Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

I bought a pair of Shure E4c-n earphones about 6 months ago from Amazon, and I have to say they are the best I’ve ever owned. They have a 4/5 star review on Amazon with 50 reviews; their newer cousin the SE420 has similar reviews. Here’s what they look like:

The sound isolation is orders better than any other headphones I’ve tried, and the frequency response is excellent. My coworkers, two of whom bought similar or identical Shure earphones, also swear by them. You can be sitting on the worst part of the NYC subway line with them on, and not hear the pain of the wheels screeching on ill fitted metal tracks.

A reviewer on Amazon praises the sound quality better than I can:

These IEMs sound absolutely incredible. They sound is so clear and detailed that I notice new details in songs that I had listened to dozens if not hundreds of time. In a complex musical passage it is easy to follow every note of a single instrument which is not an easy feat with most headphones.

As for Customer Service, it’s the best. My earphones started wearing out in 6 months at the cord junction where it meets the plug, and they are sending me an advance replacement (against my CC) of the SE420s. When I get them I’ll send back the defectives to the Customer rep who took my warranty replacement and they’ll reverse the charge. Another customer had a similar, great experience:

As for Shure customer service–I had a suspected loose wire in one of the E3 earphones (used for 8 months) leading to dropouts when I would move my head. I got a return form off the Shure website–filled it out and sent it along with a copy of my receipt to Shure. Within 10 days, they had sent out a completely new pair at no charge.

Even Apple doesn’t offer this level of personalized customer service. I’m extremely impressed, and with their 2 year warranty, I’ll definitely buy again!

The Zune 2.0 is coming out, but with more of a whimper than a bang. The new features include new flash models, a black 80GB hard drive model, WiFi syncing, podcast and recorded TV support, according to An in-depth look at the new Zune lineup by Ars Technica. Additionally, these new features will be made available to Zune 1.0 users through a firmware update.

Is this a new product announcement or an apology?

The Zune 2 is basically what the Zune 1 should have been. Its online music store / syncing tool has been rewritten to be as easy to use as iTunes. Hopefully this new Zune will sell more than the paltry 1.2 million units its predecessor sold, but I’m not optimistic. Now that Apple has released their touch-based devices, Microsoft, and every other portable device maker not using touchscreens, is simply a loser. Why would I buy a device with a tiny screen to watch movies on when I can buy a device that removes all the clunky wheel controls and fills all the available space with a gorgeous widescreen?

Specification-wise, the new Zune and iPod touch are basically identical, but interface wise, its a completely different story.

The new Amazon Mp3 store gives you 256 Kb/s MP3 files without any DRM, for generally $8.99 an album. They are already ripping iTunes up on quality, price, and digital rights management. Expect them to continue to improve their selection (Amazon is famous for long tail) and interface, at which point no one will buy Steve Jobs’ crippled music.

Even better, Amazon’s system integrates cleanly with iTunes. You can one-click buy an album from Amazon, and their downloader will pick up the .amz file, grab your tracks, and automatically add them to your iTunes library. I’m also a big fan of the cover-flow like Album pickers they float on some of the mp3 pages:

Paul has it right when he says “Amazon MP3 is kicking ass and taking names.” You can also check out the official blog post or Techcrunch, who notes they are carrying 2,000,000 songs.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine, Hip-hop’s Down Beat, Hip Hop and Rap are becoming outmoded and unpopular:

According to the music trade publication Billboard, rap sales have dropped 44% since 2000 and declined from 13% of all music sales to 10%. Artists who were once the tent poles at rap labels are posting disappointing numbers. Jay-Z’s return album, Kingdom Come, for instance, sold a gaudy 680,000 units in its first week, according to Billboard. But by the second week, its sales had declined some 80%. This year rap sales are down 33% so far.

This can be directly attributed to the painful, rehashed crap coming out of the hip hop / rap music industry. For example, let’s take a look at these newcomers to the rap scene, and some of their lyrics:

Mims: Music Is My Savior
	I’m hot cause I’m fly You ain’t cause you’re not This is why This is why I’m hot
Sean Kingston
	They say we’re too young To get ourselves sprung Oh we didn’t care We made it very clear
T-Pain
	Teddy paine was born to flirt now u can’t down that Now i’m flirt with her whether i’m in or out of town That’s why they call me teddy bend her ass down
Soulja Boy
	Super Fresh, Now Watch Me Jock Jocking On Them Haterz Man When I Do Dat Soulja Boy I Lean To The Left And Crank Dat Dance
Yung Berg
	Oh, and damn right baby girl’s a diva but everytime she out with me she blowing reefa in the coupe looking better than mona lisa tuning into my songs thinkin ’bout features

The lack of clever or constructive lyrics pervades not just the newcomers rapping about women, money, drugs, women, and cash in a thoroughly tired and worn-out way, but also some of hip hop and rap’s greatest artists who think releasing new “music” as fast as possible is the key to success:

50 Cent / Justin Timberlake
	She always ready, when you want it she want it Like a nympho, the info, I show you where to meet her On the late night, till daylight the club jumpin’
Akon
	I’m sorry that it took so long to speak But I was on tour with Gwen Stefani
will.i.am
	Baby where’d you get your body from? Tell me where’d you get your body from? I got it from my mama I got it from my mama
Timbaland
	When timbo is in the party everbody put up their hands I get a half a mill for my beats you get a couple grand never gonna see the day that I ain’t got the upper hand
Fat Joe
	Yeah im in this business of terror Got a handful of stacks better grab an umbrella I make it rain on them hoes

If you’re depressed, there’s still some good hip hop left. Some of the stuff coming from Talib Kweli, Young Buck, Chamillionaire, and Lil’ Wayne is quite good. The real gold is Kanye West, especially his song Can’t tell me nothing and it’s brilliant alternate video. Who do you think is still good in hip hop?

This is the second installment of the “Justify my bad music taste to Wendy” project. This time, we’ll be dealing with a variety of pop, hip-hop, and rap music, and trying to pick out the songs that are more than just a catchy tune, but truly classic. For the entire series, please see:

1. Classical music I like
2. Pop music I like

	Ciara From her debut album Goodies comes “1, 2 Step,” the smoothest club song I heard in ‘06, and “Goodies” and “Oh,” two slower, sexy ghetto ballads. Her new album Evolution has “Get up” with Chamillionaire, definitely the hottest track of 2007. Her voice isn’t bad, too.
	Missy Elliott Missy Elliott has produced too many albums to list here; the major attraction to her music is its unique variety and excellent production. In no particular order, here are my favorite tracks: Gossip Folks, I’m Really Hot, Teary Eyed, Work It, Get Your Freak On, Lose Control, and Pass That Dutch.
	Mariah Carey Oh I love everything!! Charmbracelet, Merry Christmas, and the Emancipation of Mimi are my favorite albums. In order, I love Yours, One & Only, Your Girl, Hero, All I Want For Christmas Is You, My All, and Breakdown.

	Robin Thicke I’ve only heard “The Evolution of Robin Thicke,” but I like from it the songs Got To Be Down, Would That Make You Love Me, All Night Long, and Wanna Love You Girl.
	Lil’ Wayne With a cameo on Destiny Child’s hit song Soldier, Lil’ Wayne got popular. Choice tracks: Stuntin’ Like My Daddy, Fireman, Like a Dboy, and Hustler Music. It’s not the lyrics, but the delivery of them that’s unique here. Imagine how the internal rhymes of “And I don’t even need a G pass I’m pass that / I’m passing em out now and you can’t have that” run.
	Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Do they rap? Are they singing? Listen to No Way Out, Can’t Give It Up, Playa, Wrong v.s. Right, and their cameo on Frankie J’s Priceless and get back to me!

That’s all for now, gentle readers. There’s at least three more posts coming, though, so stay tuned!