McCartney (1970)

 

Possibly Paul’s greatest album,  and his first solo , was released in 1970. It is notable for the fact that McCartney, a multi instrumentalist, performed the entire album (all instruments and voices) by himself, except for some backing vocals from his first wife, Linda McCartney. McCartney stated that he played "bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, Mellotron, organ, toy xylophone, and bow and arrow" on the album. Notable, also, is the use of a large number of instrumental tracks.

Paul's solo album, simply entitled McCartney, doesn't please the critics because of its simplicity and its under-production. Anyway the album reaches #2 in the charts, right behind Bridge Over Trouble Water by Simon and Garfunkel. And even more, Paul McCartney will soon been awarded with a Golden Record for his solo work.

This first solo album will stay among the favorite ones for many Paul's fans despite the simplicity of the production.

The album starts with The Lovely Linda, which is a short song that was used by Paul to test his four tracks studio.

Then follows That Would Be Something, a nice acoustic ballad backed up by an electric guitar and by some percussions. It really has a countryish style in it. This song will be covered again by Paul 21 years later for the MTV Unplugged program in January 1991. This live cover will be included on Paul's Unplugged album.

Next comes Valentine Day, an instrumental title mostly based on Paul's electric guitar solo. A skilful rendering.

The fourth track is a nice acoustic ballad entitled Every Night.

PAUL McCartney - EVERY NIGHT 1970

It's one of the bests songs on this album. Paul will cover this title many times during his solo career, especially during the 1979' Wings Tour (a live recording can be found on the Concert For The People Of Kampuchea album). It will also be performed as part of the MTV Unplugged program in January 1991.

McCartney album: it's called Hot As Sun and was written by Paul in 1959. At the end of this song, there is some musical link called Glasses which lasts a few seconds and features an excerpt of Suicide, an unreleased song by Paul. Even today the complete Suicide recording can only be found on some bootleg albums.

Then follow Junk which was written by Paul in 1968 during the Indian stay with the Beatles in Maharishi's home in Rishikesn. This is a simple and melancholic ballad played on the acoustic guitar.

Man We Was Lonely is the next track and it brings us some joyful atmosphere. It is a special track as it is the first song ever written together by Paul and Linda.

Oo You comes then as a strong rock song with straight electric guitar lines in the background. It's followed by an instrumental composition, Momma Miss America, in which Paul can exhibit all his skill in playing various instruments and particularly the drums. A good electric guitar solo dominates the second half of the song.

Another nice acoustic ballad follows with Teddy Boy which was rejected from the Beatles' Let It Be album. Like Junk, it was written by Paul in 1968 during the Indian stay with the Beatles in Maharishi's home in Rishikesn.

The next song, Singalong Junk, is an instrumental variation on the theme of the previous Junk composition. It features a beautiful orchestration on piano and acoustic guitar. A newer cover of this instrumental song can be found on Paul's Unplugged album that was recorded during the MTV Unplugged program in 1991.

But the strongest title on this album is definitely Maybe I'm Amazed, a wonderful ballad played on piano and enhanced by an unforgettable electric guitar solo. This tremendous song will remain one the most famous masterpieces composed by Paul.

It will be covered many times by Wings on stage and more recently by Paul and his band during the 89/90' World Tour. Some of these astounding recordings can be found on
Wings Over America and on Tripping The Live Fantastic.

Amazingly, no single will be released from the McCartney album. Clearly Maybe I'm Amazed should have been this missing single. This unfairness will be repaired in April 1977 with the release of the single Maybe I'm Amazed / Soily taken from Wings Over America.

The last title of the McCartney album, Kreen-Akrore is an instrumental and experimental composition with some unusual percussion rhythms and a more classical electric guitar line to end the track.

By far one of the best albums he has ever made and a personal favorite, give it a chance and listen. Link to download will be posted in comments.

Fox News

To depart from my usual music or political blog I must write the following and hope someone will comment and set me straight if I am wrong.

Fox news and especially Hannity is crazy! I have been trying to watch the channel for the last week and can’t understand how people can be so blind and believe everything he says.

Now I have not watched anyone other than Hannity, O’Reilly and Glenn Beck but I’m just appalled at some of the things and people they bring on their shows. Like a guest on Glenn Beck that Obama should bomb us again :

 

 

 

I mean people!!! how stupid can you be this is crazy. And right now I’m watching their reporting on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings; I just don’t know what to think.

Iraq pullback and unrest in Honduras

Ousted Ex-President of Hondurans Can Not Land

Honduras Defends Its Democracy

Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.

Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.

It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.

But Honduras is not out of the Venezuelan woods yet. Yesterday the Central American country was being pressured to restore the authoritarian Mr. Zelaya by the likes of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo himself. The Organization of American States, having ignored Mr. Zelaya's abuses, also wants him back in power. It will be a miracle if Honduran patriots can hold their ground.

That Mr. Zelaya acted as if he were above the law, there is no doubt. While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.

But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.

The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused.

Calculating that some critical mass of Hondurans would take his side, the president decided he would run the referendum himself. So on Thursday he led a mob that broke into the military installation where the ballots from Venezuela were being stored and then had his supporters distribute them in defiance of the Supreme Court's order.

The attorney general had already made clear that the referendum was illegal, and he further announced that he would prosecute anyone involved in carrying it out. Yesterday, Mr. Zelaya was arrested by the military and is now in exile in Costa Rica.

It remains to be seen what Mr. Zelaya's next move will be. It's not surprising that chavistas throughout the region are claiming that he was victim of a military coup. They want to hide the fact that the military was acting on a court order to defend the rule of law and the constitution, and that the Congress asserted itself for that purpose, too.

Mrs. Clinton has piled on as well. Yesterday she accused Honduras of violating "the precepts of the Interamerican Democratic Charter" and said it "should be condemned by all." Fidel Castro did just that. Mr. Chávez pledged to overthrow the new government.

Honduras is fighting back by strictly following the constitution. The Honduran Congress met in emergency session yesterday and designated its president as the interim executive as stipulated in Honduran law. It also said that presidential elections set for November will go forward. The Supreme Court later said that the military acted on its orders. It also said that when Mr. Zelaya realized that he was going to be prosecuted for his illegal behavior, he agreed to an offer to resign in exchange for safe passage out of the country. Mr. Zelaya denies it.

Watch more iReport videos on AOL Video

Many Hondurans are going to be celebrating Mr. Zelaya's foreign excursion. Street protests against his heavy-handed tactics had already begun last week. On Friday a large number of military reservists took their turn. "We won't go backwards," one sign said. "We want to live in peace, freedom and development."

Besides opposition from the Congress, the Supreme Court, the electoral tribunal and the attorney general, the president had also become persona non grata with the Catholic Church and numerous evangelical church leaders. On Thursday evening his own party in Congress sponsored a resolution to investigate whether he is mentally unfit to remain in office.

For Hondurans who still remember military dictatorship, Mr. Zelaya also has another strike against him: He keeps rotten company. Earlier this month he hosted an OAS general assembly and led the effort, along side OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, to bring Cuba back into the supposedly democratic organization.

The OAS response is no surprise. Former Argentine Ambassador to the U.N. Emilio Cárdenas told me on Saturday that he was concerned that "the OAS under Insulza has not taken seriously the so-called 'democratic charter.' It seems to believe that only military 'coups' can challenge democracy. The truth is that democracy can be challenged from within, as the experiences of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and now Honduras, prove."

A less-kind interpretation of Mr. Insulza's judgment is that he doesn't mind the Chávez-style coup.

The struggle against chavismo has never been about left-right politics. It is about defending the independence of institutions that keep presidents from becoming dictators. This crisis clearly delineates the problem. In failing to come to the aid of checks and balances, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Insulza expose their true colors.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Every day [2002]

An old music-press adage claims that second albums are notoriously "difficult." If this were true, then Every Day should be one big disappointment. The fact that it's arguably one of 2002's finest jazz albums ( yes, jazz--as in real, old-fashioned, clarinets-and-trumpets jazz ) proves how talented Jason Swinscoe's Cinematic Orchestra are. Following up their impeccable debut, Motion, was going to be tough, but they've surpassed themselves here. While the former was a fusion of sample-culture smoky, backroom jazz, Every Day is jazz pure and simple--old jazz for the nu-jazz generation. "Man with the Movie Camera," "Burnout," and "Flite" are near-perfect soundtrack jazz pieces: epic, shuffling, ever shifting. "All That You Give" and "Evolution" highlight the enchanting vocals of legendary soul singer Fontella Bass. Best of all, though, is the Roots Manuva collaboration "All Things to All Men"--proof that jazz and rap aren't as strange bedfellows as some may think.

With Every Day, Cinematic Orchestra move beyond the electro-jazz fusion of their debut to make a record more natural, more paced, and, surprisingly, better than the justly hyped Motion. J Swinscoe is more the arranger/conductor here than the producer, but of course, there's little need for samples or effects with such an accomplished band sharing the burden. For the opener "All That You Give," Swinscoe and Co., plus harp player Rhodri Davies, spend a few minutes delicately paving the way for a deeply felt vocal by soul hero Fontella Bass. "Burn Out" is a lush, meditative track with a pleasantly ambling solo from Phil France on electric piano, a few appropriately cinematic-sounding horns, an age-old vocal sample, and occasional creaking static phasing through. Bass returns for another splendid track ( "Evolution" ), and the mighty Roots Manuva appears on a magisterial, spoken-word quasi-autobiography, "All Things to All Men." Except for a pair of detours into highly programmed "broken beat" production, Every Day is a textured, acoustic work; Cinematic Orchestra take their time setting up these songs -- of the seven tracks, four last over nine minutes. The sounds and styles heard may not be revolutionary, but instead of simply pushing stylistic boundaries, Cinematic Orchestra display a real gift in making emotional, artistic music.


Personnel:
Jason Swincoe (Arranger and Sampling)
Patrick Carpenter (Turntables and Electronics)
Milo Fell (Percussion)
Luke Flowers (Drums)
Phil France (Double Bass, Bass Guitar and Electric Piano)
John Ellis (Keyboards)
Roots Manuva (Spoken Words) - 6
Fontella Bass (Vocals) - 1,4

Cordillera Nicaragüense

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Solace

Röyksopp - Melody A.M [2001]

In case any of you guys don't watch TV here is a treat.

Lets backtrack to 2006. GEICO was comming out with its catchy new star, The Caveman, well listen to this commercial titled "At The Air Port":


You are listening to Remind Me by Röyksopp released as their fourth single.

Melody A.M. is the debut album of Norwegian duo Röyksopp. Songs from this album have been used in television adverts and computer games"Eple" was licensed by Apple and used as the introduction music for the Mac OS X v10.3 Setup Assistant A remix of "Poor Leno" was featured in the SSX 3 soundtrack.

So if your interested listen and if you like it buy it.

For testing purposes the following link will take you to it.

Enjoy

“Left versus right” labels should be left aside in Latin America

The wittiest of the Marxes (Groucho, not Karl) said famously, “I wouldn’t join a club that would have me as a member.” It is an often-used quote that fits well with news about Cuba coming from a meeting this week of the Organization of American States in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Hillary Rodham Clinton faced a harangue from OAS members demanding that Cuba be invited to become a member of the organization. A New York Times piece about the meeting said this:

"On one level, it seems a sterile debate: Cuba has said often and loudly that it does not want to rejoin the organization. But on a deeper level, the meeting has showcased Latin America’s resurgent political left, which has seized on Cuba as an issue with which to press the United States."

How much does this involve the misapplication of those overused words, “left versus right?” It can also be argued that all of Latin America yearns for a different relationship with the United States under the new presidency of Barack Obama. Cuba has diplomatic and trade ties with something like 170 countries around the world — left, center and right.

Back in Washington, the dominant move for a change in stagnant and stymied Cuban relations comes from the offices of Republican Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, who only Rush Limbaugh might try to label as a leftist. Lugar doesn’t support OAS membership for Cuba, but he calls for rethinking U.S. relations with Cuba.

The OAS is a sideshow compared with appeals from Lugar and others, including U.S. businesses looking to open Cuba as a lucrative new market. Meanwhile, a majority of Americans and even a majority of the Cuban-American community in the United States support an end to the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.

So whether or not Cuba is invited to join the OAS, the focus is on Washington: How quickly and to what extent will the Obama administration promote the changes that appear close at hand?

- Peter Eisner

100 New Nuclear Reactors

Shinichi Maruyama

Shinichi Maruyama started his professional career in Tokyo in 1993, 10 years later relocating his studio to New York City in search of more global opportunities. Specializing in splashing and energetic movements within shots Maruyama has become highly sought after for his expertise in this field expanding his career into Europe in 2005.

Shinichi Maruyama was born in 1968 in Nagano, Japan. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, in High School he became immersed in mountain climbing, and wanting to preserve the stunning landscapes began taking photographs.

Upon graduating college he joined Ima Co. assisting their 15 still life photographers where he discovered the many different professional facets of creating an image. In 1993, working with an 8x10 camera Maruyama became independent winning the ’99 Japan Magazine Advertisement Prize planning-advertisement section award.

He began taking photos for his personal project “Into the Spiti Valley”, a documentary work about Tibetan culture in India, the exhibition later opened in 2001 along with the publication of two books “Into The Spiti Valley” and “Spiti” In 1998, he joined Hakuhodo Photo Creative and became involved in advertising campaigns for Japanese companies winning the New York ADC Gold Award for an advertising campaign for a satellite broadcasting company.

In 1999 realizing the possibilities of digital photography and Photoshop Maruyama began creating his work using digital cameras. Maruyama has been involved in many worldwide advertising campaigns utilizing his expertise in ice, liquid/splash, and specializing in movement in his works. Years of lighting research and the advances in retouching have made it easy to have a strong idea of exactly how a photo will look even before the shoot begins, but in photographing liquid and subjects in movement, it is impossible to foresee what the end result will be, and it is this spontaneity that enables Maruyama to have more fun creating his work.


While Maruyama enjoys the excitement of collaborating with creators from around the world, one thing is always on his mind, that feeling he had back in high school, when he was photographing whatever he wanted to...he is now working on his personal projects and aims to have an exhibition of this work.

Zero 7 - Simple Things [2001]

Country: UK

Genre: Downtempo, Future Jazz, Trip Hop

It's a soulful mix of soul, jazz and electro. The vocals are great (although personally I'm not particularly fond of Sia Furler at certain moments) and the arrangements are right on the money for this type of "retro-techno" sound. I sometimes get confused if it's a smooth jazz combo trying to be electronic or an electronic group trying to be smooth jazz. In The Waiting Line and I Have Seen are the best ones I suggest you begin with those.

Song List :

1 I Have Seen (5:07) Vocals - Mozez

2 Polaris (4:48)
3 Destiny (5:37) Vocals - Sia Furler* , Sophie Barker
4 Give It Away (5:17)
5 Simple Things (4:24) Vocals - Mozez
6 Red Dust (5:40)
7 Distractions (5:16) Vocals - Sia Furler*
8 In The Waiting Line (4:32) Vocals - Sophie Barker
9 Out Of Town (4:47)
10 This World (5:35) Vocals - Mozez
11 Likufanele (6:11)
12 End Theme (3:39)
13 Salt Water Sound (5:30)
14 Spinning (6:03) Vocals - Sophie Barker
Download

Collapse Under The Empire - Systembreakdown

[2009] Systembreakdown

Country: Germany
Genre: Post-Rock/Instrumental

Collapse Under The Empire is an instrumental/post-rock band from Hamburg/Germany. They formed 2007 and released their debut album „Systembreakdown“ (2009) on their own.

Most of the songs are alternating between electro-bleeps and powerful guitar explosions combining epic guitars with chilled electronic elements. In one year’s time they have self-released their debut LP “Systembreakdown”, using pianos and synths with guitar-battering crescendos. “Systembreakdown” may only be about 40 minutes long with no nine-minute epic, but it packs a lot of beauty and emotion.Nevertheless Collapse Under The Empire stick to their own style and do not want to emerge as a knock-off. With their mixture of instrumental post-rock they are trying to make a cut above the uniform pulp and put their own stamp on it.

Official Website
MySpace
Last.fm

Tracklist:
01 Monumental Sequence
02 Sky Falling
03 Innocence
04 The Taste Of Last Summer
05 Quiet Dimension
06 Environmental Obsession
07 Turn
08 Depending On You
09 Further Than The End Of The World
10 Buried In Pieces


http://www.mediafire.com/?md5ciitw5ol

http://rapidshare.com/files/207525992/Collapse_Under_The_Empire_-_Package__192kBit_.rar

Color Test from RebelCutter on Vimeo.

A New Beginning

After extensive thought I have decided to make a blog, welcome. In it we will delve into all thing that interest me including photography, music, culture, events design, urbanism, politics, the fine thins in life and any other thing I might think is interesting.

If you know me you also know how ADD I can be and most likely I will not follow any particular order or subjects. I guess then that what I will be posting is whatever I find interesting. I will keep this short and begin on my project.

Enjoy!