Google Set to Launch Online Music Store
Multinational media giants Google are just weeks away from unveiling their new online music store. Set to compete directly with Apple and Amazon, this new venture will expand on the limited existing ‘Music Beta’ service launched in May, a program that enables it users to back up their songs on remote servers.
Having initially failed in their quest to acquire rights from the four major record companies, The New York Times now indicate that Google have re-entered negotiations in a bid to offer a service similar to Apple.
With the launch of Apple’s new cloud service, ITunes Match, being earmarked for the end of the month, Google executives are said to be eager to open the store beforehand. Leaving little time to finalise the rights to sell songs, inside sources seem to suggest that Google are only close to sealing a deal with the smallest of the major record labels, EMI.
Tom Morello Joins Wall Street Protest
Former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has arrived in New York to offer support to the Occupy Wall Street protests. The movement has gained a lot of momentum over the past few weeks and has fundamentally taken issue with corporate influence on government and a rapid degree of economic inequality.
Morello, who is no stranger to political activism and leftist ideas, had previously been present at the Occupy Los Angeles protests, a movement that grew from a similar discontent towards North American’s distribution of wealth.
Performing as the Nightwatchman, last week Morello played a set for protestors in Los Angeles, including a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”.
OHZ’s SONG OF THE MONTH: September 2011 (#16)
Stream: DRC Music – Kinshasa One Two
DRC Music (Democratic Republic of the Congo), a new project being fronted by former Blur and Gorillaz singer-songwriter Damon Albarn, are currently streaming their album ‘Kinshasa One Two‘ one week before its release.
Recording the LP in Congo’s war-torn capital city Kinshasa, Albarn collaborated with a number of international and local music industry figures that included: T-E-E-D (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), Dan The Automator, Jneiro Jarel, Richard Russell, Actress, Marc Antoine, Alwest, Remi Kabaka, Rodaidh McDonald and Kwes.
With DRC Music currently containing well over 50 members, this collaborative project aims to raise awareness of African music, while all proceeds will be donated to the international charity organisation Oxfam.
“It all came from a long-term commitment that i made to Oxfam,” Albarn told BBC Radio 4 in a recent interview. “In a way, really, they started the whole kind of ball rolling for me by inviting me to go to Mali. And I didn’t want to go as a sort of ambassador … I wanted to feel something and get involved with people who I thought might be like-minded.”
Stream Kinshasa One Two over at HypeMachine.
Alternatively, you can listen to three advance tracks below.
Hallo (featuring Tout Puissant Mukalo and Nelly Liyemge) by DRC Music
Ah Congo (featuring Jupiter Bokondji and Bokatola System) by DRC Music
Lingala (featuring Bokatola System and Evala Litongo) by DRC Music
Interscope Records at the Centre of Drug-Trafficking Operation
Interscope Records, the label home of Eminem, Chris Cornell, Dr Dre, Queens of the Stone Age and P Diddy’s Bad Boy, is currently under investigation following allegations of drug-trafficking.
According to the Department of Justice, the record label’s New York and Los Angeles offices have been used by members of a cocaine ring to distribute drugs and cash.
Since being founded in 1990 by Ted Field and Jimmy Iovine, Interscope found itself at the centre of controversy regarding its distribution of ‘gangsta rap’. While the rest of the industry was cautious about the negative image and onslaught from republican activists, Field and Iovine built their empire off the success of Suge Knight’s controversial record label, Death Row.
Twenty years later it seems that their willingness to affiliate themselves with shady figures has resulted in allegations that could well hold very damaging consequences.
The man behind the cocaine ring, according to evidence, is said to be Czar Entertainment CEO James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond, a music-industry manager who has always held close ties to hip hop music.
With his client list including Interscope’s L.A.-based rapper The Game, Rosemond has been accused of shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Los Angeles to New York. Using his status in the music industry as a cover for his alleged shady operations, the manager utilised road cases for musical equipment that would then return to Los Angeles filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While it is still unclear how Rosemond and his associates were able to gain access to Interscope’s facilities, investigators will be eager to discover how big a role the record label played in accommodating this drug ring.
The Smashing Pumpkins’ Unreleased Material Continues to Surface Online
Last month’s launch of Billy Corgan’s online record club has coincided with the surfacing of several unreleased songs from The Smashing Pumpkins’ catalogue. Having so far made available a 1992 track “Drown” and a two-track demo of “Geek U.S.A.”, the most recent song to surface from the Siamese Dream era is “Barb Wire”, a song that critics have likened to the quartet’s underground effort “Tulips”.
Recorded in arguably The Smashing Pumpkins’ most successful period, this grungy sound of heavy bass lines and distorted guitars will be sure to win over the flock of fans still disappointed by the new look band’s latest projects. In fact, Corgan’s generous offerings of past material will surely be seen as key in promoting the Pumpkin’s forthcoming LP, Oceania, at least in terms of evoking a strong sense of nostalgia towards the glory days of old.
In order to capitalise on these offerings of free unreleased rarities, fans are invited to register their e-mail addresses at smashingpumpkins.com.
English Frank: Warm Up Sessions
The other day a friend of mine sent me a link to this video freestyle on youtube. For any of you interested in hip hop, UK or US, I definitely recommend that you check it out.
Known as English Frank, due to his frank nature and first name, having becoming tired of constantly seeing watered-down pop emcees swarm airwaves for the past few years, it was a breath of fresh air to see such raw talent on display.
Full of anger, passion and an undeniable ability to rip any beat to shreds, despite being late on my discovery of this youtube sensation, I feel it is necessary to upload this video in order to school those unsure about what constitutes real hip hop.
Damien Rice: O (Review)
Associated to a genre that I’ve never really warmed to, where, subjectively speaking, there exists a minefield of sub-par, mundane posers unable to evoke even the slightest bit of energy or emotion, it would be fair to say that acoustic music has never been capable of seducing me.
With that said when I first heard Damien Rice’s single ‘Cannonball’ on the radio I absolutely despised it and continued to do so until an ex-girlfriend proclaimed to be a fan. Taking this as a subtle hint to show some initiative, after several days of fretting I eventually opted to ignore my hatred for acoustic music by purchasing a copy of Rice’s debut album O. READ MORE…
The Killers: Hot Fuss (Review)
Hate it or love it, when Las Vegas’ The Killers first arrived on the scene in the summer of 2004 their cheesy indie-pop polarised the masses. With some, including numerous critics, slating Hot Fuss as being typically big budget, soulless, superficial and irritatingly unoriginal, others of us seemed to get swept into the alluring anthemic nature of the CD’s content.
Providing a key insight into the new wave revival trend of the 21st century, Hot Fuss merges elements of both 1980s punk and synth in a nostalgic yet equally modern fashion. Employing biting guitars, synth pads and catchy melodies, the album’s predominately disco rock nature has resulted in it being compared to past and contemporary British acts such as Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, The Cure, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. READ MORE…
