Artist: Stefan Nikolai
Genre(s):
Instrumental
Discography:
Golden Hits On Panflute Of Stefan Nicolai
Year: 1993
Tracks: 20
Phil Coulter
Thursday 26 June 2008
Stefan Nikolai
Artist: Stefan Nikolai
Genre(s):
Instrumental
Discography:
Golden Hits On Panflute Of Stefan Nicolai
Year: 1993
Tracks: 20
Phil Coulter
Monday 16 June 2008
Beyonc� to produce, star and sing in new film
Beyonc� Knowles has not only signed on to star in 'Cadillac Records' but Sony BMG Films have announced that she will act as executive producer on the project too.
Knowles will play blues singer Etta James and will also record four songs for the soundtrack.
The 1950's period film is about the seminal Chicago record label Chess Records and its founder, Leonard Chess, who started out selling albums out of his Cadillac.
Etta James, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry are among the legends who recorded on Chess.
Adrien Brody has already been cast as Chess and Jeffrey Wright (Waters), Cedric the Entertainer (Willie Dixon) and Columbus Short (Little Walter) are also on board.
Knowles will donate a portion of her fees to recovering addicts through her family's charity the Survivor Foundation.
Her song 'Irreplaceable' earned a record of the year Grammy nod this year.
Knowles will play blues singer Etta James and will also record four songs for the soundtrack.
The 1950's period film is about the seminal Chicago record label Chess Records and its founder, Leonard Chess, who started out selling albums out of his Cadillac.
Etta James, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry are among the legends who recorded on Chess.
Adrien Brody has already been cast as Chess and Jeffrey Wright (Waters), Cedric the Entertainer (Willie Dixon) and Columbus Short (Little Walter) are also on board.
Knowles will donate a portion of her fees to recovering addicts through her family's charity the Survivor Foundation.
Her song 'Irreplaceable' earned a record of the year Grammy nod this year.
Saturday 14 June 2008
Reporter ordered to testify in R. Kelly trial
Jim DeRogatis gave police sex tape in 2002
NEW YORK -- Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis has been ordered to testify in R. Kelly's child pornography trial in Chicago.
Judge Vincent Gaughan on Friday rejected assertions from the Sun-Times' attorney that DeRogatis, who gave the sex tape at the center of the case to police in 2002 after receiving it anonymously in the mail, was protected by the Illinois reporter's privilege and the First Amendment.
However, the defense team will not be allowed to ask DeRogatis about how he got the tape or his sources. The reporter is expected to appeal Gaughan's ruling.
NEW YORK -- Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis has been ordered to testify in R. Kelly's child pornography trial in Chicago.
Judge Vincent Gaughan on Friday rejected assertions from the Sun-Times' attorney that DeRogatis, who gave the sex tape at the center of the case to police in 2002 after receiving it anonymously in the mail, was protected by the Illinois reporter's privilege and the First Amendment.
However, the defense team will not be allowed to ask DeRogatis about how he got the tape or his sources. The reporter is expected to appeal Gaughan's ruling.
First ever Facebook gig played
A young British band has scored a world first - by performing a live gig on
Facebook before anyone else.
REDBOXBLUE - an unsigned band from south west London - made history
last Wednesday.
The six piece - who cite OASIS, KINGS OF LEON and LED ZEPPELIN
as influences - played the gig live from a London studio and streamed it on
Facebook.
They went on to play another four consecutive nights of gigs, with a total of
10,000 people logging on to watch the action over the five nights.
Incredibly, no-one has streamed a live gig on the popular social networking
site before.
All that could be about to change.
Click here to view the band's performance
Facebook before anyone else.
REDBOXBLUE - an unsigned band from south west London - made history
last Wednesday.
The six piece - who cite OASIS, KINGS OF LEON and LED ZEPPELIN
as influences - played the gig live from a London studio and streamed it on
Facebook.
They went on to play another four consecutive nights of gigs, with a total of
10,000 people logging on to watch the action over the five nights.
Incredibly, no-one has streamed a live gig on the popular social networking
site before.
All that could be about to change.
Click here to view the band's performance
Celine Dion -- Molson Ice Queen
The fastest way to ruin Celine Dion's "day off" -- just ask her a question.
She is, after all, the greatest singer in the world.
See Also
She is, after all, the greatest singer in the world.
See Also
Namaste
Artist: Namaste
Genre(s):
Dance
Folk
New Age
Discography:
Namaste Flowering
Year: 2005
Tracks: 13
Celebration
Year: 2005
Tracks: 12
Magical Healing Mantras
Year: 1999
Tracks: 7
Rowling's Potter 'prequel' fetches $65K
Taylor Swift - Swift Signs Signs
TAYLOR SWIFT made country music history at the CMA Country Festival in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday (07Jun08) when she sat and signed autographs for 900 fans.
The teenager went through three Sharpie marker pens as she staged an eight-hour signing marathon.
It's easily the longest a female star has sat for a signing session at the annual country music extravaganza. Garth Brooks famously scribbled his name for thousands of devotees during a 23-hour period at the even in 1996.
See Also
Pearl Jam, Flaming Lips to honor the Who
Foo Fighters also on board for VH1 event
NEW YORK -- Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and Flaming Lips have signed on to perform at VH1's third annual "Rock Honors," which this year will salute the Who. The event will be held July 12 at Los Angeles' Pauley Pavilion and air five days later.
The Who will also perform during the taping, tickets for which go on sale June 6 to members of the group's Wholigans fan club and two days later for the general public.
Proceeds will benefit such charities as the Teenage Cancer Trust, which the Who have long supported, VH1's Save the Music Foundation, the Double O Charity and VH1 Classic Rock Autism.
In related Who news, the group's Web site will on June 1 premiere an animated version of "Wire & Glass," the mini-rock opera included on the band's 2006 studio album, "Endless Wire.
NEW YORK -- Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and Flaming Lips have signed on to perform at VH1's third annual "Rock Honors," which this year will salute the Who. The event will be held July 12 at Los Angeles' Pauley Pavilion and air five days later.
The Who will also perform during the taping, tickets for which go on sale June 6 to members of the group's Wholigans fan club and two days later for the general public.
Proceeds will benefit such charities as the Teenage Cancer Trust, which the Who have long supported, VH1's Save the Music Foundation, the Double O Charity and VH1 Classic Rock Autism.
In related Who news, the group's Web site will on June 1 premiere an animated version of "Wire & Glass," the mini-rock opera included on the band's 2006 studio album, "Endless Wire.
The American Analog Set
Artist: The American Analog Set
Genre(s):
Indie
Rock: Pop-Rock
Discography:
Set Free
Year: 2005
Tracks: 10
Promise of Love
Year: 2003
Tracks: 8
Through the 1990s: Singles and Unreleased
Year: 2001
Tracks: 12
Know by Heart
Year: 2001
Tracks: 11
The Golden Band
Year: 1999
Tracks: 10
The Fun of Watching Fireworks
Year: 1996
Tracks: 6
Schiller Mit Mila Mar
APRA song of the year
THEY wrote the songs, now five of our biggest songwriters tell the stories behind the nominations for next Monday's APRA Song of the Year
Better Than The John Butler Trio Writer: John Butler John Butler: With Better Than I started by mumbling and scatting the vocal melody and rhythm and slowly but surely the mumbles turned into words and the words started making some sense.Once I got the line "You could be better than that" the whole concept/subject of the song unfolded pretty quickly and I was able to engage a little more of my cognitive songwriting skills to what I can only describe as the ritual of songwriting.By the end of the process it was nothing like a reggae song and turned into one of the "poppier" songs I've written. Who would have thought a reggae-influenced song played on a banjo would have such a great life in the world of commercial radio? That's what I love about music - the song kinda does what it wants no matter what somebody, even the songwriter, sometimes may think it needs. Lost and RunningPowderfingerWriters: Jonathan Coghill/John Collins/Bernard Fanning/Ian Haug/Darren Middleton Darren Middleton: I was driving one afternoon and I just started humming the chorus. Very quickly, the lyrics came. So I was in the car singing over and over, "I'm still lost and running".I went straight home, grabbed my guitar and found the music to go with that melody. The rest of the lyrics and verses fell from thought to paper within half an hour. It was one of those songs everyone seemed to like. Bern touched up a couple of the lyrics, Ian and JC added a kind of Stooges bass part, Cogs his drum feel, and there we were. Song completed. It's been kind of funny playing the song live. Some of us were not that enthused at first because the song is quite different, quite simple, as opposed to the usual heavier-themed songs we do. It's not going to win song of the year, but hey, we still have fun with it. 20 Good Reasons Thirsty Merc Writer: Rai Thistlethwayte Rai Thistlethwayte: Just after Christmas '04, I was breaking up with a girl I'd been seeing for a few months. We were definitely in love, but I couldn't hold it all together. My life was going a certain way, with momentum in my music career and travels, and trying to balance that stuff with our relationship, and also that I'm probably a bit insane generally. Soon after I went overseas, and a definite feeling and experience I had in New York led me to finding some lyrics that became the verses in this song. I was standing on a downtown Manhattan street with all these people getting on with their lives, running around at a million miles an hour, andI felt so lost and out of sync among all the hysteria. I thought about losing this girl because of what seemed to be my selfish actions (my music career versus settling into something in my life back home). At that moment on the street (this part is described clearly in the second verse) time literally seemed to stand still, kind of like the slow-motion one feels as they drive past a car crash. I had made a mistake. Not only that, I felt like my control of this situation was beyond me. There was so much unknown. I guess I was asking myself, anyone, a higher power, even just the towering buildings above me: "Why do things have to go this way sometimes?" Listening now, it makes me sad at things I've lost, but also that we need to enjoy the time we have and make the most of it, so it has a bit of a double sentiment now. 1234 Feist Writers: Sally Seltmann/Leslie Feist Sally Seltmann: I always thought one of my favourite Sonic Youth songs Sweet Shine contained the lyrics "deep down you're just a little hallway". This, I thought, was lyrical genius, and led to my obsession with hallways. I discovered I had misheard the lyrics, the correct ones being "deep down you're just a little whorey!" Despite this sweet naivety, I am happy to say 1234 was born in a hallway.
A few years ago, the hallway of my house became the home to my piano. It was there I sat, and started singing, "1234, tell me that you love me more". A really good friend had told me she was leaving her husband. I am hopelessly romantic, so news like that made me think, "But why? Surely you can try to stay together?" I was also thinking you can't buy back the love you have when you first fall in love. Within 20 minutesI had finished writing the song. The only problem was I thought the chorus was a complete rip-off of Feist's Mushaboom. I played the song to myself a few times, and soon forgot about it. I happened to get signed to Feist's Canadian label and ended up on tour supporting her. I loved Feist. She reminded me of my sister; I learnt so much from watching her sing her beautiful songs. On the last night of the tour I played 1234 for her and we recorded it into her laptop. A few months later I heard she had started playing it live and the crowd really loved it! Feist emailed, asking whether she could add a few different lyrics. I loved her new lyrics, and totally understood she needed to do this in order to have more of a connection with the song. This is where 1234 became a co-write. When I heard her version, I was blown away. She had given it so much energy. Then came the iPod commercial, the chart ratings, the Grammy nomination, the Juno awards - the list goes on. I am excited that she has performed it live on Sesame Street and can't believe that a little song I wrote in a hallway has gone on to become such a huge worldwide hit. Straight Lines Silverchair Writers: Daniel Johns/Julian Hamilton Daniel Johns: I'm genuinely proud of this song. I wanted the Young Modern album to be a piece with artistic credibility and something with really powerful intent, but I also wanted it to be Silverchair's pop record. Straight Lines started when I was doing a writing session with (Preset) Julian (Hamilton). I'd written some stuff with Julian back in England, but we didn't feel like we'd achieved what we were capable of. So we rescheduled and Julian came up to my house in Newcastle. I was fiddling around on the guitar and he was on the piano. Julian started playing something similar to what the intro is. Then I just took it off to my private quarters and started to think about how to melodically challenge it. The chorus was done straight away. The lyrics were done quick, pretty much on the spot, so we could demo it. Then I started thinking about the song conceptually. Because of what it was about and straight lines and it all felt mathematical, we had to kind of shape the pulse of that thing and figure out how we were going to build the momentum throughout the song in some way that felt like a natural momentum, rather than "the orchestra comes in here" or "this is the chorus" or "this should happen here". I wanted it to have this sense of hopeless optimism because it was written about a pretty strange time in my life. I wanted to start out as damaged goods, then get stronger and stronger. By the end it's slamming. But the song is basically a tale of hopeless optimism, or eternal optimism, or delusion mixed with optimism. It was an easy one to articulate to the band how I wanted it to be. Rather than: "Imagine 17 revolving clarinets moving circularly around the vocals." It was a bit more like: this song is like a big rock and roll band with a modern pulse. It's just going to be totally tight and mathematic. It's not going to be whimsical, it's not going to be crazy. It's just going to be a song with a sentiment that we're going to be proud of and a song that felt like, "We're back, biatch!" I can guarantee there wasn't one person in the band who assumed it was going to be a smash hit. We just knew it was the most obvious single for us. We knew we didn't have another choice, really. We'd been away for so long, so I didn't know what the perception of my songs were, or what people expected. We still can't believe how well that record did because, especially me, so much turmoil and bulls--- went on throughout the whole thing, and I was a little stressed monkey by the end. To have it received like that made it kind of worth it. Cameron Adams' verdict: forget about Thirsty Merc, Lost and Running is Powderfinger on autopilot and 1234 is Australian by default. Better Than is a good song but Straight Lines is an instant Australian classic that deserves an APRA nod.
Better Than The John Butler Trio Writer: John Butler John Butler: With Better Than I started by mumbling and scatting the vocal melody and rhythm and slowly but surely the mumbles turned into words and the words started making some sense.Once I got the line "You could be better than that" the whole concept/subject of the song unfolded pretty quickly and I was able to engage a little more of my cognitive songwriting skills to what I can only describe as the ritual of songwriting.By the end of the process it was nothing like a reggae song and turned into one of the "poppier" songs I've written. Who would have thought a reggae-influenced song played on a banjo would have such a great life in the world of commercial radio? That's what I love about music - the song kinda does what it wants no matter what somebody, even the songwriter, sometimes may think it needs. Lost and RunningPowderfingerWriters: Jonathan Coghill/John Collins/Bernard Fanning/Ian Haug/Darren Middleton Darren Middleton: I was driving one afternoon and I just started humming the chorus. Very quickly, the lyrics came. So I was in the car singing over and over, "I'm still lost and running".I went straight home, grabbed my guitar and found the music to go with that melody. The rest of the lyrics and verses fell from thought to paper within half an hour. It was one of those songs everyone seemed to like. Bern touched up a couple of the lyrics, Ian and JC added a kind of Stooges bass part, Cogs his drum feel, and there we were. Song completed. It's been kind of funny playing the song live. Some of us were not that enthused at first because the song is quite different, quite simple, as opposed to the usual heavier-themed songs we do. It's not going to win song of the year, but hey, we still have fun with it. 20 Good Reasons Thirsty Merc Writer: Rai Thistlethwayte Rai Thistlethwayte: Just after Christmas '04, I was breaking up with a girl I'd been seeing for a few months. We were definitely in love, but I couldn't hold it all together. My life was going a certain way, with momentum in my music career and travels, and trying to balance that stuff with our relationship, and also that I'm probably a bit insane generally. Soon after I went overseas, and a definite feeling and experience I had in New York led me to finding some lyrics that became the verses in this song. I was standing on a downtown Manhattan street with all these people getting on with their lives, running around at a million miles an hour, andI felt so lost and out of sync among all the hysteria. I thought about losing this girl because of what seemed to be my selfish actions (my music career versus settling into something in my life back home). At that moment on the street (this part is described clearly in the second verse) time literally seemed to stand still, kind of like the slow-motion one feels as they drive past a car crash. I had made a mistake. Not only that, I felt like my control of this situation was beyond me. There was so much unknown. I guess I was asking myself, anyone, a higher power, even just the towering buildings above me: "Why do things have to go this way sometimes?" Listening now, it makes me sad at things I've lost, but also that we need to enjoy the time we have and make the most of it, so it has a bit of a double sentiment now. 1234 Feist Writers: Sally Seltmann/Leslie Feist Sally Seltmann: I always thought one of my favourite Sonic Youth songs Sweet Shine contained the lyrics "deep down you're just a little hallway". This, I thought, was lyrical genius, and led to my obsession with hallways. I discovered I had misheard the lyrics, the correct ones being "deep down you're just a little whorey!" Despite this sweet naivety, I am happy to say 1234 was born in a hallway.
A few years ago, the hallway of my house became the home to my piano. It was there I sat, and started singing, "1234, tell me that you love me more". A really good friend had told me she was leaving her husband. I am hopelessly romantic, so news like that made me think, "But why? Surely you can try to stay together?" I was also thinking you can't buy back the love you have when you first fall in love. Within 20 minutesI had finished writing the song. The only problem was I thought the chorus was a complete rip-off of Feist's Mushaboom. I played the song to myself a few times, and soon forgot about it. I happened to get signed to Feist's Canadian label and ended up on tour supporting her. I loved Feist. She reminded me of my sister; I learnt so much from watching her sing her beautiful songs. On the last night of the tour I played 1234 for her and we recorded it into her laptop. A few months later I heard she had started playing it live and the crowd really loved it! Feist emailed, asking whether she could add a few different lyrics. I loved her new lyrics, and totally understood she needed to do this in order to have more of a connection with the song. This is where 1234 became a co-write. When I heard her version, I was blown away. She had given it so much energy. Then came the iPod commercial, the chart ratings, the Grammy nomination, the Juno awards - the list goes on. I am excited that she has performed it live on Sesame Street and can't believe that a little song I wrote in a hallway has gone on to become such a huge worldwide hit. Straight Lines Silverchair Writers: Daniel Johns/Julian Hamilton Daniel Johns: I'm genuinely proud of this song. I wanted the Young Modern album to be a piece with artistic credibility and something with really powerful intent, but I also wanted it to be Silverchair's pop record. Straight Lines started when I was doing a writing session with (Preset) Julian (Hamilton). I'd written some stuff with Julian back in England, but we didn't feel like we'd achieved what we were capable of. So we rescheduled and Julian came up to my house in Newcastle. I was fiddling around on the guitar and he was on the piano. Julian started playing something similar to what the intro is. Then I just took it off to my private quarters and started to think about how to melodically challenge it. The chorus was done straight away. The lyrics were done quick, pretty much on the spot, so we could demo it. Then I started thinking about the song conceptually. Because of what it was about and straight lines and it all felt mathematical, we had to kind of shape the pulse of that thing and figure out how we were going to build the momentum throughout the song in some way that felt like a natural momentum, rather than "the orchestra comes in here" or "this is the chorus" or "this should happen here". I wanted it to have this sense of hopeless optimism because it was written about a pretty strange time in my life. I wanted to start out as damaged goods, then get stronger and stronger. By the end it's slamming. But the song is basically a tale of hopeless optimism, or eternal optimism, or delusion mixed with optimism. It was an easy one to articulate to the band how I wanted it to be. Rather than: "Imagine 17 revolving clarinets moving circularly around the vocals." It was a bit more like: this song is like a big rock and roll band with a modern pulse. It's just going to be totally tight and mathematic. It's not going to be whimsical, it's not going to be crazy. It's just going to be a song with a sentiment that we're going to be proud of and a song that felt like, "We're back, biatch!" I can guarantee there wasn't one person in the band who assumed it was going to be a smash hit. We just knew it was the most obvious single for us. We knew we didn't have another choice, really. We'd been away for so long, so I didn't know what the perception of my songs were, or what people expected. We still can't believe how well that record did because, especially me, so much turmoil and bulls--- went on throughout the whole thing, and I was a little stressed monkey by the end. To have it received like that made it kind of worth it. Cameron Adams' verdict: forget about Thirsty Merc, Lost and Running is Powderfinger on autopilot and 1234 is Australian by default. Better Than is a good song but Straight Lines is an instant Australian classic that deserves an APRA nod.
Chuck Berry won't sing for 'Johnny' in election
SAO PAULO - Republican candidate John McCain may have used his song in the US presidential campaign, but veteran rock 'n' roller Chuck Berry has no doubt whom he wants to see in the White House next year."America has finally come to this point where you can pick a man of color and that not be a drawback," the legendary 81-year-old guitarist said of Barack Obama, who clinched the Democratic presidential nomination last week and would become the country's first black president if he wins in November."It's no question, myself being a man of color ... I mean, you have to feel good about it," Berry, himself a black pioneer in the 1950s music scene, said by phone from New York ahead of a Brazil tour that starts next week."Definitely a proud and successful moment for all the people of this country, not just black people, but Americans in general."McCain, now preparing to take on Obama in the November presidential election, used Berry's hit Johnny B. Goode as an early campaign theme, although he has since switched to Abba's Take a Chance On Me.
Johnny B. Goode turned 50 in January and topped the list of the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time that Rolling Stone magazine published this month."In the '50s there were certain places we couldn't ride on the bus," Berry said. "And now there is a possibility of a black man being in White House. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last," he said, quoting the words of a Negro spiritual song famously invoked by assassinated civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jr.The first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, known as the "father of rock 'n' roll," Berry has been on tour since the start of the year in the United States and Europe.Berry has not released an album of new material since 1979's "Rock It." But he has been promising one since 2001 and it may be close to becoming a reality."There are definitely plans for a new record. And we may have more on that by the time we get there in Brazil ... But we can't release any names yet," he said.Until then, Berry doesn't mind playing the same old songs. Neither do his fans, who will pay more than $100 a ticket in Brazil to hear his hits Memphis, Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen."(Those songs) never get old and you can't never forget where you came from," he said. "The old have become classic, because classic never dies."- REUTERS
Johnny B. Goode turned 50 in January and topped the list of the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time that Rolling Stone magazine published this month."In the '50s there were certain places we couldn't ride on the bus," Berry said. "And now there is a possibility of a black man being in White House. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last," he said, quoting the words of a Negro spiritual song famously invoked by assassinated civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jr.The first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, known as the "father of rock 'n' roll," Berry has been on tour since the start of the year in the United States and Europe.Berry has not released an album of new material since 1979's "Rock It." But he has been promising one since 2001 and it may be close to becoming a reality."There are definitely plans for a new record. And we may have more on that by the time we get there in Brazil ... But we can't release any names yet," he said.Until then, Berry doesn't mind playing the same old songs. Neither do his fans, who will pay more than $100 a ticket in Brazil to hear his hits Memphis, Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen."(Those songs) never get old and you can't never forget where you came from," he said. "The old have become classic, because classic never dies."- REUTERS
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