The M-Audio FireWire Solo just arrived and is now in my playback system at work.The M-Audio Solo is a pretty simple device that provides an outboard interface to your computer's sound core via a FireWire connection. Pretty spiffy. The Solo has digital in and out, balanced in and out, standard in and out, guitar and mic inputs and a headphone out. It's target market is singer/songwriter types who want

Most recent purchase is Andrew Bird's The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Wow. I downloaded tracks off this and his earlier album from Salon months ago and pretty much wrote it off. Then I saw a review on Stylus and decided to give it a longer listen. Again, wow. Bird is a classically trained violinist and uses violin quite a bit in his work, but not quite the way you would think. Actually, it

New album by The Push StarsWell, new to me at least. I mentioned these guys awhile back as the best pop band you've never heard of. This album does nothing to diminish that ranking. Paint the Town continues on in the same vein of wonderful three minute pop songs that should be on the radio. I almost didn't by the album because I like the first two so well. Didn't want to be disappointed, which

New in the CD player today is The Sunlandic Twins by Of Montreal. I discovered these guys reading reviews on Stylus. This and insound are becoming my two favorite places to get reviews. I read Pitchfork as well, but those guys are a bit too, uh, important for me. Yeah, that's the word. Important. Anyway, I digress...The Sunlandic Twins is a really nice, somewhat outside pop album. It's not dissonant

New albums in the CD player this week include Open Season by British Sea Power and Lost and Safe by The Books.I've never owned any British Sea Power before and decided to pick this album up. I believe it is their latest. Very nice work, but not substantially different than much of the power pop that I'm hearing these days. I don't mean anything bad by that - there's some damn fine indy pop being made