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Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
This disc represents the best that indie music had to offer in 2004. Modest Mouse had been toiling away in the indie rock world for the last eight years, before busting onto the radio waves with this, their seventh album. Definite tracks to look out for include the radio hit “Float On”, as well as “Ocean Breathes Salty” and “Blame It On The Tetons”.

Final Straw - Snow Patrol
“Final Straw” is the third release from Snow Patrol, who seem poised to follow in the footsteps of Coldplay. The voice of Gary Lightbody, combined with incredible instrumentation for such a young band, create a sound that can’t miss. With radio hits “Spitting Games” and “Run”, this cd is a definite must have.

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Such an amazing album, it is tough to believe this is a debut disc. With the sound of a Strokes and Beatles mash-up, Franz Ferdinand tears through the songs on this disc. A big hit, “Take Me Out” approaches a love song with the image of two snipers trying to shoot the other down, a ripe comparison if I’ve ever seen one. A great debut, and certainly a great disc overall.

Madvillainy – Madvillain
Probably the most underground of the discs on this list, Madvillain is an under appreciated rap artist who can just simply spit better than 99.9% of MC’s out there. Although this disc does get a bit maddening at times with skits, if you can look past that, you will find a jewel of a rapper who deserves a lot more attention.

Trouble - Ray Lamontagne
Ray Lamontagne has been called the hillbilly Van Morrison, he’s also been called one of the most exciting new artists to come along in the past few years. With incredible songwriting talent and an unmistakable voice, Lamontagne is poised for a very long career. Take a listen to the tracks “Burn”, “Trouble” or “Jolene” and you can feel the pain and angst that are conveyed so beautifully by Lamontagne, definitely a 2004 must have.

Hot Fuss - The Killers
When you hear the synthesizer beginning to “On Top”, you might think you were back in 1984, or at least playing a game of GTA: Vice City. But The Killer’s debut “Hot Fuss” is one of the best discs of 2004 because of their combination of vocals, great instrumentation, and that incredible synth work. Everyone has heard the radio hit “Somebody Told Me” by now, but this disc is full of incredible tracks, like “Mr. Brightside” and “Andy, You’re A Star”.

A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets
When I first heard The Streets was releasing a “concept album” this year, I was a bit worried. After loving “Original Pirate Material”, the debut disc from The Streets, I was worried the critical acclaim had gone to sole group member Mike Skinner’s head. But after listening to a few tracks, I couldn’t stop listening, I was engrossed in the story. Not to say that each track can’t be enjoyed separately, but as a concept disc, this album is amazing. If this disc fit into one music category, it would easily be the best album of the year in that category, but it is tough to pin this one down into rap, or spoken word, but who cares, it is just damn good.

Hopes & Fears - Keane
On the softer side of 2004, we have Keane, a trio made up of piano, drums and vocals, that’s right, a rock band without guitars. But when you listen to “Hopes & Fears”, you won’t find it lacking, with incredibly instrumentation and a lead singer who draws comparisons to Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Chris Martin of Coldplay. With 2004 radio hit “Somewhere Only We Know”, Keane established their place on the softer side of rock music, but they definitely served notice that they will be a presence in popular music for years to come.

DVDs

Live Aid
The first official DVD release of the historic 1985 concert, this four DVD set would be a great gift for fans of David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Sting, The Who, U2, Neil Young or any of the plethora of bands that performed. Live Aid was one of the biggest concerts in history, and as a bonus, your purchase benefits the Band Aid Trust, which helps provide hunger relief to African nations. A piece of history, some great music and charity too, the perfect gift?

Crossroads Guitar Festival
Shot in June 2004 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, “The Crossroads Guitar Festival” is Eric Clapton’s gift to guitar loving music fans everywhere. With an eclectic mix of musicians including Clapton himself, James Taylor, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, John Mayer, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Santana, as well as many, many others. If your favorite part of a song is the long guitar solo, or you are a fan of any of the musicians who performed, this dvd is a rare collection of the world’s best guitar players.

Books

Chronicles, Vol. 1 - Bob Dylan
For Dylan fans out there, how does it get any better than an autobiography, Dylan’s life in Dylan’s words? But be warned, the man with the meandering lyrical style does not differ when penning a book. Dylan cares not for telling a story in chronological order, or any other order for that matter. There are some stunning revelations, like Dylan’s fondness for Ice-T (who saw that coming)? But if you call yourself a Dylan fan, this is a fascinating read, and a definite must have.

De Capo Best Music Writing 2004 - Edited By Mickey Hart
Each year De Capo compiles that year’s best music writings, be they articles from Rolling Stone, newspaper reviews, or blurbs from books. And each year this compilation has a guest editor who picks the pieces and writes an intro. This year that honor fell on Mickey Hart of the Monkees, who picks some solid pieces of music writing. Although not quite as strong as last years volume edited by Matt Groening, or 2002’s edition edited by Nick Hornby, De Capo’s is still the place to go when you want to find the year’s best music writing.

There you have it. Any of these items can be purchased right now at your local music or book store, and they aren't high demand which means they should be easily accessible. There is definately something for any music lover on this list.

- Greg Norton

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This week, we are giving our winner their pick of three DVD's of their choice. This is your chance to make up for what was missing under the Christmas tree this holiday season. After all, that is what it's all about, isn't it? Either way, here is what we expect of you:

The person that comes up with the most creative way to advertise Gear Live will win the three DVD's of their choice. Whether that means you go into a quiet movie theater and yell "EVERYONE VISIT GEAR LIVE DOT COM WHEN YOU GET HOME!!!", post Gear Live flyers all over your college campus, or get "Gear Live R0x0rz" tattooed on your forehead - you do what you think is best, and send us proof. Don't try photoshopping anything. If it looks photoshopped, it's disqualified.

So go ahead and use your noodle to come up with the most bizarre, eye-catching advertising campaign for the site, and send your proof to submit@gearlive.com. You have until 7:00 PM PST on Sunday, December 26th. Thanks go out to PrizeCube for sponsoring our weekly contests.

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RoboSapien: If you haven't heard of or seen the RoboSapien by now, then I would like to know why you have stayed indoors over the past few months with no form of electronic communication. The fact is, the RoboSapien is probably this years big "must have" toy as far as the kids are concerned, and with good reason. What kid (or adult) doesn't want to own their own personal robot? The RoboSapien has 67 pre-programmed functions including pick-up, throw, kick, dance, kung-fu, belch, and obviously many more. The RoboSapien is a product of Wow Wee. Click here to compare prices.

Juice Box: The Mattel Juice Box may not be the highest resolution portable video player on the market, but if it was then it would be too expensive to be targeted to the kiddies. That being the case, the Mattel Juice Box is the perfect gift for those wannabe-techie kids. The device plays video which are purchased separately on proprietary video cartridges, at a speed of 15 to 18 frames per second. Each one can hold 60-75 minutes of video. You can also put pictures and MP3's onto the Juice Box, making it a sub-$100 multimedia player. Nice. Click here to compare prices.

TEENS

Nintendo DS: If you have a teen in the house, you can't go wrong with the Nintendo DS. The latest handheld console from Nintendo features dual-screen game play, with the bottom screen being touch sensitive. It adds a unique dynamic to the mechanic. It also plays all Game Boy Advance games, giving it a huge game library from the start. Of course, the DS games are what show off the system. If you can find one of these during this holiday season, snatch it up quick. The Nintendo DS is currently flying off the shelves. Click here to compare prices.

T-Mobile Sidekick II: If you know teens, you know they love to chat it up with their friends - both on the phone, and online. The Sidekick II from T-Mobile gives them the best of both worlds. This cell phone will also allow them to send unlimited emails (it has a full QWERTY keyboard), chat on AOL Instant Messenger, and has a built-in camera to boot. You can go online and check stocks as well, for all the nerdy types out there. This one is definitely a hit, even cool teens like Lindsay Lohan own one, iced out no less! Click here to compare prices.

COLLEGE STUDENTS

Toshiba Qosmio G15: This is what I believe to be one of the best notebook computers out there. Check out the features: Pentium M 735, 512 MB RAM, 100 GB hard drive, Centrino Technology, DVD burner, 17" widescreen display. This laptop also has a TV tuner, and a DVR built right in. Oh, and it also can help students as far as schoolwork goes, and that is what would be most important to them. Right? Click here to compare prices.

iTunes Gift Card: What student isn't into music? And even if they aren't, they may be the audiobook type. Either way, iTunes gift cards are an excellent option. Put $25 on one, and they can get about 23 songs (damn taxes!), or two full albums with some cash left over. It will go nice with the free iPod they have probably been spending more time than necessary trying to score. Click here to compare prices.

PROFESSIONALS

SCOTTeVEST Hidden Cargo Pants: Gear Live did a review of these pants a couple of months ago, and we came away thoroughly impressed. If you need to look sharp for work, or any special occasion, these are the pants for you if you want to remain teched out. With hidden compartments, the patented Personal Area Network, and teflon-coating (to avoid stains from spills), there are no better pants. We put a cell phone, keys, wallet, PDA, and some change in the pants. You could barely feel that they were in the pockets.

RIM Blackberry 7100t: What the T-Mobile Sidekick II is to teens, I believe the Blackberry 7100t is to the white collar professional. Yes, even more so than the Treo. The keypad has an advanced text recognition software (as well as 2 letters per key rather than 3) which will make sending email directly from the phone a lot less mundane. The Blackberry's always-on "push" technology sends e-mails from up to ten of your existing Internet or corporate accounts directly to your phone. The phone also has integrated BlueTooth. Can't go wrong with this one.

TECHIES

iRiver H320 MP3 Player: It seems those that proclaim to be techies at heart are turning away from the iPod, Apple's MP3 player kingpin. Instead, they are going for the iRiver H320 MP3 player which just about everyone swears has much better sound quality. Whether that is true or not is for you to decide, however, you can't deny that the H320 has more features than the iPod. What types of features? Try an FM radio tuner, radio recorder, voice recorder, color screen, .JPG and .BMP image support, MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV and OGG music support, line-in recording, and more. Take that Apple. The iRiver H320 is sure to be a hit with any geek. Click here to compare prices.

Humax TiVo Digital Video Recorder w/ DVD Burner: TiVo DVR's are starting to finally become mainstream. Regardless of how you feel about some of the companies recent decisions, the product is still very cool. Recently, Humax released an 80-hour DVD Player/Recorder with built-in TiVo functionality. By default, it comes with TiVo basic, which is simply a very stripped down version of the TiVo service. It is free, and it will allow you to record shows to the hard drive. You can upgrade to a monthly or lifetime membership which will give you full TiVo functionality. What's great about this player is that the DVD recorder allows you to burn your recorded shows to DVD for archiving. Click here to compare prices.

FATHER'S

Garmin iQue 3600 GPS: Men hate stopping to ask for directions. That's the stigma, right? Oh well, now the male species can save face by not ever having to ask another human being for directions again. GPS navigation systems are definitely coming into their own, with some being just off by a few feet. Enter the Garmin iQue 3600 GPS. With its calendar, contact list, to-do list, memo pad, and GPS functions, you can be reminded of an appointment, see it on an electronic map, and get turn-by-turn voice directions right to the front door. While you're on the way, use the iQue to listen to MP3 music or dictate messages into its voice recorder. Score. Click here to compare prices.

Braun 8585 Activator Self Cleaning Shaver: More electric shavers are sold during the holidays than any other time during the year, so sticking with that popular theme, we bring you the Braun 8585 Shaver. It has a unique 4 way moving head which captures more hairs in fewer strokes. The automatic self-cleaning Clean & Charge system leaves your shaver thoroughly and hygienically clean for a better shaving performance every day. To ensure ultimate shaver performance whenever you need it Smart Logic is activated every time the shaver is charged, maintaining battery power at its peak. Now when Dad kisses you at Christmas, his 5 o'clock shadow won't give you a friction burn. Click here to compare prices.

MOTHER'S

Roomba 4210 Robotic Vacuum: The Roomba 4210 Discovery Robotic Vacuum will save the mothers in your life a bunch of time, and energy. Just charge it, set it on the floor, and turn it on. The Roomba will automatically scour the floor picking up the dirt and dust as it goes. With more advancements and improvements, Roomba Discovery features dirt detect, a self-charging Home Base and an Advanced Power System. It really is great, but I am waiting for the Kitchoomba. A device that will automatically make me a sandwich would be killer. Click here to compare prices.

Palm Zire 72: What mother couldn't use a simple, streamlined PDA to better manage their day? The Palm Zire 72 may not have all the fancy bells and whistles of a Pocket PC or high end Clie, but it has just the right features that any mother will find useful. First and foremost, it has the obvious calendar/tasks/notes features that are standard on any Palm. The Zire 72 also has a built-in camera, so she can snap photos and view them. MP3's can also be loaded on to the device, and it even has a voice recorder for those times where you just can't input something with the stylus. Definitely a great buy. Click here to compare prices.

Gear Live thanks all of the readers who sent in gift ideas.

- Andru Edwards

Most of you can relate to this experience. You have your MP3 player, which fits nicely in your regular jacket chest pocket. Plus you have your GBA, which fits snugly in your front jean pockets. Oh yeah, you also have your digital camera, which you can pop into the back pocket of your bag. But you want to read some magazines while you’re on a trip too. Hmm, I guess it can fit in the bag too, next to your glasses case, and your water bottle. Woops, almost forgot about the battery chargers…oh yeah, and of course your PDA. Heh, how could I forget that? Dang, the cell phone too. Man, where are my earbuds going to fit without being damaged? The list goes on and on. Usually, I put everything in my book bag, and just lug it around all over New York City. Sometimes you want to keep you arms free though, or maybe the bag doesn’t look so great on you when it’s crammed with stuff.

If you’re familiar with ScottEVest, you know they offer pretty good solutions for people in this situation. The Solar SeV Finetex System on the other hand, is designed to enhance your gear experience even further. It includes of a flexible solar panel that connects to your jacket, and provides some juice to a black USB box, and to your USB gear. As crazy as this sounds, it really does charge your gear with just the power of the sun. You won’t need to worry about losing all the juice on your iPod, not at least for a while. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself though, mainly because as great as the system sounds on paper, there are a few shortcomings to the product when in actual use. Let’s first look at what it does well.

STORAGE, STORAGE, STORAGE!

To start, this jacket has more pockets than you’ll know what to do with. Seriously, every time you look a little closer, you’ll discover something new. There are two pockets at both sides of the chest, both on the inside and out. Looking within the jacket, you will find numerous compartments, some of them with zippers, others with velcro linings, either to make them expandable or to keep them sealed.

There are pouches made for pens, glasses, music players, cell phones, chargers, PDAs, wallets, magazines, and even water bottles. There are even zippered pockets on both of the sleeves. In fact there are so many pockets that at first you’ll be wondering where everything goes. ScottEVest obviously understood this. Included within most of the pockets are little informational cards that describe items that you might find appropriate for that specific area. I really appreciated these ideas.

Most likely you won’t even need every single pocket, as it’s up to you to figure out where you feel things will be most comfortable. The beauty of the thing is flexibility and choice. One of the info cards recommended that I place my cell in one of the outer chest pockets, and a PDA on the opposite side. I found this to be pretty appropriate because I could answer my calls (and feel the vibration a little easier) and have quick access to my Palm at the same time, without having to open my jacket in colder weather.

COOL FEATURES

One of the chest pockets has an additional plastic pouch within it, which fit my Rio Carbon very nicely, and gave it a little more protection against the elements. Another interior pocket includes a cord with a clip on the end, which holds a cleaning cloth for your glasses. Handy! Both of the hand pockets include similar cords allowing you to clip your keys. Most pockets consisted of a strong black mesh that allowed you to see the items inside. They were large enough so that it didn’t look like I was carrying all my gear with me, yet the jacket remained warm enough for me in the crisp weather I used it in.

There are a few more useful touches you may not notice at first. The collar of the jacket opens up to reveal an attached hood. The jacket also has some minimal reflective white lines, so that you and your gear are better protected against night traffic. The sleeves of the jacket can be zippered off during warmer weather, effectively turning it into a vest. There are elastic bands found within one of the larger front pockets to hold a water bottle within. Finally, there are small holes in several interior pockets to allow you to thread cords within, so that they can reach your head easier without tangles. All in all, this thing is just packed full of surprises.

NOT ALL ROSES

All this is well and good, but…you knew the gripes were coming. Let’s look at where we found some issues. I’ll lay out the issues before you, and also explain how it affects the user, and what could have been doe differently. I’ll be constructive in what I share, because I truly believe ScottEVest is a good company, and its products generally provide us with functionality that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s easy to tear something down, and a lot harder to build it up.

The first issue I had was with the exterior material used for the jacket. It actually scratches your skin a bit as you try to put it on, especially the arm-ends, which can come widen out easily with its velcro closure function. Once it’s on, it’s not so much of a bother, but my own personal jackets are a much softer and gentler material and it’s never been a conscious issue for me. Perhaps this is the case because the jacket is water resistant. Still, I would think few people would run out with hundreds of dollars of electronics without an umbrella for protection. If this were softer, and a little easier to the touch, it would add comfort to the functionality.

There’s more. The hand pockets are completely awkward. I don’t know about you, but I like to walk with my hand in my pockets, especially in cooler weather. The design of these pockets is such that they are large, and will hold just about anything (remember, even water bottles) but hand insertion goes in at a weird, almost vertical angle, and I felt I was better off keeping my hands out of the jacket completely. If they were closer to the base of the jacket, and maybe smaller in the openings, this wouldn’t have been an issue.

SOLAR PANEL

The solar panel is another area that I think needs some more work. First of all, the panel is pretty obvious when you wear it, as it’s a deep purplish color, and lined with reflective material. This makes me feel uncomfortable walking down the street with it. Granted it can be removed, and used on its own, but that’s not what people are primarily looking for. It would’ve been better to have the solar panel a black color so as to not stand out.

Additionally, it might have looked a bit more fashionable if it were embedded into the jacket, as opposed to something that the user has to strap on and have dangle from the backs of their shoulders. The bottom of the panel connects to the jacket via more velcro, but it would’ve been nicer and even more convenient to have the panels sit flush with the jacket exterior itself.

Speaking of the solar panel, it works, even though you are limited in the types of electronics you can use with it. The charger box that connects to the panel shows a little yellow light as it charges, and surprisingly I was even able to see it come on when I placed the panel directly under an interior light bulb. Connecting my USB compatible Rio Carbon to the box, I experienced no problems. There didn’t seem to be a difference in charge time, from a regular charging using my wall-outlet USB adaptor. However, not all of our gear is USB chargeable. The jacket would’ve been much more versatile if it allowed standard AC wall plugs to be used. That way I could’ve not only charged just my Carbon, but also my cell, my digital camera batteries, and my PDA.

BE CAREFUL WITH IT

The next problem is a curious subtlety that comes out of the jacket’s storage functionality. When I talked about this item with some friends, the only thing they could think about was what a huge theft target this jacket would be. This is a delicate issue, because ScottEVest has no control of how well you protect your own belongings, or the behaviors of other ne’er-do-wells. Still, you have to think about keeping a close eye on this thing.

It’s not like a pair of pants, where you’ll have a hard time losing it, along with the gear inside. This is something that is removable, and can hold thousands of dollars of equipment. I was actually worried about where I took this jacket off because if I wasn’t careful, I would lose every expensive gadget I have amassed in the past couple years. This is just something to think about. Again, it is not SeV’s fault, but the jacket requires an extra sense of vigilance when you take it off indoors, and that can be a big enough concern to detract people with substantial costly items stored inside.

FINAL VERDICT

My last concern is about pricing. $425 is a lot to pay for a marginally good product, even if it does store everything you will ever have. We take into consideration the overall value something offers to users, and this is a case where the prohibitive price sheds further negative light on the product. You do need to pay a premium for such innovative new concepts, but that becomes a problem when the concept stumbles in a few areas. The ScottEVest Solar Finetex jacket offers an unusual amount of storage space, but you also sacrifice some comfort, some looks (at least from the rear), and some versatility. Hopefully the problems discussed here are remedied in the jacket’s next iteration. But for now, it leaves a little wanting.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Product Name: Solar SeV Finetex System

Company: ScottEVest

Price: $425 (without fleece liner)

- Hector Martinez

Scilynt
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Congratulations to the winners! Gear Live thanks TrendyGeek for sponsoring this contest. If you didn't get one, don't fret. You still have until midnight to win a free video game console or $160 Amazon.com gift certificate from Gear Live.

So, iRiver has finally gotten into the mini hard drive MP3 player game. The iRiver H10 has all of what we now like to refer to as the "standard goodies". It has a 5 GB hard drive, 1.5" color screen (for viewing photos), FM radio, voice recording, and of course plays music. Take that iPod mini. The H10 is available in deep red, midnight blue, neo silver and slate grey. Where can you find one? Right now, only in Korea for now starting December 22.

Read More | Cnet

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How often do you reach out for the remote control when the telephone rings? With BeoCom 2, you can turn down the sound of your television or music directly from the telephone's keypad.