MOG - Wanbli's Posts

3,200 FREE MP3s from Amazon.com

Wanbli — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:16:18 GMT

Amazon.com offers free downloads of over 3,200 MP3s via the Amazon MP3 Store

Downloading them all as I type....

Neil Young hits the Road in the Fall with Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie

Wanbli — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:07:50 GMT

Rock icon Neil Young has announced dates for a North American tour that features support from Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie and Everest.

10/14/2008 Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN

10/16/2008 MTS Center Winnepeg, MN CANADA *

10/18/2008 Brandt Center Regina, SK, CANADA *

10/19/2008 Pengrowth Saddledome Calgary, AB, CANADA *

10/21/2008 Comcast Arena Everett, WA *

10/22/2008 GM Place Vancouver, BC, CANADA *

10/25/2008 Bridge Benefit Shoreline in Mountain View, CA

10/26/2008 Bridge Benefit Shoreline in Mountain View, CA

10/29/2008 Cox Arena San Diego, CA *

10/30/2008 The Fabulous Forum Los Angeles, CA *

11/01/2008 Events Center Reno, NV *

11/04/2008 Sprint Center Kansas City, MO *

11/05/2008 Qwest Center Omaha, NB *

11/29/2008 Metro Center Halifax, NS, CANADA

12/01/2008 Bell Center Montreal, QB, CANADA ^

12/02/2008 Scotia Band Center Ottawa, ON, CANADA ^

12/04/2008 Air Canada Center Toronto, ON, CANADA ^

12/07/2008 Palace Auburn Hills Detroit, MI ^

12/09/2008 Allstage Arena Chicago, IL

12/12/2008 The Spectrum Philadelphia, PA ^

12/13/2008 DCU Center Boston, MA ^

12/15/2008 Madison Square Garden New York, NY ^

with Death Cab for Cutie + Everest
with Wilco + Everest

All shows for this run will be general admission floor with reserved seating in the stands. Complete ticket information is available at LiveNation.com and NeilYoung.com.

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Episode 1 is Up!

Wanbli — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:04:26 GMT

During the WGA strike Joss Whedon started writing a three part musical series for the internet. Each of the three episodes will be approximately ten minutes each.

Co-writers for the internet feature are Joss’ brothers Zack and Jed and Jed’s Fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen . The writing and shooting have been completed and the series is now in post-production.

"It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to." says Whedon.

"Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will star Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens."

http://doctorhorrible.net

Q&A from Joss Whedon

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read. ‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, "It’s Show Business – not Show Friends"? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

"Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.

And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.

3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.

Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.

4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people — gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased. Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.

Play Chess Against RZA- WuChess

Wanbli — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:17 GMT

"The game of chess, is like a swordfight. You must think first, before you move. Toad style is immensely strong, and immune to nearly any weapon. When it's properly used, it's almost invincible" - RZA

Chesspark and the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA have partnered up to bring you WuChess.com.

Designed for chess enthusiasts addicted to hip-hop music, WuChess.com is the place where your favorite music, movies and celebs will be all while you get your game on. WuChess members will get exclusive offers such as MP3s you can't get anywhere else, playing a surprise celebrity guest, access to one of a kind video clips and many more surprises. This is hardcore chess with half the stuffiness.

WuChess understands that it is important that today's youth develop life strategy skills, so to help their efforts a portion of WuChess revenue will be donated to the Hip Hop Chess Federation's scholarship fund.

http://www.wuchess.com/

Yamaha Tenori-on

Wanbli — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:48:32 GMT

Finally being released for sale in the U.S.

Only $1200.00 to get your hands on one...

a hands on review with excellent video from Engadget:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/07/yamaha-tenori-on-everything-you-wanted-to-know-with-video/

Bonnaroo 2008 Live Webcast

Wanbli — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:23:50 GMT

Bookmark it now this Fri June 13- 15

BONNAROO MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

Playing the Building with David Byrne

Wanbli — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:46:46 GMT

Very cool, wish I was in Manhattan!

Playing the building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.

10 South Street, New York, NY (Map) 31 May – 10 August 2008 Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Noon – 6PM (Free)

http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/art_projects/playing_the_building/index.php

Bob Dylan says Barack Obama is 'changin' America

Wanbli — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:00:23 GMT

Exclusive interview with Bob from Times UK

Odense, Denmark, and the not-quite-grand hotel that for the next two nights will be a home away from home for Bob Dylan. He arrived here from Reykjavik, four days after his 67th birthday and in the first stages of a lengthy itinerary that will take him through Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Austria, Italy, France, Andorra, Spain and Portugal between now and mid-July. To his irritation, others long ago gave this ongoing schedule the title of The Never-Ending Tour (habitually, he plays upwards of 100 concerts each year, often considerably more). As he prefers to see it: “I'm just making my living by plying a trade.”

Achieving my promised audience with the legendary singer-songwriter and now exhibited painter proves to be a two-step process. First, his road manager takes me from the lobby to a darkened, sparsely furnished meeting room in which an orange-haired woman is sitting straight-backed and reading a novel. “If you could just wait here,” he begins, then disappears, his mobile clamped to his ear. Left alone, I introduce myself to the woman but she merely smiles enigmatically and continues with her book. Who is or was she? I still have no idea.

Minutes later I am collected, taken up a flight of stairs and ushered towards a door that is ajar. As I approach it is opened by Dylan, who welcomes me inside with a soft handshake and a volley of courtesies: “How have you been?” [I have interviewed him twice before, in 1997 and 2001], “What's been going on in your life?” and “Are you OK with the dark [here in what appears to be his bedroom, all the curtains have been drawn]?” Times Archive, 1969: Bob Dylan at the Isle of Wight Festival

'He came here to do what he had to do and he's done it, and I'm afraid that's the end'

My eyes adjusting to this premature twilight, I take in the fact that he is wearing boots, jeans and a loose sweatshirt, its sleeves pushed up above the elbows. That famous face is heavily lined and pale, but always warm and quick to smile. As we take seats at right angles to each other, he presses his fingertips into his grey-flecked curls and vigorously rubs his scalp, as if to do so will focus his mind.

I place on the low table between us the book that I have brought with me. “Heh, heh, heh!” Dylan chuckles, reaching out for it. “This is pretty handsome stuff.” He is looking at a straight-from-the-presses copy of The Drawn Blank Series, produced by the Halcyon Gallery to coincide with the exhibition of that name in Bruton Street, Mayfair. Will he visit the show itself? “I don't know,” he says, seemingly transfixed by the book's cover, his voice the familiar rasp that has inspired a million amateur impressionists. “I have all these dates to play. It might not be possible. I'd like to. We'll have to see.”

The haphazard process leading to the London show began nearly 20 years ago when he was approached by an editor at the American publishing company Random House. “They'd seen some of my sketches somewhere and asked if I'd like to do a whole book. Why not, you know? There was no predetermined brief. ‘Just deal with the material to hand, whatever that is. And do it however you want. You can be fussy, you can be slam-bang, it doesn't matter.' Then they gave me a drawing book, I took it away with me and turned it back in again, full three years later.”

Published in 1994 under the abbreviated title Drawn Blank, the resultant images had been executed both on the hoof while he was touring and in a more structured way in studios, using models (“Just anyone who'd be open to doing it”) and lights. What was going on in his life during that three-year period to inform or provide a back story to the work? “Just the usual,” Dylan shrugs, fixed in the hunkered-forward, hands-clasped position he will maintain for most of our time together. “I try to live as simply as is possible and was just drawing whatever I felt like drawing, whenever I felt like doing it. The idea was always to do it without affectation or self-reference, to provide some kind of panoramic view of the world as I was seeing it.”

Built up of work that is often contemplative, sometimes exuberant but consistently technically accomplished and engaging, that view is of train halts, diners and dockyards, barflies, dandies and uniformed drivers glimpsed in New Orleans or New York, Stockholm or South Dakota. And of women. We're left in no doubt that Dylan likes women. “They weren't actually there at the same time,” he notes quickly, pointing, when his page-turning reveals the painting Two Sisters, its subjects lounging, one clothed, the other naked but for her bra. “They posed separately and I put them together afterwards.”

There was little precedent within his own family for this talented eye, it seems. “Instead of playing cards, my maternal grandmother would do these little still lives, but I can't really say that had any influence on what I've done.” Art formed no part of his formal education and he recalls there being no public galleries in the Minnesotan communities (first Duluth, then Hibbing) of his youth. “I was in my teens before I started to see books of paintings in the school library - frescoes or the work of Michelangelo, that kind of thing. And I didn't really see the stuff that properly had an impact on me - Matisse, Derain, Monet, Gauguin - 'til later on, when I was in my twenties.”

By then, Dylan the university dropout and fledgeling folk performer had gravitated to New York, where he quickly discovered the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “It was overwhelming for me at the time, the immensity and sheer variety of stuff on display. The first exhibition I saw there was of Gauguin paintings and I found I could stand in front of any one of them for as long as I'd sit at the movies, yet not get tired on my feet. I'd lose all sense of time. It was an intriguing thing.” It was as his music career gathered pace that he found himself first trying his own hand at drawing. “Mostly when I was on a train or in a café, just to make sense of what was in my immediate world. I found it relaxed me. Some of the stuff I kept, some I didn't.”

It was sketches completed in this manner and spirit that, years later, came to the attention of Random House and led to that commission. However, little accord was given to the book on its eventual publication. “The critics didn't want to review it. The publisher told me they couldn't get past the idea of another singer who dabbled. You know, like, ‘David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney...Everyone's doing it these days.' No one from the singing profession was going to be taken seriously by the art world, I was told, but that was OK. I wasn't expecting anything phenomenal to happen. It's not like the drawings were revolutionary. They weren't going to change anyone's way of thinking.”

But years later there came an approach from the Chemnitz City Art Gallery in Germany. Ingrid Mossinger, its director and a fan of the 1965 album Bringing it all Back Home, had felt it likely that someone as adept as Dylan in the use of metaphoric and abstract language might also draw or paint. Her research led her to the book Drawn Blank, in the preface of which Dylan wrote of hoping to “eventually complete” its collection of sketches. She encouraged him to do just that.

The method used to turn them into the paintings about to go on exhibition in London involved making digital scans of the original drawings and enlarging and then transferring them on to heavy paper ready for reworking. Dylan then experimented with treating individual images with a variety of colours. “And doing so subverted the light. Every picture spoke a different language to me as the various colours were applied.”

Attempts have been made to pin down and name his influences. When I mention this, Dylan wrongly takes it as a suggestion that the work is pastiche or somehow derivative. “I haven't trained in any academy where you learn how to do something in the style of Degas or Van Gogh, or how to copy Da Vinci,” he retorts. “I don't have that facility to copy note for note. Influenced by? If I had the ability to paint like any of those guys I might see the similarity, but I don't. If there is anything it's just by accident and instinctive.” Which is all that any critic was suggesting, after all. But, it seems, he is as uncomfortable at having his paintings deconstructed as he is his songs.

Of the latter process, he said on our last meeting: “These so-called connoisseurs of Bob Dylan music? I don't feel they know a thing or have an inkling of who I am and what I'm about. That such people have spent so much time thinking about who? Me? Get a life, please.”

Today he expresses similar impatience with the critics who have read into his art a variety of underlying feelings - anonymity, transience, rootlessness, even loneliness. Reaching again for the Halcyon book. “Let's have a look, shall we [the pages fall open at Woman in Red Lion Pub, her dress executed in a vivid yellow]? Do you see loneliness in that? Or that [Six Women]? I don't. And this one's just a pastoral scene [Sunday Afternoon]. What's rootless, transient and lonely about that? It's a mystery why anybody would say or think such a thing.”

And the idea that, in framing various images with windows and doors, he is revealing himself as a perennial outsider, forced by his name and status to observe the world rather than connect directly with it? Dylan rolls his eyes. “I just find it to be less satisfying to have the ends [by which he means the edges of the image] being endless, so I'll put a window there or block it in some way. It just looks better to me that way.” So he would prefer a purely emotional, instinctive response to the work rather than any searching for themes and insights? “If it pleases the eye of the beholder...There's no more to it than that, to my mind. Or even if it repels the eye. Either one is fine.”

On both our previous meetings, Dylan voiced his disdain for those completists who wish to see every scrap of paper he has written on or hear every studio out-take that he has rejected. With that in mind, I ask if it was a big deal for him to sign his name on each of the Drawn Blank paintings. “Yes!” he exclaims, laughing. “I finally grew into it, but yes, it was.” And did he perhaps practise his signature in advance? “I did, because it's tricky getting it just right. Finally you think, ‘Oh, to hell...' and just go for it, like you're writing a cheque or something.” He has, he says, no particular favourite among the images. “It's the same as with the early songs...In the Sixties, by the time they came out we were way past the recorded versions and were saying, ‘No, don't release that. We are playing it this way now.' So it is with the art. I find myself thinking, ‘I could have done this or that to make it better'. In the end, though, you've just got to let the work go and hope you'll know to do better next time.”

When I ask if he finds the art establishment preferable to the one he is more used to, Dylan grins and pulls a face of mock disgust. “The music world's a made-up bunch of hypocritical rubbish. I know from publishing a memoir [2004's Chronicles Volume One] that the book people are a whole lot saner. And the art world? From the small steps I've taken in it, I'd say, yeah, the people are honest, upfront and deliver what they say. Basically, they are who they say they are. They don't pretend. And having been in the music world most of my life [he laughs again], I can tell you it's not that way. Let's just say it's less...dignified.”

He tells me that he continued to draw for his pleasure after the Random House commission was fulfilled. “Not as intensely but yes, I have sketchbooks from the years since then. Of course, what I release to the public and what I keep for myself are two different things.”

He has had proposals for two future series of paintings, the first of which would involve having celebrities sit for him. “I could pick the names but don't want to. I'd rather be given a list and have someone else contact the people to find out if they're up for it. So I'm waiting to see who they might be thinking of. I assume it's movers and shakers. You know, inventors, mathematicians, scientists, business people, actors...We'll see.

“But what interests me more is the idea of a collection based on historically romantic figures. Napoleon and Josephine, Dante and Beatrice, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, Brad and Angelina [here he laughs]... I could use my own imagination for that. It wouldn't have to be the actual people, obviously.” But the latter two might be delighted to sit for him, no? Dylan chuckles at the possibility. “Maybe. Who knows? All I'll say is that I'm intrigued by the basic idea. Whether or not it comes to fruition, time will tell. This [The Drawn Blank Series] was easy to do because it didn't clash with any other commitments. If something does, then I simply cannot do it.”

By commitments, one presumes Dylan means not just his touring schedule but also his personal and familial relationships. Only the bald facts are known in this regard. He has four grown-up children (Jesse, Anna Lea, Samuel and rock singer Jakob) from a ten-year marriage to former model Sara Lowndes that ended in divorce in 1977. And in 2001 it was revealed by a biographer that he was married from 1986 to 1992 to one of his former backing singers, Carol Dennis, and has another daughter, Desiree, also now an adult, from the union.

But inquiries about his non-work life causes him to shut down. Not even a fact as basic as that of where he lives (his main home is believed to be a mansion on the coast beyond Los Angeles) receives ready validation, and when I ask if he has a studio in which he worked on the paintings, he will offer only, “Well, there are spaces in some of the properties where I can do just about any old thing”, before looking off into the middle distance, awaiting the next question.

Such reticence has earned him a reputation as rock's grumpy old man, a curmudgeon who refuses to appear grateful that he is revered and adored. But whether or not he intends it to do so, such determined self-protection merely enhances the myth and mystery. Today and after spending much of the 1980s through to the mid-1990s out in the critical cold, Dylan's star is higher than at any time since the 1960s, the decade with which he is most closely associated (erroneously in his view). Honours, awards and citations all but rain down upon him these days: it is as if we have all awoken to the fact that we will not see his like again. Not that anyone doubts that he has a long life still to live. “Well, thank you for that!” he notes with a laugh.

For any further insights into his private world we must wait to see if any crumbs are thrown in the next instalment of the intended three-book Chronicles (“I could do more. It wouldn't be a problem in terms of material”), at which he is already at work. Yes, he allows, he was gratified by the critical and commercial success of Volume One. “Especially given the effort that went into it. Writing any kind of book is a lonely thing. You cut yourself off from friends and family to find that necessarily quiet place in your mind. You have to disassociate and detach yourself from just about everything and everybody. I didn't like that part of it at all.

“It took me maybe two years in total. I was touring so much in the beginning, on days off or on a bus, I'd write my thoughts out in longhand or on a typewriter. It was the transcribing of the stuff, the rereading and retelling of it, that was time-consuming and I came to figure that there had to be a better way. I know what that is now. You need a full-time secretary so that you can get the ideas down immediately, then deal with them later.”

Meanwhile, there is the continuing delight that is his own radio show (he smiles at the mention of it), Theme Time Radio Hour with your Host Bob Dylan, the brainchild of America's XM Satellite Radio and now broadcast weekly here on Radio 2. And later this year he will release a further volume within the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, featuring previously unreleased or rare material alongside alternative versions of existing tracks recorded between 1989 and 2006.

Coming on top of the recent award to him of a special Pulitzer prize recognising “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power” (“I hope they don't ask for it back!”), all of this would suggest that he has arrived at a very creative but also contented period within his life.

“I've always felt that,” he says. “It's just sometimes I've got more going on than at other times.” But life is good? “To me, it's never been otherwise.”

My time with Dylan is up and we stand in preparation for my leaving the room. As a last aside, I ask for his take on the US political situation in the run-up to November's presidential election.

“Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval,” he says. “Poverty is demoralising. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up...Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to.” He offers a parting handshake. “You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future,” he notes as the door closes between us.

The Decemberists to play set at Barack Obama Rally

Wanbli — Sun, 18 May 2008 07:58:15 GMT

For those in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon this weekend, The Decemberists will play an hour-long set at a Rally with Barack Obama THIS SUNDAY, May 18th. The rally will take place at The Bowl in Waterfront Park, Corner of SW Columbia St. and Naito Pkwy, just south of the Hawthorne Bridge.

Doors open at 12:30 pm and The Decemberists will play shortly thereafter. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information and to RSVP, check out the event page on the Obama website. www.barackobama.com

Grateful Dead To Give Archive To UC Santa Cruz

Wanbli — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:00:11 GMT

Dancing bears, meet the Banana Slugs. The surviving members of the Grateful Dead are turning over the rock band's archives to the University of California at Santa Cruz.

The archive will hold the band's correspondence and other memorabilia, but not its recordings, longtime band spokesman Dennis McNally said Wednesday.

Ex-Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart will announce a partnership with the university Thursday. The announcement will take place at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, where many of the band's legendary shows were held.

A spokesman for UC Santa Cruz would not comment on the details of the deal ahead of Thursday's planned announcement.

Peter Gabriel launches recommendation site The Filter

Wanbli — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:59:09 GMT

Peter Gabriel has launched a new website dedicated to helping users find music and movies to fit their taste.

The Filter is described as a discovery service: tell it the movies, music and web videos that you enjoy, and it will make daily recommendations of new material you might like. The site will not go public until next month, but users can register with the site right now to participate in its private beta testing phase.

Gabriel told CNET that his vision for The Filter was to help people find quality films and music that they ordinarily might not come across. “When you drown people in an ocean of information, you’ve got to give them navigation tools,” he said. “I know that there is better stuff out there than what I am generally exposed to… So if I have a sort of intelligent ally working with me 24 hours a day, I think I have a much better chance of getting the stuff that will entertain, excite, and inspire me.”

The Filter is Gabriel’s second venture into digital media. He co-founded European digital music provider OD2 in 2000, which was later sold for about $20 million. Gabriel partnered with Eden Ventures and Real World Group to put up $8.5 million to start the site, which takes a slightly different approach to recommendations than sites like Amazon.com or Netflix.

Instead of relying on ratings users assign to music and movies online, the engine tracks what users actually do with this content on the Internet – such as buying or streaming a song, or clicking on a related link. The engine also adapts its recommendations as users’ tastes change; simply put, the site doesn’t suggest content a user would have been interested in two years ago.

The Filter recommends music, film and online video content right now, but one day could expand to include other areas, such as travel destinations and restaurants. Gabriel told Fortune that the site’s primary purpose is to guide users who are stressed out by the infinite amount of information swirling around in the digital age. “Everyone got really excited about the concept of infinite choice through the Internet,” he said. “The reality is a little like getting a sore thumb with your remote on your television. Too much choice is not always a good thing.”

Amazon offers free MP3 downloads

Wanbli — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:16:58 GMT

Amazon.com offers free downloads of select MP3s via the Amazon MP3 Store. To find them, perform a blank "Song Title" search and sort the resulting songs by price from low to high. Some notable tracks:

Sloan: "Who Taught You to Live Like That?" Oakenfold: "Sex 'N' Money" Manu Chao: "Rainin in Paradize" Nina Persson: "Black Winged Bird" The Raveonettes: "Dead Sound" Lisa Loeb: "Live In-Studio Snow Day" The Boston Pops Orchestra: "The Pledge of Allegiance"

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:56:45 GMT

Death Don't Have No Mercy was written and performed originally in the early 1960's by the Reverend Gary Davis, also known as Blind Gary Davis. He was an African American blues and gospel singer and guitarist.

He has been covered by the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Wizz Jones and Jorma Kaukonen to Keb Mo, Ollabelle and Resurrection Band.

Jorma Kaukonen w/ David Bromberg

Grateful Dead (Was at this show and one of my fave performances)

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:53:56 GMT

I Fought the Law was originally recorded by Sonny Curtis and The Crickets (post Buddy Holly) in 1959. The song was famously covered by Bobby Fuller Four, who recorded a more successful version of the song in 1965, and The Clash, who recorded a punk rock version in 1978.

It is one of the most covered songs, performed by Dead Kennedys, She Trinity, Bryan Adams, John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Social Distortion, Mike Ness, Hank Williams Jr, Waylon Jennings, Green Day, The Ramones, Grateful Dead, Stray Cats, Mary's Danish, Claude François, Mano Negra, the Big Dirty Band, Nonstop Body/Lolita No. 18, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Sex Pistols, Status Quo, Nanci Griffith, Colin Farrell and numerous other artists.

Bobby Fuller Four

Green Day

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

cover song of the day (I hope)

Wanbli — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:15:47 GMT

My last couple of attempts at posting ended up with MOG eating my work, so I took a little break- and now I do this in Word then cut and paste :)

Onto the cover...

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus for the singer/pianist Nina Simone, who first recorded it in 1964. It is best known to most people by the 1965 blues rock hit recording from The Animals. A 1977 disco/Latin rendition by Santa Esmeralda was also a hit.

Other artist's who have recorded or performed the song include Joe Cocker, The Moody Blues, Elvis Costello, Cyndi Lauper, Place of Skulls, John Legend, No Mercy, Yusuf Islam, Gary Moore, Robben Ford, and New Buffalo.

Rapper Common's song "Misunderstood" sampled Nina Simone's original version.

Santa Esmeralda's version became widely popular after its inclusion in the 2003 film Kill Bill Vol. 1, where its instrumental passage plays over the Bride-O-Ren Ishii duel, and the accompanying Kill Bill Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack, where it is incorporated in a full vocal form that runs over 10 minutes.

Santa Esmeralda

The Animals

Cyndi Lauper

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:29:07 GMT

Masters of War is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1963 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. It is an adaptation, with new words by Dylan, of Nottamun Town. As with many of the major songs Dylan composed at this time, he often adapted or "borrowed" melodies from traditional songs.

Dylan is quoted as saying that the song "is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war." It's not an anti-war song.

The Staple Singers, Cher, Bill Frisell, Ben Harper, Mountain with Ozzy Osbournne, Odetta, Pearl Jam, Ratdog, The Roots, Leon Russell and Roger Taylor of Queen have all performed notable covers.

From October 16, 1992, Madison Square Garden, Bob Dylan 30th Aniversary Celebration. Performance by Eddie Vedder and Mike Mcreedy of Pearl Jam and GE Smith from David Letterman's late night band

The Roots

Cher

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:00:16 GMT

Mercy Street comes from one of my all-time favorite albums by Peter Gabriel, So. It is about the poet Anne Sexton, the title is taken from the name of her 1968 play 45 Mercy Street.

Here is a cover performed by the incomparable Happy Rhodes. Her 4 octave vocal range goes from the highs of Kate Bush to the lowest of Annie Lennox.

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:14:28 GMT

I am a big fan of covers.

All kind of covers - tributes, string quartet versions, bluegrass versions, straight covers, etc.

Mostly I am a huge fan of covers that keep the original spirit of the work intact, while the artist renders their inspired interpretation. Covers are hit and miss. This cover is a hit.

Personally I was skeptical when I first heard about this CD, but after now listening to it many times over - I still can't believe that one of the greatest records ever made could be re-envisioned in such an honest manner. Any fan of Floyd and DSoTM should hear this CD. The Easy All Stars "Dub Side of the Moon"

Here they are doing Time, at Via Funchal, São Paulo, in May 2006.

Here is a video for Money

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:17:58 GMT

If I could choose one artist to see of any dead or alive, Bob is my choice.

Redemption Song is the last track on Bob Marley's album, Uprising. At the time he wrote the song, circa 1979, Marley had already been diagnosed with the cancer that was to later take his life, and according to Rita Marley, he was already secretly in a lot of pain and dealt with his own mortality, a feature which is clearly apparent on the album, particularly on this song.

The song has been covered by a wide and varied group of artists, including most notably Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Rihanna, Arrested Development, U2, Cast, Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash (both as a duet and each as a solo), Sinéad O'Connor, Life of Agony, Dave Matthews Band, Majek Fashek, Christy Moore, Ian Brown, Bob Geldof, Outlandish, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, Keller Williams, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Pink, Wyclef Jean, No Use for a Name, Chris Cornell, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Amparanoia, Ziggy Marley and The Chieftains, Moodswings with Tanita Tikaram, Ms. Dynamite and Annie Lennox recently at Live 8.

Home video of Bob singing the love

Chris Cornell solo

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

Lauryn Hill feat. Ziggy Marley

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:33:38 GMT

The First Cut Is the Deepest is a 1967 song written and sung by Cat Stevens. It was released on his second album, New Masters, in December 1967.

It has become a hit single for four different artists: P. P. Arnold (1967), Keith Hampshire (1973), Rod Stewart (1977), and Sheryl Crow (2003), with the last two being the most widely known. Other artists doing covers include:

Bonfire, Linda Ronstadt,James Morrison, The Bluebeats, Sandra Cross, Papa Dee, Norma Fraser, The Koobas, Scott Laurent, Everything but the Girl, Love Affair, Bad Manners, Michie Mee, Dawn Penn, Sattalites, Sweet, Haddaway, HIM, Jewel, and Ace Young and Chris Daughtry.

The original by Cat

Rod Stewart

recent cover by Duffy

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:59:00 GMT

Jealous Guy is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. It is one of the most commonly covered Lennon songs, with near 100 recorded cover versions by musicians like Donny Hathaway, the Black Crowes, Jeff Tweedy, Peter Criss, the Deftones, Roxy Music(The song was the only #1 chart hit for Roxy Music), Elliott Smith, Lou Reed and Youssou N'Dour.

Raul Midon & India Arie

John Lennon - Jealous Guy original promo video 1971

Elliot Smith

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:17:46 GMT

Today's cover song of the day holds a near and dear spot in my heart

It was the song that Bill Graham used at the end of all the concerts he produced, as the lights went up and the crowds exited.

Greensleeves is a traditional English folk song and tune.

A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in 1584 as "A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves. To the new tune of Green sleeves."

The tune is also found in several late 16th century and early 17th century sources.

Many artists have covered this tune, whether vocal or instrumental,including Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, Blackmore's Night, Stéphane Grappelli, Kevin Max, Jeff Beck, Marianne Faithfull, Al Di Meola, Yngwie Malmsteen, Timo Tolkki, Vince Guaraldi, John Coltrane, Jethro Tull, The Scorpions, Neil Young, Slime, Vanessa Carlton, Rainbow, Sarah McLachlan, Smothers Brothers, Leonard Cohen, Derek Trucks, Loreena McKennitt and others.

Presented today is Olivia Newton John's version from her appearance on the Glen Campbell show in 1976

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:52:43 GMT

Smokestack Lightning is a 1956 blues song by Howlin' Wolf.

The song, written by Chester Burnett, aka Howlin' Wolf, is based on one riff and no chord changes. It has been called "a distillation of the essence of the blues". Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning."

Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Susie Q" uses the riff from this song.

The song has been covered numerous times by various artists including The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Grateful Dead, The Who, The Electric Prunes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Soundgarden, Quicksilver Messenger Service and George Thorogood.

Howlin Wolf(1964)

The Who (1973)

Soundgarden(1988)

cover song of the day (easter special)

Wanbli — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:13:56 GMT

White Rabbit is a psychedelic rock song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. First performed by composer Grace Slick with her band The Great Society in 1966, the song helped convince members of the Airplane to ask Slick to join their band.

It has been covered by George Benson, The Damned, Sleater Kinney, June Tabor and Blue Man group, as well as the artist's listed below

original by Jefferson Airplane

Sanctuary

The Murmurs

Patti Smith with Flea on bass

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:29:28 GMT

Dear Prudence is a song written by John Lennon,and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

The song is about actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, who was present when the Beatles visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. Prudence, focused on meditation, stayed in her room for the majority of their stay. Lennon, who was worried that she was depressed, wrote this song for her, inviting her to "come out to play". While the Beatles left the course, Mia, Prudence, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and others, stayed and became Transcendental Meditation (or TM) teachers.

The song has been covered by The Five Stairsteps, Jerry Garcia Band, Alanis Morissette, Siouxsie and the Banshees and more.

Here is the Beatles original (featuring footage of the India trip)

Siouxsie and the Banshees version

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:42:10 GMT

The Maker was written and performed by Daniel Lanois on his first album in 1989, Acadie. Lanois produced U2's The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Grammy Winner for Album of the Year. Bono of U2 recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989 Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy, widely considered one of Dylan's greatest later albums. Eight years later Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind, Dylan's first studio album of original material since 1993, which won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997.

The Maker has been covered by several artists. An incredibly beautiful song.

Here is the original by Daniel Lanois

Here is a great version by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds:

Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris'take:

and the Jerry Garcia Band:

cover song of the day

Wanbli — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:12:02 GMT

The Ghost of Tom Joad is the eleventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1995. The album is mainly backed by acoustic guitar work and the lyrics on many of the tracks are a sombre reflection of life in the mid-1990s in America and Mexico. Tom Joad is the hero of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Here is a cover version done by Rage Against The Machine

Here is the original as done by the Boss

Ludacris and his Zip Code Hos

Wanbli — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:51:16 GMT

fascinating insight into the travels and patterns of Ludacris and his genitalia's adventures

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/

Tell it like it is

Wanbli — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:25:50 GMT

no music content, except for the sound of a smackdown!

The Beatles finally on iTunes!

Wanbli — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:01:45 GMT

Paul was just waiting for the big payday

Paul McCartney has signed a $400 million deal, which will see the Beatles catalog make its way to iTunes, at long last.

Though McCartney will probably make off with the lion's share of the cash sum, Ringo Starr and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison will also benefit. Michael Jackson, EMI and Sony will also be paid, as they each own a share in the back catalog. McCartney may actually have to pay out a little more on his divorce settlement because of the deal. How that works is anyone's guess, but you gotta feel sorry for him; having to share all those millions is just plain malicious. When the albums will actually hit iTunes is not yet confirmed, but we'll keep you up to speed with any banging of Maxwell's silver hammer.

Say It Ain't So! Music Cannot Change the World, says Neil Young

Wanbli — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:58:43 GMT

Neil Young has a pessimistic message: Music has lost its power to change the world.

The 62-year-old singer brought his new movie, "CSNY Deja Vu," to the Berlin film festival Friday. The film was shot during the 2006 Freedom of Speech tour by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Young, who directed the movie under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, wasn't making any big claims about its effects.

"I think that the time when music could change the world is past," he told reporters. "I think it would be very naive to think that in this day and age."

Young added: "I think the world today is a different place, and that it's time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference in this world and to try to save the planet."

"CSNY Deja Vu" intersperses footage from the tour, which featured performances from Young's "Living With War" album, with archive and television news material—and unfavorable reactions from critics.

"If we didn't do that, it would just feel like a bunch of old hippies up there saying what they thought—and who cares?" Young said.

Young said he called his fellow band members before the tour and told them: "This is all I'm going to do, I won't be doing anything else and I don't want to sing any ... pretty songs; we can only sing about war and politics and the human condition."

"The goal was to stimulate debate among people, and I hope that to some degree the film succeeds in doing that," he said.

"CSNY Deja Vu" is showing outside the main competition at the annual Berlin festival, which runs through Feb. 17.

Deadheads for Obama Feb. 4 2008

Wanbli — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:47:36 GMT

Had a great time at the show this evening Got to see man old friends and hang out a bit with Steve Simon. Good times. Some great energy for the Obama vote. Will post a review later.

The Warfield San Francisco, CA

Set 1, Electric Playin in the Band> Brown-Eyed Women+ Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo+ New Minglewood Blues+ Come Together+

Set 2, Acoustic Deep Elem Blues> Friend of the Devil> Deal> Ripple#

Set 3, Electric China Cat Sunflower> Jam+> The Wheel+> The Other One* (with Meaty Phil Bass Intro)> Sugaree* Eyes of the World+* Throwin' Stones+> Aiko-Aiko+> Playin in the Band+

Encore: Phil: Get the Vote Out / Donor Rap> U.S. Blues+

With Mark Karan, Lead Guitar + With Barry Sless, Pedal Steel

Jackie Greene on Mandolin

Band: Weir, Hart, Lesh, Molo, Molitz, Greene

Colin Meloy Sings Live! Released April 8

Wanbli — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:41:16 GMT

From decemberists.com:

Colin Meloy Live Set Available This April On April 8, Kill Rock Stars will release Colin Meloy Sings Live! - a 14-song set documenting Colin's 2006 solo U.S. tour. As those of you know who saw the shows, Colin stripped down to an acoustic guitar and was accompanied by a skull named Cheryl, a ship named Maya Angelou and a small stuffed sheep named Erick (the c is silent). The album will be released in the U.S. and Canada on CD and double gatefold vinyl. We expect to announce a European release date shortly.

Colin Meloy Sings Live! - Track Listing:

1. Devil's Elbow 2. We Both Go Down Together 3. Evoking a Campfire Singalong* 4. The Gymnast, High Above the Ground 5. Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect > Dreams 6. Dracula's Daughter (previously unreleased) 7. Wonder (previously unreleased) 8. A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins* 9. Barbara Allen 10. The Engine Driver 11. On the Bus Mall 12. A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep* 13. California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade > Ask 14. The Bachelor and the Bride 15. A Cautionary Song 16. Red Right Ankle 17. Bandit Queen

indicates talk between songs

and a great video take of "We Both Go Down Together:

Deadheads for Obama! The Remaining Dead Reunite

Wanbli — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:48:08 GMT

You know where I'll be Monday Night :)

You can virtually be there too!

Three surviving members of the Grateful Dead - Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir - will reunite at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Warfield in San Francisco for "Deadheads for Obama," a concert to support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The concert, which will also feature Lesh's current band of Friends - Jackie Greene, John Molo and Steve Molitz - marks the first time Hart, Lesh and Weir have performed together since 2004.

According to a press release from the band, the show is a one-time event designed to lend support to Obama leading into the crucial "Super Tuesday" series of primaries and caucuses to be held in California and more than 20 other states the following day.

Tickets for $35 sold out almost immediately after the show was announced on Friday afternoon, but those who missed out can view a live simulcast at www.iclips.net.

Qtrax jumps the gun- major labels pull out

Wanbli — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:26:22 GMT

As kellywatchthestars posted yesterday http://mog.com/kellywatchthestars/blog_post/140271

If it looks too good to be true, it usually is :)

Free music downloads site in chaos as record giants pull out

Music fans around the world faced confusion today as it was announced they would be able to download unlimited, free songs without breaking the law.

A revamped online file-sharing service had vowed to offer a catalogue of 30million free songs that are compatible with iPods, but record labels have denied they had granted permission to share the songs.

Qtrax, which makes its debut today, is the latest online music venture counting on the lure of free songs to draw in music fans.

The key to their revolutionary venture was thought to be advertising, which they hope will pay the bills, namely record company licensing fees.

The New York-based service was among several peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that emerged following the shutdown of Napster, the pioneer service that enabled millions to illegally copy songs stored in other computers.

But Warner Music said it had not authorised the use of its tracks by Qtrax - and later Universal Music Group and EMI followed suit, saying they did not have licensing deals with Qtrax and discussions were continuing.

Justin Kazmark, a spokesman for New York-based Qtrax, has declined to comment.

To take advantage of the free but legal service, the user will need to download the Qtrax software which displays adverts while the user is searching and downloading songs.

The site was expected to feature special sections including one called "Last Night" where users can search for newly added tracks from live concerts that were recorded the night before.

It will also feature music videos, artist documentaries, interviews, album reviews and biographies among other features.

Qtrax, which makes its debut today, is the latest online music venture counting on the lure of free songs to draw in music fans

Qtrax is not the first service to offer free songs for download with advertising support.

Last September, SpiralFrog launched an ad-supported free service with music from just one of the major record companies Universal Music. It is still in talks with other labels.

The latest version of Qtrax still lets users tap into file-sharing networks to search for music, but downloads come with copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM, to prevent users from burning copies to a CD and calculate how to share out advertising sales with labels.

Qtrax downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and transferred on to portable music players, however.

The service, which boasts a selection of up to 30million tracks, also hopes that its music downloads will be playable on Apple's iPods and Macintosh computers as early as March.

iPods only play back unrestricted MP3s files or tracks with Apple's proprietary version of DRM, dubbed FairPlay.

CDs sales are falling and file-sharing companies are satisfying the demand for free music online

"We've had a technical breakthrough which enables us to put songs on an iPod without any interference from FairPlay," said Allen Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive.

Klepfisz declined to give specifics on how Qtrax will make its audio files compatible with Apple devices, but noted that "Apple has nothing to do with it".

Qtrax downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and transferred onto portable music players.

Apple has been resistant in the past to license FairPlay to other online music retailers.

That stance has effectively limited iPod users to loading up their players with tracks purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, or MP3s ripped from CDs or bought from vendors such as eMusic or Amazon.com.

Rob Enderle, technology analyst at the San Jose-based Enderle Group, said he expects Apple would take steps to block Qtrax files from working on iPods.

It's thought Apple would be unlikely to allow tracks downloaded from its rival to be compatible with its players.

A major shift in the online music social scene

Wanbli — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:30:52 GMT

Today Last.fm announced they will be allowing users to play full-length tracks and entire albums for free.

With all the major labels and many indie label suport

They will be paying artists directly.

They are also kicking down a piece of the Web site ad revenue to artists and labels

Read the whole story here

Infectious

Wanbli — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:43:17 GMT

track from Wu-Tang's latest featuring Doctor Funkenstein himself, George Clinton

HOOOOoooooowwwwwlllllllll!!!

(Uploading the MP3 kept crashing my browsers- so here is vid)

DRM is Officially Dead? Sony BMG Throws in the Towel

Wanbli — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:36:36 GMT

From Gizmodo

It's over. The last major label to hold out on selling DRM-free MP3s, Sony BMG, is "finalizing plans" to sell music not locked down with DRM. It'll be available sometime in the first quarter, apparently in time to get in on Amazon and Pepsi's 1 billion song giveaway, which now looks like it'll have tracks from every major label. So, how'd we get here?

We've been saying for a while DRM has cancer (is a cancer?), dying a long, drawn out death—cue Frucci's "DRM Deathwatch" meme. EMI's move was characterized as a desperate ploy by the weakest label—hence, it ran with iTunes, something we've been told the other labels wouldn't have even sniffed at because of the dreaded iTunes hegemony

But then Universal, the biggest label in the world, jumped. In large part to cut at iTunes, true. Regardless, the tide had turned. Warner and Sony BMG were wary holdouts. After Warner joined the party, Sony BMG really had little choice—it pretty much had to go open or go home, so we've been expecting this.

It's no surprise Sony is throwing in with Amazon, either. Again, the fear of an iTunes paradigm is very real among the labels—if the last 10 years have taught us anything, they crave control more than money—and Amazon is in the best position to compete with iTunes. Especially now that it has something very powerful that iTMS doesn't—DRM-free tracks from every major label.

The online music market just got a whole lot more interesting.

2007 Faves

Wanbli — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:18:03 GMT

Top 10+ eardelicious releases of 2007

Peace & Happiness to the MOG Community in 08!

1 Nu Med - Balkan Beat Box

2 The Shepherd's Dog - Iron & Wine

3 None Shall Pass - Aesop Rock

4 In Our Nature - Jose Gonzalez

5 Icky Thump - White Stripes

6 Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem

7 Boxer - The National

8 Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon- Devendra Banhart

9 8 Diagrams- Wu-Tang Clan

10 Graduation - Kanye West

11 Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

12 Sky Blue Sky - Wilco

13 In Rainbows - Radiohead

14 New Magnetic Wonder - The Apples In Stereo

The DRM-Free Storm Keeps Surging: Warner Music Group Drops DRM

Wanbli — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:36:51 GMT

Picked up over on ars technica

3 down, 1 to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM By Nate Anderson

Warner Music has bent beneath the force of the anti-DRM winds sweeping the globe. The label will now offer its complete catalog, DRM-free, through Amazon's new MP3 store.

The announcement means that EMI, Universal, and Warner now offer their catalogues in DRM-free digital formats, making Sony BMG (of rootkit fame) the lone holdout among the majors. Amazon now claims to offer for than 2.9 million songs in MP3 format from over 33,000 unique labels.

Warner's announcement says nothing about offering its content through other services such as iTunes, and represents the music industry's attempt to make life a bit more difficult for Apple after all the years in which the company held the keys to music's digital kingdom; no one could sell major label tracks to iPod owners except for iTunes, and iTunes even become a go-to destination for non-iPod owners who wanted a simple, cheap way to pick up some songs. Now, with the move to MP3, the labels that have chosen to open their music have a way to encourage multiple download services to flourish, keeping labels safe from being dominated by any single digital distributor.

The move comes just before Amazon plans to give away one billion tracks, a promotion that will begin with the Super Bowl in January, and Warner was no doubt interested in jumping on board the promo train before it left the station.

It Is A Good Day!

Wanbli — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:48:21 GMT

WASHTELO!

In celebration of this day, I present the kickass Native American punk-rockers Blackfire performing "Overwhelming"

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

They also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and will continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months, they told the news conference.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

The treaties signed with the United States are merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists say on their website.

The treaties have been "repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life," the reborn freedom movement says.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.

"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

"It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Means.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.

Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because "it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row," Means said.

One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

"We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children," Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

The US "annexation" of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere "facsimiles of white people," said Means.

Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies, less than 44 years, in the world.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the norm for the United States; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

"Our people want to live, not just survive or crawl and be mascots," said Young.

"We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren," she said, predicting that the battle would not be won in her lifetime.

Record Labels Change Minds About Sharing MP3s

Wanbli — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:07:58 GMT

from Slashdot

VERY interesting, especially in light of the new MOG

While the RIAA continues to sue people for p2p file sharing, the record labels have made an about-face and given their blessing to users sharing MP3s via the social networking site imeem.com. In May this year the site was being sued by Warner for allowing users to upload photos, videos, and music to share. However to everyone's amazement, instead of being flattened, imeem.com managed to convince the label that this free promotion was a good thing. In July imeem.com signed a deal with the label. Since then the site has added Sony, BMG, EMI, and now the biggest fish of them all, Universal. Imeem now has the royal flush of record labels supporting its media-sharing service, each getting a cut of the advertising revenues generated by their catalog. Finally someone has figured out a way to do 'YouTube for MP3s' without getting sued out of existence.

Couldn't MOG make a similar deal with the labels?

Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity

Wanbli — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:34:37 GMT

Cinnamon Girl $15.00 (special pre-order price)

Tanya Donelly, Britta Phillips, Lori McKenna, Jill Sobule with John Doe, Elk City, Veruca Salt, Kristin Hersh, Josie Cotton, The Watson Twins, and Julie Peel are just some of the outstanding artists covering Neil Young's most popular songs for charity on this Double-CD. All proceeds from this benefit record go to Casting for Recovery in loving memory of Norine Spadaro (American Laundromat Records Founder Joe Spadaro's mother).

Casting For Recovery is a national non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer. Casting for Recovery provides an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn fly-fishing, "a sport for life." The weekend retreats incorporate counseling, educational services and the sport of fly-fishing to promote mental and physical healing.

The official release date is February 2008 but you can pre-order now and receive your copy in DECEMBER!!! USA customers pay $15.00 (free shipping). INTL customers pay $18.00 (shipping included).

Disk 1 1. Heart Of Gold - Tanya Donelly 2. I Am A Child - Britta Phillips (Luna) 3. Comes A Time - Kate York 4. The Needle And The Damage Done - Lori McKenna 5. Down By The River - Jill Sobule with John Doe 6. Burned - Veruca Salt 7. Cowgirl In The Sand - Josie Cotton 8. A Man Needs A Maid - Dala 9. Ohio - Darcie Miner 10. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Carmen Townsend

Disk 2 1. Cinnamon Girl - Euro Trash Girl 2. I Believe In You - Julie Peel 3. Tell Me Why - Luff 4. Ohio - Dala 5. Helpless - Elk City 6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Amilia K. Spicer 7. Sugar Mountain - Louise Post 8. Powderfinger - The Watson Twins 9. Like A Hurricane - Kristin Hersh 10. Old Man - Cindy Wheeler (Caulfield Sisters) 11. Walk On - Heidi Gluck (Some Girls)

http://www.alr-music.com/shop.php

5,000 Karaoke MP3 Downloads for Free

Wanbli — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:58:37 GMT

Amazon.com has over 5,000 karaoke MP3s from the Karaoke All Stars available for download for free. Choose from I'll Be Home For Christmas, The Addams Family Theme Song, Eye of the Tiger, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and more.

FREE KARAOKE MP3s

Quiet Riot singer found dead in Las Vegas

Wanbli — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:46:36 GMT

Kevin DuBrow, lead singer of the popular 1980s heavy metal band Quiet Riot, has been found dead from unknown causes at his home in Las Vegas, authorities said on Monday.

DuBrow, 52, was found dead at about 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Clark County Coroner's Office said. She said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

"I can't even find the words to say," Quiet Riot bandmate Frankie Banali said on his Web site. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend, Kevin DuBrow."

Quiet Riot, which was founded in the mid-1970s, topped the Billboard charts in 1983 with the album "Metal Health," spurred on by the massive hit single "Cum on Feel the Noize."

The band has since endured break-ups and personnel changes but released a new album in 2006 and continued to tour sporadically.

In 1983 I was in a metal band in High School. I was the lead singer and we did a cover of Quiet Riot's "Cum on Feel the Noize". That opening drum riff gets me everytime.

RIP Kevin DuBrow.

Jay-Z and the Decline of the US Dollar

Wanbli — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:52:04 GMT

From Bloomberg.com

American Gangster's Wad of Euros Signals U.S. Decline

" The dollar blues have migrated from the halls of central banks to images of rap musicians.

In a video for the movie ``American Gangster,'' hip-hop maestro Jay-Z thumbs through a wad of 500-euro notes on a night of cruising through the concrete canyons of New York, a city where the euro isn't legal tender. The euro gained against the dollar today as European economic growth in the third quarter accelerated more than forecast."

Dolphins Save Surfer from Shark

Wanbli — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:41:38 GMT

Amazing.

Dolphins save surfer from becoming shark’s bait

A pod of bottlenose dolphins helped protect the severely injured boarder

Surfer Todd Endris needed a miracle. The shark — a monster great white that came out of nowhere — had hit him three times, peeling the skin off his back and mauling his right leg to the bone.

That’s when a pod of bottlenose dolphins intervened, forming a protective ring around Endris, allowing him to get to shore, where quick first aid provided by a friend saved his life.

“Truly a miracle,” Endris told TODAY’s Natalie Morales on Thursday.

The attack occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 28, just before 11 a.m. at Marina State Park off Monterey, Calif., where the 24-year-old owner of Monterey Aquarium Services had gone with friends for a day of the sport they love. Nearly four months later, Endris, who is still undergoing physical therapy to repair muscle damage suffered during the attack, is back in the water and on his board in the same spot where he almost lost his life.

“[It] came out of nowhere. There’s no warning at all.

Maybe I saw him a quarter second before it hit me. But no warning. It was just a giant shark,” Endris said. “It just shows you what a perfect predator they really are.”

The shark, estimated at 12 to 15 feet long, hit him first as Endris was sitting on his surfboard, but couldn’t get its monster jaws around both surfer and surfboard. “The second time, he came down and clamped on my torso — sandwiched my board and my torso in his mouth,” Endris said.

That attack shredded his back, literally peeling the skin back, he said, “like a banana peel.” But because Endris’ stomach was pressed to the surfboard, his intestines and internal organs were protected.

The third time, the shark tried to swallow Endris’ right leg, and he said that was actually a good thing, because the shark’s grip anchored him while he kicked the beast in the head and snout with his left leg until it let go.

The dolphins, which had been cavorting in the surf all along, showed up then. They circled him, keeping the shark at bay, and enabled Endris to get back on his board and catch a wave to the shore.

No one knows why dolphins protect humans, but stories of the marine mammals rescuing humans go back to ancient Greece, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

A year ago in New Zealand, the group reports, four lifeguards were saved from sharks in the same way Endris was — by dolphins forming a protective ring.

Though horribly wounded, Endris said he didn’t think he was going to die. “Actually, it never crossed my mind,” he told Morales.

It did, though, cross the minds of others on the beach, including some lifeguards who told his friend, Brian Simpson, that Endris wasn’t going to make it.

Simpson is an X-ray technician in a hospital trauma center, and he’d seen badly injured people before. He had seen Endris coming in and knew he was hurt.

“I was expecting him to have leg injuries,” he told Morales. “It was a lot worse than I was expecting.”

Blood was pumping out of the leg, which had been bitten to the bone, and Endris, who lost half his blood, was ashen white. To stop the blood loss, Simpson used his surf leash as a tourniquet, which probably saved his life.

“Thanks to this guy,” Endris said, referring to Simpson, who sat next to him in the TODAY studio, “once I got to the beach, he was calming me down and keeping me from losing more blood by telling me to slow my breathing and really just be calm. They wouldn’t let me look at my wounds at all, which really helped.

A medivac helicopter took him to a hospital, where a surgeon had to first figure out what went where before putting him back together.

“It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle,” Endris said.

Six weeks later, he was well enough to go surfing again, and the place he went was back to Marina State Park. It wasn’t easy to go back in the water.

“You really have to face your fears,” he told Morales. “I’m a surfer at heart, and that’s not something I can give up real easily. It was hard. But it was something you have to do.”

The shark went on its way, protected inside the waters of the park, which is a marine wildlife refuge. Endris wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I wouldn’t want to go after the shark anyway,” he said. “We’re in his realm, not the other way around.”

Spinning the Radiohead Success into a Failure

Wanbli — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:41:36 GMT

from: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SOC7200&show_article=1

Most Fans Paid $0 for Radiohead Album By ALEX VEIGA

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Radiohead let its fans decide how much to pay for a digital copy of the band's latest release, "In Rainbows," and more than half of those who downloaded the album chose to pay nothing, according to a study by a consumer research firm.

Some 62 percent of the people who downloaded "In Rainbows" in a four- week period last month opted not to pay the British alt-rockers a cent. But the remaining 38 percent voluntarily paid an average of $6, according to the study by comScore Inc.

Radiohead broke with its past practice of releasing its music in CD format and through a major record label when it released its seventh studio album online itself. The biggest wrinkle was the band's decision to let fans pay as much or as little as they wanted to download a copy.

The results of the study were drawn from data gathered from a few hundred people who are part of comScore's database of 2 million computer users worldwide. The firm, which has permission to monitor the computer users' online behavior, did not provide a margin of error for the study's results.

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 29, about 1.2 million people visited the Web site the band set up for fans to download the album, comScore said Monday. The research firm did not say how many people in its study actually bought the album.

Among U.S. residents, about 40 percent who downloaded the album paid to do so. Their average payment was $8.05, the firm said.

Some 36 percent of the fans outside the U.S. who downloaded the album opted to pay; on average, those fans paid $4.64, according to the study.

Radiohead's U.S.-based publicist said Tuesday the band had no comment on the study.

The online release sent shock waves through the recording industry, with some hailing it as a shrewd move at a time of declining CD sales industrywide and others writing it off as a publicity stunt that amounted to the band giving away its music.

The band, which also offered fans the option of buying a lavish box set for about $82, plans to release the album in CD format some time next year.

Wel, well - it didn't take long for this "study" to be done and hit the press with this disingenuous headline.

By the way, who commissioned the study?

Anyway, let's look at what this really means.

If you take the above story numbers, we can assume that 38% of the 1.2 million people who visited the download site, downloaded the album and paid an average of $6 over this 4 weeks period.

That's 456,000 copies at $6 = $2,736,000. Nice take.

I also have a feeling that MANY more than 1.2 million people from around the globe visited the In Rainbows download site in those 4 weeks. I would like to see the real numbers

Now we can get into the cost of distribution in the different channels and how points work in recording contracts and how labels recoup recording and marketing costs from sales - but let's say Radiohead had a deal that cleared them $1.00-$2.00 per CD, which is a very sweet deal and only one superstars would get

They would have needed to sell anywhere from 1 to 2.5 million copies in the first month to see that same profit. No way that happens in the traditional CD in todays retail marketplace through big label distribution.

Add on top of that that a good % of the folks who paid the $6 for the digital download will also return to purchase the CD and the $82 box set.

I would say this was a HUGE success so far for the band and takes the needed step in artists controlling the relationships they have directly with their fans. I hope more artists follow this path of understanding.

Good one Radiohead.