HowTo: Resolve error -3256 in iTunes

I have good news for all the annoyed iTunes users out there with error -3256 popping up all the time. Do you also belong to the people being prevented from streaming music over the network to your AirPort Express while maybe syncing with other devices like Apple TV?

For all the ones who are fed up with it I have a solution that might work (specifically for Mac OS X Leopard):

1. Go to System Preferences. Choose Network, then Advanced…

2. Click on the menu tab TCP/IP.

3. In the drop down list Configure ipv6 choose Off.

Also, make sure that your firewall does not block any incoming connections. If the error persists, turn it off, i.e. activate Allow all incoming connections.

Please feel free to report back here to share your success with us. Maybe you can deliver other good solutions not mentioned here.

Please note: You take full responsibility for your actions on your computer. I can never be held responsible for any damages caused by my tutorials. Errors excepted!

Last.fm vs. Deezer

It was just yesterday when Last.fm first offered on demand music, beginning in some selected countries. Fans of the social music website will spend even more time on it than they’ve ever done before. It is also a wise step they’ve taken when looking at the competitive landscape because there are several more or less famous on demand music sites that have started in the last months. One of those is Deezer, a French company based in Paris.

The new offers on last.fm are actually not that revolutionary although it is the first time when the social element meets legal on demand music except imeem, which had to delete many copyrighted songs and has therefore lost its initial success.

Me being registered at both the Deezer and the last.fm site, I had the idea to do a little comparison of both to make the choice easier for people new to this.

DEEZER

Review of “X” by Kylie Minogue

Kylie live in Paris 2005 – Some rights reserved by Flickr user “law_keven”

This is a review I’m looking forward to writing because I think that Kylie Minogue is one of the greatest singers on earth. She has such a long music history and is therefore very experienced in the music business. After the cancer disease she has now fully recovered and is going on a spectacular tour in Europe in ‘08. As for now, I want to rate her music on the current album “X”. And next year I will also add a commentary about her concert in Zurich to which I’m looking forward very much.

So let’s begin. As usual, I’ll use a maximum of 5 stars with some nuances of 1/2 to make it clearer.

2 Hearts This charts topper is very good. I think, as all songs by Kylie are sensual in a way, I’ll leave that word away . So what else is to mention? This song is truly passionate, honest and without “twirls” but a good and strong beat. The background singers create the base in way, otherwise the song would be quite boring… ***** for a fresh power song.

Like A Drug “Like A Drug” is a good dance song animating people to get on the dancefloor. As the title mentions it, the song is a bit of a “fortune cookie” and therefore it may get by with music only for a short time to move the hips even more. The beats are rhytmic and you can really imagine someone dancing when you listen to it. Although the beats are cool, the song can’t convince me in terms of music. I think it’s too simple and also quite boring. So have a *** 1/2 rating for a good rhythm song, which can’t convince me as a whole.

In My Arms This is my personal favourite song on the album. At the beginning, the music is like lurking on the main part of the song with its high harpsichord sounds. Although the song isn’t that strong as for example “Like A Drug” it is all the same better because it is exciting and euphoric and “in one breath”. For such a good dancing song I give ***** stars.

Speakerphone The echo element in that song has a great importance in lyrics and beat. On one side, you can hear the alternating voices of Kylie and another one that sounds like a computer voice. The other voice finishes the lyrics to make them complete. On the other side, the beat is a sound similar to waves that return to you repeatedly. The song could be compared to a snake (rattles in the background and the high voice of Kylie). This one is another fave and I give it **** 1/2.

Sensitized Well, actually I think this song is quite disturbing. There’s a good melody but there’s a voice shouting out loud, which repeats all the time so after listening too long to the song it can get quite annoying. I mean, maybe the senses should be kept awake with that sound element but I personally don’t like it that much. For a more experimental song by Kylie I award *** for the courage to create something new.

Hearts Beat Rock I really like it when the sound qualities of a person’s voice come out. So I do in that song. The song is led by a sexy voice, which is, compared to the music, quite low but nevertheless firm. The music is very high-quality as usual, so no complaining about that. I’m amazed of how new sound elements are introduced, something I’ve never heard before and this is also what makes good musicians and composers. ***** for amazing composers and good singers.

No More Rain I think this song is not one that you like at first because it is quite flat. It took a while for me to discover it and now I like it even more although it is not my fave yet. I especially like the sound carpet, which is shortly transformed to a wonderful dream (representing the sun coming out from behind the dark clouds or a rainbow?). Therefore some xylophone sounds are used to create sound “colors”. In a way, these make me think of a huge rainbow in all its colors. ***** again for a fantastic sound experience.

The One This song is not good as it is too monotonous and repeats always the same lyrics and melodies. Compared to the other songs on the album I have to say it: This one is actually really bad. It is boring and the music drowns the already characterless sung part by Kylie. So I give it weak ** stars.

All I See I don’t know why but in a way this song reminds me of another R&B song although the music is certainly different. Here, the vocals are even more important than in other songs. But the overall picture is quite good. The song is a bit unusual for Kylie but nevertheless exciting. **** for an unusual song.

Stars This one is another dance song. Very good beat and good melody. The song really reaches for the stars because it is not boring and can be used to make a whole dancing crowd excited. Although I don’t know much old music from the 80’s or so, I think that there are old elements in the song to create the typical disco feeling (you can correct me there =). **** 1/2 for an almost perfect song.

Wow I know that the song “Wow” has had great success in some countries before the release of “X” but personally I cannot commend it much. I guess that for a certain period like the 90’s it would have had even more success and would have been lauded better but I don’t like those retro songs that much. Particularly when they’re boring as this one is. *** for another song to fill out the gaps between the songs.

Nu-di-ty I believe I don’t have to say much about this song. It is just sexy, exciting, amazing, provoking but after all very hot. ***** for almost the best song of the album.

Cosmic As an ending song this one fits good into the lacking frame of the album. It in a way adds a bit what got lost for the album as a whole, namely the connection between all the different songs and the leitmotif that should guide us somehow through the album. **** for a good and necessary ending

Overall impression: Some very fresh, new songs were introduced but there were also some dusty songs, which don’t fit into an anyhow lacking leitmotif. This album is certainly to be recommended despite those mentioned “mood killers”.

Get more information about Kylie on her site: http://www.kylie.com

A review of “Made of Bricks” by Kate Nash

Before I start with my review I’d like to underline that I have not written a Lilly Allen – Kate Nash comparison because they are simply two completely different singers. The only thing which is kinda similar is their accent and some sorts of instruments but the music has a truly different origin.
So let’s start, the songs are in the order as on the album.

Kate Nash at Liquid Room – Scotland on 23/08/07:

© Some rights reserved by Flickr user “Xfm Scotland”

Play – This one is my personal favorite because it is deeply honest and triggers many different emotions although the lyrics part of the song isn’t that interesting. Whenever the lyrics aren’t important then the music must be way better to convince as a whole. I think Kate Nash has done that in her first song of that album which I personally recommend as a starting point to listen to Kate Nash. The exaggerated drums carry you along, deep into the song where you can hear the bass melody. As a prove that the drums really lead you on the way through the song they begin to fade out at the end of the song as if to say that the emotions are over but you are well aware now of the style Kate Nash uses and you can begin with the album. One could call it an intro song but since Kate didn’t do that we must think of something else. *****

Foundations (Full Version) – The song “Foundations” is the best known and most downloaded song by Kate Nash. So it was also written for a mass public. As many very popular songs, also that one puts you off one day. Even if it’s not the best song on the album in terms of music, it tells us a distinctive story. So in exchange to “Play”, take a look at the lyrics. I can guarantee you that it’s much better and more authentic than the music itself. ****

Mouthwash – Mouthwash is, as Kate Nash describes it, some kind of a “protest song”. The lyrics lack a bit of credibility at first but the song is a strong commitment to individuality as it is rarely seen and heard today. So the title fits in that scheme, mouthwash is something boring, ordinary and intimate but it has a great importance on the outer appearance of a person. Maybe it also plays with the idea that many young people are insecure, especially with their own body (freckles ) and hygiene. The music is, as many of Kate’s songs, led by a piano melody but this time her voice and the lyrics are more important so it’s also easier to follow the texts. ****

Dickhead – In this song the lyrics and the music both are very monotonous, so there’s almost no melody except a repeating note sequence. The lyrics describe a person who is bullheaded but it’s a girl and not a boy, as Kate assures. I don’t like this song at all; other people can do something with it, me certainly not. *

Birds – The music of “Birds” sounds a bit like a strong and deep country song by Sheryl Crow. That means in general it’s happy with some little bass “discords” in the background. Since many songs by Sheryl Crow create the spirit of yearning in my opinion also that one does (I cannot prove that…). The text of two young lovers who meet on a station “fly away” together in love. There, the element of yearning reappears which is very present in youth. It’s not my favourite but this time the idea behind it is very clear. ***

We Get On – Although the melody of that one is cheerful, the song itself ends in a real tragedy. It’s the story of a girl who’s not able to express her love to the boy she wants; she’s too shy to do that. One day on a party she sees him kissing another girl. Then of course, the feelings for him are definitely over except one hope, that they could get on. “We Get On” is a fluffy song with a really sad topic. The music is great, especially because it follows the story (at the end you can hear some kind of long “frustration cries”). That makes the song balanced and easy to listen to. ****

Mariella - This song is I think about self-confidence and Mariella is something like an idol because she never says a word and the aim is to not always burst out with your own opinion. Mariella doesn’t have any friends because she is “strange” for the girls and not interesting to the boys “at that age”. So she is in a way an outsider with a special way to live. And that’s why other students also want to be like her – sometimes. I think “Mariella” is a fantastic song; it’s fun to listen to the repeating words “eva, eva…” because Kate’s accent stands really out here. Also, her special way of singing some words shows the real Kate Nash style. *****

Shit song – As the song promises, it is quite shitty , but in a positive way. I think it should provoke in a way and it does that. So it’s awesome to listen to it just cause you cannot class it… it’s pure Kate. And for that reason it deserves: *****

Pumpkin Soup - One could describe that song as a sequel to the song “We Get On” but that time the girl finally manages to get a boyfriend; it’s also a bit stronger than “We Get On”, especially when she asks the boy for a kiss. So it’s more optimistic and almost tilts to the other extreme of too much closeness. The music could be better because it’s again a bit monotonous but the song can convince even without the melody. ****

Skeleton Song – This track tells the story of an artificial skeleton somewhere in a girl’s room. I like the preciseness of describing what a skeleton has and hasn’t, something you never think about. When I first listened to the song I thought she would describe a real skeleton of her own body but then I read somewhere that this was not the case. It would have been too heavy because at the end the skeleton gets smashed… Summary: Weird but awesome. *****

Nicest Thing – This is one of the few very sad songs. It consists mainly of wishes to a friend but somehow the insecurity comes up once again; is the love to the friend really real? What I appreciate is the quality of the music (nice violin and guitar play) and the interlude; a violin tremolo is the trigger for a last statement. ****

Merry Happy – The final track on the album is fantastic. I’ve got the impression that Kate wanted to show a ripening over the whole album. “Merry Happy” ends the album with more mature thoughts; the insecurity has almost gone. It’s okay to be alone; one doesn’t have to be ashamed at all. The piano again plays an important role and it has also the “last word” because it fades out gently at the end and allows the listener to handle the music that he has just listened to. *****

Summary: This album must clearly not be underestimated. It’s a very mature one and it describes the youth with all its discomfort but also advantages. It doesn’t say which kind of living is right; that decision is up to you.

Final rating:

***** = a dream! / **** = excellent / *** = quite good / ** = could be better… / * = no way!

Visit Kate Nash’s website: http://katenash.co.uk/