2B - Thursday, January 11, 2007 {the b-sidel The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com TECH NOTEBOOK Apple unveils Jesus Phone 0 By CAITLIN COWAN DailyArts Editor If you have an iPod, chances are you carry it around along with your keys, wallet and cellphone. You might even have a digital camera or Palm Pilot in addition to all that. And at the Macworld 2007 key- note speech, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, a device that capitalizes on thatcvery tendency to own, use and lug around multiple tech gadgets at the same time. Apple has rolled the iPod, cam- era, video camera, browser and The Holy Grail of cellphones has arrived. cellphone into one sleek, sexy pack- age with an intuitive touch-screen interface. The iPhone, which will debut in June, is first and foremost a thin, lightweight cell phone. It's also a digital camera that, like the iPod photo, allows for easy storage and viewing of a sizeable amount of photos that appear crisp and clear on its widescreen surface. The iPhone also allows for powerful Internetmulti-tasking, lettingusers download e-mail, browse webpages and scan satellite maps at the same time with the phone's multi-touch display.. Apple's latest invention also makes use of a number of high-tech features, the most impressive of which are its unique sensors. The accelerometer detects when users rotate the phone from portrait to landscape orientation and automat- ically reframes the on-screen con- tent to match. If you're holding the iPhone vertically while looking at a horizontal photo, simply turn the phone sideways and the photo will automatically reappear in its cor- rect horizontal aspect ratio. Can't see far enough down your favorite webpage while holding the iPhone horizontally? Rotate it back verti- cally and the page will smoothly flip back to portrait view. The iPhone also has a proximity sensor that detects when users hold the phone to make or receive calls, automati- cally turning off the large, bright touch screen to conserve battery. Basically, this baby does every- thing short of turning water into wine. The price? $499 for 4GB of mem- ory, $599 for 8GB. High price aside, there are other downsidesto the phone thatalready has critics grumbling, almost all of which have to do with the exclusiv- ity of the iPhone's applications and services. The iPhone works solely with Cingular and comes with a two-year agreement, and subscrib- ers will also have to pay an addi- tional fee of $10 to $20 per month for data service. Those who want an iPhone but are currently under contract with other wireless com- panies may also have to break their contracts, which typically involves facing a heavy early-termination fee. Another gripe of handheld users is that the new iPhone won't be compatible with a number of popular third-party mobile applica- tions. During his Macworld speech, Jobs stated that the iPhone would It's like Jesus, only with e-mail. run Mac OS X, but made no mention of how stripped-down that version would be. No matter what concerns have arisen, it's impossible to deny the aesthetic appeal and sheer coolness of the iPhone, a fact Apple has capi- talized on with its glossy, minimal- ist products in the past. Apple hopes the iPhone will account for around one percent of the approximately one billion cellphones sold annu- ally by 2008. If the hype surround- ing the iPhone continues, his vision may just become a reality, whether the iPhone can satisfy all of its tar- get markets or not. MUSIC NOTEBOOK r When north meets south, everyone wins The indie music sphere is still trying to catch up to Neutral Milk Hotel. Next to the Pixies, no band has provided more inspiration for the current indie rock pow- erhouses. The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and Animal Collective all offer shades of what the '90s band concocted when lead singer Jeff Mangum - who's currently front- ing Apples in Stereo - and guitarist Robert Schneider, Rick Benjamin and Lisa Janssen entered a Denver recordingstudio in.1996. The result was an earthquake that jostled to life an entire decade's worth of indie rock. But then Jeff Mangum fell off the edge of the earth. After a final show in late 1998, Mangum disap- peared from the indie scene - not from a plane crash or heroin over- dose, but by his own choice - thus ending NMH. Aside from a sighting at an Elf Power show, Mr. Neutral Milk stayed away from the public eye. Surprisingly, in June 2006, a statement supposedly from Man- gum appeared on his former record company's message board that said Mangum was making music again and would soon return to the spot- light. Could it be a Neutral Milk reunion? No, just a hoax from an anonymous asshole, destroying what could have been the biggest news story of 2006. Despite the band's short-lived career, it still managed to craft two perfect albums both light-years ahead of the indie scene at the time. Overshadowed by the criti- cally acclaimed follow-up album Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998), On Avery Island delicately explores the workings of Mangum's psyche and his combination of eerie vocals and lyrics with a simple, alternative grunge-folk punch. Whereas Aero- plane is finely brushed and tightly ironed on every corner, On Avery Island leaves the crdases and blem- ishes intact. The opening track, "SongAgainst Sex," with its blistering, speaker- bursting screeches, may not be the most accessible recording on the album. But before long the neo-folk, strumming and fuzzy bass starts in to premise the discussion of the By ANTHONY BABER Daily Arts Writer It seemed like 2006 would finally be the year that rappers from the north (more specifically the northeast) finally regain their strangle hold on the hip-hop industry. Ever since hip hop start- ed at the block parties and discos in New York City, innovators like DJ Kool Herr, Grandmas- ter Flash and Afrika Bambaataa ran the show on the East Coast. But that was a long time ago, and in recent years the general public has shifted its attention to the Dirty South. Power has swayed in such a way that it's more common to see rappers from the north pair- ing up with rappers from the south, which was unthinkable in past years. More Southern rap- pers have begun using Northern producers like Just Blaze and Swizz Beats to give their albums a different feel. More Dirty South and East Coast artists are working together on tracks and gain- ing an incredible amount of attention. More recently, Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli recorded the song "Country Cousins" with Port Arthur, Texas natives UGK. And in returning the favor, UGK included Jay-Z on his album, Trill, for the song "Get Throwed" with his partner Pimp C and Young Jeezy. This year, rappers in the Midwest and East Coast have lyrically surpassedthe status quo and brought some serious albums to the forefront. The most memorable comes from Chicago's Westside-wordsmith Lupe Fiasco, who, after months of delays, released one of the best social- ly conscious hip-hop albums to date. Rap hasn't been this authentic since the mid '90s (Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest), but just when you think it can't get any better, Nas finishes the year with Hip Hop Is Dead, a brilliant concept album with real lyrical contentcrevolving around what's happening in hip hop - where it started and where it's going But after Young Jeezy and Li' Wayne took over in 2005, media focus stayed in the south for 2006. T.I. created a completely new standard for Southern rappers with his album King. No one knows this better than Tip's only real competi- tion in the South, Lil' Wayne, who cut an album with his father, the slow-flow #1 Stunna, Baby. Weezy's ability to make Like Father, Like Son a success, even with Baby's lackluster flows and simplelyrics, have apparently convinced him he is second to none, and Jay-Z might as well have remained athome because he's no longer the best rapper alive. x.,As far as underground hip hopgoes, the East Coast completely owns it. New York has been pumping mixtapes like never before. With his new Blacksmith label, Talib Kweli has been bringing attention to artists such as Jean Grae, Krondon and Strong Arm Steady on the under- ground circuit. Lesser-known MCs, like Gillie Da Kid, were able to step into the spotlight when they showed up on mixtapes by DJs like Clinton Sparks, Big Mike and Nu Jersey Devil. Though the South did plenty of mixtape work, like DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz, and took over everything released by DJ Envy, most Southern rappers on mixtapes were already fairly main- stream. Even Swishahouse - the underground monster that once held Paul Wall, Mike Jones and Chamillionaire - has become as popular as any other label. Even the lamest rappers in the south are getting record deals (it's crazier than that damn "White Rapper Show" on VH1). The main reason the south seems to have so muchpullisthe slewofsimple,catchy and quickly worn-out dance moves. "Lean Back" was so easy it was boring and "Chicken Noodle Soup "is too complicated for the average party-goer, but the south knew how to get everyone moving in uni- son. And just when everyone got tired of "Lean Wit' It, Rock Wit' It," lights, camera, action and Yung Jot walks through the door with the ever- popular motorcycle dance.Itwaseveneasiercthan the Lean Wit' It, Rock Wit' It and everyone from Tom Cruise to U.S..soccer player Clint Dempsey was doing it. It was something more than Dem Franchize Boyz or D4L could ever contemplate, and no one could stop it. end of the world, druguse and por- nography: "And the first one tore a picture / Of a dead and hanging man / Who was kissing foreign fishes / That flew right out from this hands." Despite the almost comical and carnival-like horn sec- tion, the song explodes with pure honesty, never more so than in the final lines of "Because with a match that's mean and some gasoline / You won't see me anymore." The lo-fi, psychedelic side of Avery shows its drug-infused face on "Someone is Waiting," as the simplistic folk guitar gives way to a climactic chant from Mangum while he slowly and achingly belts "AndIloveyouandIwantto/Shoot all the superheroes from your skies /Watch them bleeding /From your ceiling /As their empty anger falls Mangum may be MIA, but his music isn't. out from their eyes." Despite the song's depressing lyrics, they never come across as forced or insincere before entering into a world of faux- flowing-water sounds thatare over- thrown by bleating synth riff and distorted guitar.. "Avery Island / April 1st" takes a reprieve from the lyrics addressing dead superheroes and dead babies and replaces them with Neutral Milk's trademark horn section, which would later become a staple for current acts such as Beirut and Architecture in Helsinki. The track opens with a prototyp- ical church organ riff, but is backed byalone muffled trumpet sequence that quickly transitions into the hectic and pulsing "Gardenhead / Leave Me Alone"a,'tine,,song 6 0 Get the Gift You Really Wanted. that reflects Mang self approach to v Whet your appetite...In a three-session exploration. "This time we rid into the ocean/W as we spiral dow encompass the id er and desolatioi offers a modem, RefennJewish perspective on Island so brillian iu~ odav 5 b,..~n~hia~*hd srroful. Ntem, living . 'C C world, passionate. Ande depression and ut Classesare he ld atTemple Bth Emoth in gum finds beauty just want to dance . a8e6anuarvt ri a0hrU~ . ~ To give me some r Sadly, Neutral Open to the Beginner,Jewishr Not. only recently recei ty and praise it dese Mangum and the g Free of Charge, Space Linted lThough Mangum Contact Devon at dfftig@templebethemeth.org out another NMH him well enoughtc or 734-665-4744 to register. out of luck. But th Avery Island squa Co-sponsored by th. Union for Reform Judaism Pixies'Doolittle an William and Lottie Daniel Commission oi Outreach and Synagogue Community ermind as albums :, g raig bgt um's do-it-your- ocals. The lines, le roller coasters e feel no emotion n to the world" ea of the disas- n that On Avery tly reflects. Not ao. Just blunt and even among the ter chaos, Man- when belting, "I in your tangles / eason to move." Milk Hotel has ved the populari- erves -long after group disbanded. has never ruled album, we know o know we're shit is just places On rely among The d Nirvana's Nev- s that should be ne who claims to music. $ dissected by anyor be obsessed withn iPod starting at $79 Return the sweater from Grandma, grab that extra holiday cash, and take advantage of your student discount. U-M Computer Showcase, Michigan Union 64-SALES www.itd.umich.edu/sales www.apple.com/education/store 01