David Pogue says people can’t tell the difference in sound between Neil Young’s PonoPlayer and that of an iphone.
Describing himself as a former professional musician, Pogue said that “the Pono Player story is a modern retelling of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ ” making claims contrary to science.
He writes on Yahoo Tech News:
“I’m 51 and a former professional musician. I know how to listen. But when I bought Pono’s expensive remastered songs and compared them with the identical songs on my phone, I couldn’t hear any difference whatsoever.
<p data-reactid=".ocejpqdyww.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-109496883039.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container singulair inhaler.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.$grid-content.0.1.$text-body.0.2.$p-7″>I got worried. Is the Pono story a modern-day “Emperor’s New Clothes” fable? Were those famous rock stars just imagining things?
There was only one way to find out: conduct a blind trial, using identical songs on identical headphones, comparing the Pono with a standard audio player — an iPhone. So that’s what I did. You can watch the process in the video above.”
The majority of testers picked the iphone over Pono in a blind test. He writes:
“How does it sound? I found 15 volunteers, ages 17 through 55. Each subject put on nice headphones — Sony MDR 7506 — and listened to three songs of different styles (“Saturday in the Park” by Chicago, “Raised on Robbery” by Joni Mitchell, and “There’s a World” by Mr. Pono himself, Neil Young). I bought these songs twice: once from the Pono store, in high resolution, and once from the iTunes store.
Each subject then listened to the same songs again, using standard Apple earbuds.”
He posts a good argument and it’s an interesting read.
Weeks after announcing his new “Heavy Blues” Randy Bachman has unveiled the title track — a guitar-heavy number that lives up to its name with assistance from special guest Peter Frampton, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
The song list includes Neil Young featured on song 4 “Little Lost Girl.”
UCR writer Jeff Giles says Bachman’s new project began with a conversation between Bachman and his friend Neil Young, who spurred him to dig deeper for his next solo effort.
Bachman said: “He said, ‘Take some advice. Don’t do the same old crap and call it something new.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Don’t do the same thing and say it’s a new album … Stop, get out of the box, do something fearless, be fierce, be ferocious, reinvent yourself.’ And I go, ‘OK, great advice.’”.
In addition to Frampton and Young, Bachman’s joined on ‘Heavy Blues’ by Joe Bonamassa and Robert Randolph, and makes use of an archival performance from the late Jeff Healey. The album isn’t scheduled to arrive in U.S. stores until April 15, but it’s available for pre-order now.
The announcement confirmed names like Michael Keaton, Gwen Stefani, Will Smith, Neil Young, Rosamund Pike, Vin Diesel and Jack White for the episodes, which are to be taped in Los Angeles.
NBC confirms that Young will be appearing as both interview and musical guest.
The lineup includes:
Tuesday, February 3: Guests include Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Young and musical guest Neil Young. Doc Severinsen sits-in with The Roots. Show 204
Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene posted a flashback to 1977 when Neil Young covered “Sweet Home Alabama,” just weeks after Lynard Skynard’s tragic plane crash.
Green wrote: (According to legend, Ronnie Van Zant was buried in a Tonights the Night T-shirt, though this remains a hotly disputed topic.) Just weeks after the accident, Young played a show in Miami to raise money for a children’s hospital. Near the end, he played a medley of “Alabama” and “Sweet Home Alabama” as a tribute to the band. There’s no video, but you can hear an audience tape right here.
Young has not played “Alabama” a single time since that night. “‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record,” Young wrote in his 2012 book, Waging Heavy Peace. “I don’t like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, too easy to misconstrue.”
Dallas Taylor, once the drummer for Crosby, Still, Nash & Young has died at age 66.
He had a rough life, his mother giving him opium as a young boy. He struggled with addiction and overcame his demons, and becoming a counselor he saved many lives.
Taylor liked to say that he made his first million — and his last million — by the time he was 21, writes Steve Chawkins of the Los Angeles Times.
According to the Times: The rock drummer was a key sideman for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He played at Woodstock, appeared on seven top-selling albums and bought three Ferraris. He also stabbed himself in the stomach with a butcher knife and drank so heavily that he required a liver transplant in 1990, five years after becoming sober.
He had been in failing health for some time, his wife, Patti McGovern-Taylor, said.
“\"Thank you, we\'re Buffalo Springfield. We\'re from the past.\"” by --Neil Young on 1 June 2011, opening night of Buffalo Springfield Reunion-Tour bh
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
David Pogue says people can’t tell the difference in sound between Neil Young’s PonoPlayer and that of an iphone.
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Albert Stromann on 
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