Directed by Erwin Georgi, the creation of these colorful art videos are meant to expand the emotional reach of the songs, without telling a story. "I don't like music videos because they make viewers loose their own interpretation of the lyrics" said Merlin Moon. We would like to know your comments and thoughts about this videos.
Both of the songs, represent the evolution of MM sounds. Influenced by Bob Marley, Pink Floyd and minimal dance music, it wonderful how the colorful textures of MM music, expands the emotional horizon of the lyrics. "This is just an experiment, I am a true believer that music should expand the reach of emotions, while telling a story and if we are able to mesmerize people's vision, we'll help them open the fountain of emotions that spring their life" Merlin moon said.
You can send you comments to info@merlinmoon.com or on the contact form on www.merlinmoon.com.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
MERLINMOON RELEASES NEW SINGLE - Hollywood Celebrity and Entertainment Daily News
Doesn’t this pic just capture the spirit of the holidays? The European rock band, Merlinmoon will release its new single, Empty Shell/Yesterday is Gone on Christmas Day.
Merlinmoon founder, Alexander Pizzorni was born in Caracas, Venezuela before moving to Italy, Miami, Mexico City and New York before settling in Los Angeles. Pizzorni was an underground DJ in Caracas before becoming a musician and he claims to draws his creative stimulus a host of influences from ‘70s rock and electronica to Pink Floyd as well as a spiritual-based philosophy.
And yet, the picture is so sad.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
EMI TG12345 Mark IV Abbey Road Console (used) | VintageKing.com
My dream... Merlinmoon's future baby... I cannot believe that this is available to buy!!!..
EMI TG12345 Console is a legendary desk that went through four variations. Originally built to custom specifications in EMI’s own engineering facilities at Hayes, Middlesex, England, the TG12345 was the first solid-state recording console to be manufactured by EMI. By the late 60s, transistors and multi-track recorders had become the cutting edge of audio technology, and EMI spent considerable time designing and building a custom desk that could handle the larger number of inputs and outputs necessary for multi-tracking. The result was the TG12345 console, designed to be used in EMI recording facilities worldwide.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Friday, November 05, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Huge MISTAKE on Paul McCartney's death. "The last testament of George Harrison"
Huge MISTAKE on "The last testament of George Harrison" documentary. Talking about the death of Paul McCartney of 1966, substituted by a double "William Campbell" to keep The Bealtes going and avoid a suicide among fans.
Paul McCartney is alive, unless we have been fooled for half a century by the best rock band of all time. Its hard to believe and very confusing to accept whatever truth might be the one to believe. The Beatles symbolism on their album covers and backward messages on their music, was genius and represent the artistic minds of Lennon and Paul. After doing my research I came to a conclusion, either this legend is true and we have been fooled, or they where smart enough to leave these clues behind to raise controversy and sell more albums, keeping The Beatles alive for a long time.
Well, I guess Paul knows if he is alive or not. The reason i decided to write about this subject is because when i saw the documentary its really hurt me to believe that this could be true, until I found a big mistake in the information they disclose.
"In 1966 Paul McCartney left Abbey Road at around 4am on a rainy night. He was frustrated, tired and angry about the session, after discussing deeply with Lennon about the direction of the new album. While he was driving he saw a girl with a blue dress walking under the rain, and he stopped and asked her is she wanted a ride. When the girl got in the car and realized that he was Paul from the Beatles, she started screaming and grabbing him, he lost control of the car and crashed. The scene was ugly, and they state that paul was decapitated and his head had burned hair with no teeth except two coming out of his chicks making him look like a walrus..... Many years later in 1992, Heather Mills contacted Paul and tells him that either he marries her or she will tell the world the truth. Paul tells the MI6 and a few days later, Heather suffers an almost fatal accident, where she lost her leg. The documentary states that Heather Mills was the girl in the blue dress, that made Paul loose control of the car. Later Mi6 changed gave her a new identity and payed her a substantial amount of money to buy her silence. Heather Mills survived Mi6's attempt to kill her, and Paul had no choice but to Marry her. Well the truth is that in 1966 heather Mills was 2 years old, because she was born in 1968. The mistake is so obvious that it seems like the director is very smart or very stupid.
Last but no least, all the symbolism of the number three that The Beatles left within their clues, was because Ringo Starr, was enjoying the ride but he didn't add to the creating. Therefore I would speculate that what they really meant was that the Beatles where three. Pete Best was the original drummer of the Beatles, and George Martin insisted that he should be replaced. Living only Paul, John, Harrison.
I hope this short articles eases your mind about this conspiracy. If you have some info that you would love to share with me feel free to contact me. Info@merlinmoon.com
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Sunday, September 12, 2010
FT.com / Reportage - The music industry’s new business model
via www.ft.com
Something strange has happened to pop music since I began reviewing it in the late 1990s. In the past, how you listened to music played second fiddle to what it sounded like. Only finger-sniffing audiophiles cared whether you listened to Nirvana’s Nevermind in 1991 on vinyl, cassette or CD. To everyone else the point was the album itself.
No longer. Nowadays the format of music, the way it’s sold or listened to, overshadows everything else. MP3 players, internet streaming services, MySpace, mobile phones: music is everywhere. Good news for listeners but perplexing for record companies, who are seeing revenues from recorded music dry up as the old ways of doing business crumble.
Three years ago, Radiohead released their album ‘In Rainbows’ online – telling fans that they should pay whatever they thought the music was worth
It’s symptomatic that the most significant album of the modern age, the 2000s equivalent of Nirvana’s Nevermind, should be Radiohead’s In Rainbows, whose importance lies not so much in the excellence of its songs as in the ground-breaking way it was sold – or not sold. Because there were no hard copies and no cover price: instead In Rainbows was released online as a pay-what-you-want download. In 2007, the year of its release, global revenues in recorded music were $19.4bn. Speaking to Time magazine before the album came out, Radiohead’s frontman Thom Yorke explained that: “Yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say ‘Fuck you’ to this decaying business model”. By which he meant the music industry, which looked on aghast as one of the world’s biggest rock bands opted out of the record label system. Worse, Radiohead were offering fans the chance to pay whatever they chose to download new music.
Three years on, Radiohead are back in the studio. In the meantime the music industry’s problems have worsened. In 2009, global recorded music revenues dropped to $17bn. The end of May this year was the worst week for album sales in the US since records began, in 1994. In July Thom Yorke warned apocalyptically of its being “simply a matter of time – months rather than years – before the music business establishment completely folds”. His advice to young bands: “Don’t tie yourself to the sinking ship, because believe me, it’s sinking.”
. . .
It’s a sunny afternoon at the Glastonbury festival. Brian Message, one of Radiohead’s trio of managers, is sitting at a rickety wooden table in a field expanding on Yorke’s anti-music industry argument.
Message is one of the new school of music managers. Where the old school version was a spivvy schemer brokering dubious deals in a seedy Denmark Street or Lower Broadway office, the man opposite me is a 45-year-old former accountant who cut his teeth at Arthur Andersen. His look – jeans, T-shirt, shades, suntan – suggests a busy itinerary on the summer festival circuit. But the lingo is more MBA than MDMA, with terms such as “asset class” and “revenue streams” peppering his conversation.
“Under the new way of doing things, you’re a chief executive of an artist’s business with multiple revenue streams that go across multiple countries,” he says. The accountancy background used to make him feel awkward, but in today’s volatile music industry it’s proving invaluable.
Message, a dab hand at business plans (“It’s not something I’m proud of”), is pioneering a new model for the music industry. With companies struggling to adjust to a steady decline in their primary source of revenue, sales of recorded music, he argues the industry is suffering an investment crisis. But this crisis is also an opportunity for the likes of Message to enter the game as investors.
His links with Radiohead date back to 1994, when he met the band’s original managers – Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford – while working at Radiohead’s then label, EMI. The three men bonded over grumbling discussions about the music industry. Labels, they complained, were interested only in short-term profit, not an artist’s long-term development.
In 1995 Message left EMI and joined Edge and Hufford as Radiohead’s co-manager. While his partners deal with Radiohead’s day-to-day business, Message leads a sister company, ATC Management, launched in 2002 to manage other bands. Over time, ATC has branched into funding and trying to break a roster of acts, just as a record label would. But there is a radical difference. Instead of signing away copyright ownership of songs in exchange for an advance and royalties, as happens in most record deals, the bands Message signs get to keep ownership of their work. The contract is a so-called “360 deal”: all income – from records, concerts, merchandise, commercial tie-ins, everything – is split between band and backers, after the initial investment has been repaid.
“We’re trying to get away from a copyright trading model more towards a venture capitalist approach with artists,” says Message. Think of it as Dragons’ Den with guitars – with Message as the thoughtful-looking entrepreneur sitting with fingers interlocked while some young beat combo pitch their wares (“So, we’re kind of like The Smiths meet Funkadelic…”).
“More and more managers are having to take more responsibility to put money up front,” Message says. Adam Tudhope, for example, began his career managing the platinum-selling Keane. Two years ago he put £40,000 of his own money into Mumford & Sons, a fast-rising London band now signed to Island Records. “Every band is going to need £20,000-£40,000 for the first two years of their life, and then they’re probably going to need £200,000 for the next stage of their career,” he says. He didn’t want to risk his own money on the £200,000 stage with the Mumfords: thus the record deal.
Message has done the same with some of his acts. ATC put about £60,000 seed money into the London singer Kate Nash, who then signed to a major label and released a hit album in 2007. This year another chart-topping ATC act, Eliza Doolittle, in whom the company invested roughly £100,000, also joined a major label.
The manager-impresario runs through the spiel. “OK Artist, we’re working together, here’s some money, we’ve got to make some music, got to get it out there, find an audience. Once we’ve got some traction we might sign you to a record deal, or if you fancy going it alone somehow we’ve got to find the money to make it happen’.”
Going it alone means sidestepping the record labels. The music industry is dominated by four so-called majors – Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI. There have been challenges to their supremacy before, as when punk’s DIY ethos led to a mushrooming of independent labels in the early 1980s. But the music industry’s business model – in a nutshell, paying for recordings in exchange for copyright ownership – has remained fundamentally unaltered since Elvis’s time. If Message is correct in his diagnosis of the industry’s problems, and successful in his proposed cure, that model may soon cease to exist.
As the afternoon sun beats down over Glastonbury, he outlines his vision with evangelical persuasiveness. “It’s for those people who want to take the hard road. It’s a difficult road, but for those that want to take control, believe in themselves as a business and are prepared to do that hard road, it’s a liberating process.”
The talk of creative freedom is beguiling. By an uncanny coincidence, Prince’s “Sign o’ the Times” blasts out from a nearby sound system. Yet somewhere in the recesses of my mind, like a rock critic lurking dyspeptically at the bar at the back of a gig, a misgiving stirs. How far can the “little man entrepreneurial spirit” that Message admires take a band?
David Joseph, chairman of Universal Music UK, is yet to be convinced. “What I love about the ATC model is the theory of competition, the thought that anyone can do it themselves, which makes you absolutely question everything and try harder,” he says. But he goes on: “The idea of people saying, ‘We can do it ourselves, we don’t need you any longer’, it’s a fantastic thing to wake up to every day, to prove them wrong.” And with the likes of Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Eminem, Rihanna, U2, Universal seems to have ample proof that the old model still works for many big names.
Joseph reiterates his point by likening the choice facing managers of up and coming acts to that of parents choosing where to educate their children. “Universal are there representing Oxford and Cambridge, he says. “And if anyone else wants to take a gamble on a Bexleyheath comprehensive school, they’re welcome to.”
In the past the majors were pop’s gatekeepers as well as its Ivy League. They owned many of the recording studios, such as EMI’s Abbey Road studio where The Beatles recorded. They ran the distribution networks getting music from factory to shop. They had pluggers and press officers to deal with the DJs and journalists who shaped taste.
Cheap technology has transformed all that. Aspiring musicians can nowadays make decent quality home recordings on a four-track recorder costing £150, a sum that would barely buy a couple of hours in a professional studio. They can upload their songs to the internet and send them to retailers, social networking sites, song streaming services and so on. The majors’ stranglehold on the way music is produced, distributed and promoted is weakening.
“Record labels know how to drive hits,” Message says. But in an age when revenues from recorded music are on the slide, the hit-based approach is growing obsolete. UK industry revenues rose 4.7 per cent to £3.9bn last year, boosted by the popularity of live music. But album sales were 3.5 per cent down on the previous year. It’s worse in the US, where album sales in the first half of 2010 were 11 per cent down on the same period last year. Japan, the world’s second biggest market, is registering similar falls. With recorded music revenue falling and other forms of income such as concerts getting more lucrative, the balance of power between talent and labels has shifted.
. . .
In the 1990s, Prince fell out with his label Warners and embarked on an eccentric campaign to end his contract, scrawling “Slave” on his cheek and changing his name to a symbol. His career never recovered.
Shakira
Now, however, big stars can look outside the majors. In 2007, Madonna left her label to sign a “360 deal” worth $120m with the promoter Live Nation. Jay-Z, Nickelback and Shakira have subsequently joined her.
Radiohead wanted to leave their label after 1997’s OK Computer, the album that elevated them to the top of rock’s premier league. At that point they were three albums into a six album deal with EMI, but, according to Message, felt their long term future would be better served elsewhere.
“You could see the management of EMI over the years trying hard to keep the share price going under the spotlight of media attention,” he says. “Everything became very short-term, it was all about ‘What can we do for the next quarter’s results?’ That’s a very tough place to be when you’re sitting saying, ‘I’ve got a vision for this artist for the next decade’”.
Radiohead finally left in 2007, soon after the controversial buy-out by the hedge fund Terra Firma, which bought the label for £3.2bn. EMI claimed the band wanted a deal worth £10m – something the Radiohead camp denied.
“The boys are very sensible,” says Message. “They kept a little war chest so they could have the flexibility to do some things themselves.” Thus the In Rainbows gamble, devised by Edge and Hufford. Radiohead would keep all the revenue raised themselves – and have, for the first time in their career, copyright ownership of their songs.
There was widespread scepticism as to whether it would pay off. A month after the album came out a survey suggested 62 per cent of In Rainbows’ downloaders chose to pay nothing for it. The CD edition, which followed several months after the download, followed a more conventional mode of release, licensed to record companies throughout the world in one-off agreements. Message says the band “did very well out” out of the album, though exact figures are kept secret.
Faithless’s Maxi Jazz
So it was that a new phrase entered the music industry lexicon: “doing a Radiohead”. The dance music outfit Faithless, managed (though not funded) by ATC Management recently followed suit. Their self-financed and self-released album The Dance entered the UK charts at number 2 in May – and has thus far sold more than 100,000 copies.
“On every level it’s been a profitable experience,” says the band’s leader Rollo Armstrong. He put out Faithless’s first album on his own label in 1996 and remembers the thrill of selling 16 copies in the first week. Subsequently the band signed to SonyBMG and clocked up a solid run of top 10 albums but then progress stuttered. Their last album for Sony, in 2006, reached a lowly number 30.
Major labels, says Armstrong, “can totally ruin your life, but they can also speed everything up, put everything in fast-forward. To see a major label swing into action is still quite an impressive sight.” The downside is the danger of being neglected. “There’s only a certain time span, a certain window of opportunity for your record to do really well, and if doesn’t happen in that time then they’ve got a lot of other records on their schedule.”
The Dance is Faithless’s first post-Sony album. Although Faithless didn’t copy In Rainbows’ honesty-box payment scheme, Radiohead’s example was fundamental to the band’s decision not to seek another record deal. “I remember thinking, we’re not as big as Radiohead but we’re big enough to do what they’ve done. We have a big enough fanbase, we can tour places, we sell enough records that we can really control our own destiny.”
Indeed, Armstrong estimates the band will earn more from The Dance than any of their earlier albums. At a major label, a top act gets about 40 per cent of the price of each album in royalties and publishing rights (after repaying their advance). This time around, Faithless get everything bar the retailers’ cut.
In the UK, The Dance is being sold exclusively for a year by iTunes and Tesco. Fiat paid for their latest single’s video and have named a limited run of cars after the song. Music snobs deride Tesco CD purchasers as mindless consumers reaching automatically for the nearest Susan Boyle; a Fiat midrange saloon is a long way from hipsville. Armstrong, however, is unrepentant. “I never want to compromise the music, but once it’s made I want everyone to hear it, because obviously I think it’s brilliant. I’ve always had that philosophy: use every opportunity to get your music to people.”
It’s one thing for established bands like Faithless to cut themselves adrift from the record label system but quite another for a new band. “It’s still very early days,” says Message, “and people can rightly level the criticism, ‘Well it’s alright for Radiohead to do it, but what about the little bands?’.”
Like so many of today’s musicians, Band of Skulls are following radically different business models from that laid down in the days of Elvis
It’s early evening at Glastonbury and we’re off to see a group he’s invested in, Band of Skulls. They’re a three-piece outfit from Southampton playing on one of the smaller stages on the festival’s sprawling site. Positioning himself towards the back of the marquee Message sparks up a cigarette and nods along to the music. He spends as much time observing the audience as the band.
It’s an encouraging sight. The tent is packed with fans punching the air and jumping along to the Band of Skulls’ hard rock. “It’s all very new to us, but sing along if you know it,” says the singer diffidently. The punters oblige. Less diffident when it comes to playing their instruments, the trio end with a cataclysmic guitar-and-drum finale.
Message first saw Band of Skulls play in London in 2008. “We all thought America would love this, it’s great quality rock and roll,” he says. The band were launched in the US last year with a low-budget debut album costing under £20,000 to make, recorded in Radiohead’s Courtyard studio in Oxford. Having attained “traction” (another Message buzzword) in North America, including a song on the second Twilight movie soundtrack, the band are now beginning to get noticed in their homeland, with a headlining date at a 2,200 capacity venue in London next month.
. . .
Still: it’s not exactly A Star Is Born. “What we’re talking about is day to day trench warfare. It’s about winning a fan. It’s about selling 300 albums this week, anywhere in the world,” says Message, speaking a week later at ATC’s London offices. Stripped wooden floors, white walls and large windows convey the open, optimistic air of a start-up. About five staff are working at cluttered desks. A bottle of Bacardi pokes out from the bottom of a drinks cabinet, a memento of the old days of rock and roll.
The manager of one of the Message’s acts, The Duke Spirit, turns up in the offices to play some new songs. “We had to beg, scrape and borrow to get this done,” says Message. There’s not much cash in the Duke Spirit pot right now. A growling guitar riff and cool female vocal fill the room. “It sounds dirtier,” Message comments approvingly. “Classic female-fronted British rock, no reason why it couldn’t be a big global thing.”
ATC spent £1m last year investing in acts and is likely to spend £500,000 this year. By major label standards, these are tiny amounts. A 2007 report estimated the majors spend about 30 per cent of their total revenue discovering, developing and promoting talent. However, the need for chart hits to keep the turnover flowing means acts signed to major labels suffer a harsh failure rate: it’s estimated that as many as nine in 10 don’t turn a profit.
In contrast Message’s operations resemble a cottage industry, treating bands like artisans and trying to find a niche for their products. Band of Skulls drummer Matt Hayward says: “It’s been relentless for the last year and a half.” Following their Glastonbury appearance the band have flown off to tour Australia; then it’s off to Japan; then back to Europe for the rest of the festival season; then it’s time for a European tour. Then it’s back to the studio to record a follow-up to their debut album.
Hayward offers a hard-headed assessment of the hoops a young band must jump through nowadays. Rock romantics should look away now. “You have to look at new ways to make money out of it because people just don’t buy the records like they used to. You need to find new avenues and you can’t be too precious about it anymore.”
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney is the FT’s pop critic
Monday, August 23, 2010
Coldplay Sign Publishing Deal With Universal
via www.rttnews.com
(RTTNews) - Following the buying out of their former label BMG Music, Coldplay have signed a lucrative publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing, though no one from either party is divulging any details. Universal is one of the biggest companies in the music business and signing one of the giants of contemporary music surely cost them a pretty penny.
Rumors are already swirling online about the details of the contract, with one reporter for 411mania calling it "one of the biggest publishing contracts in music history." The U.K.'s the Sun figures the contract to be worth millions for each member of the group.
Universal president Paul Connolly also remarked on the signing, saying, "They've sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and their huge success is entirely deserved. We're obviously very proud."
BBC News - China traffic jam stretches 'nine days, 100km'
via www.bbc.co.uk
A massive traffic jam in China has slowed vehicles to a crawl for a ninth day near Beijing, local media say.
Vehicles, mostly lorries bound for Beijing, are backed up for about 100km (62 miles) because of heavy traffic, road works and break-downs.
The drivers have complained that locals are over-charging them for food and drink while they are stuck.
There has been a boom in road building in China in recent years but vehicle use has soared at the same time.
The stalled traffic stretches between Jining in Inner Mongolia and Huai'an in Hebei province, north-west of Beijing, said the Global Times.
The road works which are obstructing traffic are necessary to repair damage caused by an increase in cargo lorries using the highway, the state-run newspaper said.
They are not expected to be finished until mid-September.
The motorway, part of the Beijing-Tibet expressway, is heavily used by lorries carrying coal from Inner Mongolia.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thom Yorke (Stunningly) Plays (Amazing) New Radiohead Song » MTV Newsroom
via newsroom.mtv.com
As though he predicted that MTV News' James Montgomery would bump his band from the top of the "Best Band in the World" list in favor of Arcade Fire, Thom Yorke went ahead and threw the gauntlet down by unveiling a brand new Radiohead song during a solo gig at the Big Chill Festival in Eastnor, England last week. Yorke spent most of his time at the piano, playing a mix of Radiohead tunes and other entries from his 2006 solo album The Eraser, but he stepped away and picked up an acoustic guitar for a song called "Give Up the Ghost." The song had appeared in Yorke solo sets in the past, but it had never been identified as a full-on Radiohead song until the Big Chill performance.
The song is fantastically moody, haunting and catchy — exactly what a Radiohead song is supposed to be. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Yorke's performance of the tune is the way he pulls it off. He begins by pounding on the microphone with his hand and then looping it to create a beat for himself. Then he sings a bit of melody into the same microphone and loops that. In a matter of seconds, he has an excellently low-fi electronic backing track for himself. From there, he plays guitar and breaks into the main part of the song. Like everything Yorke does, it's simultaneously understated and completely remarkable.
Radiohead have been at work on a new album for most of the year, and "Give Up the Ghost" represents the first new bit of material the world has heard since the one-two punch of "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" and "These Are My Twisted Words."
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Merlinmoon's new toy. 1969 Vintage 24 Channel Neve Germanium 1060 Console.
Merlinmoon purchases his dream console to record his new album. "I love the sound of Germanium Neve preamps, its so smooth!"
Alternatively there is a vintage Neve with 1060 modules [same as 1061 but with alternative eq] in California today, which would go very nicely in the the studio next to the one in the previous post CLASSIC GERMANIUM NEVE MIXING CONSOLE, ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1969. CONTAINS 24 NEVE 1060 INPUT MODULES. HAS A CUSTOM MADE PRODUCERS DESK WHICH HOLDS THE TT PATCH BAY. THE ENIRE CONSOLE IS WIRED TO ELCO CONNECTORS, AND DOES COME WITH SOME BREAKOUT CABLES THAT MATCH. COMES WITH ALL REQUIRED POWER SUPPLIES. This desk has been gone through by two of the bay area's most experienced technicians. It has a custom made 16 channel monitor section, which can be switched to dump into the stereo buss, yeiding 40 channels on remix. A fantastic console by any standards, and a rare one to boot. 20 channels have custom direct out buss amps made with 990 amplifiers and jensen transformers. Custom built console stand. 16 channel meters plus stereo buss meters. The console has 4 group outs plus discrete stereo buss, and 4 aux sends per channel.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
China earthquake bodies burnt on pyres as death toll soars - Times Online
Tibetan monks chanted prayers and lit giant funeral pyres to cremate the bodies of hundreds of victims of last week’s earthquake in western China.
With the official death toll reaching 1,144, and the figure expected to rise sharply with hundreds more still unaccounted for, the crimson-clad monks were forced to abandon their traditional funeral tradition of “sky burials”, in which bodies are left to be devoured by vultures.
“There are not enough vultures for all these bodies,” said a monk at the mass cremation on a mountainside outside Jiegu, the hardest hit town.
Rescue workers continued to pick through the rubble from Wednesday’s 7.1 magnitude quake, on the remote fringes of China’s western Qinghai province, but hopes of finding survivors are fading.
The townspeople are living on the streets, huddled beneath piles of blankets and, for a lucky few, tents. Most homes, largely constructed from wood and mud, have been destroyed. Authorities say 70% of the town’s schools have been flattened, leaving more than 100 children dead.
Tragedy can be found on every street corner. Chengli Dorma, 18, and her sister Liangma, 15, were orphaned by the quake. They watched as a young monk prayed over the body of their mother. The sisters, still wearing their blue and white school uniforms, also lost their father and brother in the disaster.
“We have nobody now,” said Chengli, hugging her sister. A policeman who had helped pull their mother’s body from the wreckage of a collapsed hotel, stood by their side, tears in his eyes, as he appealed to a crowd of onlookers “to do everything you can to look after these girls”.
Their parents had spent the night at the hotel, near the town’s main square, for a business meeting. Scores of staff and guests are still missing, trapped beneath the rubble. It was a scene that was repeated across Yushu county.
There is no electricity, little running water and not enough food. With temperatures on the Tibetan plateau dropping well below zero, conditions are harsh.
The government has stepped up relief efforts. Thousands of soldiers and paramilitary rescue teams, armed with mechanical diggers, movement sensors, heavy cutting equipment and sniffer dogs, have set up camp here. Convoys of army trucks fill the rutted road from Xining, the provincial capital. Military helicopters are bringing in supplies and ferrying out the injured.
They are reported to have pulled out 6,800 survivors alive. One of the most poignant rescues came on Friday, two days after the quake, when a dust-caked Tibetan girl, who looked no older than seven, was pulled from the debris. There were cries of joy as she was rushed to a medical centre in the arms of her rescuer.
Hundreds of monks, carrying spades and pickaxes over their shoulders, came from miles around to help dig out the dead and, when the army allowed them, perform the last rites. Others said they felt compelled to come after hearing about the destruction of Jiegu’s Tranga monastery, in which at least 25 of their fellow monks died.
For many others help came too late. We found Tangke Manse sitting in stunned silence outside the pile of brick and stone that was once his home. “My whole family was at home when the quake struck,” he said. “I managed to escape but everyone else died.” He lost both his children, aged two and one, his wife and his parents. “I’m the only one left now,” he said. “I sleep at the cemetery where my family is buried because I have nowhere else to go.”
Criticism of the military-led rescue is growing. Tsering Pedkar, a 28-year-old English teacher at a Yushu school and a former Reading University student, said the army presence masked an urgent need for basic supplies. “Everyone here is in shock,” she said. “There’s not enough water, food or medical supplies.”
With most of Jiegu’s schools lying in ruins, and the bodies of school children still being pulled from the rubble, criticism of shoddy building work has returned to haunt the Chinese authorities, as it did after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
“Look around you,” said Tsering. “All the government buildings are standing, but the schools have collapsed. In my school alone we've pulled out 28 bodies and there are more under there.”
Yi Ji, a 16-year-old middle school student, said: “Some of our friends have died and seven of our teachers are missing.”
As the dead were cremated yesterday, watched by hundreds of grieving survivors with the vultures circling overhead, the living remain huddled on the streets.
“We’ve got nothing,” said Feng Zhiting, 20, as she sat with seven friends and family inside an improvised tent of plastic sheets. “This is where we live now. We have to find our own food, and get our own water. Who knows how long we’ll be here?”
Iceland volcano sends new tremors, lower ash cloud | Reuters
via www.reuters.com
Ash production had fallen and Iceland's coast guard and scientists prepared to fly over the volcano in search of signs its crater was now producing lava, which could indicate the nature of the eruption was changing.
"The situation is definitely better than it was particularly on Saturday, which was a difficult day for us due to heavy ash fall just south of the volcano," said Urdur Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman at the foreign ministry.
The appearance of lava could suggest the eruption was moving into a less explosive phase, possibly a good sign for thousands of travelers who have been stranded at airport across Europe for the past five days because countries have closed their airspace over safety fears.
"Lava would be good because then we would not get all this ash, and we know what the ash is doing to the flights," Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson, a geologist at the Meteorological Office, told Reuters.
Visibility near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier was almost nil as falling ash saturated the air and covered agricultural fields with a thin layer of dust which could be dangerous to animals if eaten, local media quoted the police as saying.
There was a risk, however, that molten rock could create new pathways for water to run into the crater, causing more explosions and a higher level of ash production.
The ash plume, which has cost airlines millions of dollars per day in lost revenue, had descended to a lower altitude as strong winds continued to push the cloud southward, he said.
"The ash plume is very low. It's not much higher than 2 kilometers," Sveinbjornsson said.
The column of ash rising from the volcano was as high as 11 km when it started erupting earlier last week.
Air traffic over Europe remained severely disrupted on Monday.
(Reporting by Omar Valdimarsson and Mia Shanley; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Volcano Ash Cloud Costs U.S. $650 Million, Group Says - EconWatch - CBS News
via www.cbsnews.com
While the eruption of an Icelandic volcano appears to primarily affect airlines and passengers waiting for flights in and out of Europe to resume, the U.S. Travel Association estimates that the ash cloud produced by the eruption has cost the U.S. economy $650 million, approximately $130 million per day.
That kind of loss to the economy affects the cashflow to fund about 6,000 American jobs, the association said. Every international flight bound for the U.S. is worth an average of $450,000 in spending from travelers, which the association says pays for five jobs per flight.
"While safety must always be the primary consideration, economies, particularly those recovering from recession, cannot afford an overreaction that stifles travel completely," Roger Dow, the association's president and CEO, said in a statement.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Prediction Of Large Earthquake In L.A. Spreads Via Twitter, Email - Los Angeles News - LA Daily
By Dennis Romero, Monday, Apr. 12 2010 @ 2:49PM
Thumbnail image for quake crack sized.png
polyvf via Twipic: http://tweetphoto.com/17203656
It started innocently enough: We received an email from a friend, who said it came from another friend, warning of an imminent earthquake in Los Angeles. "My buddy's wife works at the seismology dept. in L.A. and they called everyone in today and said get your kids out of school and stock up on water because there is going to be a major quake within 24 hours," the original text states.
The only problem is there is no "seismology dept. in L.A.," and, as far as anyone at leading earthquake research centers such as Caltech and the U.S. Geological Survey can safely predict, earthquake prediction will only happen in the future: It's not quite here yet.
As Matt Coker at sister paper OC Weekly points out, the twitterverse is abuzz with such a prediction, which has been sourced back to Luke Thomas, a long-time "quake quack" who says he can tell you when the big one's coming -- and that he has done it before. Except his track record is mixed at best.
His latest mention of Armageddon -- actually his own prediction is much more conservative than some emails and Twitter posts suggest -- states that a 5.0 to 6.5 shaker will rock the Los Angeles region today through Friday.
Of course, Thomas' timing seems to lack some imagination. There was that little 7.2 felt across the entire Southwest on April 4. And a swarm of 17 aftershocks measuring 3.0 and higher hit the Imperial Valley region Sunday. Earthquakes are on everyone's mind.
So we'll prepare, just in case this kook is right: We're buying beer. Plenty of beer.
Tags:
earthquake detection, earthquake prediction, Sierra El Mayor earthquake, Twitter
http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/city-news/quake-prediction-twitter-email/
Monday, April 12, 2010
Jeff Blue - A&R at Warner Bros, CA - Working with Merlinmoon
Jeff Blue is VP of A&R at Warner California. Linkin Park, Beautiful Creatures and Impur are some of the rock acts for whom he is A&R. He previously worked at Zomba Music Publishing, where he signed Limp Bizkit, Korn, Macy Gray, and Linkin Park. Read about how he finds new talent, what he looks for in an artist and much more.
HQ: How did you get started in music biz and what has been the route to becoming an A&R?
I started out as a drummer. I went to UCLA for my undergraduate studies and was in a band there. I was acting and doing commercials, and finally ended up going to law school. I passed the bar but decided that law really wasn’t for me. When I got out, I found out what A&R was, and wanted to break into the business. But because I had a law degree and was a lawyer, nobody would give me a chance. So I decided to become a journalist. I started out with small magazines and ended up within about a year doing freelance writing for publications like Billboard, Hits, Entertainment Weekly, and Music Connection, and writing for my own magazine Crossroads. Everything I wrote was about unsigned artists. I wanted to meet A&R people and have something for them. A lot of the unsigned acts I wrote about ended up breaking, and that’s how I got some attention. At the same time I was performing in, managing, writing for and producing a band, and was an attorney working for a law firm. I ended up gaining a little notoriety that way, because I was all over the place. Eventually I landed a job at Zomba Music Publishing mainly because I had broken some acts through journalism.
HQ: What qualities got you your first A&R appointment?
I think I was extremely driven and very diverse. I could play instruments, knew my way around the studio and wrote music. I also had a legal background and knew how to negotiate deals. I could express myself because I was a journalist, and used to cover music and critique it. I think the qualities that I gained from being a writer and that I learned from experience helped me communicate to other people what was lacking and what was good in their material. I knew how to play, so I could talk to artists and explain ideas and suggestions.
HQ: Which qualities, in your opinion, are necessary to be a successful A&R?
The general experience of getting into a studio and understanding how to write is imperative. I think that’s an experience which is essential in developing the skills for A&R. I guess you could just say, “Hey, I really like or don’t like this song”, but I think it’s really important to have the ability to communicate to an artist what you think is good or not good about it. As an A&R you have to be able to guide an artist, that’s your job, to do that you have to be able to tell them what you recommend and believe works and what doesn’t, what exactly, which note, and be able to discuss that area with them.
HQ: Which are some of the acts you have worked with?
When I was VP of A&R at Zomba Music Publishing between 1995 and ‘99, I signed and developed Macy Gray. She had given up and gone back to Ohio where I tracked her down and convinced her to get back into the music business. I worked on her demos, worked on creating her entire package as an artist, shopped her to a major record label and got her a deal. I also signed Limp Bizkit, Korn and Linkin Park. This was all around 1996 and 1997. I went to Warner brothers in 2000 and the act that I brought in there was Linkin Park.
HQ: Which acts are you currently working on?
I have an act that I will be going to the studio with in about a month. They are called Impur with a line over the 'u’, and they’re a band of 14, 15, 16 and 20-year-olds, and they’re like Metallica meets Incubus meets Linkin Park but heavier. No DJing, no rapping, very melodic and the kids are just phenomenal musicians.
HQ: How were you approached by them?
A friend of mine told me about the drummer who was 11 at the time and said how amazing he was. I ended up hearing a demo that wasn’t very good but because I was right down the street from where they were playing I went up and saw them and was actually very impressed. I made a development deal and have now been working with them for over a year and a half. I’m with them six hours, six days a week. I have them in a rehearsal room right next to Warner Brothers. I spend a lot of time with every one of my bands. For three and a half years, I spent every day with Linkin Park, also in the development process, and I was able to sign them. So all in all I’ve been with Linkin Park for a total of six years now. I’m a big believer in the spending-time way of developing. I have a band called Beautiful Creatures, just released. They are like an old school rock band in the vein of Guns and Roses and AC/DC. I spent a year and a half, every single day, with them, writing and creating a sound that people haven’t heard in a long time and trying to make it special and new. The album just came out and has had a good first week.
HQ: How did Linkin Park come about?
I’ve always had interns working for me. When I was at Zomba Music Publishing I had an intern from UCLA named Brad Delson. He saw me signing Macy Gray and Limp Bizkit. He was a very talkative kid, very self-assured. He told me that he was starting a band and that it was going to be bigger than any of my other bands. He was like a kid brother to me. He gave me some early songs, and I gave him a hard time about them. I went to see his band anyway, the first show they ever did, was really impressed, and offered them a publishing/development deal on the spot. We ended up doing the deal but I couldn’t get the band signed. I went through two bass players and one singer. Almost three years into the band I found Chester Bennington. I was at a music conference and a friend told me about this singer from Phoenix. I was so desperate I called him up when I was in Texas and told him, “I’m sending you the music and the original songs and I want you to sing over them.” It was his birthday, and he said he couldn’t do it, so I promised him that this band was going to be huge and asked him if he could please do this for me. He actually left his birthday party, went into a local studio at night, sang the tracks and sent them back to me the next day. When I received them at my house, I listened to them, thought they were really good, and told the band that I had found their singer. It took a while, they auditioned a lot of people, but eventually Chester managed to get into the band. I was adamant about Chester being in the band. I was totally convinced, so I flew him out on my own dime. I just knew this was the kid. Obviously he is one of the most talented vocalists in the music business. He combined with Mike, Brad, Phoenix, Joe and Rob are just pure talent and have, I believe, a very long career ahead of them.
HQ: How do you find songs and producers for your acts?
Well, I work with a lot of my acts in terms of developing them so the producer is something that I take very seriously. I never really look for songs for the acts but I look for producers who have good song ability. Some of the producers I’ve hired were because we couldn’t get another producer and we were just very lucky. For example with Linkin Park we went through a whole selection of producers and nobody wanted to do it. Don Gilmore was the only one who was really interested, he was the only one available, and he ended up being perfect and doing a phenomenal job on it. So we were very fortunate with some of our decisions, which were made on our gut instinct, and where we didn’t go for the “name” guy.
The most important thing in choosing a producer for me, since I’m a song person, is, I want a producer that’s also a song person so they can check me as well. I’m in the studio every single day and I’m very involved in everything in the record realm and I would like to have somebody as opinionated as I am. Of major importance to me in choosing a producer is their ability to write, play instruments, sing, and consequently their ability to communicate with the artists.
HQ: What proportion of your time do you spend looking for new acts to sign, in comparison with the time you spend dealing with already established acts in your roster?
I spend about seven hours a day with my acts. I spend about an hour in the car or in the office listening to unsigned acts. Sometimes I go out to see shows. I dedicate a lot to the artists I already have, that’s a promise I make to them. When I’m in the studio, it’s 16 hours a day. I go to the office in the morning. I may listen to music, take care of business, e-mails… And I’m on the cell phone the rest of the day. I’m in rehearsal or in studio and people can get hold of me there. I spend more time with the existing acts, but I do have my assistant listen to everything and hand me tapes and CDs at the end of the day.
HQ: How do you find new talent?
Attorneys, managers and friends. To mention just a few: Nick Ferrara, the attorneys from his office, Dany Hayes, Allan Mintz, Todd Rubenstein, Fred Davis, Peter Lewitt and everyone at their offices, Eric Greenspan, David Mantel and many others. There are also lots of managers that I’m very close with, and talk to every day. I also talk to booking agents, and other A&R people. I’ve never taken a band from another A&R ever, so I’m not really a threat to other A&R people. Usually I get an act before anybody’s ever heard of them. Limp Bizkit and Korn came from managers.
HQ: What do you look for in an artist or an act?
I look for believability, honesty and integrity. If it’s sincere and believable then I love it. It could also be really emotional or have attitude. I’ll see through it and you can usually tell the sincerity through the vocals.
HQ: Do you pay attention to things like who the manager is, who the attorney is and who the team is when considering signing a new act?
I do pay attention to who the team is and that’s why I like getting in early because you have the ability to put together a stronger team. I definitely pay attention because one weak link could break the entire chain.
HQ: How sure do you need to be about the available market-space for an act before signing and releasing them?
I’m usually okay with taking a risk with the marketability. If I feel there’s a niche in the marketplace for that, I’ll take my chances. I know that classic rock bands and metal-edged rock bands aren’t in favour right now because of rap/rock, melodic rock and modern rock, but I think the marketplace is looking for something that has traces of the old school of rock in it, so I would be willing to take a chance on that. But I do pay much attention to the marketplace.
HQ: Would you release an act where you love the music but are VERY unsure if it would sell?
Well, what is VERY unsure? I’m always unsure if an act is going to sell because there are no guarantees. Let’s put it this way, with Beautiful Creatures the marketplace is not demanding that style of music. But I am very sure of the talent of the band and of the record, so I am sure that if the elements are right and we come into the marketplace correctly, this band will have a lot of longevity. Okay, it’s a risk and if we miss the marketplace then it could be more difficult, but the band is extremely talented and made a great record. So yes, it’s worth the risk.
HQ: From which people and departments at Warner do you need support before signing an act?
I think Warner Brothers is a very A&R driven company now, especially with Tom Whally at the helm. In regards to the other departments I totally value their opinion and keep them very close to my projects but it is really the A&R person’s vision that must drive the project. I involve everyone at the label in development so they all understand it’s the “labels” project and that everyone has responsibility and deserves the credit for breaking the act.
HQ: What advice would you give unsigned acts on how to approach their music?
Just make sure the songs are believable and honest and also make sure to read the marketplace. Treat the music business as a business even if you’re an artist. It’s a business in which you have to do your research and know the trends as well, but work on the songs first and foremost.
HQ: Would you work with acts from outside the US?
I would be ready to work with acts outside the U.S and producers too. The first band I ever signed when I was at Zomba was called Fat and they were from London, UK, now living in New York. But the record company that signed them didn’t let me have any hands-on with the band so that was very difficult and we didn’t achieve what I was really looking for. They were a very talented band, I was just a publisher and it was my first signing and the record label wouldn’t let me work with them.
HQ: What are the differences in how a record would be made and marketed for a rock act like Linkin Park as compared to a pop act like Backstreet Boys?
There’s the credibility issue. There’s a different kid, a different age group and there’s a different attitude that you’re looking for in the kid. With Linkin Park it’s more about the songs and the live show being real. You’ve got to believe those members on stage and you want to feel the rawness, heaviness and emotion of what they’re doing. You have to market Linkin Park as an honest band with a lot of integrity in the music. A Backstreet Boys band would be more about the individual members, and the songs would not necessarily be honest, but more candy. Half the success of a pop band is the marketability and image of the artist. I like some of the Backstreet Boys’ songs but I would never buy the album. You can tell when the songs have been written by the artist for the most part. Those are the songs I like because they’re more believable, and that’s what my whole point is about: being believable. I like Macy Gray more than I like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston because I believe it more. It’s songs that let you understand where the artist is coming from.
HQ: Do you accept unsolicited material?
I used to, but I don’t have the time anymore.
HQ: Do you think a system modelled after the movie actors’ situation, where acts are free to record for any label, would work?
No. Because I think the label puts millions of dollars into developing a career for an act. Maybe the first record didn’t sell and the label spent two million dollars on it and the second record is the one where the act breaks out. So no. I think that our job is to build a career for an act and that we should be rewarded for that.
HQ: If you could dramatically change some aspect of the music industry, what would you do?
I would want to have albums where the people making them make sure that there are 12 great songs on them and not just the two radio hits.
I would want to have artists that make me feel good, lyrics that have an effect on me, vocalists that are good even though they may be very, very heavy. I don’t like hearing songs where I feel cheated all of a sudden. If there’s a great chorus and a great verse, but there’s a bridge that was put there because they couldn’t think of anything else, that upsets me very much. I like to hear great songs, and great albums.
HQ: What has been the greatest moment of your music career?
I’d say I had one with each band! It’s very emotional when you achieve something that you’ve really worked hard for and all your dreams are realized. The most important thing for me is when you realize that you’re part of a family, and that you’ve all worked for something very hard, and you believe you’ve achieved a very good product as a team, that’s very rewarding.
HQ: What do you see yourself doing in 5-10 years?
Ten years ago I thought I was going to be a miserable attorney. Five years ago, I was dreaming of having a gold album. Three years ago, I didn’t think I would be writing and producing and working in such a creative atmosphere. I don’t know what the future holds. But what I am focusing on now is: creativity, communication with the artist, learning from the record label, learning from the artist, and being part of a team that creates. If that elevates me to a new segment of my career or to a new arena which I may not have thought of, that is rewarding for me. I just hope I’m happy.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Robin Williams Calls Pope Benedict A Nazi On HBO « Yes, But, However!
WASHINGTON, D.C. (YBH.ME) – During the premier broadcast tonight of Robin Williams’ new HBO special, the franticly quick-witted comic referred to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi. The show, entitled “Weapons of Self Destruction,” was filmed in Washington, D.C. in November.
The remark came at around the 1:12 mark of the ninety minute performance. Mr. Williams was doing a bit about the selection of a new Pope after Pope John Paul II died in 2005 and flatly referred to the current Pope as a Nazi. Mr. Williams went on to talk about pedophilia within the church and likened the Pope’s wardrobe to that of late Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
Catholic leadership will most likely have a thing or two to say about Mr. Williams’ remarks if the comment is picked up by large swaths of the media.
Mr. Williams’ HBO special, his fifth for the cable network, is his first after recovering from open heart surgery. During the performance, Mr. Williams also took on Joe Bide
Robert Pattinson to play John Lennon in upcoming film?
via www.examiner.com
Sexy 'Twilight' hunk Robert Pattinson has made no secret of his love for music. But will the musical Brit being portraying one of the most influential musicians of all time?
Rumors are buzzing around the Internet today after a Star Magazine report that Pattinson, 23, is in talks with with director Robert Zemeckis to play legendary Beatle John Lennon in Disney's 3-D remake of the classic cartoon 'Yellow Submarine.'
This could be a huge step for Robert Pattinson who is already establishing a name for himself by playing Edward Cullen in one of the highest grossing movie franchises of all times, 'The Twilight Saga.' Pattinson who choses his roles well also has another movie emerging. 'Remember Me' which is due out in March of 2010 already has fans waiting not so patiently for another dose of Pattinson.
Also in the near future for Pattinson is the fourth installment of the 'Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn,' as well as 'Bel Ami' and western 'Unbound Captives.' Currently Robert Pattinson can be seen in the second installment of the "Twilight Saga, New Moon" which is in theaters now.
Would you like to see Robert Pattinson play John Lennon? Comment below.
Sigur Ros Singer Jonsi Announces Debut Solo Album Details - GIGWISE
via www.gigwise.com
Sigur Ros singer Jonsi Thor Birgisson has unveiled details of his debut solo album.
Simply titled 'Go', the album is released through Parlophone Records on March 22 and is being billed as markedly different to the 2009 instrumental record with his boyfriend Alex Somers 'The Riceboy Sleeps'.
Every track features vocals and the majority is sung entirely in English in what is described as “a bold stride beyond the career-redefining pop of ‘Hoppipolla’ and even the explosive percussive assault of the last album’s ‘Gobbledigook’.”
The nine-track record was co-produced by Jonsi, Alex Somers and Interpol producer Peter Katis in Reykjavik and Tarquin Studios in Connecticut.
The track-listing is as follows:
Go Do
Animal Arithmetic
Tornado
Boy Lilikoi
Sinking Friendships
Kolnidur
Around Us
Grow Till Tall
Hengilas
Jonsi will follow the release of the record with a world tour.
It's A Blue Moon New Year's Eve Party! | Universe Today
Have you enjoyed our lunar studies together this year? We hope you’ve taken the time to follow the phases and to appreciate what you see. Although it would be wonderful to end our this year's time together viewing the distant cosmos, something very cool is about to happen…
In 1982, a second full Moon of the month was visible. Known as a ‘‘Blue Moon,’’ the name does not refer to the Moon’s color but reflects the rarity of the event and gives rise to the expression, ‘‘once in a blue moon.’’ The Blue Moon of 1982 was even more special because a total lunar eclipse also occurred (for the United States) then. The image you see below has a strange significance as well. Not only is it the absolute finest photo of the full Moon I have ever seen, but it was recorded at a year's end, too… on December 22, 1999 by incomparable astrophotographer Rob Gendler. That particular December's Moon was special for another reason, as the full phase occurred on the day of the winter solstice, within hours of lunar perigee and just one month away from a lunar eclipse.
Although there were 41 Blue Moons in the twentieth century, there was one of only four during an eclipse, and the only total eclipse of a Blue Moon in the twentieth century. A Blue Moon happens every 2.7 years because of a disparity between our calendar and the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle is the time it takes for the Moon to revolve around Earth: 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes.
So stay tuned. . . It’s about to happen again.
December’s Full Moon is traditionally known as the Old Moon, or the Moon after Yule. And on New Year's Even we’re going to call it Blue. No matter what it is referred to, it is still a lovely sight to watch it rise in its grey-scale glory and glide across the luminous night sky. But for some lucky viewers in much of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia the Old Blue Moon after Yule will also partially eclipse!
280px-Lunar_eclipse_chart_close-2009Dec31Only a very small portion of the Moon's southern limb will be in the Earth's umbral shadow, but there will be a noticeable darkening visible over the Moon's face at the point of greatest eclipse. Need more? Then know this eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series. The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days. Afterwards it will begin shifting back about 10 days in sequential years. Because of the date change, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.
For the eclipse, the duration of the partial phase will last within two seconds of a hour long, while the penumbral duration from beginning to end will run about four hours and eleven minutes. Penumbral contact will begin at 17:17:08 UT and umbral contact at 18:52:43 UT. The moment of greatest depth of shadow will occur at 19:22:39 UT, 31 December 2009. It will be visible from all of Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
What a wonderful way to end our year together. . . at light speed!
Many thanks to Kostian Iftica for his "Blue Moon" image and to Robert Gendler. Once again, I strongly encourage you to look at the hi-resolution image of "A SkyGazer's Full Moon" and Carpe Noctem, dudes…
Bruce Forgets Where He Is
via www.rttnews.com
(RTTNews) - Not even four decades of experience as a live performer could keep Bruce Springsteen from making a rookie rock star mistake.
At a concert at Michigan's Auburn Hills Palace, the Boss yelled out "Hello, Ohio!"
He continued to refer to the wrong state several times over the next half hour, until E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt whispered to the singer where they were actually playing.
"That's every frontman's nightmare," Springsteen said to the crowd, before going on with the three-hour concert, which included a complete performance of the Born to Run album.
There has been a rash of geographically challenged rock stars lately. Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan reportedly thanked the fans in Chile at a concert about a month ago - though the band was playing in Peru. A rep for the band has denied that he actually said the wrong country.
by RTT Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Wizards, Heart Breakers, Bon Vivants, Pirates and Lovers will gather this coming friday at the House of Blues in Hollywood to share their stories.
Its hard to find a night where you can listen to great music, meet people and talk at the same time. Most of the times bands play too loud and people just come hang out until a band scares them away with their ear piercing sounds. Most of the time the sets are too long, and people are in the mood of listening to variety. Well, we added all this up and we come up with a night, where great artists come to play a few songs around a warm crowd that is open to receive new art. At the same time we welcome everyone to become part of the Tribe and help us support the cause of Generosity Water, an organization that builds wells in places where people don’t have access to clean water. Max Lugavere has been working for an entire year on his new and debut EP, its called "One year later". "Crafting these songs was intensely personal for me, and along the way, I'd realized that the sentiments I was expressing - about relationships that I've had - are common to a lot of people" said Max. The EP was produced by Aaron Tap - guitarist for one of Max's musical heros-turned-friends, Matt Nathanson. Ines Gaviria, two time Grammy nominated Latin artist, after conquering Latin America with her last two albums, decided to move to LA in the search of her true sound. "Its very hard to break the old sound without destroying it" says Ines, I think we are all curious to listen some of her new tunes. Katie Chu, currently studying at USC, has been writing songs most of her life, but only recently she decided to become an artist and tell the world what she feels. Her voice resembles the tone of Alanis Morissette with a glimpse of Marilyn Manson's darkness. Vic Kingsley, lead singer of Westar, has been working in his new EP for a quite a while, influenced by Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams, the direction of Westar's sound its coming to fruition. Daniel Jimenez, Colombian songwriter/artist, during his last show had his crowd on the edge of their sit. Very anxious to record his new album, he has written some very nice English songs with the potential to destroy the charts as well as women’s hearts. Kamikaze Red, fighting hard to bring real rock n roll back. Mick Jagger would be proud of these guys, especially when they sing their song “Machette”. Lauren Tarantino likes hanging out in the hotel café circle. Her music bursts from the her innocence and strong will. She taught herself how to play guitar because she was told that she couldn’t play. “My fear of someday working at Costco motivates me to work harder at songwriting. (No offence to Costco... It’s my favorite place to shop” said lauren. And last but not least, Don’t say, Do. Fresh in the Los Angeles rock n roll scene, gave us the honor to be part of their debut performance. Working on their songs as we speak, getting ready to show us what they represent. Now that your curiosity is bursting into flames, take the time to google and myspace these great artists, so you can sing along with them this Friday night at the House of Blues. The night is hosted by Merlinmoon, announcing the upcoming acoustic EP "Stoned by Wood" mixed by multiple Grammy award winner Rafa Sardina. “We’ll perform some songs from the first album in a totally naked acoustic arrangement, and some new songs that represent the evolution of our message, we are also tempted to play a cover, still thinking about it though, it has to be a special one”.
Line up:
MERLINMOON (headliner)
Ines Gaviria - http://www.myspace.com/inesgaviria
Westar - 10pm
Daniel Jimenez
Katie Chu
Max Lugavere - 9pm
Kamikaze Red
Lauren Tarantino
Dont Say, Do - 8pm
VOODOO LOUNGE
8430 SUNSET BLVD
WEST HOLLYWOOD
CA 90069
FRIDAY APRIL 9TH
$5 COVER (DONATED TO GW)
GENEROSITY WATER
This organization builds
wells in places where people
dont have access to clean
drinking water
www.generositywater.org
The Collective Magazine - BLOG - Great Music and a Great Cause!
via www.thecollectivemagazine.com
Friday Night The House of Blues teams up with nine great artists for an acoustic night to support Generosity Water, an organization that has been able to fund the creation 108 water wells in 16 countries in the last 2 years. Hope to see you there.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sonoma State Star - Alex Deep talks “Merlinmoon”
Up and coming musician discusses his journey and his vision
By JOSETTE CANILAO
Published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Alex Deep 1
skratchmagazine.com
Merlinmoon is the indie, psychedelic rock creation of 27 year old, Venezuelan musician Alex Deep, and has been taking the college scene by storm for the past five years.
Inspired by the works of Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin and various others, Deep, a former business major at Boston University, resolved to abandon that career path and pursue a life of creating music.
After college and a year long trip exploring various parts of the world, he drew on his experiences and subsequent insights to create the music of his rock alter ego Merlinmoon; the result of which is his first and, currently only album, “Stoned By Dreams.”
“I have been a big fan of music all of my life,” said Deep, explaining how he chose music as the means to express his literary musings. As a DJ in Venezuela, Deep could not find any songs he wanted to play. This prompted him to first consider the type of music he craved and to ultimately create it.
“Rainy day music, for people to think, relax and enjoy a bottle of wine,” is how Deep describes his music. His goal is to evoke a very specific ambiance for his listeners. Deep hopes his sounds will cause a meditative feel, a triggering of the unconscious wrapped in the comfort of relaxation.
The foundation of his musical aesthetic is built upon his poetry.
“My background comes from my poetry. I put sounds to my poems. Every song I write has a purpose and my mission is to make that purpose very clear. I write lyrics so that they make sense, so that people understand what I am talking about.”
For Deep, the meaning of his music is in the effectiveness and comprehension of his constructed lyrics. The actual music, therefore, he insists on forming around the words. This method of creation is the reason why he has no definitive band to support and help him create songs.
He confesses that he has had a hard time finding musicians to support his poetry and not overpower it. This struggle to create a band was resolved by his publicists who convinced him to get this idea of having a band out of your head. You are Merlinmoon.” He, since, has decided to carry Merlinmoon solo.
Deep, however, has settled with friends as band mates who execute and sometimes aid his musical goals. But he is still the sole creator and controller of his sound. Apart from being lead vocals to Merlinmoon, he has learned to play the guitar and piano.
“I hope to get to a level where I can call myself a true musician. And I am getting better and better each day. It is the beautiful process of growth.”
Currently, Deep is in the process of creating a second album he predicts will be titled “Bohemian Side of the Sky.” This album incorporates his past experiences of love, friendship, passion into the construct of a story. Each song will be a vital component to an overall narrative.
“If you take out one song, the whole meaning will not make sense.”
He is also in talks with theater producers about a possible rock opera going along with his ideas for his next album. This is being debated alongside another possibility to, instead, tour after releasing the second album.
Deep has also released versions of five songs from “Stoned By Dreams” and done them acoustically, compiling them into “Stoned By Wood.” This compilation is meant to highlight the lyrics to better understand the words; which might be drowned out by the distraction of their originals’ electronic sounds.
Lyrics and his listeners are Deep’s main concern. His aim is to authentically “build an atmosphere” with each song so the audience can: “interpret it your way and make it your song.” He pushes himself to be vocal so as to communicate his overall message.
“Defy your unconscious. Free the chains in your mind. Be yourself, but try to be someone.”
Deep’s point of view in all respects of his music-making contributes to the sound he is so proud of and so consistently pursues. Merlinmoon can be visited via internet on Facebook and at their web site: http://www.merlinmoon.com/.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Merlinmoon: Massaging minds with music | Daily Sundial
via sundial.csun.edu
By Contributor
Kelly Moreno, contributing reporter
Front man Alex Deep of Merlinmoon says he aspires to create songs that have an intimate connection between the listener and their discovery of true happiness. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Jimenez.
Alex Deep, lead singer of the new band Merlinmoon, found his love for music while he was a DJ. His talents as a DJ had not gone unnoticed, however, he found that lyric-less music didn’t provide him the proper outlet for his music aspirations.
Kelly Moreno, contributing reporter
“As a DJ I wasn’t satisfied with the music I was playing because I couldn’t find the music I wanted to play, so I decided to make my own,” said Deep.
After learning some cords on the guitar, and mixing in some piano, “the stars aligned…” and he had found his calling.
Deep’s main inspiration for the creation of his songs was to create an intimate connection between the listener and their discovery of true happiness.
“I use music to massage people’s minds so the lyrics can find a place to tattoo themselves inside their conscious,” he said.
The origin of the name Merlinmoon goes back several years. While Deep was going through some personal problems, and struggling to find his muse, a wizard made his way into Deep’s dreams.
Merlin, or the wizard, gave Deep instructions on what he should do, and take each of the problems that he faced at the time and use them as inspiration. As the problems that Deep faced had begun to disappear, the wizard did as well—and in memoriam the song “Stoned by Dreams” was written.
Although Deep was never inspired by his parents to become a musician, he found solace in music. And although he enjoyed listening to all genres from classic rock to reggae, it never connected with him.
Instead, it taught him how to “put music to my poetry and how to build a mood, where my message flows into people’s lives,” he said.
Several music styles can be found in Merlinmoon’s hit single, “Yesterday’s Gone”—which is currently making a large impact in college crowds. “Yesterday’s Gone” has a few hints of Pink Floyd, but has a very unique approach to the arrangement; with inclusions of piano and guitar solos, and haunting harmonies.
The song definitely displays Deep’s talent and passion for music making. This hit was written after he had spent the last night with the love of his life. The corresponding music video has also received positive reviews.
Merlinmoon’s debut album, “Stoned by Dreams,” can be found on iTunes, and a second album is in the works.
The second album, which contains acoustic versions of some of their songs from their debut album, has just been produced. Entitled “Stoned by Wood,” this album has been recorded using completely vintage 1940s instruments.
“Can’t wait to share it with the world” Deep said toward the production of the vintage acoustic EP.
Merlinmoon is planning for a tour for the west coast area. They are scheduled to perform March 24 at Skinny’s Lounge located at 4923 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601.
Monday, March 08, 2010
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Thursday, March 04, 2010
Merlinmoon: How To Get ‘Stoned By Dreams’ « Delirious Tremors
Alex Deep, the man behind Merlinmoon, was going to school in Boston when his best friend died in terrible motorcycle accident and the cold hand of reality slapped him in the face. He recognized that his life was no going in the direction he wanted and a change was necessary. Against the advice of family and friends he left his studies and decided to pursue his dream of a career in music.
He left everything behind and decided to travel and see the world hitting Mexico City, New York, Miami, Rome and London while writing a book on his own philosophy and making demos.
During this time Deep was frustrated and felt like he was getting nowhere. He was also getting flack from his family and friends for abandoning his studies and felt that maybe following his dreams was a bad decision. It was when he felt the most down that he would have this reoccurring dream:
“I had this dream about this wizard that would pop out of the ocean and fly up to the moon and he would tell me what I should do. He would tell me that I was talented and not to give up and that I should do this and that. I would get frustrated and put all my equipment up on eBay and then the next day after the dream I would wake up and find more energy to keep fighting. I started writing this poem for the song “Stoned By Dreams” and I saw Merlin reflected in the water with the moon and so I ended up naming the band that. It’s in honor of the little wizard that was helping me out.”
With the guidance from his magical muse, Deep was able to wake up and find the strength to bring his dreams to fruition. He found it easier to communicate his feelings from within his soul and thus the album Stoned By Dreams came to fruition. In the album Deep takes listeners through a gamut of human emotion, from desire to struggle, in a psychedelic journey – sans psychadelics. He explains that the album title is meant to communicate a natural high he gets from his music.
“I have tried a few of them [drugs] a while ago and I am kind of a lightweight. I try to stay away from it for the most part. I remember I was having this conversation with my brother’s wife and she was telling me that she was very impressed with the way I was just living life and my way of seeing the world and expressing myself emotionally – it’s like what people experience when they do drugs and when they drink alcohol. They get to the level I am at naturally…she made me understand that I live life being stoned from my dreams.”
Influenced by classic artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, The Beatles and Bob Marley, Merlinmoon spins 70’s style rock into long flowing jams of melancholy that crescendo into guitar solos and lasting up to 15 minutes. At live shows Merlinmoon typically opens with singles from Stoned By Dreams then goes into improvised jams supported with poetic lyrics of philosophy and lessons learned.
Deep is currently working on a five-song EP that will be known as Stoned By Wood. It’s a selection of songs played completely acoustically. Computers were left aside during production and everything that was electric was analog. Nearing the final stages, this next work from Merlinmoon will be available in spring or early summer.
~ by Skyler on February 25, 2010.
Friday, February 19, 2010
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Facebook | Merlinmoon : Spin Cycle @ Trip : Santa Monica : Feb 4th
via www.facebook.com
8pm: The In Sound
9pm: Black Charro
10pm: MERLINMOON (Headliner)
11pm: Whiskey Saints
12am: Mike Blumberg
$5 cover charge at the door
www.myspace.com/spincycletrip
http://blog.merlinmoon.com
www.merlinmoon.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 8:00pm
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 1:00am
2101 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund | Home
via www.clintonbushhaitifund.org
Support the Earthquake Recovery Efforts in Haiti
On January 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti just outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The devastation – in lives lost, property destroyed, and families displaced – is immense.
At the request of President Obama, we are partnering to help the Haitian people reclaim their country and rebuild their lives.
Our immediate priority is to save lives. The critical needs in Haiti are great, but they are also simple: food, water, shelter, and first-aid supplies. The best way concerned citizens can help is to donate funds that will go directly to supplying these material needs.
Through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, we will work to provide immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors. We will channel the collective goodwill around the globe to help the people of Haiti rebuild their cities, their neighborhoods, and their families.
We ask each of you to give what you can to help ensure the people of Haiti can build back stronger and better than ever.
Both of us have personally witnessed the tremendous generosity and goodwill of the American people and of our friends around the world to help in times of great need. There is no greater rallying cry for our common humanity than witnessing our neighbors in distress. And, like any good neighbor, we have an obligation and desire to come to their aid.
Thank you for taking the time to visit, and we hope you will donate to this worthwhile cause. The people of Haiti now need our assistance more than ever.
President William J. Clinton
President George W. Bush
haiti after the earthquake photo: Getty Images Bookmark and Share
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues - CNN.com
via edition.cnn.com
(CNN) -- James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.
"I wasn't depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ," Baghdassarian said. "But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don't have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed."
A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.
read more at cnn.com
Friday, January 08, 2010
Merlinmoon Casts A Spell Over iTunes With Their Debut CD Release Stoned By Dreams @ Top40-Charts.com - 40 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 25 Countries
via top40-charts.com
Los Angeles, CA. (Top40 Charts/ 19 Angels Records) - Multi-instrumentalist psychedelic rock artist Merlinmoon releases his debut album, Stoned by Dreams, today on iTunes. The album's sound suggests the intersection of the psychedelic rock of the Grateful Dead and Porcupine Tree with a **** Latin edge. Mastermind Alex Deep, the man behind Merlinmoon, has crafted a work that synthesizes his two loves - the music of 70s rock and electronica and spiritually-based philosophy - into a cohesive whole that echoes the best aspects of his influences.
After moving to Los Angeles following the completion of his first EP, Poppy Dreams, Merlinmoon commenced work on his full-length debut with accomplished producer Ronan Chris Murphy.
The result is the epic Stoned By Dreams, which mines the stars for inspiration. The music is psychedelic-electro-rock to be performed in arenas for fans that listen to albums through headphones.
The opus of the album, closing track 'Days of Rage Into the Light,' which clocks in at nearly 20 minutes, is layered deeply with sounds reminiscent of Pink Floyd that are sobered by Merlinmoon's philosophy, before an upbeat coda returns the song to a celebratory climax. One can picture Deep as a whirling dervish onstage, hypnotizing the audience into following his path. Elsewhere, Deep showcases his songwriting versatility - tracks such as 'If I Could Be the Wind,' 'Fall Into Place,' and 'Under Next Year's Sun' deal with love and loss with traditional song structure. The themes may be familiar to fans of classic rock, but the direction that Merlinmoon takes the songs is more cerebral. He wants you to listen to the philosophy in his lyrics as well as the guitar solos and lush instrumentation that round out the music, all of which is always recorded in analog on vintage gear to capture the magic of '70s rock.
'This record has a great equilibrium between my philosophy and my life,' says Deep. 'I know what I want to listen to in a record, and I don't want the record to be talking about the same thing because it would be like a day without a night.'
Merlinmoon is already in pre-production for a sophomore effort; explains Deep, 'I have so much energy that I can't stop writing.' The band will be touring the record, with dates to be announced soon. With Stoned by Dreams, Merlinmoon welcomes you to come along and experience his adventure of epic psychedelic tunes with melodies that inspire in a whole new way.
www.myspace.com/merlinmoon
www.merlinmoon.com
Monday, January 04, 2010
The Daily Swarm - Bono Weighs in on Copyright Control in The New York Times...
Caution! The only thing protecting the movie and TV industries from the fate that has befallen music and indeed the newspaper business is the size of the files. The immutable laws of bandwidth tell us we’re just a few years away from being able to download an entire season of “24” in 24 seconds. Many will expect to get it free.
A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators — in this case, the young, fledgling songwriters who can’t live off ticket and T-shirt sales like the least sympathetic among us — and the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business.
We’re the post office, they tell us; who knows what’s in the brown-paper packages? But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content. Perhaps movie moguls will succeed where musicians and their moguls have failed so far, and rally America to defend the most creative economy in the world, where music, film, TV and video games help to account for nearly 4 percent of gross domestic product. Note to self: Don’t get over-rewarded rock stars on this bully pulpit, or famous actors; find the next Cole Porter, if he/she hasn’t already left to write jingles.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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