Editorial Product Review: :This is an admirable performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, by the New York New Music Ensemble. Phyllis Bryn-Julson's soprano is perfectly poised on that tightrope between song and speech that has befuddled many interpreters of the work. Another satisfying aspect to the recording is the care taken by conductor Robert Black in responding to the order and proportion in Schoenberg's score as well as to its eerie emotionalism. Stravinsky's Octet rounds out the disc in an adequate reading. --Joshua Cody
Usually we're fans of Logitech's gaming mice, but its highest-end G9 Laser Mouse is expensive, overly complex, and lacks the ergonomic thought we've come to expect. If you like to brag about dot-per-inch limits, perhaps the G9's 3,200dpi laser will be enough to sell you, but for the price, we expect the design to match.
Small and light enough for a shirt pocket, Samsung's Helix YX-M1 is a one-stop audio entertainment center with an XM radio, a digital music player, and room for 50 hours of tunes, but it comes up short on battery life.