blog the casbah

BLOG THE CASBAH: TIME OUT

2010-07-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to say that I won't be posting here for the time being. Coming up with content for 3 blogs (without relying heavily on the ol' cut & paste) was getting to be tres difficult. I had hidden this blog for a while but decided to open it up again for those who wanted to check out the Sunday Morning Call archives.

Enjoy!

And now, some Estonian animation...

BLOG THE CASBAH: Colorado town energized to go off electric grid

2010-04-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

FOWLER, Colo. (AP) - Like many a town on the Eastern Plains, this farming community has seen better days, but now it has a new plan. It is going to disappear - from the electric grid. If all the town's plans - and there are many - come to pass, Fowler will generate its own electricity, biofuel and manure-based gas; and an empty canning plant will turn into a new solar-panel factory.

Read the entire story...

Credit: 9NEWS.com

I am interested to see how this works out. It could be a template for other communities across North America. According to Wikipedia, the population of Fowler was 1200 in 2000. I live in a town with about 4800 people...I'd love to see us try something like this.

BLOG THE CASBAH: Alternative Radio - David Suzuki - Betraying Nature

2010-04-22T15:32:00.001-04:00

Dr. Suzuki gave an excellent talk last April. You can get the mp3 direct from Alternative Radio for $5.00 by clicking here. Listen for free at CJAM by clicking here.

A synopsis...

Our planet and its people are in peril. Diminishing fresh water supplies, destruction of forests, polluted air, species extinction at an unparalleled rate, and a toxic petrochemical environment are all clear signals that things are going seriously haywire. And climate change, the impacts of which are already evidenced at an accelerating pace, threatens environmental devastation on an almost incomprehensible scale. Rising sea levels will overwhelm island states, low lying countries such as Bangladesh, and many of the coastal areas where the world's population is concentrated. Climate change will bring more disease outbreaks, including new diseases and variants of existing ones for which there is no treatment. Changing weather patterns will leave many populated regions with too little rain to sustain agriculture. Existing environmental problems will worsen severely unless focused and rapid steps are taken to reverse the practices that are causing them.

BLOG THE CASBAH: Double Down by the Numbers - Unhealthiest Sandwich Ever?

2010-04-19T19:19:00.001-04:00

Go read this article. As bad as it looks, the DD (Double Down) is far from the worst of the bunch. Mmmmm...greasy.

FiveThirtyEight: Double Down by the Numbers: Unhealthiest Sandwich Ever?

BLOG THE CASBAH: BILL C-311 (CLIMATE CHANGE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT)

2010-04-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

A summary of Bill C-311 from the Government of Canada website --

The purpose of this enactment is to ensure that Canada meets its global climate change obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing to a long-term target to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions to a level that is 80% below the 1990 level by the year 2050, and by establishing interim targets for the period 2015 to 2045. It creates an obligation on the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to review proposed measures to meet the targets and submit a report to Parliament.

It also sets out the duties of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

The entire bill can be seen here.

TAKE ACTION!

- Please contact Members of Parliament. Ask your MP to support Bill C-311 to take action on climate change. Even better, you can visit your MP. Call your MP's constituency office to set up a meeting. http://www.parl.gc.ca/.

- Call or email the following Liberal MPs. During a crucial vote last October, Michael Ignatieff and the majority of Liberals voted with the Conservatives to delay passage of Bill C-311.

* Michael Ignatieff (Opposition Leader), IgnatM@parl.gc.ca, (613) 995-9364, (416) 251-5510
* David McGuinty (Environment and Energy), McGuiDa@parl.gc.ca, (613) 992-3269, (613) 990-8640
* Francis Scarpaleggia (Member of the Environment Committee), ScarpF@parl.gc.ca, (613) 995-8281, (514) 695-6661
* Justin Trudeau (Member of the Environment Committee), Trudeau.J@parl.gc.ca, (613) 995-8872, (514) 277-6020
* Hon. Bob Rae (Foreign Affairs), RaeB@parl.gc.ca, (613) 992-5234, (416) 954-2222
* Hon. Carolyn Bennett (Health), BenneC@parl.gc.ca, (613) 995-9666, (416) 952-3990
* Marc Garneau (Industry, Science and Technology), Garneau.M@parl.gc.ca, (613) 996-7267, (514) 283-2013
* Hon. Geoff Regan (Natural Resources), ReganG@parl.gc.ca, (613) 996-3085, (902) 426-2217
* Martha Hall Findlay (Public Works and Government Services), HallM@parl.gc.ca, (613) 992-4964, (416) 223-2858
* Hon. Larry Bagnell (Arctic Issues and Northern Development), BagneLL@parl.gc.ca, (613) 995-9368, (867) 668-6565
* Gerard Kennedy (Infrastructure, Communities and Cities), Kennedy.G@parl.gc.ca, (613) 992-2936, (416) 769-5072
* Hon. Gerry Byrne (Fisheries and Oceans Critic), ByrneG@parl.gc.ca, (613) 996-5511, (709) 637-4540

View the complete list here:
http://www.liberal.ca/en/team/critics

- Download this profile pic:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3986306&l=cd30cb640a&id=513599219

- Join the following events and groups on Facebook:

Save Bill C-311 / Sauver le Projet de loi C-311
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111646015524829

Save Canada's Climate Bill!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=107530802617338

SAVE BILL C-311! SAUVER LE PROJET DE LOI C-311!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113062605387570

Stop Climate Chaos - Canada
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5775162577

Climate Action Network Canada
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Climate-Action-Network-Canada/59355549371

Sierra Club Canada
http://www.facebook.com/sierraclubcanada

- Pass this message on to your friends.

----------

[SAMPLE LETTER TO MPs]

I am writing to ask you to support the swift passage of Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act.

Bill C-311 would ensure that Canada does its fair share to prevent dangerous climate change. It would set national greenhouse gas emission targets, following recommendations from the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Canadians want our country to play a leadership role. We need to take action to prevent the dangerous impacts of climate change – droughts, famines, water shortages, devastating hurricanes and mass extinctions of many of the world's plant and animal species.

I am asking that all parties work together to pass the Climate Change Accountability Act as soon as possible. For the sake of the environment and future generations, we need to take action now.

Sincerely,

[your name and address]

BLOG THE CASBAH: SOMETHING NEW (DAS BΪKE)

2010-04-02T18:38:00.000-04:00

Change changing places, root yourself to the ground. Read all about it at DAS BΪKE!

BLOG THE CASBAH: BEAUTY AND THE BIKE

2010-04-01T16:49:00.002-04:00

A nice little short...

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 03/28/10 -- THE CURE 'TRILOGY'

2010-03-28T10:31:00.005-04:00

Some folks may have forgotten about The Cure in recent years. They have, however, released 3 excellent records in the last decade -- Bloodflowers, The Cure & 4:13 Dream -- as well as 2 DVDs; Festival 2005 and, the subject of today's Call, Trilogy.

Simply put, the band decided to perform (in their entirety) the 3 records that have come to be known as their 'Dark Trilogy' -- Pornography, Disintegration & Bloodflowers. The results were recorded to DVD and then ripped to mp3.

Here is the Wiki entry...

The Cure: Trilogy is a double live album video by The Cure, released on two double layer DVD-9 discs, and later on a single Blu-Ray disc. It documents The Trilogy Concerts, in which the three albums, Pornography (1982), Disintegration (1989) and Bloodflowers (2000) were played live in their entirety one after the other each night, the songs being played in the order in which they appeared on the albums. Trilogy was recorded on two consecutive nights, 11–12 November 2002, at the Tempodrom arena in Berlin. A third, previous Trilogy concert in Brussels on 7 November was not used.

Robert Smith is quoted on the sleeve about the "trilogy" concept and its eventual execution:

"The albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers are inextricably linked in so many ways, and the realisation of this Trilogy show is one of the highlights of my time in The Cure."

Smith began arranging the concerts days after seeing David Bowie's Heathen Tour concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 29 June 2002, when Bowie played 10 of the 11 Low tracks consecutively (though not in album order), and the whole of the Heathen album in order. It was, said Smith, "the best I'd seen him on stage for years and years".^[1]

The two DVDs feature a letterboxed 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound or regular PCM stereo. Two interviews with the band are also included, though one is hidden and requires the specific manipulation of a DVD player's remote control to be accessed. Another hidden feature is the "mic cam", a camera mounted on Smith's microphone pole which, when accessed with the angle control buttons, shows him in a fish-eye view, singing.

The band's line-up for this production was Smith (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass guitar), Simon Gallup (4- and 6-string bass guitars), Perry Bamonte (guitar, 6-string bass, keyboards), Jason Cooper (drums, percussion) and Roger O'Donnell (keyboards, percussion). The songs performed were written by the band members, and, in the case of the first two albums, by former members Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst, Porl Thompson and Boris Williams.

The first DVD contains the Pornography and Disintegration sets, and the second consists of the Bloodflowers set, a short encore—"If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" and "The Kiss" from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)—and both interviews. Robert said that the two extra songs were included as a preview of "what was to come" in future Cure releases, despite later saying that the Trilogy concerts were supposed to be the Cure's swan song, though Smith has been notorious for saying such things in the past, usually coinciding with the release of new albums. In the two Trilogy shows at the Tempodrom a second encore was performed consisting of "M", "Play For Today" and "A Forest" the first night, and the same plus "Grinding Halt" and "Boys Don't Cry" the second night.

On the web...

The Cure Official Site

Chain of Flowers (news, rumors, minutiae about The Cure)

For whatever reason, the file names did not upload to the Grooveshark widget. Here's the tracklist in order:

1. "100 Seconds" (intro)

"Pornography"

2. "One Hundred Years"
3. "A Short Term Effect"
4. "The Hanging Garden"
5. "Siamese Twins"
6. "The Figurehead"
7. "A Strange Day"
8. "Cold"
9. "Pornography"

"Disintegration"

10. "Plainsong"
11. "Pictures of You"
12. "Closedown"
13. "Lovesong"
14. "Last Dance"
15. "Lullaby"
16. "Fascination Street"
17. "Prayers for Rain"
18. "The Same Deep Water as You"
19. "Disintegration"
20. "Homesick"
21. "Untitled"

"Bloodflowers"

"Out of This World"
"Watching Me Fall"
"Where the Birds Always Sing"
"Maybe Someday"
"The Last Day of Summer"
"There Is No If..."
"The Loudest Sound"
"39"
"Bloodflowers"

Encore section

10. "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep"
11. "The Kiss"

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 03/21/10 -- THE WATERBOYS 'THIS IS THE SEA'

2010-03-21T08:47:00.003-04:00

One of my favourite of all-time. This Is The Sea is, to me, a perfect storm of rock, folk and spirit. This record was (and continues to be) a touchstone...one of those pillars that seems to have always been there and to which I can return at any time. The Waterboys continue to make excellent records but none can match This Is The Sea in its significance.

From Wiki:

This Is the Sea is the third and last of The Waterboys' "Big Music" albums. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound,^[1] described as "epic" and "a defining moment",^[2] it was the first Waterboys album to enter the United Kingdom charts, peaking at number thirty-seven. Steve Wickham was not on this album but joined the band to tour it and for the video of "The Whole Of The Moon". This Is the Sea is the last album with contributions from Karl Wallinger, who left the group to form his own band, World Party.

Mike Scott, the album's principal songwriter and leader of The Waterboys, describes This Is the Sea as "the record on which I achieved all my youthful musical ambitions",^[3] "the final, fully realised expression of the early Waterboys sound", influenced by The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, and Steve Reich.^[4] The album was recorded between March and July 1985, and released that October (see 1985 in music). A remastered and expanded version was released in 2004. This Is the Sea contains the best-selling Waterboys single, the song "The Whole of the Moon". The album cover is a photograph taken by Lynn Goldsmith.

Production history

Scott began writing songs for This Is the Sea in the spring of 1984, beginning with the song "Trumpets". Scott recalls that in December 1984 "during The Waterboys' first American tour, [he] bought two huge hard-bound books... in which to assemble [his] new songs"^[4] For the following two months Scott worked on the songs in his apartment, writing the lyrics, and working on guitar and piano arrangements. Scott wrote between thirty-five and forty songs, but felt that the nine songs that made it onto the album "were the ones that were intended to be there".^[4] The first song from the album to be played live was "Trumpets", on April 10, 1984.^[5]

The first recording session for This Is the Sea began in March 1985 at Park Gates Studio in Hastings, England. Band members Scott, Anthony Thistlethwaite, Karl Wallinger, Kevin Wilkinson, and Roddy Lorimer performed the new material. Wallinger's home studio heard demo recordings for a number of the album's songs. Some of the recordings, like the ones of the last two albums, are relatively untouched by studio engineering. On other recordings, however, Scott added a drum machine and layered the sound,^[6] using a studio technique similar to that of the famous record producer Phil Spector, with help from Wallinger. "Having Karl [Wallinger] in the studio", writes Scott, "was like having a one-man orchestra around. There might have been a This Is the Sea without him, but it wouldn't have been the same -- or as good".^[4] (Nonetheless, it was Wallinger's second and last appearance on a Waterboys' album.)

The recording sessions continued through June. By July, Wickham, after an invitation from Scott, entered the studio with the band to add his fiddle to "The Pan Within". Produced from the original sessions at Park Gates Studio, along with recordings from Livingston Studios in London, Amazon in Liverpool, Seaview, and The Townhouse Studio, among others, the album was released in October. Peter Anderson, writing in Record Collector, describes Scott as "completely at home in the studio" and writes that Scott "spared nothing on" This Is the Sea.^[7]

A remastered version was released in 2004, with a second CD of material from the album's singles, and unreleased tracks from the This Is the Sea recording sessions.

Album promotion

This Is the Sea was promoted heavily and made it to number thirty-seven on the Top Forty album chart in the UK. Neither of the two preceding albums had charted in the Top Forty.

The album was followed by tours in the United Kingdom, and in North America as the headliners. Sinéad O'Connor made her United Kingdom live debut as a backup singer on "The Big Music" at a concert at the London Town and Country Club. In December, The Waterboys joined the band Simple Minds for a European tour. During the three major tours, the band's lineup began to change, and the album received more exposure than its two predecessors.^[6] Mike Scott, however, in a decision that expressed the values he had written about when authoring punk rock fanzines, refused to promote the album and the single for "The Whole of the Moon" on Top of the Pops because he would not lip sync, a requirement on the show.^[7]

Music video

Meiert Avis directed the video for "the Whole of the Moon", using visionary lighting elements based on Helprin's "Winter's Tale" and his memories of a 1962 theatrical production of Charles Kingsley's '"The Water Babies". Avis addressed Scott's aversion to lip syncing, by shooting the visuals for "The Whole of the Moon" while capturing a unique live audio performance of the single. Avis later used this technique on several videos with Bruce Springsteen, who shares Scott's aversion.^{[citation needed]}

^{Song details}

Themes of the album include spirituality ("Spirit", "The Pan Within"), romantic love ("Trumpets"), and English politics ("Old England"). Michael Tucker, in an article entitled "The Body Electric: The Shamanic Spirit in Twentieth Century Music", lists This Is the Sea as an example of shamanistic themes in twentieth-century Western music.^[8] Irish musician Bono includes the album on his "top ten" list, noting "In rock, the word 'poet' gets thrown around a lot. Not here..."^[9]

"Don't Bang the Drum", the lyrics of which encourage environmentalism, was released as a single in Germany, with a song titled "Ways of Men" as the b-side. The first draft of the song's music was written by Wallinger. Scott reworked the arrangement, changing its rhythm and "feel", but Wallinger's melody and chords were preserved.^[4]

"The Whole of the Moon", one of The Waterboys' best-known songs and their most commercially successful, was first released as a twelve-inch single, and reached number twenty-eight on the United Kingdom singles chart. The single also contained a live recording of "The Girl in the Swing", from The Waterboys, the band's first album, an extended mix of "Spirit", and a song titled "Medicine Jack". The latter two appear on the second disc of the album's re-release. When the single was reissued in 1990, it reached number 3, and was awarded the Ivor Novello Award in 1991.^[2] Including the 2004 remastered album, the song has been officially released four times.

The song began as a "scribble on the back of an envelope on a wintry New York street",^[4] after Scott's girlfriend asked him if it was difficult to write a song,^[10] and was unfinished at the beginning of the recording sessions, eventually being completed in May 1985.^[4] The song, like The Waterboys' first single "A Girl Called Johnny" is a tribute to an inspirational figure. In each line, the singer describes his own perspective and immediately contrasts it with that of the song's subject, summarizing the difference with the line "I saw the crescent / You saw the whole of the moon". "You saw Brigadoon", one of these contrasts, refers to a fictional village that exists only one day every century (from the musical of the same name).

The subject of the song has inspired some speculation. Musician Nikki Sudden, with whom Scott had collaborated before forming The Waterboys, said that Scott told Max Edie, the backup singer for "The Whole of the Moon", that the song was written about Sudden.^[11] Allmusic instead suggests that its subject is actually a number of people who inspired Scott, including Christian writer C. S. Lewis and the musician Prince.^[12] Scott himself says that he "couldn't have written" the song without having read Mark Helprin's novel Winter's Tale, but goes on to state that the song is not about Helprin.^[4] The official Waterboys website's Frequently Asked Questions clarifies that Scott has said that the song's subject is "a composite of many people", including C. S. Lewis, but explicitly states that it is not about Prince.^[13]

A feature of "The Whole of the Moon" is the trumpet work on the recording, courtesy of the classically-trained Lorimer. Lorimer spent three days with Scott working on the song's arrangement. According to Lorimer, he "went home with a tape of the song and thought about a more classical approach. After a while sitting at the piano I came up with the idea of antiphonal trumpets. A piccolo trumpet on the left answered a piccolo on the right and then the same again, growing by adding a Bb trumpet below each side of the stereo picture. Mike [Scott] loved it, except the slightly jazzy chords I had used on the run down at the very end, which he simplified. I used the same classical approach later in the song, mixing two classical-type trumpets behind a later verse."^[14] Lorimer also contributes falsetto background vocals to the song, while Thistlethwaite, another brass section member, performs a saxophone solo near the end.

"The Whole of the Moon" was covered by Jennifer Warnes on her 1992 album The Hunter, by Mandy Moore on her 2003 album Coverage, by the band Human Drama on the compilation album New Wave Goes to Hell and by folk singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey on his 1995 release Rapture. It has also appeared on numerous other compilations.^[12]

"Spirit", a song praising the resilience of the human spirit, originally appeared on a short, one-and-a-half minute version. A full four-minute version of the song was released on the 2004 remastered disc.

The lyrics of "The Pan Within" are partly derived from meditation techniques ("Close your eyes / Breathe slow / And we'll begin"). It was the first of two Waterboys songs about the Ancient Greek god Pan, which have been played as a medley at Waterboys concerts. Scott describes the song's guitar solo as "[consisting] of a series of phrases or lines/melodies that generally build in an order (which may change), though which includes a lot of improvisation which is different each night. The lines have never been 'tabbed' or written down... The song is in Aminor (the chords under the solo are F - Em - Am - Am repeated)".^[15] The second Pan song, "The Return of Pan", appears on the album Dream Harder. "The Pan Within" is the first Waterboys song to feature Wickham's fiddle playing. It was selected as one of DWXB-FM's Hits of 1986.

An alternative version of "Medicine Bow" was released as a single in Germany, with an instrumental version of "Don't Bang the Drum" for the seven-inch. The twelve-inch contained another mix of "Medicine Bow" and "Ways of Men". Scott writes that he invented the name, and was unaware of Medicine Bow, Wyoming.^[4] The album's re-release contains a "full length" version of the song that contains an instrumental "piano storm - from first sonic droplets of rain to final crashing thunder and lightning" performed by Adrian Johnston.^[4]

"Old England" is a criticism of Thatcherism, blaming Margaret Thatcher's economic policies for what Scott perceived to be an increase in desperation amongst the young and poor in the England of that time, and a rise in drug addiction, specifically to heroin. The refrain, "Old England is dying" is a quote from James Joyce, and the lines "You're asking what makes me sigh now / What it is makes me shudder so" are from W.B. Yeats' poem, "Mad as the Mist and Snow". The Clash, one of the bands that had inspired Scott during his punk music phase, released "This Is England", a song with a similar theme, as a single the same year. Scott and The Waterboys would move to Ireland the following year.

"Trumpets", a love song, was the first song written for the album, in the spring of 1984,^[4] and the first song from the album to be performed live. It quotes from "I'm Only Sleeping", a recording by The Beatles.

The title track, the last song on the original release, has a slower tempo than most of the other arrangements. Scott notes that he wrote over twenty verses for the song, some of which wound up included on the "alter ego" of "This Is the Sea", "That Was the River", which was released in 1994 on The Secret Life of the Waterboys.^[4] The song "This Is the Sea" was first performed in Worcester on December 2, 1984,^[5] and a longer version than would eventually appear on the album, was played at a benefit concert for miners in February 1985.^[6] The subject of the lyrics is conflicted about their present ("You've got a war in your head / And it's tearing you up inside"), and nostalgic for a past clarity ("And you know you once held the key"). The speaker instead argues that the past is irrelevant ("But that was the river / This is the sea)".

Those additional tracks on the re-release that are not alternative versions of songs originally appearing on the album were recorded in the same recording sessions.

The Waterboys Official Site

The Waterboys on MySpace

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 03/14/10 -- THE B-52's 'WILD PLANET'

2010-03-14T10:19:00.003-04:00

And a good morning to you on this spring forward Sunday. After skipping last week's Call, I have decided to change things up a little bit. Beginning today, I'll focus on a particular album, not just an artist. I have found that, with some artists, I could make playlists that have 40-50 songs. Even then, I would still feel as though I had left some out. Since nobody has that kind of time, I think the 'classic album' format might be better. I might even throw some compilations in there as well. Who knows?

As always, I'll throw in some comments, links and a photo or two. I'll cut and paste from Wikipedia and add b-sides/live tracks where available.

This week we visit Athens, GA. The year is 1980. The album is the 2nd by The B-52's: 'Wild Planet'.

My friends and I played the hell out of this record (a big 'hey' to Mike, Donald & Craig from Rogers PS, if you're out there). I remember AC/DC's 'Back In Black' and Bowie's 'Scary Monsters' being in heavy rotation as well. A diverse group, we.

Anyway, here's what Wiki has to say...

Wild Planet is the second studio album by the The B-52's, released in 1980. The album has a slightly more psychedelic and even paranoid sound than their first. Wild Planet also contains the band's first experiments using electronic drum machines.

As with their first album, The B-52's traveled to the Bahamas to record Wild Planet. Several of the songs from the album had been concert staples since 1977 but were omitted from the first album by choice of the producer, Chris Blackwell. More emphasis was put on production for Wild Planet with the tracks having a more slick feeling. It was fairly well received by critics, most of whom regarded it as a strong second album following the success of their first. Wild Planet was quickly certified gold.

The B-52's Official Site

BLOG THE CASBAH: FOOD, INC.

2010-03-12T15:08:00.002-05:00

Just watched it this afternoon. Makes a very strong case for locavores and vegetarians. Very inspiring. Invest the 90 minutes and watch the film.

Here's the trailer...

Official site

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 02/28/10 -- THE CARS

2010-02-28T11:29:00.004-05:00

Like most, I first heard The Cars on their 1978 self-titled debut. It seemed then (as now) that every song could have been a single. I bought every subsequent Cars record, stopping with Heartbeat City. The one after Heartbeat City, Door To Door, was (I think) their last. It was also terrible. I bought a couple of Ric O's solo records and they were pretty good. If you can find Beatitude, I suggest picking it up.

I saw The Cars live at Excruciating Stadium for the Heartbeat City tour (support act: Wang Chung) and it was an excellent show. It was also one of the loudest I've ever attended.

Here's their Wiki entry...

The Cars were an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of singerand rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson. The band originated from Boston, Massachusetts, and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977.

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flower in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone described The Cars' musical style by saying: "they have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."^[1]

The band broke up in 1988, and Ocasek has always discouraged talk of a reunion since then, flatly telling one interviewer in 1997 "I'm saying never and you can count on that."^[2] Easton and Hawkes, however, joined with Todd Rundgren in 2005 to form a spin-off band, The New Cars, which performs classic Cars and Rundgren songs alongside new material.

Early years

Before The Cars, the members of the band began coming together in several early forms. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr were the first to meet, at a party in Columbus, Ohio, and they began performing as a duo, covering rock 'n roll classics as well as performing their own material. They refused to perform the Top 40 hits club owners expected to hear from a young band. After deciding that Boston would be a better place to break into the music business, Ocasek and Orr relocated there. It was there that they met Greg Hawkes, who had studied at the Berklee School of Music, and the three, along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, combined to form a folk band called Milkwood. They released an album titled How's the Weather on the Paramount label in 1973 that failed to chart.

After Milkwood, Ocasek and Orr formed the group Richard and the Rabbits (with drummer Thomas Tapley), whose name was suggested by Jonathan Richman. They were a local club band for a while. Soon after, Hawkes temporarily left Ocasek and Orr and joined up with groups including Orphan, a soft-rock band, and Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture, a musical comedy act in which he played a variety of instruments. Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr then performed as an acoustic duo called simply Ocasek and Orr at the Idler coffeehouse in Cambridge. Some of the songs they played became the underlying music in early Cars songs.

Later, Ocasek and Orr teamed up with future Cars guitarist Elliot Easton (who had also studied at Berklee) in the band Cap'n Swing. Though they were slowly becoming more experienced musicians, Cap'n Swing still had a long way to go before developing a professional image. Record labels were turned off by the band because they said they looked "too weird." Cap'n Swing also featured drummer Kevin Robichaud and a jazzy bass player, which clashed with Ocasek's more rock and roll leanings. Benjamin Orr acted as frontman, did not play an instrument, and sang the bulk of Cap'n Swing's demos. Ocasek soon got rid of the bass player, the keyboardist, and the drummer and decided to form a band that better fit his style of writing. Since one of the major complaints from the major record labels was that Ben Orr didn't do anything except stand there and sing, they decided he should hold something, thus he took over bass guitar duties. Kevin Robichaud was replaced by David Robinson. Robinson said that he should really have a regular job instead, and that the Cars would be his last band. Best known for his career with the Modern Lovers, Robinson had also played in DMZ and the Pop! It was Robinson who came up with the name "The Cars," which led to automobile-related puns. Ocasek said of the name, "It's so easy to spell; it doesn't have a 'z' on the end; it's real authentic. It's pop art, in a sense."

[edit]Peak years

The band spent the winter of 1976–77 playing throughout New England, developing, honing, and ultimately perfecting the songs that would become their debut album. They shortly thereafter caught the attention of Maxanne Sartori, a local DJ on the Boston radio station WBCN, who began playing their demo of "Just What I Needed." By virtue of that airplay, the band was signed to Elektra Records. "Just What I Needed" would turn out to be the first single from the band’s debut album, The Cars, released in 1978 and reaching #18 on the Billboard Top LP's & Tapes chart. "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Good Times Roll" soon followed, charting on the Billboard Hot 100. The band commissioned famed Playboy artist Alberto Vargas to design the sexy illustration for the cover of their second album, Candy-O, released in 1979. Hits from that album included "Let’s Go", "It’s All I Can Do" and "Dangerous Type."

A more experimental album, Panorama, was released in 1980, charting only one Top 40 hit with "Touch and Go". Rolling Stone described the album as "an out-and-out drag". In 1981, the Cars purchased Intermedia Studios in Boston, renaming it Syncro Sound.^[3] The only Cars album recorded there was Shake It Up. It was their first album to spawn a top 10 single with the title track, and had another hit in "Since You’re Gone". Following their 1982 tour, the Cars took a short break and went to work on solo projects, with Ric Ocasek and Greg Hawkes both releasing their debut albums (Beatitude and Niagara Falls, respectively).

The Cars re-united and released their most successful album, Heartbeat City, in 1984. The first single, "You Might Think", helped The Cars win Video of the Year at the first MTV Video Music Awards. Other hit singles from the album included "Magic", "Hello Again", and "Why Can’t I Have You". Their most successful single, "Drive", gained particular notability when it was used in a video of the Ethiopian famine prepared by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and introduced by David Bowie at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London.

Break-up and solo careers

After the resulting period of superstardom and another hit single, "Tonight She Comes", a #7 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and a #1 hit on theBillboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart (their last #1), from their Greatest Hits, the Cars took time off again to pursue solo projects. Elliot Easton and Benjamin Orr released their debut albums (Change No Change and The Lace, respectively), while Ric Ocasek released his second solo album, This Side of Paradise. In 1987, the Cars released their last album, Door to Door. It contained their last major international hit, "You Are the Girl", but the album failed to approach the success of their previous albums. They announced the group's breakup in February 1988.

In the late 1990s, rumors circulated of a Cars reunion, with no results. However, in 1995 Rhino Records released a 2-CD set Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, containing all the group's hits mixed with rarities (demos, non-album b-sides). They followed up with the releases of The Cars: Deluxe Edition (1999), their debut album in 2-CD format, and Complete Greatest Hits.

Ocasek continues to perform as a solo artist, having released over seven studio albums. David Robinson has retired from music and spends most of his time with his restaurant. In 2005, Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes combined their talents with Todd Rundgren, Prairie Prince (The Tubes, Utopia), and Kasim Sulton (Utopia, Meat Loaf) in a revamped lineup, The New Cars, to perform classic Cars songs along with selections from Rundgren's solo work and some new original material. Sometime in the mid-90's, Orr recorded tracks with guitarist John Kalishes for an unreleased follow-up to The Lace. From 1998 until his death in October 2000, he performed with three bands, including his own band "ORR", The Voices of Classic Rock, and Big People.

Recently, the band's first album was released for the popular video game, Rock Band.

The Cars at MySpace

BLOG THE CASBAH: IN BLOOM

2010-02-25T06:52:00.002-05:00

Launch of the Bloom box fuel cell generates a slice of Apple hype

Alok Jha in San Francisco
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 February 2010 20.17 GMT

Inventor KR Sridhar hugs California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the "Bloom Box" launch at eBay headquarters in Silicon Valley Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Not every company can boast Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell and the heads of Google and Walmart at its launch. Even more unlikely, the firm in question makes what some may regard as a less than sexy clean energy device.

But such was the razzmatazz that accompanied the unveiling of Bloom Energy's eagerly awaited "energy server" today at the California headquarters of one if its first customers, eBay.

A mini power station containing fuel cells that can run on anything from natural gas to the more renewable stuff, Bloom's device has received the level of hype in Silicon Valley normally reserved for a new product from Apple.

For the past week, newspapers and websites have been filled with rumours about Bloom boxes, as the devices have been nicknamed, invented by former Nasa scientist KR Sridhar.

Fuel cells, which convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity by an electrochemical process, are a promising source of energy while emitting less CO² and other pollutants, as well as being much more efficient, than burning. But most modern designs use expensive materials, such as platinum, or corrosive chemicals that shorten their lifespan.

At the heart of Sridhar's device is a thin fuel cell made from a plentiful resource, sand. The size of a floppy disk, it is painted with proprietary inks that allow the fuels to react with oxygen from the air, a chemical process that produces electricity.

According to Sridhar, a single cell can produce about 25W, enough for a low-energy lightbulb, and a stack of cells the size of a brick will power an average home. A single Bloom box, a unit the size of a chest freezer and which contains several stacks of fuel cells, will produce 100KW, enough for 100 homes.

"Compared to the US national grid, this is about twice as efficient," said Sridhar. "So your carbon footprint is about half. If you use a renewable fuel, you're carbon neutral." Sridhar has spent eight years developing the fuel cells and has already sold the first units: the first customer was Google, which uses a Bloom box at its headquarters.

"Bloom fuel cells are powering a portion of Google's energy needs at our headquarters here in Mountain View — this is another on-site renewable energy source that we're exploring to help power our facilities," said Jamie Yood, a Google spokesman.

"We have a 400kW installation on Google's main campus. Over the first 18 months the project has had 98% availability and delivered 3.8 million kWh of electricity."

Other customers include Walmart, Federal Express and Coca Cola. The former US secretary of state, Colin Powell, sits on the board and Bloom has received $400m from venture capitalists.

Not everyone has been converted. Richard Miller, an innovation platform leader at the UK's Technology Strategy Board, said Bloom Energy had yet to provide data to allow a fully informed decision on the value of its technology. "Certainly, fuel cells are a hot prospect, but to make them a reality you have to make them reliable and perhaps this is what Bloom have done? Perhaps it's an engineering breakthrough? But there are already fuel cells on the market and for the home, notably from Ceres Power in the UK. I look forward to finding out more about Bloom Energy's product."

Keith Pullen, co-director of the centre for energy and the environment at City University in London, said: "Although Bloom Energy cites four advantages over existing technology – low material costs, high efficiency, multiple fuel sources and reversibility – these are attributes that all fuel cell developers seek to achieve. So, whether the technology is worthy of the hype will depend on further data emerging through future testing and deployments."

He added that, in niche markets such as off-grid power, fuel cells can now out perform other generator types, including internal combustion engines. "But this depends on the power demand being steady, as well as the unit size being a minor concern. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Bloom Energy can move the technology away from these smaller markets and scale it to meet the more rigorous demands of business and domestic users."

Martin McAdam of renewable energy company Aquamarine Power was more sceptical. He said living off-grid with the Bloom Box would still require an infrastructure to move the fuels around. "It still produces CO2 – it may be more efficient but that's the question that needs to be asked, how much CO2 is emitted per MWh? If it's using natural gas, it's no different to a gas power station, even if it is more efficient."

So far, the Bloom Boxes cost around $700,000 but this is expected to fall as more of the units are built at commercial scale. Sridhar said that customers with should expect to see a payback time of 3-5 years through electricity. And he already has plans for the future boxes in the home. "In a few years, how we will use it is as a home energy server of the future - it simply has a solar panel and [Bloom Box], it will provide electricity day and night and also charge your automobile, you don't need a grid. This is a product of the future, a decade or so away."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

BLOG THE CASBAH: Climate 'tipping points' may arrive without warning, says top forecaster

2010-02-24T22:03:00.001-05:00

Climate 'tipping points' may arrive without warning, says top forecaster

ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2010) — A new University of California, Davis, study by a top ecological forecaster says it is harder than experts thought to predict when sudden shifts in Earth's natural systems will occur -- a worrisome finding for scientists trying to identify the tipping points that could push climate change into an irreparable global disaster.

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 02/21/10 -- SUGAR

2010-02-21T09:43:00.002-05:00

Liked Husker Du, like Bob Mould solo. My favourite part of his catalog, however, has to be SUGAR. Just 3 guys with great tunes, making lots of noise. Here's more from the mighty Wiki...

Sugar was an American alternative rock band of the early 1990s led by vocalist/guitarist Bob Mould (former Hüsker Dü) alongside bassist David Barbe (ex-Mercyland) and drummer Malcolm Travis (ex-Zulus/ ex-Human Sexual Response).

Mould envisioned Sugar as a similar musical venture to Hüsker Dü except with him writing all the songs and calling all the shots. Their sound was more radio-friendly than that of Hüsker Dü, though with similarly dark and introspective undertones.

Their first live show was February 20, 1992, at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA, after a few weeks warming up in R.E.M.'s downtown practice space. It was a "secret" show, not advertised in the local media, bumping Athens band Roosevelt from headliner to opener. Word got out and the club was packed.

Later in 1992, the band released the album Copper Blue, which was named Album Of The Year 1992 by the NME. The following year they released Beaster, an EP of darker material recorded during the Copper Blue sessions. The single "If I Can't Change Your Mind" was a moderate UK hit.

After a first abortive attempt to record a second full-length album, the band regrouped and recorded File Under: Easy Listening quickly in the spring of 1994 and released it that fall.This album reached number 7 in the U.K. album charts.

A B-side collection, Besides, followed in 1995. Mould broke the band up later that year because Barbe wished to spend more time with his growing family and expand his solo career. Travis then took over the drumming slot in the band Kustomized.

Bob Mould's official site

BLOG THE CASBAH: EARTH HOUR 2010

2010-02-16T18:42:00.001-05:00

http://wwf.ca/earthhour/

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 02/14/10 -- NEVA DINOVA

2010-02-14T11:53:00.003-05:00

Wikified --

Neva Dinova is an indie band from Omaha, Nebraska. Neva Dinova is named after the grandmother of lead singer Jake Bellows. They have been on crank! a record company (though their second release was licensed to Sidecho Records), and have recorded a split-release with Bright Eyes entitled "One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels" that was also released on crank! a record company. In April 2008, Neva Dinova released their first album from Saddle Creek Records entitled, "You May Already Be Dreaming". Drummer Roger Lewis is also the drummer for fellow Saddle Creek band, The Good Life. Jake Bellows remained a key associate with Bright Eyes in 2006 and 2007 and contributed to the album Cassadaga.

Saddle Creek records is planning to re-release Neva Dinova's earlier albums.

Neva Dinova's music is a mix of folk, psychedelia, rock, acoustic, and country, their sound is difficult to classify. They are known from having small scale, but intimate live shows.

In a 2007 interview Conor Oberst revealed that his favorite album to record was One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels with Neva Dinova, and proceeds to talk about them.

Saddle Creek Records

Neva Dinova MySpace

They Shoot Music Don't They?

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 02/07/10 -- THE BOOMTOWN RATS

2010-02-07T10:41:00.003-05:00

Apologies for missing last Sunday while in Toronto. Let's get into it...

From Wikipedia...

All six members were originally from Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.^[1] Formed under the name "The Nightlife Thugs," the group agreed on the name change to the "Boomtown Rats" after a gang that Geldof read about in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, Bound for Glory.^[1] They became a notable band, but one whose accomplishments were overshadowed by the charity work offrontman Bob Geldof, a former journalist with the NME magazine.^[2]

The group moved to London in October 1976, and became associated with the punk rock movement.^[1] Signing a recording contract with Ensign Records, they released their debut single, "Looking After No.1", in August 1977.^[1] It was the first of nine straight singles to make the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.^[1]^[3] Their debut album, The Boomtown Rats, was released in September 1977, on Ensign in the UK and on Mercury Records in the United States, and featured another single, "Mary of the 4th Form".^[1] As music journalist, Martin C. Strong noted, "Geldof's moody charisma helped to give the band a distinct identity".^[2]

The Rats' second album, A Tonic for the Troops, appeared in June 1978 in the UK.^[1] It featured three hit singles, "Like Clockwork", "She's So Modern" and "Rat Trap". A Tonic for the Troops was released in the U.S. on Columbia in February 1979, with two tracks from The Boomtown Rats substituted for tracks on the UK version.^[1] Mutt Lange produced^[3] "Rat Trap", which became the first rock song by an Irish band to reach #1 in the UK, and the first of any description by an Irish band to top the official chart used by the BBC. (The Bachelors had topped the Record Retailer chart in 1964 with "Diane", but only reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart). In addition, "Rat Trap" was also the first new wave song to claim the number one spot.^[3]^[4]

In 1979, "I Don't Like Mondays", was released.^[1] This was written in response to a school shooting in California by Brenda Ann Spencer, and also reached #1 in the UK.^[3] It was a worldwide hit, with the glaring exception being the United States.^[5] Fears of lawsuits and charges of bad taste kept radio stations there from playing the record.^[5] The unofficial boycott was frontpage news in Variety Magazine, the only time the Boomtown Rats earned such prominent coverage.^[5] However, it was included in The Fine Art of Surfacing, the band's third album, and subsequently became the band's only U.S. Billboard Hot 100 entry.^[1] The album also contained "Diamond Smiles" and their next Top 10 hit in the UK, "Someone's Looking at You".^[1]Geldof and Fingers became the visual and musical focus of the group: Geldof with his articulate, caustic wit - which made him the delight of television talk show presenters and the bitter enemy of music journalists - and Fingers with the striped pyjamas he wore onstage.^[6]

In 1980 "Banana Republic" was released, which was their last Top 10 hit, and in the following year The Boomtown Rats next studio album Mondo Bongo was issued.^[1] "Banana Republic" savaged their native Ireland, the "septic isle screaming in a suffering sea", according to the Guinness Rockopedia^[6]

[edit]Cott's departure

At this point, guitarist Gerry Cott left the group. According to Bob Geldof's autobiography, Is That It?, Cott had grown disillusioned with the band's growing laziness in the studio and their greater reggae emphasis, in addition to being bullied by the rest of the band for his dissention.

He resigned the day before the end of their 1981 world tour, only hours after the rest of the band had decided to sack him for refusing to join the rest of the band and road crew, for a drink to celebrate Simon Crowe's birthday.

Cott had a short-lived solo career, releasing two UK singles, "The Ballad of the Lone Ranger" and "Pioneers" and the 1984 Canadian single "Alphabet Town".

[edit]V Deep

They continued as a quintet with the band's fifth album, V Deep, being released in February 1982.^[1] The first single Never In A Million Years being sold in a blank sleeve without the band's name on it with the result many did not know of the single's release - but also they'd alienated a large part of their early punk/new wave fan base by their switch to a more reggae and funk orientated sound (a fate befalling many punk/new wave bands that dabbled in the same way, such as The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers). 'House on Fire' made number 24 in the UK singles charts.

By 1984, they were touring universities after becoming unable to fund the "guarantee" required to book mainstream concert halls, having fallen victim to a demand from Inland Revenue for unpaid taxes thanks to the mismanagement of their manager Fachtna O'Kelly (who was subsequently fired).^{[citation needed]}

In January 1985, the band's sixth and final album In the Long Grass was released, although delayed by the band's involvement with Band Aid (on which they all played); and, the band performed at Live Aid's charity performance.^[1] Two singles, "Tonight" and "Drag Me Down" reached the lower rungs of the UK Singles Charts, whilst "A Hold Of Me" failed to chart.

[edit]Dave became Rain in the U.S.

"Dave" was re-recorded as "Rain" for the U.S. market, due to complaints from their record label about the lyrics being misconstrued as homoerotic.^{[citation needed]}. In fact, the song was about the band's saxophone player and schooldays friend Dr David McHale (died 2009), who had suffered a breakdown after his girlfriend was found dead in a public toilet next to an empty heroin bag.^[7]

The Rain metaphor in the altered lyrics namechecks Duran Duran's earlier song "Hold Back The Rain", where Geldof's old friend Simon Le Bon pleads with an unnamed band member to cease dabbling with narcotics.

[edit]Boomtown Rats split

After this, the band was mothballed whilst Geldof wound up his affairs with the Band Aid Trust, during which time Geldof succeeded in getting the band a one album deal with Vertigo Records, however both Crowe and Fingers refused to rejoin the Boomtown Rats full time, preferring to pursue their own band, Gung Ho.

The band's final performance came at Self Aid, a 1986 concert featuring many Irish rock stars, to raise awareness of unemployment in Ireland.^[6] Their penultimate performance, "Joey's On the Street Again", was 12 minutes long with an extended bridge, during which time Geldof ran amongst the crowd. Following this performance, Geldof addressed the crowd, saying, "It's been a great ten years; rest in peace". The band then performed "Looking After No.1".

Following the band's break-up, Geldof launched a solo career with Pete Briquette continuing to work alongside him. Garry Roberts co-wrote songs for Kirsty McColl before going to work first in insurance, and then in boiler maintenance.

After Gung Ho, split, Fingers became a highly successful music producer in Japan, as well as being part of the Japanese band, Greengate. Simon Crowe is in the West Country basedCeltic instrumental band, Jiggerypipery and also ran a clock making business.

In 2005 the band's albums were all remastered and re-released and a 'Best Of' compilation was released, along with two DVDs. Briquette mixed the live DVD and Francesco Cameli mixed the extra tracks for the re-release of the Boomtown Rats albums at Sphere Studios in London.

[edit]The Rats

In 2008 Roberts and Crowe re-formed as 'The Rats', playing their favourite Boomtown Rats songs. The band was fronted by Peter Barton, who has a long history stretching from the 1980s, of latterly fronting former famous acts, including The Animals, The Hollies and Lieutenant Pigeon.^[8] Darren Beale played lead guitar, whilst saxophone player, Andy Hamilton, who had toured and recorded with The Boomtown Rats, including at Live Aid, played as a guest at some gigs.

Both Cott and Fingers were invited to rejoin the band when circumstances allow. Cott attended The Boomtown Rats' second gig (at The 100 Club on Oxford Street, London). Fingers meanwhile works for the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, but plans to join the band on stage when he is in the UK.

On 21 June 2009, Geldof, Roberts, and Briquette got together in Dublin to play "Dave", at the wake for the Boomtown Rats backing saxophonist, Dave McHale, who had died of cancer. "Dave" was a song Geldof wrote for McHale in 1983, after the latter's girlfriend died from a heroin overdose.

Boomtown Rats official site

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 01/24/10 -- PETER GABRIEL

2010-01-24T09:35:00.003-05:00

In addition to the nice bio from PG's official site (below), I blogged about him in February 2008. That post can be read here.

Peter Gabriel has earned a worldwide reputation for his innovative work as a musician, writer and video maker. When at school he co-founded the group Genesis, which he left in 1975. His albums, live performance and videos since then have won him a succession of awards.

In 1980 he collected a group of people together to found WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance). In a series of international festivals, starting in 1982, WOMAD has brought together traditional and modern music, arts and dance from every corner of the globe. In 1993 WOMAD joined Gabriel's group of companies, based next to Real World Studios.

Gabriel has released eleven solo albums and in 1986, his album 'So' won him his first Grammy. The videos from this project confirmed him as a leader in video production and included 'Sledgehammer', which has won the most music video awards ever, including number one position in 'Rolling Stones' top 100 videos of all time and the MTV most played video of all time.

Shortly afterwards he established Real World Studios in Wiltshire, designed as an ideal environment for performance. It also became the base for Real World Records, a label which is dedicated to recording and promoting a wide range of different artists from all over the world.

In addition, Gabriel has been involved in a wide spectrum of human rights and environmental issues. His song 'Biko' was the first pop song which talked about the effects of apartheid, and in 1988 and 1990 he was involved in the Nelson Mandela concerts at Wembley. In 1988 he worked with Amnesty International to set up the Human Rights Now! tour, and toured many countries with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Tracey Chapman and Youssou N'Dour.

Following this, Gabriel co-founded WITNESS (www.witness.org), which was launched in 1992 in conjunction with the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in the USA. The organisation arms human rights activists from around the world with hand held video cameras, computers and communication technology so they can document and put an end to human rights abuses. To date, WITNESS has supplied hundreds of cameras to over fifty countries, provided video testimony to human rights commissions and international peace-keeping agencies and had its work shown on television stations around the world. WITNESS also broadcasts monthly "Rights Alerts" - powerful video calls to action - on www.witness.org, which receives over 1.3 million hits each month. In 1989 Gabriel visited the USSR to help launch Greenpeace there, and also contributed to the 'One World, One Voice' album, a collaborative album, which featured artists from all over the world. Gabriel was asked by Alan Parker in 1984 to write the score for the film 'Birdy', which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1989 he composed the sound track for Martin Scorsese's epic film 'The Last Temptation of Christ' which was the basis for one of his most experimental and innovative albums, 'Passion'. This album, which involved an extraordinary selection of musicians and singers, tried to integrate many very different styles of music. It was the inspiration behind the BBC's specialist radio programme, 'Mixing It'.

For the release of his tenth album, 'US', in 1992 he commissioned eleven artists to interpret the individual songs on his album. The individual works of art were featured at the British Contemporary Art exhibition in 1993 and also in a special exhibition in Japan. 'US' earned him four Grammy nominations and two MTV Awards in the US and a BRIT and Q Award in the UK. The fourth single, 'Kiss That Frog', was the starting point for the creation of the world's first motion video ride, entitled 'The Mindblender'. Developed in association with Mega in the US, 'The Mindblender' toured the USA and proved to be a popular mix of ride-motion, film and music.

April 1993 was the start of the "Secret World Tour". Produced by Gabriel and pioneering Canadian director/designer, Robert Le Page, the show blended Le Page's visionary style of theatre with personal songs focused on relationships. It was seen by over a million fans in five continents and toured for eighteen months. In November 1993 the show was filmed and recorded in Modena, Italy by Francois Girard, and in August 1994 "Peter Gabriel Secret World Live", the double live album and video, was released.

In 1993 Gabriel set up Real World Multimedia and brought together a team of experts dedicated to developing, producing and publishing innovative CD-ROMs and pushing new technology to its limits. RWMM launched a series of multimedia titles, which went on to win many awards across the world, including the coveted Milia d'Or, two BAFTAS, the 1994 BIMA Award, the Sparky from the Interactive Media Festival and four awards at the Digital Media Awards. Among these titles were 'Ceremony of Innocence' and Gabriel's CD-ROMs 'XPLORA', 'EVE'. In 1996 Radio Real World became the official web site focusing on Real World and Gabriel.

At the end of 1997 Gabriel was invited by Mark Fisher to help create a show for the central space of the London Millennium Dome. 1998 was spent brainstorming ideas on the narrative and visual concept. In 1999, whilst continuing to be involved with the show's development, Gabriel composed the music. The show was opened on January 1st 2000. An album of this music, entitled OVO, was released on Real World/Virgin Records on June 5th.

In 2000, Gabriel co-founded and became board member of OD2 (On Demand Distribution), which is now the leading European platform provider for the distribution of on line music. This business was acquired in 2004 by Loudeye of Seattle, Washington.

In 2002 Gabriel completed the soundtrack to Philip Noyce's film 'Rabbit Proof Fence', entitled 'Long Walk Home', and released his studio album 'UP' on 23rd September 2002. Following the release of 'UP', Gabriel worked on his 'Growing Up' tour, again collaborating with the theatrical director Robert Lepage. The tour took him to the USA and through Europe, finishing in June 2003. In November 2003 a DVD of the 'Growing UP' tour was released, and also a compilation album 'Hit'.

From April to July 2004, Gabriel took his show, this time called 'Still Growing Up', on the road again around Europe. Later in 2004 the DVD 'Play' was released, a collection of 25 of Gabriel's videos, including new versions and extras, the music remixed in 5:1 by Daniel Lanois and Richard Chappell.

On July 2nd 2005 Peter Gabriel, WOMAD and the Eden project put together 'Africa Calling' as part of the Live 8 concerts. This featured performances from leading African and World Music artists at the Eden Project in Cornwall. It was one of ten concerts held around the world under the Live 8 banner in support of the campaign to Make Poverty History. The DVD of this concert is to be released on Monday 3rd October in the UK and 1st November in the USA.

On October 31st in the UK the DVD of 'Still Growing Up Live' was released. This two disc set featured both a full length concert - filmed and edited by Hamish Hamillton - and a feature length documentary filmed by Anna Gabriel, who followed her father on tour gaining unique access.

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 01/17/10 -- THE POLICE

2010-01-17T10:17:00.004-05:00

From VH1.com...

Nominally, the Police were punk rock, but that's only in the loosest sense of the term. The trio's nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky, but it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were considerably more technically proficient than

the average punk or new wave band. Andy Summers had a precise guitar attack that created dense, interlocking waves of sounds and effects. Stewart Copeland could play polyrhythms effortlessly. And Sting, with his high, keening voice, was capable of constructing infectiously catchy pop songs. While they weren't punk, the Police certainly demonstrated that the punk spirit could have a future in pop music. As their career progressed, the Police grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing, and by 1983, they were the most popular rock & roll band in the world. Though they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the band to splinter apart in 1984, with Sting picking up the majority of the band's audience to become an international superstar.

Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed the Police in 1977. Prior to the band's formation, Copeland, the son of a CIA agent, had attended college in California, before he moved to England and joined the progressive rock band Curved Air. Sting was a teacher and a ditch digger who played in jazz-rock bands, including Last Exit, on the side. The two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a progressive pop band with guitarist Henri Padovani. For the first few months, the group played local London pubs. Soon, they were hired to appear as a bleached-blonde punk band in a chewing gum commercial. While the commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine punkers. Late in 1977, the band released its first single, "Fall Out," on IRS, an independent label Stewart Copeland founded with his brother Miles, who was also the manager of the Police. The single was a sizable hit for an independent release, selling about 70,000 copies.

Padovani was replaced by Andy Summers, a veteran of the British Invasion, following the release of "Fall Out." Summers had previous played with Eric Burdon's second lineup of the Animals, the Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, the Kevin Ayers Band, and Neil Sedaka. The Police signed with A&M by the spring of 1978, committing to a contract that gave the group a higher royalty rate in lieu of a large advance. A&M released "Roxanne" in the spring of 1978, but it failed to chart. The Police set out on a tour of America in the summer of 1978 without any record to support, traveling across the country in a rented van and playing with rented equipment. Released in the fall of 1978, Outlandos d'Amour began a slow climb into the British Top Ten and American Top 30. Immediately after its release, the group began a U.K. tour supporting Alberto y los Trios Paranoias and released the "So Lonely" single. By the spring of 1979, the re-released "Roxanne" had climbed to number 12 on the U.K. charts, taking Outlandos d'Amour to number six. In the summer of 1979, Sting appeared in Quadrophenia, a British film based on the Who album of the same name; later that year, he acted in Radio On.

Preceded by the number one British single "Message in a Bottle," Reggatta de Blanc (fall 1979) established the group as stars in England and Europe, topping the U.K. charts for four weeks. Following its release, Miles Copeland had the band tour several countries that rarely received concerts from foreign performers, including Thailand, India, Mexico, Greece, and Egypt. Zenyatta Mondatta, released in the fall of 1980, became the Police's North American breakthrough, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. and Canada; in England, the album spent four weeks at number one. "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the album's first single, became the group's second number one single in the U.K.; in America, the single became their second Top Ten hit in the spring of 1981, following the number ten placing of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" in the winter. By the beginning of 1981, the Police were able to sell out Madison Square Garden. Capitalizing on their success, the band returned to the studio in the summer of 1981 to record their fourth album with producer Hugh Padgham. The sessions, which were filmed for a BBC documentary hosted by Jools Holland, were completed within a couple months, and the album, Ghost in the Machine, appeared in the fall of 1981. Ghost in the Machine became an instant hit, reaching number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. as "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" became their biggest hit to date.

Following their whirlwind success of 1980 and 1981, in which they were named the Best British Group at the first Brit Awards and won three Grammys, the band took a break in 1982. Though they played their first arena concerts and headlined the U.S. Festival, each member pursued side projects during the course of the year. Sting acted in Brimstone and Treacle, releasing a solo single, "Spread a Little Happiness," from the soundtrack; the song became a British hit. Copeland scored Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, as well as the San Francisco Ballet's King Lear, and released an album under the name Klark Kent; he also played on several sessions for Peter Gabriel. Summers recorded an instrumental album, I Advance Masked, with Robert Fripp. The Police returned in the summer of 1983 with Synchronicity, which entered the U.K. charts at number one and quickly climbed to the same position in the U.S., where it would stay for 17 weeks. Synchronicity became a blockbuster success on the strength of the ballad "Every Breath You Take." Spending eight weeks at the top of the U.S. charts, "Every Breath You Take" became one of the biggest American hits of all time; it spent four weeks at the top of the U.K. charts. "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" became hits over the course of 1983, sending Synchronicity to multi-platinum status in America and Britain. The Police supported the album with a blockbuster, record-breaking world tour that set precedents for tours for the remainder of the '80s. Once the tour was completed, the band announced they were going on "sabbatical" in order to pursue outside interests.

The Police never returned from sabbatical. During the Synchronicity tour, personal and creative tensions between the bandmembers had escalated greatly, and they had no desire to work together for a while. Sting began working on a jazz-tinged solo project immediately, releasing The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985. The album became an international hit, establishing him as a commercial force outside of the band. Copeland and Summers demonstrated no inclination to follow their bandmate's path. Copeland recorded the worldbeat exploration The Rhythmatist in 1985, and continued to compose scores for film and television; he later formed the prog rock band Animal Logic. With his solo career -- which didn't officially begin until the release of 1987's XYZ -- Summers continued his art rock and jazz fusion experiments; he also occasionally collaborated Fripp and John Etheridge.

During 1986, the Police made a few attempts to reunite, playing an Amnesty International concert and attempting to record a handful of new tracks for a greatest-hits album in the summer. As the studio session unraveled, it became apparent that Sting had no intention of giving the band his new songs to record, so the group re-recorded a couple of old songs, but even those were thrown off track after Copeland suffered a polo injury. Featuring a new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles was released for the 1986 Christmas season, becoming the group's fifth straight British number one and their fourth American Top Ten.

A few more quiet years passed, but 1992 found Summers taking the helm as musical director for Dennis Miller's late-night show and Sting taking his vows with Trudie Styler. At the wedding, the three Policemen hopped on-stage for a very impromptu set, then, just as quickly, dismissed any rumors of an official Police reunion in the future. That same year a Greatest Hits album was released in the U.K., and in 1994 the box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings was released, followed in 1995 by the double album Live. Things again went quite on the Police front as the millennium rolled around. Then, in 2003, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the group into its pantheon. The band did reorganize enough to perform three tunes at the induction ceremony, but again, it looked as if that single show was going to be the extent of their collaboration.

There was a brief reunion of sorts with original Police guitarist Henri Padovani, on his 2004 album A Croire Que C'Etait Pour la Vie, where Copeland and Sting appeared on one track together -- but still no signs of a full-blown reunion. Sting released his autobiography, Broken Music, in 2003, and by 2006 Copeland's documentary, Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, and Summers' autobiography, One Train Later, had joined the ranks. Odd side projects and collaborations with other musicians continued, but the real Police news came in conjunction with another seemingly one-off reunion gig -- this time for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Amid the hoopla, it was announced that the Police would indeed be embarking on a world tour, beginning on May 28, 2007, in Vancouver. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Official site -- The Police

Official site -- Sting

Official site -- Andy Summers

Official site -- Stewart Copeland

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 01/10/10 -- WILCO

2010-01-10T10:36:00.002-05:00

From Rolling Stone...

The breakup of the influential Belleville, Illinois, roots-punk band Uncle Tupelo found Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, the band's principal singer-songwriters, fronting new groups of their own. People expected less from Tweedy than they did from Farrar, who had always been regarded as the more serious artist of the two. It wasn't long, however, before Tweedy's new band Wilco outstripped Farrar's Son Volt, emerging as one of the most acclaimed and innovative bands of the new millennium.

After Farrar walked away from Uncle Tupelo in 1994, Tweedy and the remaining members of the band recorded A.M., joined by Bottle Rockets frontman and former Tupelo roadie Brian Henneman on guitar. The album found Wilco playing scruffy, country-tinged rock that suggested a cross between late-period Replacements and early-1970s Rolling Stones. Being There (Number 73, 1996), the band's lauded follow-up, saw Tweedy growing leaps and bounds as a songwriter as Wilco moved further away from the alt-country of Uncle Tupelo and more in the direction of the tuneful pop-rock of such early 1970s bands as Big Star.

Meanwhile, with Tweedy off making a second album with Golden Smog, an alt-country supergroup consisting of members of Soul Asylum and the Jayhawks, the rest of Wilco moonlighted as Courtesy Move. Besides recording several unreleased tracks of their own, the foursome provided backing on albums by singer/songwriters Steve Forbet and Jeff Black. (By this time multi-instrumentalist Bob Egan had replaced Max Johnston, who had left Wilco to play with his sister, Michell Shocked, and after that with Freakwater and the Gourds.)

In 1998 Tweedy and company accepted an invitation from British singer/songwriter Billy Bragg to travel to Dublin and set some of Woody Guthrie's unrecorded lyrics to music. The album that resulted, Mermaid Avenue (Number 90, 1998), was by turns funny, sexy, and incisive; testifying to Guthrie's irrepressible spirit and ongoing relevance, it also proved to be the best record either Bragg or Wilco had yet made. Summerteeth (Number 78, 1999), Wilco's third album, appeared the following year; more pop-leaning than its predecessors, the record was full of bright, buoyant melodies salted with Tweedy's increasingly dark, oblique lyrics. A world tour opening for R.E.M. followed, while 2000 marked the appearance of a second volume of Mermaid Avenue nearly as luminous as the first (it was largely outtakes from the first volume).

After purchasing a Chicago loft to record in, Wilco began work on its fourth album with solo artist and producer Jim O'Rourke. During the recording, there were further personnel changes in the band: Coomer and Bennett both left; Glenn Kotche, brought into the fold by O'Rourke, became the new drummer, while multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach replaced Bob Egan. (Tweedy, O'Rourke, and Kotche also formed a side band, Loose Fur, that has released two albums on the Chicago indie label Drag City.) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the album that came from the tense sessions — which were filmed by director Sam Jones for his 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart — was rejected by Wilco's label, Reprise, as uncommercial. While shopping for another label, Wilco streamed the album online, generating heavy fan and critical buzz and raising the album's profile. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was finally released in 2002 by Nonesuch, a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group — the same corporation that owned Reprise — and reached Number 13. Besides being named the best album of 2002 in the Village Voice's annual critics poll, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot remains, ironically enough, Wilco's best-selling album.

Their next album occasioned more shifting band positions. Bach quit Wilco after the recording of 2004's more experimental A Ghost Is Born, replaced by multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone (the Autumn Defense); the group was also joined by the cult-favorite avant-garde guitarist Nels Cline and pianist Mikael Jorgensen. Shortly before the album's set schedule, Tweedy went into rehab for a painkiller addiction; when Ghost was issued, it went to Number Eight.. Next was Kicking Television: Live in Chicago, a double CD recorded at the Vic Theater. Wilco followed it with Sky Blue Sky (Number 4, 2007), their most scaled-back and straightforwardly rocking album in years.

Official Site

WilcoBase

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 01/03/10 -- OCEAN COLOUR SCENE

2010-01-03T12:13:00.002-05:00

From the almighty Wik:

Early Days (1990-1995)

Ocean Colour Scene were formed after two other local bands called The Boys and Fanatics disbanded. Fanatics released an EP titledSuburban Love Songs. OCS signed to Phfftt Records in 1990^[1].

Their first 7" single, "Sway", was released in the early 1990s UK indie era. However, when their record label was swallowed up by larger company Phonogram their eponymous début album was mixed, against the band's wishes, to fit in with the Madchester musical trend of the time. The album was largely deemed a failure, and the band fell into dispute with their record company^[2].

Being in dispute with their record company, the band were forced back onto the dole, with no real direction and being only able to write new music, but with no outlet for it ^[2].

In 1993, the start of the turnaround occurred. Paul Weller invited the band to support him on some dates of his tour. On the back of these performances, Weller invited Cradock to play on one of his singles, and Fowler to sing on his forthcoming album, Wild Wood ^[2]. Cradock was asked to play live with Weller on his tour, and the money Cradock made kept the band afloat during this time.

[edit]Britpop fame (1995-2000)

The band recorded a demo tape that was sent to various industry figures. After hearing this tape, Noel Gallagher invited the band to play with Oasis on their Autumn 1995 tour. This support slot brought OCS to the attention of more record labels, and eventually in late 1995, the band signed with MCA Records ^[2].

With the explosion of the Britpop scene, OCS's music became nationally and internationally known. Their second album Moseley Shoals was received to critical acclaim, containing four hit singles and reaching the heights of #2 in the UK Albums Chart. They also played at the largest free standing gig of all time at Knebworth supporting Oasis on 10 and 11 August 1996.

Marchin' Already, the follow up to Moseley Shoals, went to #1 in the UK Albums Chart, displacing Oasis' Be Here Now at the top of the charts in 1997. In 1998 they headlined their own arena tour in support of Marchin' Already and played three sold out nights at Stirling Castle, Scotland. Their arena tour became the biggest selling arena tour of any UK band in 1998.

One from the Modern was released in 1999, and peaked in the UK album chart at #4. The record spawned three top 40 singles, "Profit in Peace", "So Low" and "July".

continued...

Official site
MySpace

BLOG THE CASBAH: GOD PART II

2010-01-03T11:56:00.004-05:00

Bono does the occasional Op-Ed for the New York Times. Today he offers a "forward-looking" Top 10 list that would help to fix the world.

Is there anything this man cannot do?

Ten For The Next Ten
By Bono

IF we have overindulged in anything these past several days, it is neither holiday ham nor American football; it is Top 10 lists. We have been stuffed full of them. Even in these self-restrained pages, it has been impossible to avoid the end-of-the-decade accountings of the 10 best such-and-suches and the 10 worst fill-in-the-blanks.

And so, in the spirit of rock star excess, I offer yet another.

The main difference, if it matters, is that this list looks forward, not backward. So here, then, are 10 ideas that might make the next 10 years more interesting, healthy or civil. Some are trivial, some fundamental. They have little in common with one another except that I am seized by each, and moved by its potential to change our world.

Read full article...

Credit: The New York Times

BLOG THE CASBAH: SUNDAY MORNING CALL -- 12/27/09 -- CHEAP TRICK

2009-12-27T09:15:00.004-05:00

Like most, I first heard Cheap Trick when the live version of 'I Want You To Want Me' became a massive hit in 1979. True to form, I rushed out and bought the first Cheap Trick record I saw which happened to be the newly-released 'Dream Police'. An album which, of course, did not contain 'I Want You To Want Me' but was excellent nonetheless. I was hooked.

From Wikipedia...

Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1974. The band consists of members Robin Zander (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar, backing vocals), Tom Petersson (electric bass, backing vocals), and Bun E. Carlos (drums, percussion).

Cheap Trick created a substantial fan base through its own brand of power pop music with a hard-edged yet melodic pop sound that combines the tunefulness of The Beatles with the speed and energy of punk rock.^[1]^[2] The Los Angeles Times has remarked that "Cheap Trick gained fame by twisting the Beatlesque into something shinier, harder, more American."^[1] Their biggest hits include "Surrender", "I Want You to Want Me", "Dream Police", and "The Flame." Cheap Trick also performed a cover version of Big Star's "In the Street" as the theme song for That '70s Show from the second season onward and the theme song "Baby Muggles" for The Colbert Report.^[3]^[4]

As of 2009^[update], Cheap Trick continues to tour with the original lineup. They have often been referred to in the Japanese press as the "American Beatles".^[2] The Illinois State Senate has declared April 1 to be "Cheap Trick Day" in the State.^[3] The band was also ranked #25 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.^[5]

continued...

Visit Cheap Trick's official site.

BLOG THE CASBAH: THE RED BALLOON

2009-12-25T18:06:00.002-05:00

Classic 1956 French film...perfect for the holidays.