jbrotherlove

For the past few years, I’ve been keeping an eye on iPhone development; the apps, capabilities, disabilities, etc. I even settled on the iPod Touch to get my feet wet. Originally, it was the iPhone’s (total) cost holding me back. Then, there was the hope Apple and Verizon would work out a deal so I didn’t have to switch to AT&T.

All the while I’ve been pushing my old-school LG enV VX9900 to its limits.

Recently, I had an epiphany.

Yup. Time for me to give up on the iPhone. It was a cute idea; until things started to get ugly. I could list a bunch of links but Newsweek’s Daniel Lyons summed up most of what I’ve been thinking.

As sick as I am of my iPhone’s dropped calls, I’m even more sick of Apple treating us all like a bunch of idiots, stonewalling and bullying and feeding us ridiculous explanations for the shortcomings of its products—expecting us to believe, basically, that its flaws are not flaws, but strengths.

Steve Jobs has created his own precious little walled garden. He’s looking more and more like Howard Hughes, holed up in his penthouse, making sure he doesn’t come in contact with any germs.

Now Google is saying, hey, nice garden, have fun sitting in it. By yourself.

I’ve already placed my Droid Incredible order. It will be a few weeks before it arrives. But I’m already excited!

It feels like many moons since Janelle Monáe broke onto the independent music scene with her EP, Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase in 2007. Three years later, fueled by plenty of critical praise, fan support, a 2009 Grammy nomination and a deal with Diddy’s Bad Boy imprint, the diminutive powerhouse presents her full-length debut, The ArchAndroid.

I love it.

The ArchAndroid contains parts two and three of Monáe’s four-part “Metropolis” concept. And while the concept (and Monáe’s trademark black and white uniform) may be too precious for some, the album’s genre-bending magic is hard to deny. Monae’s voice had been comparisons to Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys (most notably on the album’s slower songs), but The ArchAndroid‘s sound belongs to Monáe alone.

After a trademark orchestral intro, The ArchAndroid jumps into a tightly edited trio; “Dance or Die,” “Faster” and “Locked Inside” are full of the radio-friendly energy we previewed with first single “Tightrope”. The rest of the disc morphs from Doris Day-flavored pop, new wave, jazz, hip hop and psychedelic rock; produced like a soundtrack from a film or musical.

Monáe’s voice, part delicate songbird, part rockstar, handles each permeation with ease. With only brief appearances by Saul Williams, Big Boi of Outkast, Of Montreal and Deep Cotton, The ArchAndroid captures her talent in full bloom. The biggest knock I can give the album is it’s about three tracks too long. And there are a few songs I like less than the others. But I can’t blame Monáe for wanting to give her all.

Major kudos to The Wondaland Arts Society who has guided Monáe’s vision impeccably since the beginning of her “Metropolis” project. It’s a great case study in how independent artists are concentrating more on well-executed art direction (Brittany Bosco and Rahbi come to mind as examples of other indie artists with a dedicated approach to their musical identity).

The ArchAndroid is sure to garner critical praise and awards along the way (Grammy are you listening?) The biggest challenge may be radio airplay. Black /urban radio, still stuck in a payola-esque era of brainless programming, is a wash. (Seriously, are there any innovative artists who listen to Radio One?) However, pop/dance radio stations would do well to add songs from The ArchAndroid to their playlist.

I’m giving the disc an A for a promise fulfilled.

via my last.fm journal

For the past few weeks, I’ve been enjoying the promo videos from How To Destroy Angels, Trent Reznor’s new project with wife Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross.

So far, How To Destroy Angels recalls mellow Nine Inch Nails and classic Massive Attack. Their forthcoming self-titled EP will be released this summer. They just released a full-length video for the single “The Space in Between”; predictably extreme.