jphone.org - 2008 June 19

Opera Software's latest "State of the Mobile Web" report published today reveals an interesting trend -- that men outnumber women on the mobile Web almost nine to one. The company's May report essentially looked at what people do on the mobile Web, this one looks at demographic trends. ... Opera Mini is known as the world's most popular Web browser for mobile phones, and runs on more than 800 different handsets, making it available to the widest range of consumers worldwide. Almost every phone with Java can run Opera Mini. The Web browser is completely free for anyone to download and use, available from http://www.operamini.com/.

Happy Thursday everyone! Its that time of the week again. I have a long list of artists that I am going to be introducing you to, but I figured I would stay on tradition from last week and introduce you to a band that I will be seeing this weekend. On Saturday, I am hitting up the Greek Theater in Berkeley (such a great outdoor venue..smaller, intimate, perfect) and we are going to see Death Cab For Cutie. Its been a few years since I have been able to catch them live and while they were at the Fillmore back in April on their way to Coachella, the show sold out in 2 minutes and people were asking for a ridiculous amount of money per ticket, so I sadly, couldn't make it. But I knew they would be back soon as they were releasing their latest studio album this year and before I knew it, I got the ticketmaster alert that they were coming back in June.

I am sure you are wondering how the band figured out what to name themselves. I know I asked myself that when I first heard their name so to end any confusion any of you may have, the boys picked the name "Death Cab For Cutie" from a British band named The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band who had a song by the very same name on their 1967 album, 'Gorilla'. Ben Gibbard, lead singer for DCFC, took the name from The Beatles 1967 TV movie and album, "The Magical Mystery Tour", where the song was prominently featured.

Death Cab For Cutie is comprised of lead singer Ben Gibbard, lead guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and Nathan Good on drums. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been described as "a literate, whispery style, the kind of stuff that normall sounds better in headphones thank in large venues" and Ben's high tenor voice has been described as "remarkable, vunerable and Zen-like." I remember the first time I heard DCFC and I wondered, who is this band, because it was a sound I hadn't heard before. Shortly after that, I got my RollingStone in the mail and while flipping through the pages, saw their review of 'Transatlanticism'. They commented that the album was "melodic, melancholy songs about feeling both smart and confused, hopelessly romantic but wary of love." Having read the description and already heard a few of the songs, I quickly went down to the local record store (ahhhh...remember those days?) and picked up a copy. A few years later, 'Plans' would grace our ears with such amazing songs as "Brothers on a Hotel Bed", "Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth". Entertainment Weekly commented on the music on 'Plans' say "The lush arrangements are long on hothouse organs and pianos, but short on the squirmy guitars and squirrelly beats that, on Gibbard's best work, offset his sweet voice and boarderline maudlin poetics with a sense of emotional danger."

Their latest studio release, 'Narrow Stairs' has been described by Chris Walla as "weird, spectacular and creepy". It was released on May 13, 2008 and has been met with plaudits from new and old fans. In an album review, MTV writer, James Montegomery said that he believes that this album could make "an early contender for the best album of 2008." The new album is their first to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Below you will find the official video from their first single off of 'Narrow Stairs' called "I Will Possess Your Heart". The intro is a bit long, but the song soars once it gets going. Enjoy the music and as always, enjoy your day!