Info
After the righteous anger and occasional despair of the socially motivated Innervisions, Stevie Wonder returned with a relationship record: Fulfillingness' First Finale. The cover pictures his life as an enormous wheel, part of which he's looking ahead to and part of which he's already completed (the latter with accompanying images of Little Stevie, JFK and MLK, the Motor Town Revue bus, a child with balloons, his familiar Taurus logo, and multiple Grammy awards). The songs and arrangements are the warmest since Talking Book, and Stevie positively caresses his vocals on this set, encompassing the vagaries of love, from dreaming of it ("Creepin'") to being bashful of it ("Too Shy to Say") to knowing when it's over ("It Ain't No Use"). The two big singles are "Boogie on Reggae Woman," with a deep electronic groove balancing organic congas and gospel piano, and "You Haven't Done Nothin'," an acidic dismissal of President Nixon and the Watergate controversy (he'd already written "He's Misstra Know-It-All" on the same topic). As before, Fulfillingness' First Finale is mostly the work of a single man; Stevie invited over just a bare few musicians, and most of those were background vocalists (though of the finest caliber: Minnie Riperton, Paul Anka, Deniece Williams, and the Jackson 5). Also as before, the appearances are perfectly chosen; "Too Shy to Say" can only benefit from the acoustic bass of Motown institution James Jamerson and the heavenly steel guitar of Sneaky Pete Kleinow, while the Jackson 5 provide some righteous amens to Stevie's preaching on "You Haven't Done Nothin'." It's also very refreshing to hear more songs devoted to the many and varied stages of romance, among them "It Ain't No Use," "Too Shy to Say," "Please Don't Go." The only element lacking here, in comparison to the rest of his string of brilliant early-'70s records, is a clear focus; Fulfillingness' First Finale is more a collection of excellent songs than an excellent album. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
LG unveils first MP3 player
The sleek, 8GB player--dubbed the MFJM53--sorely lacks the branding zing of the iPod, but it does boast a 30-hour battery life and video playback.
LG Electronics unveiled its first MP3 player today, posting details about its would-be iPod rival on its Web site.
LG's MFJM53 player
The Korean electronics giant is calling the player the MFJM53. Although its moniker doesn't quite roll off the tongue like the iPod, it does boast some promising features.
For one, the 8GB MFJM53 has a battery life of 30 hours, dwarfing that of the iPod and most hard drive-based portable players. The 4x2-inch player also has a 1.77-inch touch-sensitive OLED screen and plays video.
The MFJM53 is compatible with the PlaysForSure digital rights management (DRM) technology, meaning that it will work with subscription services such as Napster and Rhapsody, which use Microsoft's DRM. It also handles files in MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg, MPEG4, and ASF format.
LG did not include pricing info on its site, and it is unclear when the product will go to market.
Just added
