Unexpected Musical Feature
934541
I love these little USB snowmans and have begun collecting them.  This one looks adorable and the lights work well.  There is also the capability to run it off battery or the USB cord which i didn't really need, but is nice nonetheless.

Main complaint to the otherwise wonderful snowman is that the Amazon description neglected to mention that every time you turn the thing on, it plays an extremely loud, shrill, and annoying combination of about 5 different Christmas songs.  It only plays once, not continuously, and only lasts for a minute or two... so it isn't THAT big a deal. But, i will be disassembling to remove the speaker.
3830901
I was pleasantly surprised by this song. At first, I had my doubts..being a free download at all.. but the unique sound, when listened patiently and carefully really pays off. I thought that her high pitched notes would turn me off, but when combined with the low notes of the music it gives off a contrast that makes the song interesting than appalling. There's so much that could have gone wrong with the combinations in this song, not to mention that the lyrics aren't very unique, but overall, the contrast of voice and sound makes this song unique and entertaining.
26643
The "cimbalom" is a peculiar instrument, perhaps easiest to relate to a xylophone in modern terms. I never knew of the numerous variants being introduced in this CD, like the Swiss "backbrett" or the Indian "santur" -- my only previous acquaintance with it has been as a vibrant staple of Hungarian gypsy music. I must say, the latter is still the most enjoyable use of the cimbalom; the others are mostly curiosities you are not going to put at the top of your listening preferences. Still, several of the shorter "curiosities" are interesting and musically attractive (like the Chinese "yang-quin or the Belarussian "zimbaly") while the longer ones tend to be somewhat boring. If you REALLY want to enjoy this type of music, I recommend listening to some of the pure cimbalom CDs, containing only Hungarian and Romanian gypsy music.
1268950
can't believe this kind of music even exists
1754089
Lord Huron have a unique and hard to describe sound. There's a backdrop of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and also some "world music" sounds in the guitars in some songs, but I wouldn't go as far as to describe them as "World Music" because there's a strong foundation of folk/acoustic music. In some ways the sound reminds me of some of Peter Gabriel's great African-influenced sounds. This quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2012.
598051
Well, I am very shocked to see this has not been reviewed before. Here is a most beautiful instrument, wonderfully played. And the chosen pieces are highly unlikely to be ones you have heard very, often if at all. Yet they all have wonderful melodies and that wistful Viola sound. Like distilling the essence of the very best of Emmy Lou Harris and putting that in an oversize violin.
2311920
Hey...we are surprised what a great sound came out of this little triangle.  Pretty neat.
1668705
The music on this CD is really quite innovative and a load of fun to listen to.  Track number 2 is especially nice, and has a storytelling feel to it.  Overall the music is an excellent blend of acousitc folky sounds augmented with synthesizers that fill out the pieces and complement the vocals.  The production values, however, really bother me.  Some of the cuts are really "in your face" and could have been recorded at a lower dB setting.  Others on the same CD are very quiet.  If you set the sound for the quiet tunes you are in for a rude shock every now and again....
1472446
Since no one has seen fit to describe this album, I'll state the obvious for those of us non-fluent in Hebrew: This is Hadag Nahash performing with a symphony orchestra.  It remains interesting music, but it's mostly outside the taste of the core Hadag Nahash audience, hence the low album price.  I hope they had fun making this novelty album and I don't understand why rock groups end up doing these, beyond the cross-fertilization of ideas by working with different kinds of musicians.  As a former student of French Horn, I have to salute the album cover.
3735415
I got my copy of this in the mail, and started playing it. I was very pleased with the clear stereo sound quality of this album! However, as I played through the first side, I noticed that some tracks REPEAT. Not only that, but I was also surprised to hear OUTTAKES of Revolver songs on this particular record! This is certainly a very strange version of the Revolver album, and it makes me wonder whether it's an official release or a bootleg... It certainly looks very nice and authentic, even if it is a bootleg. Another oddity is that this record manages to cram over 10 songs in one side... Never seen anything like this before. But anyway, this is an awesome collectible, and it's basically the entire UK version of Revolver, but with a few bonus tracks thrown in as well. I love this record!!! ^-^
1570745
This is a surprise...never heard anything like it in my many years as a professional musician. There is a subtlety and restrained energy that keeps the listener entranced. These young musicians know how to take their time unfolding musical ideas that seem closest to me to jazz...but without the cliches one ordinarily associates with jazz on exotic instruments. Occasionally I thought the mix was too strong on the drums and percusssion. There could be more presence of the shakuhachi.
4669652
There is a very odd tin piano quality to the Kreisleriana. It's barely detectable in the previews, but once you've bought it and downloaded it, it sounds as though these are being played under water.

Nonetheless, except for those half-dozen or so, the rest are just fine, hence the four stars.
2630986
Well, you gotta love bagpipes to get into this album, but it's a great change of pace from the relentless barrage of same-sounding pop caterwaulers.  There are quite a few songs on this long-playing double CD that will surprise you with bagpipe adaptations.  Like some other novelty albums like Christmas music box songs, you probably won't want to listen to more than two hours non-stop, but it's fun music to put into the mix.  The bag pipes don't overpower the arrangements as on some other music I've heard, but are well balanced and appropriate to the song.
2680827
I was only a little surprised by this record, but it took me for a long ride. Even with the non-linear avant-garde mindset in which this all takes place, I can still recognize little riffs and notes that sound a lot like Red Hot Chili Peppers music. Tracks 1-12 are decent to below-average songs. My favorite titled tracks are probably "Big Takeover" and "Mascara". Tracks 13-25 however, are even more interesting. They are even wilder and probably the weirdest sounding songs he ever made. But tracks 13-25 are NOT titled. It is really fun listening and you can let your imagination run wild with this music. Because there is no title, you never get ready and listen for the chorus or the title of the song in the song. For example, if one of the tracks was title "Tick", or something, on the cd then you would try to listen on that track when he says "Tick" for the chorus. That old system is broken with the second half of this cd. The untitled tracks are so unconventional and weird, that even if you listen to them a bunch of time, it is still hard to tell which track your on or even if you're at the beginning middle or end of the song. For what it is, I think it is a classic experimental album.
1562563
Upon opening, the first thing I noticed was the little case they come in. It has a pouch on one side with different sizes of rubber pieces- the bits that actually go in your ears. Which is lovely as my ear canals (?) are on the small side. The other side is a felt-like fabric and the band wrapped around the cord on the ear buds is like Velcro. I realized this was designed to prevent the tangling that seems to be inevitable for headphones. My picture shows the case with headphones removed, but you can see what I'm talking about.

The sound quality is pretty impressive. I sadly don't know a lot of music terminology but I did find that the bass was pretty substantially maintained unlike with a lot of ear buds. The small nuances of my favorite songs are preserved and even at low volumes I could hear those little, subtle parts. Since I don't know an abundance of sound science, for me the main things are if I can still hear those little bits, if the bass is strong... And if, when listening to something I've only heard on cheap speakers (my phone's speaker for instance), I hear new nuances and background sounds with the headphones that I hadn't before. These guys meet those requirements for me.

I'm very pleased. These things are definitely my new favorite headphones.
3477410
Except for the second song, I am so happy to listen to the music.. didn't recognize the second song at all. I have been playing it a lot..
3010758
Being rather new to this type of music, I never know what
to expect when I place an order. I must admit, I was quite
pleased when I played it. Aside from the first cut,(mentioned later)the CD is filled with interesting sounds and great drumbeats. It keeps me moving, on the inside, yet relaxes
me at the same time. As far as the first cut, I don't know how
that trash ever made it on the disc. Major mistake committed
there, and I hope it doesn't happen again.