Michael Jackson’s Posthumous Album Is Now Available For (Illegal) Download
A leak of Michael Jackson’s posthumous album has hit the Web like a cyclone. A simple search on most file-sharing and torrent sites will let you get our hands on the 10 tracks that make it up.
Sony and Epic Records have declined to make comments of any kind. I guess they are too busy grinding their axes… This has been one leak too many. The consequences this can have on file sharing could be radical.
LimeWire (one of the most popular peer-to-peer file-sharing services that existed) is now shutting down for good.
The company was defeated seven months ago in Federal Court, and tried to reinvent itself as a store in which music could be purchased legally, a la iTunes or eMusic. But it was all to no avail.
The company’s official statement reads:
“Given our current situation, plans to bring our separate, legal music service to market have been canceled. The beginning of 2011 will mark the closing of LimeWire’s New York office and cessation of business by LimeWire. We attracted some of the top talent from the technology community over the years to build our new music service. We’ll be helping our team members commence their job search over the next few months.”Continue reading →
The meet-and-greet tradition upon which the music industry operates is a necessary evil… or is it? Websites like TuneCrank are here to bring that hegemony down.
In general terms, this site lets just anybody upload his tunes and have them streamed to whomever is willing to give them a good listen. The process is wholly free, and what TuneCrank aims to do is give just everybody a chance to be discovered, in a framework in which there are no favoritisms of any kind. On TuneCrank, all that matters is the quality of what you are uploading, not whose back you are scratching. Continue reading →
I usually don’t cover startups that are yet to launch for the simple reason that I prefer to review sites you all can head to directly and use within seconds, but today I have decided to make an exception. Bud To Bud presents itself as a really cool way to experience music. As such, I have felt it was in order to let you know about it so that you already know what to expect when it finally launches.
In general, Bud To Bud creates a shared environment in which people get to listen to the music their pals are playing in real time. It’s just as if you were sharing headphones with the other person, only that you are going to be located in separate places. Different rooms, different cities… even different countries.
And when you discover a song that means business, you can proceed to buy it and have it added to your music collection. Of course, users of Bud To Bud can also message each other out and either compliment themselves for their good taste or pull each other’s legs. I mean, imagine what would happen if you caught someone who is mad about AC/DC listening to the Jonas Brothers! Priceless or what… Continue reading →
It took longer than it took the surviving members of The Who to record a comeback album (slight exaggeration), but on the 16th of November of this year The Beatles’ music has finally become available for purchase on the iTunes Store.
That date is anything but coincidental, of course. It was on such a date that the band’s first video clip was shown on American television. That was a good couple of months before they disembarked on American soil and hysteria broke loose.
If you visit the iTunes Store right now, you will see that the band has taken over the page completely.
This comes after years of discussions between Apple, EMI and Apple Corps (the outfit founded by The Beatles). Continue reading →
“UK Jive” Was A Major Commercial Failure When It Was Released In 1989.
An ignominious flop, “UK Jive” (1989) was the penultimate album The Kinks were to issue. It suffers from the problem that also bogged down The Who’s “It’s Hard” and several other ‘80s albums, namely just too much social observation in lieu of real melodies.
The biggest offenders are arguably “Entertainment”, a quasi-punk song that lacks all articulation and “War Is Over”, one meditation on war too many (and one lacking the brave wit of “Arthur” at that). The title track is also routinely derided, owing to its abusive ‘50s mannerisms (reminiscent of acts like Sha Na Na) and the sampling of the Who’s “My Generation” during the fade.
The rest of the album, now, is not really that unapproachable. “Aggravation” is heavy metal that works (unlike most of the cuts on “Phobia”, the final studio album by the band), as does the emotion-high “How Do I Get Close”. Granted, Dave’s riffing on that one is a bit predictable, but the song has a nice vocal arrangement and a great flow on the whole.
And “What Are We Doing” is a minor gem, if only because the melody somehow sounds so fresh. Maybe it is the punctual horns that keep things going, maybe it is the original rhymes Ray employs. The fact is the song just works, and it is one of the cuts that will drive you back to the disc.
I must admit I am not that thrilled by “Loony Balloon”, a shuffly number about the doomed fate of the planet. Maybe the problem is its actual duration – it is almost as long as “Aggravation”, but whereas the album opener intelligently combined many different sections (a la “Another Brick In The Wall), “Loony Balloon” is virtually five minutes of the same. And the first minute alone is not that engaging, the harsh truth be said.
I am, however, very keen on “Now And Then”. I think it is the one piece of effective observation yielded by “UK Jive”. The lyrics are not that much better than the ones offered on the songs that don’t cut it, but the stripped beginning which eventually gives way to a full flourish makes it stick clearer (and truer) in your mind. And the sardonic “Down All The Days” (a poke at the upcoming elections) is also a nice distraction. Continue reading →
A Clean Version Of Kayne West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” Can Now Be Downloaded By Those Who Look It Up
And the biggest ploy of the decade hastens on… Kayne West’s latest album has now “surprisingly” been leaked into the Internet.
Now those of you who Google “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” are going to be able to find its edited version available for download, a good couple of weeks ahead of the album’s slated release date.
Kayne hasn’t spoken his mind about that yet.
He has been too busy retweeting some of the best reviews that have surfaced.
Radiohead Are: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood & Phil Selway. All Five Members Met While Attending School At Oxfordshire.
Innovators in the truest sense of the word, the name of Radiohead is synonymous with the best music that came from the ‘90s. Conformed by five school friends from Oxfordshire, the band led by Thom Yorke mutated from a grungier outfit into electronica linchpins over the course of just three albums, writing the rule book as they went along with the songs they chose to release as singles.
Radiohead is also remembered as one of the biggest emotionally-tumultuous bands this side of Joy Division, The Sisters of Mercy and related acts. Yorke’s recurrent themes of paranoia and self-loathing surfaced as early as their first single, “Creep” (from “Pablo Honey”, 1993). The song was actually banned in England by Radio One on grounds of being too depressing, but when “Creep” became a surprise hit in Israel and then in San Francisco the band gained recognition in their home soil. They were thrown into an onslaught of live shows that left everyone dour, and the subsequent album was to be named after the mental condition that affects drivers that have risen to the top too quickly
“The Bends” (1995) included the desperate “Street Spirit”, the turmoil-weighed “High and Dry” and the we-have-fucking-had-it title track. But nowhere was the frustration expressed as clearly as in “My Iron Lung”, a song in which the music could barely sheathe the vitriol. Also included was the turbid yet beautiful “Fake Plastic Trees”, composed by the band the night after they attended a Jeff Buckley gig.
None of those songs managed to make them feel better as a performing unit (or as individuals, for that matter), and the sessions for their next album were the most trying ever.
But the struggle was worth it. “OK Computer” (1997) quickly became the best album not only of the year but also one of the most celebrated LPs of the whole decade. The band managed to beat lots of acts who had broader appeal like Oasis, whose “Be Here Now” was rebuffed by the public and found its way into the used racks pretty quickly. Continue reading →
One Of The Many Promotional Posters For Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy must be one of the most eagerly-awaited movies of the year. Part of the interest itself arises from Daft Punk’s involvement, of course. The French duo has not only composed the soundtrack to the highly-expected movie, but they also have an actual cameo.
And you can see them in the latest trailer that has been released by Disney. True to their onstage personas, the two members of Daft Punk appear fully-costumed.
This trailer doubles as a music video for Daft Punk’s “Derezzed,” a track which is included on the film’s OST.
The movie hits American and Canadian theaters on the 17th of December. I’ll post more info as it becomes available.
Fredrik Larsson (AKA FreddeGedde) Is Sweden's Number One YouTube Star
Fredrik Larsson is the YouTube star par excellence that Sweden has produced. He became popular when he recorded and uploaded a TV theme song medley way back in March, under the name “FreddeGedde”. And now he is back with more, only that this time he is singing themes from cartoons.
Duck Tales, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Animaniacs, Inspector Gadget, Ghostbusters, Digimon, Darkwing Duck… that is just the beginning of this new medley. Lasting seven minutes, it is sure to bring quite a good couple of infant memories back.
Personal favorites? The Smurfs, Bravestarr and The Gummi Bears.
And the Donald Duck impersonation at the end is radical.
