Angel Stadium

Thanks to everybody who commented on my last blog post! I really appreciate you sharing your playlists with everyone and introducing us to some great new music!

As I was responding to your comments, something hit me. You guys have shown us an incredible ammount of support over the last few years. You’ve called your local DJs to request our music. You’ve come to our shows and purchased our CDs. And your votes have caused us to win more contests and get onto more playlists than I could count. Each of you has helped make what we do possible.

Last week was really cool because we had twenty people contribute to our post! But, our anlaytics show that hundreds of people read it. Why is that? I’m not sure. But I feel that it is – at least in some part – due to the fact that so often the creation and delivery of art is a one way street. I want to change that; so I’d like to invite you to take a moment to do three things:

1. Visit atris.wordpress.com (This will be more fun if everyone goes to the same page.)
2. Scroll down to the comment box and introduce yourself. Write a few words about anything you’d like. How did you first hear our music? What city are you from? What are your favorite movies? Pretend we just met at a coffee shop. If you’d like share your blog address, Twitter ID or someplace where we and other people can learn more about you that would be great too!
3. Check the box that says Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

Please don’t do this for us, do this for yourself and for everyone. It takes a certain amount of bravery to put yourself out there; but it’s worth it. We love to get to know people with similar interests, ideas, and opinions. And it’s really cool when group discussions are started. If you have something in common with someone who posts, let him or her know! It makes me feel great to see people responding to my comments, and I love to chime back in to share my thoughts.

Looking forward to meeting you!

-Mason

Last week we began an ambitious expedition through the best music of the past decade and I posted the albums ranked 91-100. Today we will tackle the next ten, numbers 81-90. Let me know what you think.

90. U2 – No Line on the Horizon (2009)
I’ve long been a fan of U2, but have rarely found their complete albums to be great. Even their magnum opus, The Joshua Tree, is terribly front-loaded. No Line continues their tradition of good recordings, proving to be one of their better collections overall and definitely their best since 1991’s The Joshua Tree. Some of the songs, like “Magnificent” and “Moment of Surrender,” can stand up to anything in their legendary catalog.

89. Matisyahu – Youth (2006)
An orthodox Hasidic Jew doing reggae music? Why not, this is the 2000’s. Matisyahu mixes socially conscious lyrics with danceable rhythms to produce one of the more unusual and surprising releases of the decade. The title track, “Youth,” and “King Without a Crown” are two tunes that particularly show that he could be in for a long and fruitful career.

88. Pearl Jam – Riot Act (2002)
As I’ve mentioned on many occasions in the past, I’ve long been a rabid fan of Pearl Jam and this is probably my favorite of theirs from the intervening years between No Code and Backspacer. It has a varied sound that is more akin to Vitalogy than to any of their other works, while showing the maturity of a group of men closing in on 40. The album contains jabs at corporate America and President Bush, but I think my favorite tunes are probably “I am Mine,” “Thumbing my Way,” and “Love Boat Captain.” It’s definitely a must-have for PJ fans.

87. The New Pornographers – Challengers (2007)
TNG is an indie rock supergroup of sorts made up of AC Newman, Dan Bejar (aka Destoryer), and one of my personal favorites, Neko Case. The band makes interesting music together, but I personally wish they would utilize Case more often than they do. Regardless, this album has some great songs, including “Myriad Harbor” and the title track, “Challengers.”

86. Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (2006)
Scottish band Belle & Sebastian have been carrying the indie pop banner for several years now and The Life Pursuit continues their streak of interesting and catchy music. Their sound is similar to the alternative bands of the 1980’s, such as The Smiths, just with a bit more sunshine from earlier mainstream pop. Check out songs like “The Blues Are Still Blue” and “Funny Little Frog” to get a better idea of what they are about.

85. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere (2006)
The combination of producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse and rapper Cee-Lo Green quickly proved itself to be a formidable one with their debut release, St. Elsewhere. Funky and soulful, with inescapably catchy songs like “Crazy,” the duo blew up in 2006 with this multi-platinum released and have continued to prove themselves with an innovative style that appeals to both critics and regular listeners.

84. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)
Interesting and intelligent, the band Grizzly Bear is a critical darling of the decade for a reason. The have a real knack for bending genres, mixing electronic sounds with vocal harmonies a la Fleet Foxes and some very nice alterna-pop melodies. Catchy songs like “Two Weeks” and “While You Wait for the Others” will be stuck in your head for days. Though I had heard some of their last release, Yellow House, this was the first album of the band’s that I’ve listened to very often, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Grizzly Bear has in store for us in the future.

83. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief (2003)
Would it be considered a heresy for me to call Radiohead the Beatles of generation X? There is probably no other group who have changed music, who have camped out at the cutting edge and set themselves up as the standard-bearers of a generation, to the same extent as Thom Yorke’s band. While this politically charged album may not be among their best, it is still quite good and proves that even when not on top of their game, Radiohead is on another level than everyone else. Songs like “2+2=5” and “There There” are nearly on par with anything in their career.

82. Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
I had listened to some Modest Mouse prior to the release of this album, but for whatever reason, they never truly grabbed hold of me. It was not until the catchy and anthemic song “Float On” hit the airwaves that I went back, listened, and became a fan. This breakout album for the longtime indie stalwarts is definitely a must-own for someone interested in the music of the early 2000’s.

81. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins (2008)
This hyper-literate Austin band hit paydirt with this 2008 release and its ultra-catchy “Lost Coastlines.” Though this set of recordings is supposed to be a companion piece to their 2007 release, The Stage Names, I think I actually enjoy it more. Frontman Will Sheff likes to make strange and sometimes obscure references to everything from French playwright Antonin Artaud to a 1920’s German silent film to the Gospel of Thomas, and that’s only in one song (“Singer Songwriter”). How cool is that? Seriously, check this album out if you haven’t already.

A fabricante de guitarras Gibson, cujos modelos ficaram conhecidos nos ombros de Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Slash (Guns ‘N’ Roses), The Edge (U2) e Noel Gallagher (Oasis), entre outros músicos, está sendo investigada pela polícia dos Estados Unidos por suposto uso de madeira contrabandeada na produção dos instrumentos. A informação é do jornal inglês “The Guardian”.

Segundo a publicação, agentes federais estiveram na fábrica da Gibson em Nashville, no estado do Tennessee (EUA), na última terça-feira (17), e apreenderam, além de madeira, computadores, arquivos e guitarras. A suspeita é de que jacarandá estaria sendo comprado ilegalmente da ilha de Magadascar, localizada no leste africano, via Alemanha.

O jacarandá é um tipo de madeira maciça crucial na fabricação de guitarras, com valor de mercado duas vezes maior do que o mogno. A matéria-prima é geralmente utilizada no braço e no corpo de violões.

De acordo com a lesgislação americana, as empresas são proibidas de importar este tipo de madeira de Madagascar por causa de casos de corrpução no país, além de questões ambientais.

Em nota oficial, a Gibson afirmou que vai “cooperar plenamente” com as investigações e que a empresa faz parte de uma “rede de compradores certificados e supervisionados, que adquire madeira de fornecedores legais que trabalham dentro das normas”.

Créditos: http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Musica/0,,MUL1388613-7085,00-POLICIA+AMERICANA+INVESTIGA+FABRICANTE+DE+GUITARRAS+GIBSON.html

A long overdue review of Biffy Clyro, Cardiff University Great Hall, October 25, 2009…

After a long, long weekend of (Sŵn) festival fun I was more than ready to call it a day and go to bed, with the intention of completing an impending deadline the next morning. However, I had booked my Biffy Clyro tickets months and months in advance and there was no way I was going to miss it. So with a can of Red Bull in tow I headed off to the front of the SU only to be unexpectedly met by a crowd of snogging neon-clad 14 year-olds queuing for Chase & Status, before making my way to the back, and correct entrance…

The first incarnation of Biffy Clyro was formed in 1995. The band hail from Kilmarnock, just outside of Glasgow, and is made up of childhood friends Simon Neil (vocals/guitar) and twins James (bass/vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums/vocals). United by a love of underground, experimental rock and post-hardcore bands such as Braid and Karate, along with the more famous Guns N’Roses and Metallica, the band soon sharpened their own unique sound, a strangely beautiful mixture of off-kilter tempos, impulsive guitars, untamed choruses and raw screams, all jumbled together to create a sound that sat far apart from anything else being recorded at the time, both in character and – thanks to their bold refusal to uproot from their hometown for the wider music community of London – geographically too.

The band’s first three albums – Blackened Sky (2002), The Vertigo Of Bliss (2003) and Infinity Land (2004) – arrived in an onslaught of creativity, a record released every year and relentless touring assembled a small but devoted legion of followers. Biffy Clyro’s ranks grew even more when their more commercial album Puzzle (2007) was released, stunning listeners with its achingly personal, rich and complex take on rock anthems. The band soon found themselves playing Wembley Stadium with Muse, headlining the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury and performing with The Rolling Stones. U2 even supported them at a special Little Noise session at London’s Union Chapel, although the band claim their biggest musical highlight came when they headlined in front of a hometown crowd at Glasgow’s SECC.

Cardiff University’s misleadingly named Great Hall is not exactly the SECC. Having seen Biffy Clyro twice before in 2003 and 2007, and at much bigger venues, it seemed ironic that the band has never been bigger, yet this venue was the smallest I’ve seen them in.

Disappointingly main support Manchester Orchestra were unable to play the first batch of Biffy shows due to previous touring commitments, which meant that Pulled Apart By Horses were the only support. Having seen them at (Sŵn) only two days before it was easy to make comparisons between the two performances. Although the band played the same set list they as their (Sŵn) gig, the performance was completely different. Although they definitely have the presence to fill a large stage, I much preferred their set at Clwb Ifor Bach as their songs sounded much louder, and the closer proximity of the band and audience helped to create most of the energy at the gig. That said, the audience responded well to their songs and on-stage banter and the Leeds four-piece certainly fired up the crowd for the main act.

Kicking off with That Golden Rule- the first single from the band’s latest album Only Revolutions- along with an epic display of lights, set the bar for the high-paced energy of the rest of the gig. Due to the band being invited to support Muse once more on their UK and European tour, Biffy Clyro had the bring forward the dates of their own tour. However, with their Only Revolutions album due for release halfway through the rescheduled tour dates, a lot of their set was brand new to the audience. Although hearing songs for the first time live is an amazing experience, it was also one of the gig’s weaker points, as fans were expecting more of Biffy Clyro’s more familiar back catalogue. This, combined with the fact that the band only played four songs from their first three, and infinitely better albums, meant that most of my favourite Biffy Clyro songs, and old live favourites such as Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave, Toys Toys Toys Choke Toys Toys Toys, Convex Concave, Eradicate The Doubt and My Recovery Injection were discarded in exchange for almost the entirety of Puzzle.

A less-hairy Simon Neil showcasing beautiful melodies and his even more beautiful tattoos...

Although the band played an amazing set to a packed venue, it was probably the least enjoyable gig I’ve seen them play, partly due to the overwhelming presence of new, unknown material, and partly due to the band’s lack of interaction with the audience. Although I realise that the main reason for touring is to promote new releases, the fact that aside from the two singles, The Captain and TGR, no one knew the songs, and the titles were not even introduced, meant that there was a slight air of confusion from the audience. Only two words were uttered the whole hour and 45 minutes the band were on stage, with Simon Neil saying “Awesome” and then “Beautiful” after the crowd had finished singing the melodic endings of Machines and All The Way Down. There was rightly a lot of love in the room for the band, so luckily this lack of interaction did not detract away from the incredible music they were playing.

Whether playing their metal epics, or exposing the more vulnerable side of their music with softer personal ballads, Biffy Clyro never fail to disappoint musically. Although the set list seemed to be aimed at the newer legions of Biffy fans, with the last song of the encore being their most commercially successful single Mountains, the band were still on top form, and demonstrating how they have managed to remain on top of their game for nearly 15 years. With the release of Only Revolutions and their support slot with Muse this winter, Biffy Clyro look set to increase their fan following even more over the next year. Only time will tell whether, which such an enormous back catalogue of amazing songs, the band will ever decide to unleash many of their earlier songs live again…

As ever, WordPress is not letting me upload any of the videos I took… these will be up soon, promise!

A banda de rock irlandesa U2 será a atração principal do Festival de Glastonbury do próximo ano, quando será celebrado o 40o aniversário do maior evento mundial de música e artes em um campo ao ar livre.

A banda vai se apresentar em 25 de junho, a noite de abertura do festival, em concerto único que fará no meio de sua turnê norte-americana.O organizador de Glastonbury, Michael Eavis, disse que vem tentando há anos atrair o U2 para o festival e que está felicíssimo porque a banda concordou em apresentar-se em um festival pela primeira vez desde os anos 1980.

“O boato que circula há 26 anos vai finalmente virar realidade”, disse Eavis no site do festival na Internet.

“Finalmente a maior banda do mundo vai tocar no melhor festival do mundo. Não poderia haver nada melhor para nossa festa de 40o aniversário.”

O festival dura três dias e acontece na fazenda de Eavis no sudoeste da Inglaterra, atraindo em média 150 mil pessoas. Os ingressos para o ano que vem já estão esgotados.

Algo que começou como paraíso de hippies nos anos 1970 e ficou famoso pelas cenas de fãs brincando na lama, devido às chuvas fortes que frequentemente convertem a fazenda em um lamaçal, hoje é um dos maiores destaques do calendário musical britânico.

O festival do ano passado teve artistas como Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen e a banda britânica Blur.

Créditos: http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/PopArte/0,,MUL1388875-7084,00-U+SERA+ATRACAO+PRINCIPAL+DO+FESTIVAL+DE+GLASTONBURY.html

The band will top the bill on the Friday night (June 27) of the three-day event for the first time in their 32-year career, flying in for the weekend before heading back to America to resume their tour.

Festival organiser Michael Eavis told the event’s official website, Glastonburyfestivals.co.uk: “I promised the best possible line-up for the show next year and the confirmation that U2 will play their first ever Glastonbury – and their first major festival gig since the early 1980s – is fantastic news. “We’ve been trying for years… And now we’ve finally made it happen. I’m sure they will pull out all the stops to make next year’s Glastonbury the most memorable ever.”

The band have been rumoured to appear at the festival a number of times over the years but they have always failed to appear on the bill until now. Earlier this year Bono did confirm that the band wanted to appear at Glastonbury at some stage.

Other acts rumoured to be in contention to play at next year’s event include The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Muse and David Bowie.

All 190,000 Tickets for next year’s Glastonbury sold out within 12 hours of going on sale in October.

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Michael Eavis has finally got his wish!    For years he’s been trying to entice the Irish super-group to Worthy Farm with little effect, now he’s finally landed the deal in conjunction with Glastonbury’s 40th anniversary.    Great timing and an excellent result for both parties in more ways than one…….this is the ultimate collision of the music super-brand – most famous, commercially succesful music festival in the world teams up with the biggest, most globally recognised band in the world…….Well not quite…..Since U2 released ‘No line on the horizon’ they’ve seen their world domination falter and diminish quite rapidly – the album has been their slowest selling  in the last decade, even with all the blanket publicity and exposure it received.    As a live draw their massive popularity has frayed around the edges – Wembley Stadium failed to sell out both nights until a few weeks before the concert and tickets were selling on ebay for less than their face value!   This never happened to Muse or The Foo Fighters at Wembley…..Muse recently sold out their latest show at Wembley in 12 minutes.
Maybe the public feel U2 publicity fatigue – or maybe the younger, more relevant bands around have stolen their thunder and their marketing ideas. Whatever the case Glastonbury 2010 feels like the perfect opportunity to remind everyone that they’re still here!

Hay… así empiezan

Pues como su media naranja, Glastonbury el festival dónde todo deber ser super basto, empezando por el cartel, ya tiene al grupo más grandilocuente, ni más ni menos que U2, que tras muchos años de rumores por fin han sido atados, para este 40 aniversario del festival. Aunque, yo tengo más nervios paras los confirmaciones de hoy del Primavera Sound, a las 16h…

Oi Oi you cunts, U2 at Glastonbury.
It’s going to be intents (geddit, intense, in tents).
LOLLZ.

Anyway, apart from Kasabian and Snow Patrol, U2 are one of the biggest Rock bands in the world and are the best band for getting absolutely off your nut to.
I’ve not got a ticket yet but I reckon I can blag one of my mates dad.
Who else is in?

I hate guitar magazines.

I hate almost everything about them. I hate the cover shots of guitarists holding their “axes” like weapons, the same stupid pose every issue. I hate shameless songs the reader can learn to play in every issue (one of which is, inevitably, a Zeppelin or Metallica song). I hate the silly reverence paid to equipment, be it the guitars themselves or the litany of effects being peddled in the advertisements. I hate that some of the guitarists that I enjoy have probably spent some of their youth learning from these rags.

Above all else, I hate that guitar magazines glorify “the guitarist as technician” over the “the guitarist as auteur.” They peddle the idea that learning how to play “Stairway to Heaven” is as simple as copying the notes, or figuring out what guitars and amplifiers Jimmy Page used. The reality, of course, is that rock and roll is as much myth and mystery as it is manpower and machines. That’s why it’s an awful experience to sit through when your local bar band plays “Stairway to Heaven” and why it’s sublime to hear it from the original source – the song doesn’t always sound the same.

Which brings me to It Might Get Loud, the 2009 documentary from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim which inexplicably didn’t reach Halifax until this weekend (and even then only for two late-night shows). The film’s gimmick is simple: take three of the most distinctive guitarists alive – Jimmy Page, U2’s the Edge and Jack White of The White Stripes/The Raconteurs/The Dead Weather/whatever he comes up with next – and have a “summit” where they get to talk about the electric guitar with each other.

The funny thing about the movie is that the summit is almost completely underwhelming: they play some of each other’s riffs, talk about a couple of songs but, mostly, don’t have too much to say. (That said, the film-ending performance of the Band’s “The Weight” is easily a highlight.) So instead of focusing too much on the meeting itself, Guggenheim spends most of the film one-on-one with each guitarist, tracing them through their relationship with the instrument over the years.

I was worried that the movie would play like a guitar magazine, focusing more on the clinical than the creative. Thankfully, it’s quite the opposite. It Might Get Loud doesn’t care about how these guitar heroes built their most famous riffs and soundscapes, nor does it give undue reverence to particular pieces of equipment. Instead, it’s about mythologizing a guitarist’s work as something ephemeral, unknowable, mysterious. No matter how much the Edge talks about his pile of effects, or we hear Page talk about the house where Led Zeppelin IV was recorded, the film manages to keep things more than a little bit magical. You leave impressed, but unknowing.

Of the three stars, Jack White’s solo segments are the most compelling because there’s absolutely no way to tell if any of it is remotely true. While Jimmy Page plays elder statesman and the Edge honest broker, White shares screen-time teaching tricks to a representation of his nine-year-old self. He builds a guitar out of scrap wood and string, and then proceeds to ramble on about old records and a band he made when he worked as an upholster. I’m not convinced that any of this was real, or where that thin line between half-truths and semi-fictions was drawn. And I’m not sure I care. The mystery isn’t beside the point; it is the point. (The film even calls attention to its own game at the end, where The Edge points out how silly a couple of the film’s constructed visuals are.)

Leaving the theatre, I wasn’t compelled to head home, pick up the guitar and try to play something by one of the film’s stars. I just wanted to jam on my own. Unlike guitar magazines, It Might Get Loud doesn’t make you believe that you can be Jimmy Page, the Edge or Jack White, and it doesn’t even presume that their secrets are knowable. But it makes you believe that there is great magic in the guitar; magic worth unlocking, in whatever way one sees fit.

Item: USB 2.0 Cable for Charging, and Syncing your iPod to a PC. Supports USB 1.1 or USB 2.0
Compatible With: iPod Nano 1-3, iPod 1st-5th Generation, iPod Video, iPod U2, and iPod Mini, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, and iPhone
Condition: New. I never used it.
Price: $4.00 (includes shipping & handling)

Estava voltando para a casa e comecei a pensar em várias coisas: os medos cotidianos, preocupações, pessoas, coisas, na verdade, você nem tinha passado por todos estes pensamentos.

Ao chegar em casa, já tarde, a luz do terraço acesa já denunciava que a mãe estaria dormindo. Entrei devagar e vi a porta do nosso quarto fechado. Abri com calma, a luz apagada me levou para um passado nada distante. Ao olhar para a sua cama, arrumada do mesmo jeito para uma possível visita, lembrei de quando tinha que pegar minhas coisas na ponta do pé, para que você não acordasse.

Resolvi ver novamente as nossas últimas fotos juntas, no bairro da Liberdade, tomando aquele suco com gelatina. Você gostou do mais estranho, com leite. Quem sou eu para contestar? E o auge no Mercadão Municipal com o nosso sorvete predileto, que nem na terra do sol existe?

Por isso, não deixe a saudade te prender na cama como ela me prende aos lenços, porque logo estarei ao seu lado para mais alguns bons momentos, recordar todos os nossos vinte e cinco anos juntas e viver todos os demais lentamente, como deve ser quando estamos perto.

Paul W-I-L-S-O-N. Não o Hewson.

Primeiro, vou deixar claro o que é isso. Todos os dias que saimos, seja pro shopping, supermercado, casa do tio, da vó, clube, bordel ou boate, sempre nos deparamos com música de má qualidade. Música de má qualidade? Funk Carioca, Pagode, Axé, Psy, Emocore, (new) R&B, entre outras coisas. Nós roqueiros não gostamos disso. Enquanto o mundo está ouvindo Rihana, Cláudia Leitte, Ivete Sangalo, Alexandre Pires, NxZero, Fresno, Paramore, Justin Merdalake, nós estamos ouvindo Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix etc…

Não somos todos igual, óbvio, a maioria ouve Guns n’ Roses, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Scorpions, The Clash, Judas Priest, Nirvana, etc… Mas nem sempre todos gostam…

Mas, porém, entretanto, o objetivo dessa série é apresentar ao mundo a classe mais eclética do Rock N’ Roll. Você, psyzeiro, funkeiro, pagodeiro, emo, fãzinho de coisas da Disney, axezeiro ou qualquer outra coisa, já ouviu Red Hot Chili Peppers?? Bom, pra você ver como essa banda é tão eclética, a comunidade contra Red Hot no orkut tem 190 membros, e metade disso são fãs mandando esses viados que não gostam tomarem no rabo (não digo isso tudo por ser minha banda favorita, e sim por ser bom mesmo).

O objetivo dessa série então é tentar mostrar aos adolescentes modinha de hoje que existe muita coisa boa que eles deviam ouvir.

Então, nessa primeira edição, trazemos alguns vídeos de músicas de Rock (ou Pop Rock) que qualquer um pode gostar:

Bom, vejam esses videos.

Se os autores/editor quiserem me ajudar nesse projeto é só dar um toque aí… (Uma hora ou outra vocês VÃO ter que me ajudar, querendo ou não, porque meu estoque de rock eclético não vai durar pra sempre…)

Bom, espero que tenham gostado, novas edições serão freqüentes.

U2 Ditch Hype After First TV Appearance

On 2 March 1978, a band called The Hype appeared on” Youngline”. By the time they won a talent competition in Limerick on 17 March, The Hype had changed their name to U2.

This clip is taken from the best of “Youngline”, shown on the last programme in the 1978 series. Conor McAnally introduces U2 performing “Street Mission” and explains how the band have changed their name. This is U2’s first appearance on television.

Programme Title:
Youngline
1st Broadcast: 01 June 1978
Presenter: Conor McAnally
Clip Duration: 01′20″

You can also see bono at Self aid saying “I dont know what its like to be out of work, to be unemployed, since I was 16 and I got to join this group”. He never fails to sound righteous and self important.

It is a twisted brand of paddy wackery and rage against the machine. He even has a rant about ANCO and Manpower. Where has he been lately on the FAS debacle. They even play sunday bloody sunday in relation to that, seems to be the song they use to conjure up emotion regardles of their message at the time.

http://www.rte.ie/laweb/ll/ll_t19a.html

“Sometimes you can’t make it on your own…”

Que em português se traduz por: “às vezes não o consegues fazer sozinho…”

Ora bem, perguntam-se porque razão esta frase abrange este dia…simples…porque a ajuda é algo que nunca devemos abdicar se a temos…porque essa ajuda, por mais pequena que ela seja, pode ser a diferença entre um sucesso e um fracasso…entre uma vitória e uma derrota…entre um sorriso e uma cara triste…e é por isso que se temos quem nos ajude…devemos aproveitar para fazer ainda melhor do que sozinhos…afinal duas(ou mais) cabeças pensam melhor que uma

E é com este simples post que agradeço a todos aqueles que me têm vindo a ajudar nesta minha entrada (assim um bocado “às-três-pancadas” no mundo dos blogs Mundo esse que não está previsto que largue tão cedo!

Para terminar deixo-vos com um som absolutamente divinal de uma das melhores bandas (senão a melhor mesmo!) do Mundo…

U2 com Sometimes you can’t make it on your own ao vivo:

Créditos aos grandes U2

Saudações,

D3R4Z

Rod Stewart – Soul Book

Rod Stewart - Soul Book

I’ve always enjoyed Rod Stewart’s soul covers on his 70’s albums; ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Man’, ‘If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want To Be Right’, ‘I Know I’m Losing You’ and ‘You Send Me’ spring to mind. Now in 2009, this 64 year old recently released a great collection of soul covers ….  great album.

Favourite track: It’s The Same Old Song

Leonard Cohen – Live In London

Leonard Cohen - Live In London

In July 2008, then 73-year old Leonard Cohen recorded ‘Live In London’ which was released as a double CD in March this year. A superb collection of songs with incredible musical arrangements, linked by Leonard’s surprisingly lighthearted banter and continuous acknowledgment of the band.

Favourite Tracks: Hallelujah, Recitation (A Thousand Kisses Deep)

Bob Dylan – Together Through Life

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

I have never been a big fan of Bob’s vocal style, but he sure writes some awesome songs. On this album, featuring the two guys kissing on the cover (c’mon, look closer), he teams up with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and produces some fine swampy, bluesy songs.

Favourite track: Beyond Here Lies Nothin’

Uriah Heep – Celebration (Forty Years Of Rock)

Uriah Heep - Celebration

Uriah Heep first appeared in 1970 with their ‘Very ‘Eavy Very ‘Umble’ album featuring the classic ‘Gypsy’. I was hooked, and am still a fan today.  They are still going strong, though guitarist Mick Box is the only original member.

2008’s ‘Wake The Sleeper’ is one of my albums of the last decade, and Uriah Heep recently released ‘Celebration’. This album features only two new recordings, the rest are newly recorded covers of their greatest hits. Not always a recipe for success, but these new recordings breathe new life into many of my old favourites, except for ‘The Wizard’, which just doesn’t seem to work.

Favourite tracks: July Morning (2009 recording), Look At Yourself (2009 recording)

Special Mentions:

U2 – New Line On The Horizon

Steve Earle – Townes

Neil Diamond – Hot August Night / NYC – Live From Madison Square Garden

Neil Young – Fork In The Road

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gods & Guns

Ian Gillan – One Eye To Morocco

Entre os representantes do mundo da arte convidadas para a reunião no Vaticano com Bento XVI. Bono foi o escolhido para respresente os artitas do mundo, no vídeo o artista americano Bill Viola, e o escritor italiano Susanna Tamaro, o cantor Andrea Bocelli, o compositor Ennio Morricone e os dramaturgo americano Bob Wilson.

Créditos: http://www.lne.es/galeria/2009/11/22/papa-pide-refleje-belleza-arte/837571.html

and here you see some earnest podcasting discussions taking place.  Many thanks to Adnams brewery for their support.  Without their Broadside real ale, the conversation might not have been so earnest!

going round the group, starting front left:

• Sarah Morrison (Insomnia Radio New York)
• Justin Wayne – well the top of Justin’s head (Justin Wayne Show)
• Colin Gazeley (ourobouros podcast)
• Rowley Cutler (Dark Compass)
• Dave Lee (The Bugcast)
• The Grumbler (Music and Mumblings)
• Pete Cogle (pcpodcast)

Doug Chaplin has tagged me on this one. It’s a bloggers (though I’m still not so sure I am one) chain-letter. The meme asks us to share eight memorable musical moments, not favourite pieces, but the moments in which music combined to create memory. The rules are

Think of eight memorable musical moments, not necessarily all time favourites, but those when, for example, you felt compelled to wait in the car when listening to this amazing song on the radio because you just had to know who it was by. Or the piece you heard on the tv in a drama that drove you straight onto iTunes to download… (remember once we spent the princely sum of 6s 8d on a vinyl single?!). Optional details for each song give where, why and Spotify or youtube links …

At least I can say that I’m still too young to ever spent 6/8 (that’s 33⅓ p) on anything. Here are my eight, in no particular order

1. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. When I was twenty, I bought a couple of editions of a jazz magazine. Each copy came with a cassette, and an excerpt from A Love Supreme was on one of them. I was rapt by its troubled passion, its prayer is total humanity communing with the divine. I love it, but jazz is musical marmite.

2. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards by Billy Bragg. I remember buying a cassette of his album Workers Playtime as a teenager. This track is the last on the album, and I remember playing it over and over. The mixture of protest song, poetry and humour was an inspiring first to me, and turned me into a complete Bragg fan. Below is an updated version rather than the one I know. It’s still good, but I miss the lines “Doctor Robert Oppenheimer’s optimism fell at the first hurdle” and “The revolution is just a t-shirt away”.

3. Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré. This was sung by friends of the bride and groom at a wedding I took. The wedding was moving for pastoral reasons, and the gentle, thoughtful beauty of this song has remained with me. Last year, I sang this with the Wolfson(g)ians and loved singing its soaring, melodic tenor line.

4. Prelude, Adagio et Choral varie sur le theme du ‘Veni Creator’, Op. 4 by Maurice Duruflé. This magnificent organ piece came on the radio one dark and stormy evening. It’s a musical history of the Holy Spirit, and leads into the ancient hymn Veni Creator Spiritus.

5. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2. Just as U2 were getting big, before they got messianic, there was the Joshua Tree album. The live recording with New Voices of Freedom on Rattle & Hum is still my favourite.

6. Deus in adjutorium by Claudio Monteverdi. I sang this in a choir in Durham Cathedral as a young undergrad. It was my introduction to early music. Its monotonous opening is almost shocking, punctuated by outbursts of brass, before opening out like an estuary in the alleluia.

7. Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O’Connor. I remember when this was all over the radio, and then I saw this video.

8. Goldberg Variations by JS Bach. I’ve got a Glenn Gould recording. This is perfect for sunny mornings at home.

I now tag cycads.