Various linkage, etc. Looks like Roger’s definitely going to do it!

Nick reflects, a reflective Nick.

http://www.spinner.com/2009/11/16/pink-floyds-nick-mason-reflects-on-30th-anniversary-of-the-wal/

“It was fun to play the shows,” Mason says, “because in some ways it was the pinnacle of a Floyd show. It was one of those moments where a rock show was taken to a different level. When Roger gets his Broadway [musical version of 'The Wall'] done eventually, it could work really well. It does have quite a lot of the structure there already.”

Blog post giving Roger some stick.

http://progrockreviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/news-roger-waters-wants-to-tour-wall-in.html

Some info here, scroll down. There’s a ton of interesting stuff on the site as well.

http://www.pinkfloydz.com/

Roger Waters & The Wall Here’s the news you have been waiting for. Roger’s Manager has been in touch to OFFICIALLY confirm that Roger is looking at touring The Wall in 2010 & 2011. Other sources have told us that currently 8 cities are penciled in, but going by past experience this could well be expanded at a later date. Keep tuned to A Fleeting Glimpse for all the tour news!

Nick discussing things The Wall with Danny Baker of the BBC.

http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/nick-mason-with-danny-baker-terry-wogans-drummer.html

In The Studio with Redbeard, a show discussing the events that take place while classic rock albums were being made, has been around for a very long time, it’s always a good listen. I’ve been listening to his radio show for as long as I have loved music. There is a very recent two-parter pertaining to The Wall.

http://www.inthestudio.net/

A different sort of Wall.

The Wall now…

SNAKING ALONG, cutting through fields and streets, yards and gardens, the 28-mile-long Berlin Wall stood as a border between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989.

That all changed on Nov. 9, 1989, when an inexact translation, a confused border guard and a natural longing for a better life opened a hole in that wall that would eventually end the Cold War.

SRP3 Stockholm FM Broadcast, Interview with Nick Mason
1967-03-xx

1′27″

Rather nice little interview with Nick, from c. March 67, most likely from a rebroadcast. Received in a trade sometime around 1996. I suspect that this is 1st or 2nd Gen; let your ears decide.

Unknown Gen Cassette > DAT > FLAC (8.5mb)

That’s MG-X90 Metal Tape / ref. 52.

Analogue Transfer: Aiwa AD-F450 Cassette Deck > Tascam DA20 MkII
DAT Transfer: Sony SDT-9000 DDS Drive + DAT2WAV > WAV

Peak 5.05 used to trim leading and trailing silences.

FLAC encoded at DAT native sample resolution of 48Khz.
Downsample to transfer to Audio CD but please do not distribute / share downsampled copies.

Rapidshare:
Nick Mason – 1967-03-xx SRP3 Interview

Amig@s de ElBaraMetal, la verdad es que este post me nació por el puro gusto, no se necesitan tener pretextos ni razones aparentes para justificar el hablar de un gran, grande, grandísimo disco de rock and roll como lo es The Dark Side Of The Moon, obra de los igualmente enormes Pink Floyd.

Corría el año 1973 cuando Pink Floyd, pioneros del rock progresivo y fieles seguidores de la psicodelia y la “locura” rockera de los años 60, editaron para la posteridad este álbum, considerado uno de los mejores discos de la historia, y tal vez, el que más influencia ha generado desde entonces en músicos de todos los géneros, no sólo del rock.

Y es que DSotM es un ejercicio complejo de creatividad musical, de una inventiva hasta ese momento inexplorada, que sin pensarlo siquiera, explotó y generó ondas expansivas de emociones encontradas en el entramado “floydeano” de la musicalidad exquisita de Gilmour, las letras profundas de Waters y las ambientaciones geniales de Wright y los beats secos pero volátilmente frágiles de Mason.

Todo el disco es genial, es verdad que hay que estar de un humor especial para escucharlo, ya que funciona mejor si se da uno el tiempo para oírlo de principio a fin, pero algunas piezas funcionan igualmente por separado, como la comercialmente magistral Money, Time y su genial introducción (pocas veces he podido escuchar algo más sencillo y a la vez tan complejo de emular y por ende, hermosamente rockero) o Us and Them, con todo el sentimiento explosivo que guarda en sus entrañas progresivas.

De colección este disco, hace poco salió por ahí la reedición especial del 25 aniversario, un disco remasterizado que salva algunos de los sonidos exquisitos del original, este si es para que se lo consigan en original (aquellos que todavía no lo tengan, que creo, serán, o deben ser, pocos).

De todas formas acá hay un sitio donde se lo bajan para que, después de darle unas dos o tres escuchadas, y si todavía no lo tienen, se lo pidan a Santo Clos o a los Reyes Magos ahora que se viene diciembre.

Carpe diem.

The dark side of the moon

Estaba escribiendo un post y a la par decidí escuchar el disco Dark Side of the Moon remasterizada en 2003 en formato SACD y DTS, aunque hace una semana compre mi versión para Itunes me sorprendio como la version DTS contiene muchos sonidos y efectos escondidos que no podran ser apreciados con la versión stereo para Ipod Nano G5.

Asi que voy a dejar ese post para el fin de semana y decido hacer mi semblanza sobre este disco tan importante para el Rock y conclui que me declaro incapaz para ello, por lo que mejor comparto estos excelentes videos que van a detallar todo lo que quieran saber sobre esta obra maestra del rock universal.

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Siamo arrivati alla decima canzone di oggi. I prossimi artisti non hanno ancora fatto la loro comparsa qui a RadioBlog 235. Ma rimediamo subito. Prima però vi ricordo che per qualunque comunicazione voleste farmi (oltre naturalmente a poter commentare nel radio-blog) potete inviarmi un’email (soprattutto se vi va di partecipare come b-jay) all’indirizzo radioblog235@live.it
Il prossimo video del nostro programma pomeridiano è dei Pink Floyd. Ascoltiamo adesso Wish You Were Here, qui su RadioBlog 235!

Development is still on going for the creation of the Camden Walk Of Fame. Musical figures including Jarvis Cocker, Jazzie B and Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees are still backing the plans to create a Walk of Fame on the main streets of Camden Town.

The documentary Film is well in the mix now, with yours truly (Bedroom London Ltd) on board to do the in show graphics.

The idea to lay a heritage trail is largely the brainchild of club impresario Lee Bennett and would see a series of slabs dug into the pavements to credit the famous names who have passed through the legendary music venues in Camden Town – just like the “stars” that line Hollywood Boulevard.
Mr Gibb described Camden Town as an “epicentre” of talent, adding: “I think it’s something we should have had a long time ago in this country because we have such a wealth of musical talent. Historically and culturally it’s all come from this country in the past 40 years and its time we celebrated and honoured that culture.”

Film-maker Nick Mason has captured a series of celebrity endorsements on camera. S sneak preview of the film shows Soul II Soul star Jazzie B raving about Camden Town.

“It was the easiest place to kick a lock off a door so that was the place it all went down,” he said. “The Walk of Fame is an innovation.”
Other bands said the area became so synonymous with good music that there were sometimes more record company executives than fans in the crowds at clubs like the Dublin Castle, Barfly and the Electric Ballroom.

The Dub Pistols described Camden as an “A & R man’s dream” while The Cribs and the New Young Pony Club recalled how they were both signed after doing one gig in the area.

Others proved their fondness for heady party days by… not remembering them. Jarvis Cocker said: “I can’t exactly recall… Camden in the Britpop era… erm…”, before a five-second pause. He did remember a gig at the Underworld around 1992, when Suede supported his then-fledgling band Pulp.

“A week later they were massively more famous than us,” Mr Cocker added.
The film was made by production company Fasten Your Seatbelt last summer.

Mr Mason said: “In an ailing music industry live music is now more important than ever – Camden is responsible for launching countless music careers.”

Watch this space for updates and more information on this exciting project …

Jimmy Page, Jack White, Nick Mason e Bill Wyman. O que eles têm em comum além de serem lendários ícones do rock? Os quatro são contra games como o Guitar Hero e o Rockband.

As opiniões dos músicos se encontram em uma mesma acusação, os jogos têm impedido as crianças de aprender a tocar instrumentos de verdade. Nas palavras de Wyman “Eles encorajam as crianças a não aprender, esse é o problema. Isso faz com que menos pessoas realmente sentem numa cadeira e comecem a aprender o instrumento. Por isso eu realmente não gostei dessa ideia”.

Tudo bem, é verdade que existe muita criança que se restringe apenas aos games, mas será que os jogos realmente impedem o aprendizado de um instrumento real? Acredito que para as crianças que realmente querem aprender a tocar guitarra, baixo, bateria, trompete, o que seja, o Guitar Hero é apenas um trampolim para que o garoto se empolgue e procure aprender a fazer música.

Para Jack White procurar aprender um instrumento através de um jogo é triste. Mas aí é que ele se confunde, já que mesmo por meio de um jogo, o contato é maior com a música que com o aparelho.

Guitar Hero e Rockband são para o lazer com amigos e família, eles permitem que os jovens que não sabem tocar nem galinha se divirtam e se sintam em cima de um palco tocando suas canções favoritas. Senhores Page, White, Mason e Wyman sou fã de vocês, mas agora os quatro pisaram na bola.

Mais no Whiplash e no mygames.

Je n’arrive pas à choisir entre la fin du solfège et un match diplomatique

(Guitar Hero 0 – Turquie/Armenie 1)

As  Who fan for 20-some years, I’ve been quite familiar with what is arguably the seminal rock opera, Tommy.  By contrast, I’ve only recently discovered Pink Floyd’s The Wall.  By radio play alone, I’ve heard and was very familiar with perhaps as much as half the The Wall’s songs.  But listening to it all the way through and reading up on it, I was surprised at the similarities in themes and even some of the plot between these two, which are among the most revered concept albums ever made.

To try to get a grip on these similarities, I did some extensive searching for summaries or synopses of the stories told by each album.  The following were, I feel, the simplest but most helpful.

TOMMY

British Army Captain Walker is reported missing in action during World War I, and is not expected ever to be seen again. Shortly after his wife, Mrs. Walker, receives this news, she gives birth to their son, Tommy.  Approximately four years later, Captain Walker returns home and discovers that his wife has found a new lover. Captain Walker confronts the two and kills the lover. Tommy witnesses this through his mirror. To cover up the crime, Tommy’s parents tell Tommy that he didn’t see it, didn’t hear it, and he will say “nothing to no one ever in [his] life”. A
traumatized Tommy becomes deaf, dumb, and blind.

Tommy’s subconscious reveals itself to him as a tall stranger dressed in silvery robes, and the vision sets him on an internal spiritual journey upon which he learns to interpret all physical sensations as music.

His thoughtless parents leave him to the care of his cousin, Kevin, who tortures him and later to the care of his uncle Ernie, an alcoholic child molester.  Uncle Ernie, like Kevin, takes abuses Tommy (in this case sexually) knowing he will not be caught.

Tommy’s brilliance at pinball is discovered, and quickly defeats the game’s tournament champion, making him an international celebrity, really like a rock mega-star.

His parents find a medical specialist to once more try to understand and cure his symptoms. After numerous tests, they are told that there is nothing medically wrong with him, and that his problems are psychosomatic. However, as they are trying to reach him, Tommy’s subconscious is also trying to reach out to them.  Tommy’s mother continues to try to reach him, and becomes frustrated that he completely ignores her while staring directly at a mirror. Out of this frustration
she smashes the mirror.  The smashing of the mirror snaps Tommy back into reality. Tommy’s cure becomes a public sensation and he attains guru-like status. Thereafter he assumes a quasi-messianic mantle and tries to lead his fans to an enlightenment similar to his own.

Tommy opens his own home to anyone willing to join him, and urges them to bring as many people with them as they can.  His home ultimately turns into a “holiday camp” run by Uncle Ernie, who is apparently motivated by greed and not spiritual enlightenment.  Tommy demands that his followers play pinball and blind, deafen and mute themselves in order to truly reach their spiritual height, but the heavy-handedness of his cult and the exploitation of its followers by his family and
associates cause his followers to revolt against him. Abandoned by his followers and worshipers, Tommy gains a new enlightenment.

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_(album)#Story_in_chronological_order

THE WALL

From the outset, Pink’s life revolves around an abyss of loss and isolation. Born to a war-ravaged nation that takes his father’s life in the name of “duty,” and an overprotective mother who lavishes equal measures of her love and phobias onto her son, Pink chooses to build a mental wall between himself and the rest of the world so that he can live in a constant, alienated equilibrium free from life’s physical and emotional troubles. Every incident that causes Pink pain is yet another brick in his ever-growing wall: a fatherless childhood, a domineering mother, a country whose king signs his father’s death certificate with a rubber stamp, the superficiality of stardom, an estranged marriage, even the very drugs he turns to in order to find release. As his wall nears completion, each brick further closing him off from the rest of the world, Pink spirals into a void of insanity, cementing in place the final brick in the wall. Yet the minute it is complete, Pink begins to realize the adverse effects of total mental isolation, helplessly watching as his fragmented psyche coalesces into the very dictatorial persona that antagonized the world during World War II, scarred his nation, killed his father, and thereby defiled his own life from birth. Culminating in a mental trial as theatrically rich as the greatest stage shows, the story ends with a message that is as enigmatic and circular as the rest of Pink’s life. Whether it is ultimately viewed as a cynical story about the futility of life, or a hopeful journey of metaphorical death and rebirth, the Wall is certainly a musical milestone worthy of the title “art.”

http://www.thewallanalysis.com/Intro.html

Is it just me, or are there some amazing similarities?  Here are those that jumped out at me.  Both Tommy and Pink lose their fathers who fight for Britain in a world war.  Tommy’s father is only presumed dead so long for his mother to take a new lover; Pink’s father is forever lost.

Most startlingly, the cruelty of parents, relatives and authority figures in general twist and warp the minds of the characters.  Tommy’s parents, indifferent and distant at best, turn him over to be tortured by a bully cousin and sick and twisted uncle.  Doctors torture him with ineffective “cures.”  Pink endures his overbearing mother and viciousness of wicked teachers.

Stardom is the temporary salvation, or at least solace, of each character.  Their celebrity, Tommy’s as a “pinball wizard” (really a rock star) and Pink’s as a rock star, bring them the fame and glory, make them little gods.  As is often the case in real life, that glory eventually becomes their emotional and psychological undoing.

While both arrive at their end point by extremely divergent paths, both cult-like figures, are taken down by their followers.  Tommy’s holiday camp attendees overthrow him.  Pink is “tried” in some fashion of a court for what in essence amount to war crimes.   Tommy is booted from his throne.  Pink’s wall is torn asunder.

At the risk of overstating the importance or depth of these works, there’s no doubt a more scholarly look at them might find more interesting and detailed similarities.  I’m neither a music nor literature expert.  My eyes are untrained to find themes, moods, tone and so on.  Nevertheless, there appear to be enough points of likeness between Tommy and The Wall to merit mention.  I’d love to read anything others might have said on the subject and welcome lots of feedback.

Last week, Lily Allen wrote a guest piece for The Times of London in which she told of the toll that file sharing has taken on the British music industry. Allen’s piece has set off a debate in the British press about file sharing with people both pro and con giving their two cents. Allen wrote:

Music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some rich and successful artists such as Nick Mason, of Pink Floyd, and Ed O’Brien, of Radiohead, don’t think so. Last week, they told The Times that file sharing is fine. It probably is for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent, though, file sharing is a disaster — it makes it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.

To read Allen’s full article from The Times of London, click here.

Singer-songwriter James Blunt agreed with Allen and wrote a letter to The Times of London to voice his support. Blunt wrote:

The world over, people are stealing music in its millions in the form of illegal file-sharing. It’s easy to do, and has become accepted by many, but people need to know that it is destroying people’s livelihoods and suffocating emerging British artists.

To read Blunt’s letter to The Times of London in full, click here.

Pixie Lott also concurred with Allen and said so in a strongly worded blog piece on her MySpace page titled “A Serious Blog.” In her blog item, Pixie wrote:

The music industry is glamorous and exciting, almost intoxicatingly so, but this fairy tale image shrouds the reality of the fact that the music industry is like any other business.  As Lily pointed out, once you’ve made it, you’re fine; you can afford to give your music away, which is generous of those who feel so, but it’s not the established musicians that need help, it’s not them you damage. When you buy a track, you’re buying the artist, you see their face, you hear their voice, and you hear their lyrics; you feel the money goes to them. This, to an extent, is an illusion. 

As in any other business, if someone makes an investment in you, they expect a return. The music industry is fiercely competitive and even if you are lucky enough to be signed, it’s still really tough. Record labels facilitate the introduction of artists to the industry, but it all comes at a price, and when you steal music, it’s not their music you steal, it’s the artists, the songwriters. We, and I would like to stress personally, we only make profit once we have paid for everything that goes into our image, the superficial image that can make us or ruin us. We have to pay off our management and our promotion; we have stylists, press advisers, choreographers, advertisers, a whole indispensable team that invest time and money into people like little old me (which is crazyyy!) We have to work harder than you could imagine to make sure primarily that they are paid and then, that we make a surplus profit.

For more on this topic, see the related articles from XFM London, NME.com, and The Times of London.

Every day for the next few days, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown will get one step closer to #1. Then we’ll put up a whole bunch of them at once and keep you in suspense until we return with regular daily listings, review and so forth around the middle of October. For now, Wednesday’s song is #308:

Pink Floyd – Dogs

Not only one of the great stoner songs of alltime but a characteristically magnificent, towering, practically sidelong antiwar epic. “Dragged down by the stone, stone, stone…” ad infinitum. Go ahead and download the 1977 Animals album somewhere if you haven’t already; if you want to hear it first, it’s on youtube in two sections here and then here.

It only took 20-some years of fighting it, but I finally became one of the cool kids.  I broke down and picked up a few Pink Floyd albums.  No, I didn’t pay for them.  I got ‘em from the local library.  I’ve listened to bits of Dark Side of the Moon and I am listening to The Wall as I write.

I could never tell you why I never even gave Pink Floyd a chance.  I just didn’t.  The closest thing I had to a reason was that there were just “not my style.”  It’s not as if I’d never heard them.  They’re a staple of rock radio.  I’ve heard a few dozen songs on radio alone and probably bits and pieces of albums that friends have played.  But I never sat down and listened to a single album start to finish.  No, I didn’t even try to watch The Wall synced with The Wizard Of Oz.  Since I’ve never been a head, I suppose I never felt the need to really pay much attention.

Lately, though, I’ve felt like I’ve run out of good rock and roll.  I’m a Beatles fanatic but I’m trying not to OD on the new mono and stereo remasters, which have been in heavy rotation at home, work and in the car for 2 weeks.  I need to pick up the new Black Crowes album and that will quench my rock thirst. . . for a time.

For now, though, let’s see how I like the Floyd.

In response to Lily Allen’s blog entry firing back at Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead’s views on illegal file sharing HYPERLINK “http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=36707169&blogId=510114316″ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=36707169&blogId=510114316 .

While growing up I pretty much always paid for my CD’s, mainly because this was the only way of having quality music, but getting an artists album in my hand was a gem and I loved it. I was a huge fan of music and I would tape the UK chart top 40 every Sunday evening, but this would never replace owning a copy of the actual album or single.

As a student I was very broke which meant that my music purchases were at an all time low, but in my third year I finally decided to download a file sharing software allowing me to download music as I wouldn’t have dreamt of having the money to buy their albums. Suddenly I was back in tune with new music. File sharing introduced me to the music of many artists including Emmy the Great, Robots in Disguise, Death Cab for Cutie to name a few. I heard of the band ‘Tegan and Sara’ and decided to download a few songs to check them out and within a week I had their whole back catalogue for free (five albums), which was fantastic because I could not get enough of their music! I felt this really justified my use of illegal downloading as Tegan and Sara had just gained a new fan.

I have since stopped using illegal downloads and this is not due to no longer being a student as I am currently out of a job. But I have found that music websites such as MySpace and YouTube have allowed me to familiarise myself with music that is not played on the mainstream radio stations and give me the opportunity to save the money for the albums.

In my opinion nothing beats having a whole complete album in my hand. The art work included with albums is almost essential to the whole feel of the artist and their music. The tracks have been mastered to follow each other perfectly. I now own nearly all of Tegan and Sara’s records and have gone out and bought many albums of other artists whose music I had previously illegally downloaded.

I don’t even like downloading legally off iTunes, why would I when I could pay a few extra quid and get the hard copy? Granted that CD’s are probably slightly over priced, but we as music lovers have become unaware of the importance of the people behind the music industry, supporting the artists we love.

On a similar note, in May this year Tori Amos released her new album, ‘abnormally attracted to sin.’ She allowed people who pre-ordered her album off iTunes to have priority tickets for her upcoming gigs. This angered me slightly as I consider myself a huge Tori Amos fan, and had been anticipating her new record for so long I wanted a hard copy in my hand. I also wanted to get the best tickets to see her live. As her shows are already at the top end price I didn’t want to have to fork out extra cash buying her album twice just to ensure I get tickets to see her live. Consequently I haven’t bought her new album and I didn’t see her live. Unfortunately for Tori I feel her plans to prevent file sharing and boost 1st week record sales may have backfired slightly on some of her fans who where after a real in hand copy of her album.

So the debate will continue about whether illegally downloading music helps promote an artist and introduce them to wider audiences; people who may then go out and buy merchandise or concert tickets. However it is a fact that illegal downloads are holding back many artists, especially upcoming artists who are signed to small record labels, preventing them from reaching their potential. How can a talented act survive without a force behind them? Without a band, crew, management, record label? Even the biggest labels in the industry are suffering, and although you may think that they don’t deserve the money you couldn’t be more wrong! Without the promoters managers and crew behind the scenes the artists wouldn’t be able to survive the industry… An industry that we all love!

It is stealing, regardless of how you look at it! You are stealing many people’s hard work!

I don’t know if Lily or anyone can put a stop to file sharing, but she has definitely raised important points, many of which I wasn’t aware of. From reading her blog entry I can honestly say I do not want to help destroy the music industry and I hope other’s who read it will feel the same.

My last note will be this; A dear friend of mine,who is in a band, began telling me how he would save for weeks for a CD but he would want it so bad because there was no other way of hearing the music. Once the CD was his, he would essential play it to death! He was explaining how the way in which we listen and value music is changing and in many ways this is incredibly sad.

Me and my helmet

Here we go again folks and I have some brilliant news, well it was brilliant for me anyway. On Saturday I spent the day at the Riders Edge Harley Davidson centre in Wales. This was a gift experience which was given to me as a birthday present by the wonderful and beautiful Catwoman for my 50th birthday back in January. You have to bear in mind that I have never been on a motorbike in my life. So to say I was a little apprehensive at first would be a major understatement. Let’s just say that I made sure I packed a clean pair of under crackers…….just in case!

Anyway being a complete novice I spent the morning, around three hours riding a 500cc machine around the private roads within the Royal Welsh Showground at Builth Wells. Whilst I never fell off once I came close a couple of times! I guess I pictured in my head having to lean right over when taking corners, but that’s for the speed freaks, at the speeds I was doing taking a corner upright was easy. Incidentally while it felt much, much faster I don’t think I got above 40 mph. For me the coordination required to change gear with your left foot while not looking down at all was very difficult. But when you think about it it really shouldn’t be. I mean I don’t look down when I change gear in the car so why should I need to when riding a motorbike? Well perhaps because I’m not using a gear stick with my hand but trying to change it with my foot. But by the end of the morning session I had reached the dizzy heights of 5^th gear twice and stalled less than ten times in total and as I said earlier, I never fell off or crashed once! The last part was a great result for me as I fully expected to take a few spills.

Me on a Harley

So after just three hours on the saddle they sadly weren’t going to let me loose on a fabulous Harley on my own. However I did get a pillion ride on a gorgeous Harley Davidson machine under the control of one of the Rider’s Edge expert instructors, Ian. Having never even ridden pillion before that too was also a great experience for me. Cruising around some wonderful Welsh countryside. Great weather, great views and remarkably attractive sheep, well at least I would imagine they are attractive if you’re perhaps Welsh or a Kiwi.

Uneasy Rider perhaps?

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big, big thank you to all the folks at Riders Edge. Especially Clive, who was my instructor in the morning and also Ian with whom I rode pillion in the afternoon.

In the meantime and as this is really a music related blog let’s steer it back in that direction! Can you guess what today’s theme might be? Well it’s a bit obvious really isn’t it? Today’s theme is Motorbikes! Here are a few motorbike or motorbike related songs with a morsel of trivia about each of the artists or songs

“Motorcycle Emptiness” – Manic Street Preachers. This was the fifth single to be taken from the band’s Generation Terrorists album in 1992. The lyrics are inspired by a book about biker gang culture called Rumble Fish which was written by S E Hinton

“Motorbikin’”– Chris Spedding. This 1975 Top 20 hit was Spedding’s biggest and he is perhaps best known as a sought after session guitarist. He has played with many artists including; Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Elton John, Brian Eno, Jack Bruce, Nick Mason, John Cale, Katie Melua, Harry Nilsson, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, Jeff Wayne and even the Wombles! He also famously played on and produced three demos for the Sex Pistols in 1976. The three songs were “No Feelings”, “Problems” and “Pretty Vacant”

“Funky Moped” – Jasper Carrot. This was a surprise hit for Mr Carrot in 1975. The single was backed with a risque monologue based around the 60s TV series the “Magic Roundabout“, which at the time I thought was bloody hilarious! he also has a thespian daughter; Lucy Davis who played Dawn in the Office. She was excellent in that series don’t you think?

“Silver Dream Machine”– David Essex. At the age of 23 in 1971 David took the lead role in the musical Godspell on the London Stage. I actually went to see that show as part of a school trip in 1972 when he was still in it. Our coach was delayed because all the girls on the trip had gathered outside the stage door to scream and get his autograph. It was around the time he released his first major single “Rock On”. My first serious girlfriend; Gay Topsom, was a big David Essex fan and I remember buying her each of his singles as soon as they were released. I never had enough money to stretch to an album. But we were together for two years from 1975 to 1977 so I guess that’s a fair amount of singles. She left me for a guy who was slightly older and more importantly had a car! But you know what I’m over that now and if you’re reading this Gay, I forgive you

“Bat Out Of Hell”– Meatloaf. Meat was born Marvin Lee Aday on 27th September 1947 so he will turn 62 in a couple of weeks. get your cards written and sent now folks. Jim Steinman the producer and I suppose you could say creator of Meat’s landmark Bat Out Of Hell album was apparently trying to get something that sounded like a cross between Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen. Well I for one reckon he succeeded. What do you think?

“Born To Be Wild”- Steppenwolf. This band hailed from Toronto and many credit their recording of the iconic “Born To Be Wild” as the first Heavy Metal record, although just as many disagree. It has had a long association with motorbikes, very likely due to its inclusion on the soundtrack to the movie Easy Rider which starred Peter Fonda

I used to have this poster on my wall as a teenager

I am sure that you can think of plenty more so fire away folks!

This is the poster I really wanted on my wall as a teenager

A growing rift is developing in the music industry over proposals by business secretary Lord Mandelson to crack down on persistent filesharers by suspending their broadband connections.

The row has pitted big names such as Billy Bragg and Annie Lennox against record labels and the Musicians’ Union ahead of an approaching government deadline for comments in its illegal filesharing consultation.

A coalition of artists including Lennox, Bragg and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason argue such laws would…

Keep reading from source by Katie Allen

Nicht alle. Aber Ed O’Brien, der Gitarrist von Radiohead, sagt: “Meine Generation wuchs auf mit der Ansicht, man müsse für Musik bezahlen. Aber jede Generation hat da ihre eigene Methode. Filesharing ist sowas wie ein Kassettensampler, den du von den Platten deines Kumpels aufnimmst. Du hörst was, das dir besonders gefällt, und kaufst die Scheibe. Oder gehst aufs Konzert. Wir erleben gerade eine völlige Veränderung der Denkmuster”.

Dave Rowntree, der Schlagzeuger von Blur, fügt hinzu: “Die Tatsache, dass Filesharing nicht aufhört, und so populär bleibt, ist eigentlich ungeheuer positiv für die Musikindustrie. Tatsächlich ist Musik so populär, dass die Leute sogar das Gesetz brechen, um sie zu bekommen”.

Nick Mason, Schlagzeuger bei Pink Floyd, meint: “Das letzte, was wir wollen, wäre ein Krieg gegen unsere Fans. Filesharing bedeutet für uns eine neue Generation von Fans”.

Die Musiker in der Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) sind sich einig, dass Filesharing ihre Musik an die Internetgeneration heranbringt, die nicht mit dem Radio aufgewachsen ist. Sondern mit dem Computer.

Meine Forderung: Rettet die Musik! Legalisiert Filesharing. Filesharing ist das neue Radio.

(via telegraph) (pic fac)

]]> http://brakebanzeen.com/2009/09/13/mclaren-f1-gtr-video/ Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:58:26 +0000 el wehbi http://brakebanzeen.com/2009/09/13/mclaren-f1-gtr-video/

Not only do I love this car, but I am also a hardcore fan of its owner, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. He has been known to collect some amazing cars over the years ranging from vintage racing Ferraris to Aston Martins. So kids, if your parents tell you rock & roll will never get you anywhere, they’re lying through their teeth!

If you want to read a bit more about Nick Mason’s collection, CLICK HERE.

[Source: Autocar]

Bill Wyman and Nick Mason talk about their dislike of music video games, and they both make the same point with which I happen to strongly agree.  Instead of spending hundreds of dollars and who knows how many hours to play fake instruments, why not learn how to actually play real music on your own instrument?

Just because it’s good enough for The Beatles doesn’t mean it’s good enough for everyone.

In an interview with the BBC, ex-Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman expressed his general displeasure with music games, claiming they distracted kids from rocking properly.

“It encourages kids not to learn, that’s the trouble” he told the BBC. “It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think it’s a pity so I’m not really keen on that kind of stuff.”

Interestingly, Wyman’s mini-tirade came during a break from a recording session at the legendary Abbey Road studios, where the longtime Stones member was laying down tracks for a charitable Beatles cover song. Anticipated music game The Beatles: Rock Band launches this week.

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was also on hand and offered a few no-so-gentle words of his own.

“It irritates me having watched my kids do it,” he said of playing music video games. “If they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now.”

The two join the likes of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, The White Stripes’ Jack White and the one and only Prince as some of music video gaming’s most famous critics.

However, Wyman’s griping is a bit bizarre considering that the Stones have appeared in both Guitar Hero and Rock Band before, including the just-released five-song Rolling Stone Track pack for Guitar Hero. He also seems to be missing the fact that music games can turn people on to playing real-world music.

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/former-rolling-stone-bassist-slams-music-games/1351903

Good stuff, talking about the Division Bell.

http://www.inthestudio.net/index.asp

Rabu, 09/09/2009 09:22 WIB

Santi Dwi Jayanti – detikinet

Promo Guitar Hero III (activision)

Jakarta – Mantan anggota band legendaris Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman menentang keberadaan video game musik seperti Guitar Hero atau Rock Band. Ia menuduh, game-game semacam itulah yang membuat anak muda malas belajar alat musik sesungguhnya.

“Aku tidak terlalu menyukai benda-benda semacam itu. Game itu membuat orang-orang enggan belajar instrumen,” ungkap Wyman kepada BBC dan dilansir detikINET, Rabu (10/9/2009).

Tak hanya Wyman yang menyayangkan keberadaan game seperti Guitar Hero dan Rock Band. Musisi dari grup rock Pink Floyd pun angkat suara soal game yang sedang naik daun itu.

Nick Mason dari Pink Floyd menyebut Rock Band dan Guitar Hero sebagai pengembangan baru yang ‘menarik’. “Sungguh menyakitkan melihat anakku melakukannya. Jika saja mereka menghabiskan waktu yang sama untuk belajar gitar alih-alih memencet tombol-tombol (game), maka mereka pasti akan mumpuni memainkannya,” kata Nick Mason.

Alex Rigopulos, bidan di balik kelahiran Rock Band, membela produk yang ia buat. “Kami terus-menerus mendengar dari sejumlah fans bahwa dengan memainkan Rock Band, mereka malah terinspirasi bermain alat musik yang sesungguhnya,” papar Rigopulos.

Ummagumma: 1969

I have been familiar with this album for quite some time. It was one of my early introductions to Pink Floyd. A friend had this, and “Dark Side of the Moon.” I took to the latter right away, and soon had my own copy. “Ummagumma” remained more of a novelty. It was just so freaky, that it seemed cool. I had no idea what the musical or creative benefits were. There wasn’t much deep analysis going on then.

Years later, my college roommate had it. The live stuff was great (I still had yet to her the original versions of these songs). The studio side was selectively played. There was still no patience for detailed investigation of the longer pieces.

A few years back, I finally got my own copy. “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” and “A Saucerful of Secrets” had become favorites since my college days, so the live takes still enthralled. Yet, the “Ummagumma” originals continued to elude me.

I must say that I have always enjoyed the Roger Waters tracks. “Grantchester Meadows” is a lovely piece, and points the way to his later sound. “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict” is a great experimentation with sound samples, and effects.

My opinion has changed on Gilmour’s “The Narrow Way.” I used to find it a tad boring, but now I appreciate the subtleties. The only problem is the whirring noises added to part one. It detracts from what is otherwise a quality piece.

Nick Mason’s “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party” leaves a lot to be desired. The winds on the “Entrance” and “Exit” are quite nice, but those parts are brief. The percussive noodle-fest that makes up part 2, while interesting, does not hold up to repeated listens.

I find Richard Wright’s contributions to be nothing more than experimentation without much of a purpose.

This is an album that should be checked out. However, I would hardly call this a necessity. “Careful With that Axe, Eugene” is unique to this album, and the Waters and Gilmour originals are high quality. If not for that, I would probably recommend this one for collectors only.

Roger Waters – bass, guitar, gong, bass, vocals, tape
Nick Mason – percussion, drums, timpani, tape
Richard Wright – organ, piano, keyboards, vocals, Mellotron
David Gilmour – organ, bass, guitar, piano, drums, vocals, Mellotron

featuring:
Lindy Mason – flute

Jogos como o Guitar Hero e Rock Band desestimulam os jovens a tocar instrumentos reais. A declaração foi feita pelo ex-baixista dos Rolling Stones, Bill Wiman, à BBC, enquanto gravava uma canção para o álbum beneficente dos Beatles para a campanha de caridade “Children in Need”. “Eles [os games] desencorajam as crianças a aprender”, disse Wyman.

A opinião de Wyman é apoiada por outra estrela do rock, o baterista do Pink Floyd, Nick Mason. “É irritante ver meus filhos fazendo isso. Se o mesmo tempo que eles gastam apertando botões eles passassem aprendendo guitarra, já estariam muito bons hoje”, disse.

As declarações surgem pouco antes do lançamento do game Beatles: Rock Band, previsto para essa quarta-feira (9/9).

Apesar de sua opinião, o baterista do Pink Floyd não descartou a possibilidade de sua banda trabalhar com jogos como o Rock Band ou o Guitar Hero no futuro. “Acho que poderíamos considerar isso, pois todos estão procurando novos modos de vender música”, afirmou Mason.

FONTE

Comentário do João: Então tirem os video-games de seus filhos e mandem para cá porque eu estou doido pra jogar!