aol music sessions

nice videos
nice music
nice downloadable flv files (check your temp files for them)

go to aol music sessions and enjoy these artists and more:

interpol
tori amos
sarah mclachlan
the killers
yeah yeah yeahs
iggy pop
beastie boys
death cab for cutie
snow patrol
david gilmour
matisyahu
weezer
coldplay

who is madeleine mccann, really?

i have to admit i have no idea how many kids go missing around the world every year. in the united states, it is believed that 85% out of the 876,213 people who went missing in 2000 were children, so we can round that number to one in the vicinity of 744,781 missing children per year. that is a huge number. imagine what is like for the rest of the world, considering illegal traffic of children across borders and all that. but that happens to all kinds of children.

and then, there's maddie.

madeleine mccann went missing in portugal on may 3, 2007. i don't know if missing kids' faces end up in milk cartons in portugal, but that certainly wasn't what the mccanns ended up doing. i don't remember seeing such a huge media display for a missing kid. don't take me wrong, if my child were to go missing, i'd do everything in my might to find him/her (not that i have no idea about my child's gender, it's only that we have no children yet).

still, 1 missing kid out of millions around the world has turned into:

• 1 website


• 1.6 million us dollars in contributions (and counting!)


• "look for madeleine" bands


• brian adams not suing the mccanns for using one of his most recognizable songs on their site


• benny (known in catholic circles as benedict xvi) receiving maddie's parents for an audience at the vatican, after they were flown in philip green's jet (he of bhs and topshop stores and who's willing to give 2 million dollars for her safe return). let's keep in mind that the current pope was the leader of what was once known as the holy inquisition, now called congregation for the doctrine of the faith. but i digress, as usual.

who is madeleine mccann, really?

is she somehow connected to the church?

is she the direct descendant of someone very important, alive or dead thousands of years ago, that cannot be named that easily?

is the whole thing part of a master plan, a hidden agenda?

what's with her eye? is she an alien? half-alien? (the more i look at her pictures, the more i suspect there's something dodgy)

is she our last chance for salvation of any divine kind?

if she's ever found alive (and i hope it'll be the case), i really hope there'll be some unbiased journalist that finds out what the whole fuzz about madeleine is/was?

last but not least, what were mr and mrs mccann thinking when they decided to go for dinner that night and leave three children, count them, three! unattended in their unlocked hotel room?

i'll sit and wait for all the answers to come soon...

who the fuck...?

and, who the fuck do you think you are, mate?

macca swore he had not being rude at the dutch guy at all... it was a simple request and after all, the label was paying for the photo session, so he rightfully thought he was entitled to make one simple request.

we would like to have a nice colour picture on our cd sleeve, mr. corbijn, he said.

do you know who the fuck i am, mate?

yes, mr. corbijn. we've seen all these pictures you've taken of bowie, geldof, bono, the killers and stuff, but hey... we were just wondering... wouldn't it be a bit nicer to have something in colour on our cd sleeve? it would definitely contrast with the somber tone of that single and i'm sure people would notice it immediately.

well, anton said, first of all, i don't have colour film with me. second, it's usually me who decide what type of film i'm going to use and, who the fuck do you think you are, mate?

anton was just back from austria where he had taken a couple of pictures of agnes milewski for her next album and he had agreed to do it in colour, simply because it was summer and it would have been unfair to portray her in only black and white. but these guys, well... they'd be lucky if he shoot them using a discardable camera.

macca couldn't take anton's reply and simply punched him in the face and walked out of the studio.

the punch made the news.

the single hit the charts. it was the first single in years without a proper cd sleeve and yet managed to reach #2 in the first week, #1 the next for 6 consecutive weeks.

anton corbijn lost a tooth but still managed to charge 50 grand for the photo session.

beauty is goodness

it was a bit of a curse, really. macallister sumner was born in liverpool in 1982. that 9th of may was just another day for many other people, but for the sumners it was a blessing. thomas had been diagnosed cancer only two weeks before and linda was already too old to be a mother, but both were able to live long enough to see macallister grab his first instrument.

it was thomas's four-string bass. macallister was four and he loved the loud, deep sounds his little hands were producing by hammering the bass. his dad didn't mind macallister killing his bass, he simply smiled from his deathbed. thomas died hours after this incident.

by the time macallister was 16, almost 17, he could play the bass like no other kid he knew could. he started playing thomas's old bass, but macallister found out that he was left handed and playing it upside down didn't allow him to play at his best. he managed to convince linda to buy an appropriate bass and a whole new world opened in front of his eyes.

macallister was good.

very good.

by the time he was 20, he was in a band. as many other bands, they had loads of trouble finding the right name for them. books they had read, street names, words concatenated at random: they tried everything and decided to stick to beauty is goodness, after a quote by tolstoi, whom macallister admired.

by the time he was 23, beauty is goodness was already on the cover of q, nme and les inrockuptibles and were about to play glasto for 150,000 muddy people. good riddance.

by that time, macallister sumner was no longer called that. it was just macca. and he hated it.

he was no paul mccartney. although he was also left-handed and played the bass, and co-wrote most of the hit singles of beauty is goodness (who could ever forget their first hit, i never thought i could fall this low?), he hated being called macca. he hated being called the next big hope of britpop, but not as much as macca.

by the time he was worldwide famous, he was already an orphan. his mum died shortly after i never thought i could fall this low made it to top of the pops, with a calm, satified smile on her face.

(end of part 1. can someone tell me if they like this short story, please? should i carry on?)

fete de la musique 2007

if anyone is interested, this is the mix cd i created for today. want it? let me know and i'll see what i can do for you.

Song Of The Sibyl - Dead Can Dance
Ne Me Quitte Pas - Natacha Atlas
Dark Escape - MIDIval PunditZ
Daw Da Hiya - Ofra Haza
Light - Talvin Singh
Sekoi Fali - Bulgarian Vocal Choir
Desert - Emilie Simon (Thievery Corporation remix)
Sem Contenção - Bebel Gilberto (DJ Sin Plomo remix)
Perfume - Luciano Supervielle Feat. Adriana Varela
Amarily Lov Reggae - Mekatelyu
Semplice Mente - Ust Mamo
Jerusalem - Matisyahu
Diablo Rojo - Rodrigo y Gabriela
Dr. Gilbert/Devils Of Dublin/Black Pat's - Lúnasa
Brestir Og Brak - Björk Gudmundsdóttir & Trió Gudmundar Ingólfssonar
Face A La Mer - Les Negresses Vertes
Elle et moi - Koffi Olomide
Sama Yaye - Souleymane Faye
Marie Laveaux - ¡Cubanismo!
Clocks - Coldplay/Buena Vista Social Club
Sexy - Los Amigos Invisibles
Clandestino - Manu Chao
Melting Pot - King Changó
Bonus Track
Money Money (root of all evil) - Horace Andy

to people at work who think i compiled this music during working hours, sod off!

a massive list for your downloading pleasure!

as you can imagine, this collection of albums and live concerts is for you to download for a limited amount of time, listen to them and then decide to support the artists by actually buying their albums. i recommend going to your local shop (hopefully not part of a big chain) or buying mp3s at emusic.

some of the artists with recordings available to download are: annie, architecture in helsinki, camera obscura, clinic, cocteau twins, daft punk, sonic youth, deep dish, electrelane, freezepop, john digweed, joy division, ladytron, m.ward, m83, mstrkrft, massive attack, ms john soda, new order, of montreal, paul oakenfold, ratatat, regina spektor, the decemberists, the magnetic fields, the shins, voxtrot and ¡forward, russia!

the list can be found here.

anne clark

i think it was my mate adrian who made me listen to anne clark for the first time. there was something about her writing and about her style that made her quite unique. i guess the only music store at the time that carried any music by her was auco disco (now defunct, much to my chagrin) and i remember buying "the sitting room" without hesitating.

this is a short album. 7 songs in 15 minutes or so and yet, one is able to find the beauty in anne's poetry and music.

for all 4ad fans, dominic appleton (credited in my uk release as domonic appleton) played the keyboards on this release. he later joined 4ad for the this mortal coil releases, filigree & shadow and blood.

download short story (party mix!) by clicking here. if i get at least one comment on this release, i might post the whole album for everybody's aural pleasure.

short story (party mix!)
there is a little place
in a little room
where a little chap
hides away amidst the gloom
tucks his little legs
underneath a well-worn chair
plucks a piece of paper
and attacks at his despair
a stubby lead pencil
scratches through the fears
of every little cruelness
that reduces us to tears
sharp is the lead
but will it penetrate
all the nooks and crannies
that this world creates
there is so little time
for us to stop and look
as he places the cover
upon his little book
there will come a day
when this little man will die
and they'll put him in a tiny hole
underneath the sky
his little lead pencil,
book and chair
will be placed inside a plastic bag
and taken who knows where ...

mac your pc!

little by litte, apple is taking care of all of us, neglected pc users of the world. first it was quicktime, then came itunes and now, safari! proved and loved by millions on their macs, safari comes to the windows world to help us out of explorer, even out of firefox!

i'll be trying it this week on my home computer and i'll hopefully be posting how good it is by saturday.

download safari 3 beta by clicking here.

diamond sea

i've got a major crush on this song by sonic youth. the first version i heard was the edited version for a cmj cd and it blew me away. the guitar, the distorsion, the beat, the lyrics! everything was perfect.

then i bought the album and i realised that the version there lasted more than 15 minutes and i was speechless. 15 minutes and more wall of sound than anything i've heard before. brilliant!

and now, the calm after the storm. the yeah yeah yeahs grab an acoustic guitar and go easy on diamond sea. feel free to download this version and use it as your indie lullaby.

diamond sea

time takes its crazy toll

and how does your mirror grow

you better watch yourself when you jump into it

'cause the mirror's gonna steal your soul

i wonder how it came to be my friend

that someone just like you has come again

you'll never, never know how close you came

until you fall in love with the diamond rain

throw all his trash away

look out he's here to stay

your mirror's gonna crack when he breaks into it

and you'll never never be the same

look into his eyes and you can see

why all the little kids are dressed in dreams

i wonder how he's gonna make it back

when he sees that you just know it's make-belief

blood crystalized as sand

and now I hope you'll understand

you reflected into his looking glass soul

and now the mirror is your only friend

look into his eyes and you will see

that men are not alone on the diamond sea

sail into the heart of the lonely storm

and tell her that you'll love her eternally

time takes its crazy toll

mirror fallin' off the wall

you better look out for the looking glass girl

'cause she's gonna take you for a fall

look into his eyes and you shall see

why everything is quiet and nothing's free

i wonder how he's gonna make her smile

when love is running wild on the diamond sea

the daily green

as i was redditing this morning (i know, that's not a real word... yet!), i stumbled upon the daily green, a site focused on the imminent green revolution.

go to the site and look at the interesting tips to save on energy, water and so forth. it's a shame that the site is not vegetarian as well, but hey, nobody's perfect.

the picture above is from ushuaia, argentina in 2006. that area used to freeze completely in winter and people would use it as a ice skating ring. guess what? that's no longer the case. thanks to everybody for their contribution to global warming!

now, go to the daily green and start doing something about the environment today!

gusgus - the cductive release

back in '99, with web 1.0 trying its best to sell music, cductive was born (the site doesn't exist anymore). it was a good idea in the pre-ipod years. pick the music you want, pay a fair amount for the tracks to be burnt onto a cd and wait for it in the mail. they even offered cd samples to get you hooked (i got the drum'n'bass, techno, ambient and big beat ones). i got hooked.

around that same time, 4ad's band of the year was no other than gusgus (whose new record, under pineapple records should be bought at once if you like to dance non-stop). 4ad teamed up with wb to offer the possibility of creating a custom-made gusgus album. i jumped at the opportunity and created what cductive called "your custom-cut slice of gus gus".

if you click here in the next 7 days, you might enjoy my "personally selected feats of textured groove, surrealist mood and dancefloor daring-do from the masterminds of hypnordic pop who once again defy all definition and prediction".


long live cductive.

nitzer ebb - i give to you

un flashback de esos días cuando mtv/120 minutos valía la pena.

ingredientes:
1. nitzer ebb
2. flood de co-productor
3. alan wilder de co-productor
4. alan wilder utilizando una orquesta de verdad para "i give to you"

disfruten!

recoil interview

this comes from machine music (from hungary)... somehow the east europeans always get the first details regarding dm and dm-related artists. i guess it's some kind of pact with the devil, so to speak. anyway, some very interesting things in it. read and enjoy!

mm: why did we have to wait so long for the new recoil album?

aw: basically because i needed a break. after 'liquid', i felt quite quite mentally drained and this coincided with the birth of our second child, stanley. i thought that i should spend more time performing child-care duties (even though my wife hep still does most of it!). i did try to get some sort of project going on a couple of occasions during the last 5 years but i just couldn't get on a roll, so i took that as a sign that i needed more time away from the studio. eventually, with a caring but firm shove from hep, i got my act together and started work again in earnest. this was late 2005.

mm: how much does 'subhuman' follow that musical direction which characterized the 'liquid' and 'unsound methods' albums?

aw: 'subhuman' still supplies many of the typical recoil trademarks in that it is quite dark with strong atmosphere - so there are definite links to former albums. my favourite records are always those that the listener has to 'learn' - albums that take several plays in order to appreciate the arrangements and the more subtle elements. i think this lp is possibly less experimental and contains more obvious melodies but it's still a long way from 'pop'. (that's never been a problem for me!) i just do what comes naturally and in this case, most of the music i came up with veered off in a blues direction - similar to a few tracks i have produced in the past, not only on 'liquid' and 'unsound methods' but also 'bloodline' and even at times, with depeche mode. i followed up on that by searching for an authentic blues singer and came up with joe richardson via the internet.


mm: do you plan any co-operation with other musicians, artists for side-projects or does recoil gives you enough occupation?

aw: i have no plans at this time to collaborate on any other projects. since i started work again, recoil has taken up all my time and i hope to get moving quite soon on another album. i guess i will be looking for people to contribute to that but it is still a long way off.

mm: many music sites describe recoil's music as 'electro-blues' or complex soundtrack-like sound. do you agree with this label?

aw: well i suppose that's a way to describe it but the results often cross into many other areas. i certainly like to experiment with sound and different genres. i often use pieces of classical orchestration as well as ethnic instruments and strange percussion loops. in fact, there is far more organic sound and human performance than pure electronics. in the end, it's not that important to me what the ratio is or how people wish to describe the music. mm: the uncommon and unique recoil tracks are not so radio or club friendly. do you want to stay away from the commercial pop scene?aw: for me, creating music is almost a subconscious process which means not getting clouded by worrying about the commerciality of the results. as i said, it's important to be instinctive and to have the confidence to allow it just to flow. by applying my methodology, what we end up with usually has a recognisable recoil 'sound' - despite the wide variety of vocalists and other contributors. if the results happens to be commercial, fine. if not, that's also fine.

mm: you have been in the music business more than 25 years. what are the most important development in music making (e.g. tools, producing, marketing, engineering process, etc.)?


aw: i think the computer has made it so much easier to experiment with sounds and, particularly, structure. it allows you to just try things that would have been impossible in the more traditional recording environment where everything had to be committed to tape at a much earlier stage. of course, one always needs good ideas but i like the concept that anyone can have a go - and get decent results from the comfort of their own home, on an affordable budget.

mm: what kind of music are you listening to nowadays?

aw: i have always enjoyed the diversity of lots of areas of music, and from different eras. i don't listen to radio much (it's mainly shit in england) or music tv (also shit) so i'm probably quite out of touch with most of what's happening - but i do have a huge library of cds and records from the last 35 years.

mm: what were the last 5 cds you bought or downloaded?aw: grinderman lpjohnny greenwood (radiohead) - 'bodysong' cocteau twins - compilationair - 'pocket symphony'the raconteurs - 'broken boy soldiers'the dears - 'gang of losers' (i was disappointed with this - preferred their previous album - 'no cities left')mm: do you prefer to buy cds rather than download from legal sites?

aw: i prefer the sound of vinyl or cd which is currently far superior to mp3, and i am also from the generation that loves to hold the actual product in our hands! but i do download sometimes and will do so more in the future as soon as the quality improves. it is obviously the future of music sales and i welcome the new technology. for an artist like recoil, trying or even expecting to get your cds into the shops is pretty much a non-starter these days. on-line purchasing is the way to go and people are far more willing to search for your product that way. the idea of taking the shops and stores out of the equation is quite satisfying. let them dumb down selling madonna, elton john and nintendo games while the rest of us move forward. of course, the downloading issue is also throwing the record business into crisis as cd sales are plummeting. the companies are desperately trying to find clever ways to integrate themselves into the new buying trends.

mm: are you going to make any video clips?

aw: not sure yet. it depends whether their is enough interest in the recoil singles. videos probably form the highest percentage of the overall budget for the making of each album. considering the amount of times they actually get shown, i would question whether they are worth making.

mm: can we expect any live shows?

aw: it's unlikely

thanks to recoil19.net for the pictures!

whatever happened to... supreme beings of leisure?

to answer that question quickly, i have no idea.

but i found out that kiran shahani (from sbol) and shana halligan formed a band in 2006 called bitter:sweet (quango). fans of portishead, zero 7 and björk should like this, too.

the following are 3 songs (in mp3 format) from their debut (and only?) album, the mating game.

enjoy!

download "the mating game"
download "bittersweet faith"

download "dirty laundry"

as i usually recommend, buy this and more at emusic

can i go from homer to charles?

the challenge began this last saturday, june 2st, 2007. back to the gym with 90 kg of fat. the goal: 80 kg of muscle. i'll keep everybody posted!