Random Stuff: Band of the week

Lets see... I think I have about... no readers, but I still continue to publish posts at random times when I get bored. So let's start a Music Section. I'll start listing a band of the week, just to give me something to do in my spare time. This weeks winner is: Nirvana. Now I'm sure you've all heard of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, various random people over the years) Unfortunately they disbanded (no pun intended... well maybe a bit) because... eh, look it up yourself on Wikipedia, the greatest online resource known to man. Anyway, here's to Nirvana, my band of the week.

Reviews > Music > Even Flow

'Even Flow', written in 1992, is a song by Pearl Jam, and was a single featured on their debut album, 'Ten.' It was also put on their Greatest Hits album, but as a different version, and the second one doesn't sound quite right...anyway, it's a great song, and is featured on the Guitar Hero 3 tracklist as well. It is available from the iTunes store, as well as some other places.

Top 4 Media Players

I love listening to my music, and I need a good program to use, so here are some of my ratings and favorites.

RealPlayer
RealPlayer is an ok player; some people like it, some don't. Not one of my preferences, it can download YouTube videos to your hard drive for later watching (this is the main reason I use it), but it saves them in .flv format, so you need to play them in either RealPlayer or a separate flv player.

iTunes
iTunes is an all-around great media player, with its own format (AAC) for high quality audio, but it doesn't support wma, wmv, or any other Windows Media formats. It has the iTunes Store, with one dollar songs and 10 dollar albums, which are DRM protected but not uncrackable . Another catch is that all files must be imported manually (no auto-detection) and that it only syncs with iPods (no Zunes, Sansas, or Zens).
EDIT: apparently iTunes can support unprotected wma's (and maybe folder watching.) My bad. Thanks mintz66 for pointing that out.

Windows Media Player 11
Personally, the main thing I like about WMP is that it auto-updates folders you watch for media, so you rarely have to search for files after the initial run. The GUI isn't bad, but not great. The upshot is that it syncs with nearly all portable music players available, including my Sansa e250.

WinAmp 5.53
WinAmp is one of the best options available, with playback support for both Windows and iTunes DRM formats, and scanning/auto importing music and videos, with iTunes-style Genre/Artist/Album sidebars for quick and easy searching. It, too, like WMP, will sync files to my Sansa and other portable media (flash drives, SD cards, etc.). It has a highly customizable GUI as well, making for an all around good choice.

(J. River) Media Jukebox
The Media Jukebox is a very good choice, with a very similar interface to WinAmp, and similar functionality. It will also sync to my Portable Media Drives, and has Last.fm and Amazon MP3's support built-in. Less squarish than WinAmp, though, it has soft lines and a nice look.

FoxyTunes
FoxyTunes isn't actually a media player, more of a remote for whatever player you use. It is an extension available for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and can control around 25 different Media Players, Including the ones mentioned above and more, like foobar2000, Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.fm, and XBMC. It. sits on the side of your browser and lets you control your music without having to minimize the browser.

These are my top Media Players, if you have any suggestions or other Favorites, let me know!