Mendes leaves rehab but will return & other

Saturday, 24 May 2008

In your ears

Mp3s are the Hot Pockets of the digital age; consumers are devouring them by the gigabyte.
But thanks to a deal struck between rock star Peter Gabriel and digital pioneer Bowers & Wilkins, Britain’s leading manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers, digital-music downloaders are about to experience a gourmet alternative.
Launching this week, the online Bowers & Wilkins Music Club will offer an exclusive, full-length, digital-only new release each month featuring artists cherry-picked by Gabriel and recorded at his Real World Studios complex in Bath, England.

What’s more, they will be so-called DRM-free (digital rights management) files that carry no copy protection and can be moved freely between devices and easily burned to CD. They’ll come complete with artwork and, best of all, in an audiophile-quality lossless format for a sound experience beyond that of even top-shelf mp3s.
Music Club subscriptions (available at bowers-wilkins.com) cost $59.95 annually and trial offers are available.
“People don’t realize that when you encode sound files, you’ve got choices,” Bowers & Wilkins’ Danny Haikin said by phone from the United Kingdom. “Up until this point there’s been an emphasis on width rather than depth. In other words, mp3s take up very little (hard drive) room, but in the process of compressing a file down to such a tiny size, the music’s finer nuances are lost. The beauty of a lossless file format is that the compression system doesn’t depreciate the music in any way.”
But a promise of much-improved sound quality may not be enough to bend the public ear away from the standard mp3 format. To do that, the Club plans to offer not merely exclusive recordings, but accessible ones.
Mike Large, director of operations at Real World Studios, dreamed up the venture with Haikin over drinks one night. He says Music Club will offer a wider scope of styles than the world music for which Gabriel’s studio and its Real World label are known.
“Our only criteria is that the music be good,” said Large.“Sure, you can see Peter’s taste coming through. But we’ve also had to go about this in a way that makes commercial sense.”
The club’s introductory offering is “Bought for a Dollar, Sold for a Dime,” an urban-blues affair by Little Axe, also known as Skip McDonald, an original member of the Sugar Hill house band who played on “The Message,” “White Lines” and other classics. Plans call for future releases by indie-rockers Grindhouse (featuring Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood’s son Jesse), big-voiced Brit singer/songwriter Gwyneth Herbert and guitar virtuoso Tom Kerstens. Large and Haikin also would like to release live sessions and remastered classic recordings.
Large says the Music Club has had a positive side effect on Gabriel, whose fans have been waiting since 2002 for him to release a recording of non-film-related new material.
“The fire has been lit,” said Large. “Peter is working on a new record. The working title is ‘Input/Output’ and the CD will likely see a 2009 release date.”

Saturday, 10 May 2008

Pete Namlook and Robert Gort

Artist: Pete Namlook and Robert Gort

   Genre(s):
Ambient

Discography:

Elektro

Year: 1996
Tracks: 5

Friday, 2 May 2008

Amy Winehouse axed from US charity event

Amy Winehouse has suffered another blow in her bid to crack America — afterward being axed from a prestigious US charity case.
The 24-year-old ‘Rehab’ star had been granted a job visa for the US � unlike earlier this class when she had to miss the Grammy Awards because she was denied one.
Simply she has now been suddenly dumped from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s yearly Costume Bring Gala affair on May 5.

Jaime Urrutia

Thursday, 24 April 2008

Spice babies join 'Mamas' on stage

The Spicery Girls made it a family involvement last night when they brought their children on stage in the middle of their register.
The assorted loom joined the chemical group during hit call Mama at London's O2 Arena.Victoria Falls Beckham decked out her boys, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz in matching T-shirts emblazoned with the words 'POSH'.
Baby Spice Emma Bunton cuddled four-month-old son Fop, while Mel B brought along daughters Phoenix Khi and Saint Iris diaphragm.
The children wore bright green auricle muffs to protect them against the noise.
Geri Halliwell's daughter Bluebell was the only Spice progeny missing.
At the end of the song, the children returned to their seating room in the nominal head dustup.
The chemical group ar playing 17 dates at the London locus as percentage of their comeback circuit.

Miller amongst BAFTA rising star nominees

Sienna Miller has been nominated for this year's Rising Star award at the BAFTAs.
The actress, who recently appeared in 'Stardust', is amongst two British stars nominated for the award, which is voted for by the public. Sam Riley, the star of Joy Division biopic 'Control', is the other British nominee.
They're joined in the category by Ellen Page, Shia LaBeouf and 'Lust, Caution' star Tang Wei for the prize.
The category was established in honour of late casting director Mary Selway, who died in 2004, with Scottish actor James McAvoy picking up the inaugural award.
'Casino Royale' star Eva Green, who won the award last year, announced the nominees saying: "This year's five nominees are all actors who have really stood out in their work and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of them throughout 2008."
The winner will be announced at the official BAFTA ceremony on 10 February.

Daz Dillinger