC will get its act together enough that I can buy something that lasts a few years.
The thing that really pisses me off is it seems none of the broadcasters is really interested in high definition. They want digital so they can cram more channels into the same band. So I'm gonna trade my analog set for a lower quality digital picture and the choice of 10 reality shows instead of 5. Great.
internet writers vs establishment writers (Score:2)
Before the internet, if you wanted to read some deceent writing, you had to go to the library or pay for it--newspaper, magazine, book, etc. Now all you have to do is fire up the browser, and viola, informed and talented writers are freely available. As a longtime reader myself, and a published writer as well, I can assure you that I what I get on the Net is every bit as good (or better) as what I got back in the pre-Internet days. You just have to be able to navigate the Net moderately well.
So, I see no reason why music and radio talent should not be easily available on Internet radio. Remember the aggregating, filtering and disseminating powers of tte internet. All we need is maybe a hundred such unpaid talents, and then you have enough for the whole world.
Realize that even just one unpaid radio talent can feed all the internet radio listeners in the world, given enough mirrors, bandwidth, etc. And also recall that there are about 500 million people in the english speaking world. I think we can manage to scrape up enough free internet radio talent.