Agnostic Front- Victim In Pain
released November 17, 2009 on Bridge Nine Records

What can I say about Agnostic Front? We’re talking about one of the essential hardcore bands that formed in the early 80s and basically was one of the originators of the NYHC (New York Hard Core) sound that spawned countless other bands such as Sick Of It All, Madball, Gorilla Biscuits, Murphy’s Law and so forth. This CD is actually a re-release of their first album Victim Of Pain , which was originally released in 1984. As a bonus, it includes the United Blood EP (originally released in 1983). To describe the Agnostic Front sound is to take elements of Bad Brains, Black Flag and Minor Threat and make the songs faster, shorter and the lyrics street-smart. The album and EP together clock in just under 22 minutes. The urgency of the music isn’t lost though and even if the songs are short, they had the ability to stir up crowds with a message of unity. They eventually evolved and influenced countless other bands and Roger Miret even went on to start his own band, Roger Miret and The Disasters.

Regardless, this album is essential for anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of the hardcore genre, especially NYHC. The re-release gives newer fans an opportunity to discover what Agnostic Front is all about. I’d recommend it on that basis alone. Most of the tracks are clean and short but see the recommended tracks as well for ideas.

FCC: 12,14,15
Try: 2,3,5,8,10, 11

Victim In Pain

01. Victim In Pain
02. Remind Them
03. Blind Justice
04. Last Warning
05. United And Strong
06. Power
07. Hiding Inside
08. Fascist Attitudes
09. Society Suckers
10. Your Mistake
11. With Time

United Blood EP

12. No One Rules
13. Final War
14. Last Warning
15. Traitor
16. Friend Or Foe
17. United Blood
18. Fight
19. Discriminate
20. In Control
21. Crucial Changes

4.5/5

Just when you thought Lady Gaga couldn’t get any stranger….. This is the music video for “Bad Romance” – the first single from the forthcoming The Fame Monster album. I still can’t decide if this is thoughtless craziness or highbrow over-my-head art. I’m going to lean toward the latter, since I pretty much like everything Lady Gaga has made. But as far as I’m concerned, she’s still within an eyelash of full-on nut job.

As for the new album, it’s fantastic. It just is. The Fame Monster was intended to be a re-release of The Fame with a few new songs, but apparently Gaga decided that such re-releases were unfair, and went with an album of eight brand-new songs. Right-on!

E re-release-ul albumului “The Fame“. Primul disc contine 8 piese noi, iar al 2-lea disc contine piese de pe vechiul album. Imi place Bad Romance, acuma sa vad si restul pieselor.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

1. “Bad Romance”
2. “Alejandro”
3. “Monster”
4. “So Happy I Could Die”
5. “Speechless”
6. “Dance in the Dark”
7. “Telephone”
8. “Teeth”

Disc 2:

1. “Just Dance” featuring Colby O’Donis
2. “LoveGame”
3. “Paparazzi”
4. “Poker Face”
5. “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”
6. “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”
7. “The Fame”
8. “Money Honey”
9. “Starstruck” featuring Space Cowboy and Flo Rida
10. “Boys Boys Boys”
11. “Paper Gangsta”
12. “Brown Eyes”
13. “I Like It Rough”
14. “Summerboy”
15. “Disco Heaven” (international bonus track)
16. “Again Again” (U.K. bonus track)
17. “Retro, Dance, Freak” (Japanese bonus track)

I’m a cynical sort when it comes to re-releases, re-packages, deluxe editions, etc – they’re obvious marketing tactics from record labels seeking to gain the maximum mileage out of the same material, especially as they try to bolster the inevitable decline in physical sales. Having said that, I’m going to remain completely transparent here and say I received advances of both the Duran Duran re-releases and the 40th Anniversary Special Edition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity from EMI; because both David Bowie and Duran Duran contributed generously to my early music education, I felt it would be worth exploring these specific reissues (of course David Bowie also remains my favourite solo artist in the world, which will make me naturally curious in anything released under his name). Tomorrow, on November 17, this 2-disc Special Edition of Space Oddity is due for release, including a digipak with a booklet of extended notes and photographs (I can’t make a comment on that bit because my copy is just the promo copy of the music).

Space Oddity is of course the crucial breakthrough for David Bowie, allowing him to leave gravediggers and laughing gnomes behind. The title track remains a classic song that will forever be included on Bowie compilations, and it hinted at the space-tastic, alienated voyages to come. The story of Major Tom proved to be so popular that it became the album’s title in 1972 after the record had been released in 1969 under the titles David Bowie and Man of Words/Man of Music. I’m not sure about other Bowie fans, but I don’t include it in my top five Bowie records; I adore the title track and Letter to Hermione, a soul-baring, moody ballad to a former girlfriend, but rarely listen to the other songs. It’s an album that clearly shows where Bowie was coming from in terms of influences – it was a little bit folk and a little bit proggy, likely inspired by both Bob Dylan and Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd. While Bowie has always been a sharp-eyed magpie of myriad genres and creative ideas, he seemed to find his true footing on my favourite Bowie album, Hunky Dory. Again, I really love the title track of The Man Who Sold the World, but many of the tracks from that record just don’t live up to it, whereas its successor was confident and memorable from start to finish, the first hints of glam rock stirring in its undercurrents. I think the rambling folk side of Space Oddity simply didn’t appeal to me as much as his campy glam and icy experimentalism and therefore remained less memorable for me.

Having gone back to listen to this re-mastered version of Bowie’s debut, I’ve revised my opinions a bit. If you don’t pay closer attention to lyrics, you could dismiss many of the tracks as hangovers from the Summer of Love; delving deeper, I began to realize, that like Bowie’s work and identity in general, it is not to be taken at face value. Several tracks are critical of hippie counterculture and fearful of madness, the latter being a rather constant thread throughout Bowie’s career. Album conclusion Memory of a Free Festival is now reminding me of Jarvis Cocker’s observations twenty-five years later in Pulp’s Sorted for E’s & Wizz; it seems like the disillusion and comedown of a participant in a loved-up scene is a perennial theme. One of many brilliant verses in this song:

Touch, we touched the very soul
Of holding each and every life.
We claimed the very source of joy ran through.
It didn’t, but it seemed that way.
I kissed a lot of people that day.

Unfortunately, the end of song and its repetition of “The Sun Machine is coming down/and we’re gonna have a party” still gets a little too Hey Jude-like for me; both endless finales end up lodging in my brain and irritating me. I have also come to embrace the quite epic Cygnet Committee, which tells the story of a sorrowful messianic leader who ends up violently destroyed along with all he represents; this song also very obviously points to future leitmotifs for Bowie. One of my favourite lines is: “My friends talk/Of glory untold dream, where all is God and God is just a word.” It’s a shame that, in my mind, poetry like this remained overshadowed by the musical style for so long.

The deeply rooted sense of never knowing the self and treating the self as a performance, which David Bowie took to great lengths through multiple musical genres, are some of my favourite aspects of his art, and they’re written all over this debut. Another one of the folky jaunty tunes that I generally didn’t take much interest in was Janine, but through repeated listens, several lyrics stood out:

Janine, Janine, you’d like to know me well,
But I’ve got things inside my head
That even I can’t face.

Janine, Janine, you’d like to crash my walls,
But if you take an axe to me
You’ll kill another man
Not me at all.

Several years later, he was still not up to facing himself and was much too fast to do so.

The second disc of this edition features the bonus material, which is mostly comprised of previously unreleased tracks, including early demos, BBC radio sessions, and even the full-length stereo version of the Italian version of Space Oddity re-titled Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola. Despite the fact I’m a big Bowie fan, I don’t actually own any previous special editions or collectors’ sets, so I haven’t heard any of this bonus material before, including the song London Bye Ta Ta, which reminds me of The Kinks’ David Watts and by extension, Blur’s Tracy Jacks. I think I’ve stayed away from buying the special Bowie recordings all these years because his back catalogue of demos, rarities, live sessions and bootlegs seem like a staggering monster that I can never hope to master. It’s ludicrously autistic of me to think of it that way, but it’s no coincidence that I identify with Bowie’s paranoia of going mad as well.

As with the special edition of Duran Duran’s Rio, I would say this reissue of Space Oddity is something for consummate collectors (though many hard-core Bowie fans may have already ferreted out a fair portion of this material). Despite the infinite flogging of Bowie’s back catalogue, I appreciate this re-release if only because it forced me to take a closer listen to a part of Bowie’s output that I inexplicably hadn’t done so much in the past. And in the absence of new releases from my favourite solo artist for the last six years, it assuages an iota of my thirst for new Bowie material. Space Oddity was Bowie’s understated countdown to a blast-off to happen a few years later, an orbit he hasn’t come down from since.

Cygnet Committee – David Bowie

Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (Full-Length Stereo Version) – David Bowie

Many shy away from admitting they enjoy some Duran Duran; the fact they had thousands of teenage girls screaming for them for a few years somehow degrades their pop value (teenage girl fans are apparently credibility-suckers – another argument for another time). As a band, Simon LeBon and Co generally take the flak for the sins of the 80s: excess, commercialist greed, hyperbolic style, etc. I, myself, was a teenager in the 90s when I first heard Duran Duran, and while listening to songs like Planet Earth, Girls on Film, Hungry Like the Wolf, and The Reflex, I became a fan. Later, as I realized that I was really only interested in the first few Duran Duran albums and that the band had disintegrated quite spectacularly by the time I was halfway through high school (I distinctly remember Electric Barbarella playing on the radio then), I became more interested in their contribution to early music videos. Should you so choose, you can click here to read an undergrad essay I wrote about the post-colonial issues in their Rio-era videos. So, I suppose I could add post-colonial imperialism to their list of misdemeanors, but for some reason, as you can see, Duran Duran never left me. At least, the original incarnation of Duran Duran never did. And with EMI’s release of the Collector’s Edition of Rio coinciding with the release of a DVD/CD combo of their 1982 gig in Hammersmith, I’m starting to reflect on the insane success and inevitable decline of the band and what exactly appealed to me when I first heard them fifteen years ago.

Rio, like its bookends, Duran Duran and Seven and the Ragged Tiger, appealed to me because its lyrics largely didn’t make sense. Let me explain. Like abstractions of a dreamworld, Duran Duran lyrics were often so oddly phrased that they seemed extraordinary – sure, a vague plotline that might involve pursuit of romance/sex was present, but the metaphors and diction weren’t straightforward. Examples in Hungry Like the Wolf include: “Dark in the city night is a wire/Steam in the subway earth is afire,” “Smell like I sound I’m lost in a crowd,” and “Strut on a line it’s discord and rhyme.” When the ostensibly awkward lyrics collided with the music, the songs became otherworldly. Their blend of disco, post-punk and New Romantic synthpop still stands up today; the crisp, clean drums and glacial synths glide over the organic groove, making the music feel like it could simultaneously shatter in icy shards while undulating under that elastic bass rhythm and wailing sax. Their self-titled debut leaned more heavily on cold electro and spiky punk energy to fashion a strange alien glamour that drew from the past and future at the same time, a feature that they absorbed from New Wave and blew out to its extremes. Rio, in particular, takes exoticism to new heights; not only do the videos for the record signal this quite clearly, but take the example of Save a Prayer and its bizarre ululating synth that mimicks Tarzan’s call. And my all-time favourite Duran Duran song, The Chauffeur, happens to be the finale of Rio; the haunting, Teutonic coolness is still tempered with what sounds like South American pan pipe sounds, and it continues to give me chills like creeping shadows.

The Collector’s Edition of their 1982 record is just that: for collectors. The first disc is the digital remastering of the original tracks along with a Carnival Remix of My Own Way and US album remixes of Rio, Lonely in Your Nightmare, Hungry Like the Wolf and Hold Back the Rain. It includes a second disc of bonus material, including Manchester Square demos (recorded 28 August 1981) of Last Chance on the Stairway, My Own Way, New Religion, and Like an Angel, and various b-sides and remixes. It is best enjoyed by Duranies and those who never got a hold of these alternate tracks or b-sides via other channels through the years. The problem with this re-release, as it is with many bands I’m sure, is that there just isn’t much point digging into the back catalogue for alternate versions when differences are often so subtle that it takes either a really dedicated fan or a really trained ear to care. For instance the difference between the original Rio and the US Rio is that on the latter track, there’s a looser snare and a shorter intro of TARDIS-like noises; in the end, the US mix feels softer, but I only realized this by flipping back and forth between the two until my brain smoked. Yes, the second disc of demos are more clearly differentiated from the originals, but are likely most interesting for hard-core collectors (and of course for me, I was most drawn to the alternate acoustic version of The Chauffeur). For a Duran Duran completist, this edition would be useful, and if you don’t already own a copy of Rio, you could spring for this one as something beyond the regular; however, then you may as well go for the similarly priced Collector’s Edition vinyl.

Now, to the Live at Hammersmith ‘82 DVD/CD. I’ve never seen Duran Duran live, and at this point in both their history and mine, I don’t think I want to. However, I do admit to enjoying the early live footage of tours and performances, and this Hammersmith gig is one of those. What strikes me the most about concerts like this one is the feeling of witnessing a band at their zenith. One can argue about when exactly Duran Duran peaked (the end was definitely with Live Aid), but I would contend that 1982 was the moment. They were worldwide superstars with two successful albums and videos in high rotation on MTV, the absurdity hadn’t quite overshadowed them yet (as it did in a video like Wild Boys) and the jaded strain hadn’t gotten to them at this point. It is the MTV-darling, visual component of their identity that makes these live performances worth watching. Because I’m personally drawn to androgyny and glam style, Duran Duran’s image would have always been attractive to me; the band was aesthetically pleasing, especially Nick Rhodes and his David Sylvian-pilfered look, moving like a beautiful automaton over his keyboards.

This gig is also an energetic, lean performance, by which I mean the setlist didn’t contain much filler (when a band only has two albums to draw from, it’s can be expected to be tighter). Even when doing the slower, slightly darker numbers, they appeared to come from some place of fantasy and youthful exuberance – they couldn’t believe their good fortune, and took you with them on that ride to the top. I will also say that I hadn’t been aware that Duran Duran did a cover version of Cockney Rebel’s Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), which they do quite admirably in the encore of this performance.

As bonus material, this DVD features the Rio-era music videos and TOTP performances, and oddly enough, I don’t remember having ever seen the video for Lonely in Your Nightmare before – it would have been helpful for that essay on visual rhetoric and post-colonialism. These videos, more than the others from Duran Duran, remain iconic in their imperialist adventurer guise, and remain fascinating to me precisely because they were shot with epic budgets on location in “exotic” locales. It becomes incredibly difficult to dissociate the songs from the video imagery, and I think it’s interesting to compare and contrast these videos with other iconic New Romantic videos like those of Adam and the Ants; by drawing on the past images of Victorian and Edwardian dandy dress, they inherited notions of British empire by proxy. And if I combine that with an appropriation of “other” musical sounds from those who would have been conquered by the British, I’ve got an extension for my original essay. Again, an argument for another time.

Despite the fact they came from a legitimate background of punk/glam rock and despite their former massive popularity, why were/are Duran Duran so denigrated? Perhaps, unlike their heroes David Bowie and Roxy Music, their artificial glamour ceased to be a pose. They showed off a little too much, they seemed to be wrapped up in their own hyperbole and absurdity. Maybe their collective pretty boy image also made it less likely they would be taken seriously by critics. And then, there were those armies of hysterical girls.

Considering the massacre that was Red Carpet Massacre and the second departure of Andy Taylor a few years ago, Duran Duran’s music now sounds like middle-aged desperation. Their breathless courting of producers like Timbaland and Mark Ronson depresses me because it signals quite clearly that Duran Duran no longer know who they are as a band and are aching for someone else to tell them who to be. All that had once been fresh energy and style has leached away into hollow attempts to stay current and hip. It’s not as though they’re the only band in this situation; not too many artists sustain a high level of interesting musical output beyond a decade or so. Being boxed in by those heavy 80s brackets doesn’t help. And so I prefer to turn my attention to twenty-seven years ago when Duran Duran were emperors of their own paradise.

The Chauffeur (Sing Blue Silver Version) – Duran Duran

Rio (Live at the Hammersmith ‘82) – Duran Duran

Here is the album review I promised on my twitter yesterday!  Before I start, once again I want to thank you all for supporting my blog, both my music reviews and my personal entries.  I really appreciate all the views and I hope that you’ll keep it locked here because I ain’t stoppin’! Thankyou.

You already know what I think of Russian Roulette, and the other 3 songs we’ve heard already from Rated R.  Generally, they portray a darker, edgier side to Rihanna, both in the production (deeper, more menacing beats) and lyrical content that includes a bit of cursing, a lot of swagger and references to pain, trials and tribulations.  ”Russian Roulette”, “Wait Your Turn” and “Hard” are more or less indicative of the album as a whole.  In contrast to her previous smash Good Girl Gone Bad, it’s a lot less uptempo.  The songs are mainly midtempos and ballads, which may alienate a lot of fans who want her faster, danceable material (though “Hard” and “Rude Boy” cater to these needs, and do so well with swagger lyrics – the latter seeing Rihanna come on to a ‘rude boy’ as if she were the guy who is gonna “put it on you”).  However, the slower material allows for two major things: one, to prove that Rihanna can actually sing.  Okay, she’s no Beyoncé, but she holds her own a lot better than many people might expect.  ”Russian Roulette” and closing standout “The Last Song” don’t employ lots of vocal runs, but they emphasise strong, clear vocals that prove Rihanna’s got a voice as well as a body – btw. the artwork for this era is immense! – and also go well with the more emotionally searching and vulnerable material.  Two, it allows for Rihanna to delve into her pain, and although it’s never made explicit that she’s referencing her love, abuse and love lost with Chris Brown, songs such as “Stupid In Love” and the epic “Cold Case Love” immediately bring that whole affair to mind.

Not every song is concerned with love lost.  ”Te Amo” is about a girl who’s infatuated with Rihanna, and its undulating beats have been beefed up slightly on the album version to make it more hypnotic and possibly (along with “Rude Boy”) the song that would have slotted in nicely on Good Girl Gone Bad.  ”Rockstar 101″ is backed up by Slash’s guitar work and like “Hard” and “Wait Your Turn”, it demonstrates Rihanna’s confidence in herself – something she perhaps wants to emphasise.  She is fierce!  However, compared to some of the other tracks, “Rockstar 101″ falls somewhat flat, as it doesn’t have as much depth as the emotionally-charged midtempos, nor does it ring as true as the harder-knocking songs.  It does demonstrate that Rihanna is not an urban artist – she’s a pop singer who encompasses a range of music. On this album, she combines elements of rock, pop, R&B and melds them together to create a dark album that works for the most part.  And credit goes to her for trying to improve on each album – like Good Girl Gone Bad, the amount of filler on the disc is fairly minimal (in contrast to her first two records) and she’s tried to do something different that has evolved as she has as a person.  So I must applaud that.

A couple of the ballads such as “Stupid In Love” and “Photographs” (which benefits from will.i.am’s synthed beats that kick in midway) are perfectly solid, but pale in comparison to the best tracks.  These are, in a nutshell, first single “Russian Roulette”, “Fire Bomb”, “G4L”, “Cold Case Love” and “The Last Song”.  These all work because Rihanna is putting herself out there vocally and emotionally.  The producers do a fantastic job (praise must go in particular to Justin Timberlake and The Ys’ work on “Cold Case Love”, which shows a gradual building of beatboxing, standard beats, guitars and strings to an epic climax that fades out by itself and underline Rihanna’s pain at a love misfired – “Release me now ’cause I did my time”) more or less throughout, but Rihanna herself carries the songs.  ”Fire Bomb” has been compared to something by Kelly Clarkson, but in my opinion it knocks much harder and is a compelling contrast to expectations – most people would expect a club banger from the title, when in fact it’s a slow pop/rock ballad which essentially says “if I’m going down in flames, you’re coming with me”.  ”G4L” is one of the darkest songs which shows Rihanna pledging to be “down 4 life”, ride or die until the end.  The off-key tweaks at the beginning signal something mysterious, and the lyric “I lick the gun when I’m done ’cause I know that revenge is sweet” is one of the best opening salvos I can remember.  The track brings to mind the tiny gun tattoos on the sides of Rihanna’s breasts, demonstrating that even if she may be a sweet person on the surface, she’s also a strong and determined one – her attitude is reflected in her music as much as her body art.

“The Last Song” was the track that stood out to me most from listening to the 30-second snippets, and it doesn’t disappoint – it’s a perfect closer to the album, not only in name but in texture also.  It employs a soaring guitar and heartwrenching lyrics, chronicling the realisation of a breakup.  ”The sad song ends up being the last song you’ll ever hear.”  Rihanna’s spare vocals almost seem to cry the lyrics throughout the track, and the buildup throughout the song until near the end where all the instruments fade out is done perfectly.  Rihanna said that she wanted Lil’ Wayne and Kings Of Leon to like her album, demonstrating her desired blend of urban and rock. The album is definitely a mélange of styles, but apart from “Hard”, I don’t see enough hip-hop for Weezy to connect with, and the rock elements are nowhere near as indie-pop as Kings Of Leon.  However, the soaring guitars provide something edgier and deeper within the context of a pop album, and the hard-hitting beats and synths knock plenty – the combination of which provide something quite extraordinary and special within itself.  Rihanna should be proud of this record.

Rated R has a focused aggression to it that rings truer than it did on Good Girl Gone Bad. Despite the lack of uptempo smashes, it’s a fantastic record that hopefully will have as much repeat-play value as her previous record.  Whether it’s because of her personal struggles, maturity as a young woman or desire to experiment musically (probably a combination of all three), Rated R shows growth.  I pray that her label doesn’t re-release the album, since it’s perfect as it is and comes across as something sincere, rather than designed to make money as a light pop confection.  Why I’m impressed with Rated R, beyond the simple fact that most of the songs are solid or better, is because it’s cohesive.  All the songs work together to make the album more than the sum of its parts.  It has a big emotional impact, and it sets a musical mood (dark, edgy and yet heartfelt) that doesn’t let up throughout – in her own words, from “Hard”, “that Rihanna rain/reign”.  I didn’t know if she had it in her to best Good Girl Gone Bad, but even if it doesn’t have as many number 1 smashes and addictive beats, Rated R is a musical step forward that I personally value that little bit more.

Ze hebben ons laten wachten, een preview gegeven, nog langer laten wachten, een track gelekt, nog iets langer laten wachten.. Maar nu is het zover.

Drie maanden geleden kondigden de boys van StatikMusic een re-release aan van hun beattape, dit maal met vocals op de beats. MCs deden hun ding, stuurden het op, en dit is het resultaat: 10 tracks (+ 1 instrumental) zowel in het Engels als in het Nederlands gespit. Bekendere MCs (Jay Colin, Heist Rockah) en minder bekende MCs (ZiRe, Proper Majah) staan erop. Ennuhh.. ow shit, ik sta er zelf ook op! Dope, thanks guys. Downloaden maar.

01. LQ – Qualified
02. Lauwness ft. Ash-Lee – Weg van je
03. Trouble – Something Personal

04. S.I.D. – Big Things
05. IMF – Public Enemies
06. ZiRe – Irie
07. WonderKid Bounce ft. Meron – Nothing On Me
08. Heist Rockah – The Word
09. Merage ft. Proper Majah – Big Grind
10. Ollie The MC ft. Jay Colin – Spark A Fight
11. StatikMusic – Familie Barba [instrumental]

PS. ik had eigenlijk 2 tracks opgenomen, maar de 2e werd niet geselecteerd. Toch kan ik die track niet voor mezelf houden, daar is ie net iets te sexy voor. Zie het als een bonustrack. Fuck it, it’s my blog.

12. Trouble – Motel (prod. by StatikMusic)

The Beatles have re-released their entire catalog (remastered of course) via a USB drive concealed in a plastic apple along with a some mini-documentaries, rare photos, and digitally enhanced liner notes.

While it does round the $300 mark, as getkempt.com pointed out, it IS better than lugging around a bunch of plastic CD cases..

Beyonce is back once again, and she’s re-releasing “I Am … Sasha Fierce (Deluxe Edition)”, for what reason I don’t know there are five other editions of the album out already, plus a DVD and accompanying CD of the tour. All congrats to Beyonce I know she wants to keep this era flowing for as long as possible, but it’s getting to a stage of “are you serious, or are you just doing this for the money?”. There is no real reason to re-release, no new tracks, no new videos ?? So why?

Anyway CD’s out on November 23rd

Its has a colour cover, if that persuades you to buy it.

IMG|SOURCE: Amazon

]]> http://theworldspins.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/record-store-11-st-petersberg-russia/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:35:45 +0000 Pete Adkins http://theworldspins.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/record-store-11-st-petersberg-russia/

Øohomeka

Kolomenskaya Street, St. Petersberg, Russia

Irony, it seems to me, comes in two flavours: sharply bitter or sickly sweet. Thankfully, on the warm August afternoon we were spending wandering around St. Petersberg, it was the latter that was about to blossom mid-sentence.

Verbally bemoaning that the city lacked any decent record shops, Maddi interrupts me and points to the shop window, five feet from my face, with a pile of vinyl records stacked behind it.

The smell of the polished floor floods my nose as we enter, complimented by two sofas in the centre of the low room. However, the cream leather settees rather than for sitting, offer an impromptu stand for strewn vinyl and CDs, picked up by wandering hands and not returned to their rightful places, offering a scatterbrain-styled opportunity to discover Van Morrison or scathe through endless Phil Collins 12”s.

Centre stage, between the two sofas, is a top of the range vinyl deck, complete with the obligatory bald-headed bearded guy, twirling with knobs, reading sleeves and playing prog-rock as loud as the two small amps will allow. We pass him and he grins at us, showing us the cover of what he is playing, it’s a Slade album. We nod dutifully, but don’t mean it.

The vinyl collection, which spans three walls and countless over-flowing boxes dotted around the floor, is almost unblemished, spanning every genre, sub-genre and specialist-interest known to man. Plus, with each record, framed in a clear plastic bag, comes a slip of paper giving the info on the wax’s life – where it was pressed, which year it was produced, it’s country of origin etc…

Refreshingly, compact discs, aren’t completely shunned in favor of vinyl, and a sizeable collection spans the shops back wall. EPs and albums that I haven’t seen on CD anywhere else, from rarely-seen albums from Plastikman (Richie Hawtin), Daedelus, and Modeslektort to legendary releases such Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works (not a re-release either, as it’s £20 price tag confirms). It’s as near to spotless as possible, and seems to understand that the CD should be seen as a different media to, rather than a slayer of, vinyl.

It quickly becomes apparent that this is the type of record shop which credits clientele and good music above profit margins, where the staff smile at you as you linger over B-sides, instead of hurrying you to a decision. Here, making money lies secondary to the discovery of new music or new fans of old music.

As I bend down to the vinyl box entitled ‘rarities’ and began to flick, the shop manager rushes over bringing me a stool, to save my knees. I turn and thank him, wondering if I have made it to the record store equivalent of nirvana.

Purchase:

-

Total Purchases:

Armand Van Helden – Ghetto Blaster – £1 [Tracklisting]

Club Azuli 1 – Mixed By Dave Piccioni – £0.48 [Tracklisting]

Club Azuli Part 2 – Mixed By Dave Piccioni – £0.79 [Tracklisting]

Chemical Brothers, The: Brothers Gonna Work It Out – £2.77 [Tracklisting]

Defected In The House – Mixed By Copyright – £0.79 [Tracklisting]

DJ Hardy Heller – Mix In Motion – £1  [Tracklisting]

DJ Shadow – The New Collection – £2.38

Le Le – Breakfast 12″ – £8.24 [Tracklisting]

Samim: Flow – £1.98 [Tracklisting]

Total Spend: £19.43

]]> http://troubleonline.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/making-of-statik-re-release/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:04:01 +0000 troubleonline http://troubleonline.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/making-of-statik-re-release/

Enkele maanden terug besloten de producers van StatikMusic hun beat tape te opnieuw uit te brengen, maar dan met bijdragen van andere artiesten op de beats. Na vele inzendingen van MCs (including yours truly!) te hebben beluisterd is het moment aangebroken voor de selectie, en die blijkt erg lastig te zijn. Zie een deel van de selectie in het filmpje hieronder.

“In 1996, Remedy Entertainment (currently working on Alan Wake) developed an addictive top down racing game called Death Rally. Now Death Rally is being re-released, ported to modern Windows platforms, and available in its entirety for free to download and play.

The point is simple: win races to earn money, use that money to buy upgrades, and put the money toward upgrades to knock opponents out to win more races.”
Download Death Rally for Windows (42 MB)

source @ www.bigdownload.com

System requirements are shown after the jump.

…Is it just me or does Lady Gaga (left) resemble a Halloween costumed Lindsay Lohan (right) from Mean Girls on the cover for her re-issued debut album The Fame, set to hit stores November 24th.

The resemblance, when photoshopped, is uncanny. From now on I dub thee Lady LoLo.

I barely missed Coraline in 3-D at theaters because that day the 3-D machine went to the theater showing a movie about these three brothers who sing songs to pre-teens. It was then I sensed a tremor in the Force.  And here we recently saw it’s not relegated to new movies, but old ones too, and boy what a great choice for this formula: Toy Story and Toy Story 2.  They were mildly successful with their so-far 13+ million dollar grab on a re-release.

Obviously, this needs to be done with better movies, and Popeater has a fine list of good candidates.  I especially like the concept of seeing The Wizard of Oz in 3-D.

They left off two I’d be keen on: The Empire Strikes Back and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This one image is more interesting than a 2 hour Jonas Brothers concert.

CONTAGIOUS ORGASM “impregnate” cd

This debute from 1987 shows very different project what CO is known to be today. You see why they established in early 90..s deals with many leading european industrial/pe labels (Tesco, Ant-Zen, Praxis Dr. Bearmann,..). 45 minutes presented with original sound from metal master tapes without any modern day boosting gimmicks. Great dynamics and amazing quality. Covers include full re-print of all original tape artwork as it was. Industrial Recollections.

CONTAGIOUS ORGASM “confession of mannequin” cd

This 2nd tape from 1988 (mistakingly stated 1989 in cd cover) shows very different project what CO is known to be today. You see why they established in early 90..s deals with many leading european industrial/pe labels (Tesco, Ant-Zen, Praxis Dr. Bearmann,..). 45 minutes presented with original sound from metal master tapes without any modern day boosting gimmicks. Great dynamics and amazing quality. Covers include full re-print of all original tape artwork as it was.

source: CO-myspace

Click image above to go to the shoppe site and use COUPON CODE 25off when you check out.

Photography is my first and one true love.  But there are times when I just want to sit in front of my computer and play with my designs and see what comes up.  Therefore I have decided to RE-RELEASE my collage sheets as well as start selling my templates for photographers, digital scrapbookers, collage artists, etc.

In honor of this “GRAND OPENING”, I am offering 25% off of any order placed between now and Monday.  All of these are going to be digital downloads which means  two things.

(1) You don’t have to wait for me to mail them to you.

(2) You can print as many copies as you want to use in your work.

The only thing I ask is that you do not sell the collage sheets in whole or in part or give them away.  Referring them to my site though would be nice.

So far I have uploaded all of the collage sheets and the Acid Rain 8×10 Frames.

If you want the full 8×10 collection, please go through and pay for it and then I will send you a link to download the whole set.  Unfortunately, the cart is not set up for “batch” downloads yet.

Please feel free to refer friends, family, neighbors, etc. etc. etc.  Tweet about it, blog about it, facebook about it, myspace about it… whatever.  hehe… The more the merrier.  I will be uploading more and more pieces this weekend as well.

Have a blessed and beautiful day!!!

PS. This code will work for anything you throw in the shopping cart, including fine art prints.