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Music gadgets for the holidays

Music gadgets are always great options for the holidays, and as today is Cyber Monday it’s a good time to start your shopping and look for deals. Bullz-Eye.com has some cool stuff in their holiday gift guide, including these headphones:

There are so many different headphones on the market these days – especially when every rapper who’s ever had a hit single has to have his own line – that it’s hard to tell one from the other, but V-MODA has been in the game long enough that you can feel safe knowing you’re investing in a quality product. Though they may not be as stylish as some of the other premium headphones, the Crossfade M-80 has a streamlined look, with military-level durability and the option to custom engrave the metal shields on either earcup. They’re also extremely comfortable thanks to an ergonomic steelflex headband that bends and twists to your every demand, as well as some really soft ear cushions that allow for long sessions without any of the usual discomfort. We’re hardly experts when it comes to sound quality, but the M-80 delivers a satisfying and robust listening experience that makes its price tag a little easier to swallow for audiophiles who refuse to compromise quality just to save a few bucks.

Do your research with other gift guides as well, like this one from Joonbug.

Music Can Make You Feel So Much Better

When you listen to music, how does it make you feel? For a lot of people, music affects their mood pretty strongly. If you play sad, depressing songs, they’ll start to feel down and drug-out and tired. If you play something upbeat and happy, it can be a great mood lifter, even if a person was feeling depressed before the music started. Some people are affected by music more than others, but almost everyone identifies with at least a song or two in some way. Whether it’s a love song they first heard when they met their spouse or a ‘lucky’ song they heard while they were winning big on one of the sports betting sites, music matters to most of society.

Whether you make music or just listen to it will be affected by your level of talent, but also by what you enjoy. Some people just prefer to listen to music, and they don’t want to go through the work that’s required to learn an instrument. It takes time and dedication to play an instrument well, and taking lessons is also often costly. With that in mind, it’s entirely up to you how you choose to express your love for music.

Many more people listen than play, but quite a few do both. Either way is fine, because it’s all about what you like to do in life, and what makes you feel content. If playing music makes you happy you should do it, even if you’ll never be a professional. Likewise, if you prefer to be just a listener, there’s a lot of benefit to just sitting quietly and enjoying your favorite music – or dancing around to something that’s really upbeat.

Random Acts of Listening: The Bloody Good Songs of FIFA 11

Soccer nerds of the land are united by FIFA 11, the video game that has been around since, well, there’s probably someone out there who knows those stats; it’s the soundtrack that we’re really interested in. Yes, it actually has more than English commentators and endless hours of goal-scoring enjoyment. While speaking of a brilliant mix of music emitting from a video game might cause some to initiate “handbags at ten paces”—one of those British phrases for a soccer spat—it’s actually pretty cool. Ambient chill, dance, electronic and rock all hold hands and dance around the proverbial maypole, and the results are such that I added most of the tunes to my iPod.

Discovering this was all purely random, even if my buddy’s game selection was not. The melodies rolled around in my head long after he lost to Chelsea, and I was inspired to search for great music wherever it may lie and that night, even folk music was not refused a chance to emit from my sound system. Check out a few of my personal faves from the game and see what you think. These may be old to you, in which case you may rejoice that others are finding them, or you may be a virgin to them all and are now rejoicing that you’ve discovered them. Or you may hate them all and will stick to your Rock Band soundtrack. Well, at least you tried them. These are all available for download on iTunes:

Trick Pony from IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg
1977 from 1977 by Ana Tijoux
Don’t Turn the Lights On from Business Casual by Chromeo
Odessa from Swim by Caribou
Rhinestone Eyes from Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
Fire With Fire from Night Work by Scissor Sisters
Ace of Hz from Ladytron 00 – 10 (coming out soon) by Ladytron