There was a lot of buzz and excitement after Apple unveiled their latest gadgets at the Special Event on September 1st, which unveiled a totally new line of iPods (excluding the iPod Classic), information about iOS, and Ping, Apple’s take on how music social network should act.

Ping is Apple’s first try of making a social network. To start using Ping, you must open and use it in Apple’s new (but not improved) iTunes 10. It emulates the Twitter follow/follower model with a few differences, namely you can decide if people can follow you or not. Your Ping profile is linked to your iTunes account, and you login using those credentials. This was obviously going to happen, as it gave the immediate access to over 160 million iTunes Store customers. Using Ping you can follow musicians, follow your friends, and you can like albums and songs. This all seems very good in theory, that is until you start using the platform.

When I first fired up iTunes 10, literally minutes after it finally was available to download, I logged into Ping straight away to test it. I then noticed a Facebook button, which was to add Friends that were on both platforms, so you can easily have all your Facebook friends, as friends on Ping. However the Facebook integration didnt work, and by the next morning it was gone. We have all become accustomed to  bad launches in the past month, notably Digg, but at least Digg is working on finding solutions. To add friends now on Ping, you must know their name, or their email address, making it incredibly difficult to find people. But again, that’s not half as bad as actually using it.

Another major gripe I have when using Ping is the fact that its requires using iTunes. While iTunes isnt as much of a resource hog as it once was, its still an extra application that needs to be run, and its still an extremely frustrating application to use. Sure, some might say that using a Twitter client is no different, but at least they work with the browser (at least Echofon does). As you know in iTunes there is no address bar and the back and forward buttons are cleverly hidden. You can copy links in iTunes, but its no match for a functional social network that work in the browser of your choice. The thing is though, Ping (and the iTunes store) is all browser based anyway, so it would not be too diffcult to enable browser-based access. This is another example of Apple’s control over us all. Whats next? The Apple store can only be accessed on iPads with 64gb storage and 3g??

Apple’s main reason for launcing Ping was obviously to drive sales in their own music store. Apple being Apple, they made a very conscious decision to force people to go back and forth through the iTunes Store and Ping. To like an album, you must be on the iTunes Store page of that album as is the case with songs. In a perfect world, that would not be the case, but Apple like money, and this is a fast way of making it.

Itunes 9 brought links to sharing on Twitter and Facebook, with hopes of integration with these social network to be better in iTunes 10. You can count on Apple to rule out any improvements in that area though, so sharing in iTunes is still sas lame as ever.

In conclusion, Ping is a music social network for you and your friends – without the friends, a music social network to rate, like and share music – without the sharing, and a browser-based music social network, without the network..  or the browser. Something’s not right there, and I’m not the only one who thinks so …

Muse fans are some of the most dedicated people I know. Muse management knows this too, which is why they made a little treasure hunt for the people of Europe and Asia. Co-ordinates of where the location were put on a Muse Microsite, and there were codes to be cracked. This “treasure hunt” brought people from Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Dubai, Toyko and Hong Kong to meet agents, who gave them a USB Key (below). They then had to upload a video and photo on to a Youtube group and Flickr group respectively.

Each stage had a seperate cryptic clue, and different instructions. During the second stage this was posted on the Microsite

FLASH MESSAGE TO ALL ACTIVE HUMINT RESOURCES.

WARNING: PROJECT IDENTIFIER IS AT STATUS BLACK AND NON-TRENDING.

PLEASE USE IDENTIFIER #USOE TO COORDINATE PROJECT EURASIA/GRAN AJEDREZ.

ALL ACTIVE HUMINT RESOURCES INSTRUCTED TO INCREASE RECRUITS AND TO MAKE BEST EFFORTS TO TREND IDENTIFIER. ALL AGENTS ARE ADVISED TO USE DISCRETION.

Obviously this meant spreading the word on Twitter, and Muse fans managed to get #USOE to 6th and #muse to 9th spot on Twitter trending.

After that, a code located on the aforementioned USB key. This was repeated six times, for each stage (or city) and bit by bit, the “treasure” slowly revealed itself in the form of a song.

The result is this.

I quite like it. From first listen its very Queen-esque, but after second or third, you realise that Queen would never have had the ambition to do this sort of thing. This is why I reckon these guys are the best thing to come out of Britain, even perhaps eclipsing the Beatles?

What I am surprised about is the interview Matt gave with jMag :

They sing about supermassive black holes, mix space-age riffery with western gunslingers (check the ‘Knights of Cydonia’ clip) and inspire their very own sexy fan-literature, aka Muselash. Let’s face it, Muse are H.O.T. Frontman Matt Bellamy dropped jmag an email from a secret underground bunker (aka a recording studio in his home town of Lake Como, Italy) where he’s finalising touches alongside drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme. Just what we can expect when the British trio drop their brand new record, The Resistance, due out in September? Read on…

Interviewer: I’m betting the new Muse album will be stripped back, recorded on four-tracks with a mix like a muddy Ramones disc…just how wrong am I?
Matt Bellamy: We’ve always been into using whatever is the latest technology and recording methods. To be honest, we are not keen at all on deliberate lo-fi recording techniques, as they seem to be a tribute to the past. I’m more interested in the future. So the album sounds contemporary, not retro!

Can you talk us through what sort of studio set-up you guys have over there in Italy?
It’s set up in a series of underground bunker type rooms, constructed inside a mountain with a lift required to get down to the rooms. It would be possible to survive a direct hit from nuclear bomb if you were in the deepest room with a few cans of baked beans and a a gas mask. We don’t have any large live rooms, just lots of small rooms, so, for example, we have one room full of guitar amps, one room full of bass rigs, one room full of drums, one room full of tinned food, etc…with some windows connecting some of the rooms.

What are some of the studio tricks you’ve learnt from making Showbiz to Black Holes and Revelations? What have you learnt not to do to avoid studio madness?
To avoid madness we have learned to get on with it and not dwell over one particular aspect for too long. We actually did go mad working on Black Holes…as sometimes we spent days doing thinks that should have taken minutes. A fast flow of ideas “getting to tape” is more important than technical perfection.

What’s the ethos to production and mixing this time ’round – who are you working with?
Our general approach to production is that anything goes. Also, musicians tend to make the best producers as they’re able to audio-visualise precisely how to solve a problem. This is why we’re self producing; in a way we’ve always self produced since the first album. We are working with Adrian Bushby, who is a great engineer and we are currently mixing with Spike Stent who is making things sound fresh, fat and aggro.

Does winning “Sexiest Male” at the NME Awards mean you’re only gonna write about being a sex symbol now? Or are there other themes popping up on new tracks?
Not sure what happened there – some of our hardcore messageboard fans ganged up on the NME voting website to wind me up! The album contains the usual mix of song themes, from desire for political change to love songs to songs about bankers hanging from lampposts.

We’re told the new record will be “orchestral”. Which means what, exactly? Church organs and batons, or…
There is only really one track (in 3 x 4 minute sections) at the end of the album, which could be called symphonic due to the presence of an orchestra throughout. The church organ is on one of the “normal” songs.

There are 120 pages of speculation on the Muse messageboard about the new record (including photo’s of llamas). How do you feel about so much speculation? Does it put any pressure on, or could you really not give a toss?
Not sure how they found out that llamas toenails are back after a long hiatus. We used them on Origin of Symmetry, but they are back with a vengeance on this album. It doesn’t put on pressure, it’s nice to know people are interested

First od all, you might say its pretty odd for a person to have a mountain as a bomb shelter. Not for Matt. I’m also very exited about the use of the Organ and the llama toenials, sounds like it will be similar to Origin of Symmetry, Muse’s second album. This is without a doubt one of my mot anticipated albums of the year. And I’m seeing them live in Novemeber for “The Resistance Tour”. They’re a band of epic proportions, and the grandeur can only increase.

“The Resistance” goes on sale on 14th September.

Music

I had written a post about the upcoming single by Green Day – Know Your Enemy – and while I like it, I think it cant be appreciated fully until you hear it along with the rest of the album. They have previewed 7 tracks on their website and they’re all quite amazing. It’s sounds like such an ambitious record, with some of the most complex and diverse pieces of music. Some Lennon, some Queen, and (for some reason) a little Linkin Park. All this coming from a band whose name stems from a day of smoking weed. Huh. So I got a ticket for their show in October.

Sport

As a person from Limerick, I was devastated to see Munster not so graciously fall to pieces in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final. Leinster were the better team though, and as much as I’ll hate to admit this I will support them in the Final. Also its going to tear me apart to see Barcelona and Manchester United play in the final. My childhood team, versus the team I’ve secretly supported for 3-4 years… Oh well, at least it wont be disappointing for me at the end of May 24th.

Coding

Now with the exams over, I can focus om designing some good sites. I have a couple clients already, mixed in with a site I have a few ideas for. For designers.. thats all I’m saying. Also learning a bucket load of jQuery and PHP at the moment. If you have any good sites for me to expand my knowledge, please leave a link in the comments

Now I must go. My splitting headache is calling for sleep, and I don’t want to disappoint.

But then again, not enough people are fans and so I feel the need to post their masterpiece – Map of the Problematique. There is something about this song that gets me everytime, whether its the addictive drum beat, the falsetto, or the distorted guitar riffage. Every so often when they play this song live, there is a homage to Rage Against the Machine, and the’ey play a bit of their version of Maggies, which is just amazing.

MOTP – Channel 4

MOTP – Abbey Road

MOTP – Wembley Stadium

Enjoy peeps.

I was thirteen, hormones, testosterone and all that. Picked up American Idiot in Tesco for €14.99 (a lot of money for me, even now) and played it on my CD player when I got home. It expressed me well, showing political anger with people of the US for electing the lovechild of King Kong and Sandra Bullock, and helped me vent my boredom in the Limerick suburbs.

Now I’m a bit older, I don’t listen to them much. Its not that I don’t like them anymore, it’s just that I like different things. I’ve evolved and varied into different styles of music, some of which were songs I actually couldn’t listen to when I was 14. I don’t mind good Electronic music anymore. But I’m going off the point now

Green Day’s latest record “21st Century Breakdown”, an album that kicks off in May 2009 should be interesting for me at least. This being my first favourite band’s newest album, I want to see if a group can successfully grow up along with the audience it played for back in 2004.

“Know your Enemy” should be their first opportunity. I want things to be different, yet recognisable, fun yet mature.  Green Day were a big thing for me when I was 14, I just hope they can wow me again, more so than their side projects.

Know Your Enemy is released in Mid-April.

There are some albums that you pick up, and the moment that last beat finishes, you are left emotionally distraught. So much power, depth, funkiness crammed into 60 minutes or so, and you have what it takes to have a great album. The albums that I choose are not necessarily ones I listen to, but ones that changed my musical tastes, distorted my views of the world, and made me smile at the end of it.

My top 5 are as follows:

5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles

The first time I heard this, I was 5 and I remember parading around the house. singing (more like shouting) “It’s getting better all the ti-iiime!”.

Listening back on it now I feel I can appreciate it more. So much so it’s surprising. Nothing is out of place, and no track is better or worse than another.

What’s even more surprising is that I don’t even have it in my iPod. I must get around to doing that.

Must Listen: When I’m Sixty Four, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Oxegen

Year after year I get a swarm of emails from the cool people at Oxegen 09, but I am seldom impressed. MCD, the organisers, lack innovation. Year after year, they do the same thing, with almost the same headliners. This year they have yet again Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon, and The Killers. We’ve seen them all before, doing their same 10-song set. While we are all too drunk to truly appreciate it, the organizers are taking our cash with open arms, and now I’m sick of it. Here are a few ways they could help spice up future festivals

1. Television

The last time I was at Oxegen was in 2007, and I saw about 15-20 cameras around each stage. I know these are primarily for the giant screens on each side of the stage, but they could be used for so much more.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could experience Oxegen, without going to Oxegen. Ok maybe not but what about the people who loved Oxegen so much when they went, the wanted a DVD to relive it. Surely they could work that into an agreement with bands so they are allowed to make one, and I think people would buy it.

Other festivals like Reading and Pinkpop have televised concerts, so why not Oxegen? Also I know they play clips from the bands on 2fm every so often, but its just not enough.

2. Cheaper tickets

Ok maybe its because I’m a student, but the tickets are way overpriced. There have been improvements this year, with people having to only pay a €60 deposit, and pay in increments, but besides that they aren’t selling them like they could. Think about it, if they sold the tickets cheaper, more people would buy them, making a larger turnout, which in turn would give them more money. Especially in these times of recession, we need this more than ever.

3. Variety

At Oxegen 2007 they had some great bands there. Muse, Kings of Leon, Killers, Snow Patrol. But now a lot of these acts are back… again. Kings of Leon are returning for their third consecutive year and Snow Patrol is playing their second time in 3 Years. Can we have someone else, MCD?

4. Location Change

Punches-town Racecourse is a great venue, but its getting a bit old. Maybe move to a venue in the west of Ireland, where we get little or no high profile acts throughout the year. My suggestion would be Limerick Racecourse, because its a short drive to the airport, easy access from Limerick City, and its in the West of Ireland! No more congestion on the Naas Road.

Oxegen is in a rut, year after year of the same old acts that have gone the year before. Oxegen is a great festival and it saddens me with the fact that nothing has been done to liven in up. The organisers need to change their ways before no one goes…