In his final appearance on David Letterman’s show, Chris Elliott pays tribute with his performance of “To Dave With Love.”
http://youtu.be/tzMEPl7KKtE
New York City to build affordable housing for musicians and artists
From Consequence of Sound:
“New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling,” Patti Smith said in 2010. “But there are other cities. Detroit. Poughkeepsie. New York City has been taken away from you. So my advice is: Find a new city.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is now seeking to dissuade young musicians and artists from taking Smith’s advice with a new housing initiative. During his State of the City address on Tuesday, de Blasio announced plans to provide 1,500 units of affordable housing reserved exclusively for low-income creatives.
The plan is to develop 150 units a year over the next 10 years, alongside a separate 500 total units of work space. Exactly where these units will be located is still being worked out, though one of two city-owned pieces of land will be chosen by December for the first part of the project. Overhauls of existing structures may take place, but most of the project is expected to be brand new construction.
Bruce Cockburn on God and Raccoons
In recent years, Bruce Cockburn’s spiritual odyssey has come to include Jungian-based dream therapy. “That’s what gave me the image of Christ as a collective animus,” he says. “But is he more of a collective animus figure than Buddha? I don’t think so.” The dream therapy has also led to an interest in neuroscience and the nature of consciousness. “The idea of God as the boundless, as an undefinable and in a certain way unapproachable being except by proxy, has a lot of validity,” Cockburn says. “That means sometimes he’s going to seem like a hallucination or a motivator of things we don’t really want to see. There’s a juicy element of chaos about that, and that’s where I tip over into ‘I don’t have a clue.'”
He continues: “Why are we different from raccoons? We believe we’re special, historically and by nature, but who knows how raccoons see things? In some universe, parallel to this one, raccoons may be running the place. That’s a nice thought. None of us knows shit from Shinola, and the people who claim they do know are grasping at straws – or worse.”
Via Rolling Stone
Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun” outakes and laughter
Found on Jimi Hendrix’s 1967 “Are You Experienced” album, “Third Stone From the Sun” is mostly an instrumental, but includes brief spoken passages by Hendrix over the music.
Voice recordings of Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler are heard at a slower speed. At normal speed, the dialogue includes
Hendrix : Star fleet to scout ship, please give your position. Over.
Chandler : I am in orbit around the third planet of star known as sun. Over.
Hendrix : May this be Earth? Over.
Chandler : Positive. It is known to have some form of intelligent species. Over.
Hendrix : I think we should take a look (Jimi then makes vocal spaceship noises).
In this version, though, a great time was had by all.
Love Boat vs. WKRP in Cincinnati on Family Feud
Amazing. They should bring this concept back, right after they do Battle Of The Network Stars.
http://youtu.be/udDCBsutHzA
Science And Music Experiment Remix Music Video Is Amazing
Musician and science geek Nigel John Stanford demonstrates the power of musical vibrations in his latest music video in which he performs mind blowing science experiments while creating huge music at the same time.
How Henry Thomas Got The Role As Elliott in E.T.
Casting Director Marci Liroff (‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, and ‘Mean Girls’) recounts the story of how Henry Thomas was cast as the lead in ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.’
…and here’s Henry Thomas’ audition tape:
Record Royalties Sourced for Canada’s Music Creators
Canada’s songwriters, composers and music publishers will collectively see a record amount of royalties from the public performance of their copyright works in 2014, according to early analysis by nonprofit SOCAN.
A snapshot of the preliminary1 2014 financial results for SOCAN – the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada :
- Another record year for total revenue, $299-million was collected from domestic, international and private copying proceeds – a year-over-year increase of eight per cent from $276-million brought in during 2013, already a record setting year for SOCAN..
- International revenue from Canadian-created music of $55-million , an increase of nearly eight per cent from 2013. This was another record for Canadian-made music performed outside of the country, following surpassing $50-million in 2013 for the first time.
- Revenue of $20-million from Internet streaming properties, up from $3.2-million in 2013.2
- SOCAN’s corporate net expense ratio was less than 10 per cent for the first time in the history of the organization, positioning it as one of the most cost-effective major music rights organizations worldwide.
“SOCAN is bringing in more while spending less to do it, resulting in record overall royalties for our more than 125,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members,” said CEO Eric Baptiste . “Creating music is difficult, complex and rewarding work, and so too is the job of finding where our members’ music is used in business domestically and around the world. While 2014 was another record year, the economic challenges faced by the large majority of our members and professional musicians in general are real, and it’s imperative that we find every penny that our members have rightfully earned for their work.”
In the recent past SOCAN has invested wisely in technology and talent, making intelligent business decisions, all designed to produce more value for its members.
Canada’s music creators are enjoying a surge in popularity around the world, resulting in a consistent rise in export music from international royalties – an area that SOCAN has identified as a growth priority and also in which it has sharpened its focus with the addition of Catharine Saxberg as Vice President, International Relations. The increase in international revenue is a gain of 41 per cent since the $39-million identified and distributed to members in 2007.
“Canadian music creators are beloved worldwide,” Baptiste added. “Ask anyone in the world to name a famous Canadian and they are very likely to mention a songwriter or composer.”
While collective revenues are up, so too are the challenges for Canada’s songwriters, composers and music publishers. More music is used in more public places for the benefit of more businesses than ever before. To license these uses efficiently, SOCAN has created eSOCAN for music users to license their establishment or activities easily and quickly. During 2014 eSOCAN use was up over 400 per cent and the company is planning further growth in 2015.
“Presto” is one of Pixar’s best short films
Presto is a 2008 American Pixar computer-animated short film shown in theaters before their feature length film WALL-E. The short is about a magician trying to perform a show with his uncooperative rabbit and is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes. Directed by veteran Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, in his directorial debut, this is one hilarious film.
http://youtu.be/a0DqCxYfeT0
Zakk Wylde Announces The Unblackened Tour
(New York, NY) – Hard rock legends BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, fronted by guitar icon ZAKK WYLDE, have announced the Unblackened tour. Originally performed as a one night only concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles for a live CD/DVD release two years ago, the show will now make its way across the U.S. The show will feature intimate versions of some of the band’s most popular songs, as well as songs from Wylde’s best-selling solo album Book of Shadows & his Southern rock band Pride & Glory. “I always wanted to take Unblackened on the road, we just didn’t have the time until now,” said Wylde. “You can take a song that you’ve played thousands of times and rearrange it, and all of a sudden it’s something totally fresh. The attitude of the songs doesn’t change when we play them acoustically–the tunes are gritty regardless.”
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has been on the road constantly in support of their latest release Catacombs of the Black Vatican. The band recently wrapped up a block of successful tour dates with HATEBREED and BUTCHER BABIES which took them across the States and Canada, followed by an electric performance at the 2015 annual SHIPROCKED CRUISE. Rocking on the high seas is nothing new for BLS as they have also participated in the inaugural MOTORBOAT CRUISE just last year.
Catacombs of the Black Vatican was released on April 8th, 2014 and debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and #1 on the Rock and Independent Charts. The chart topping LP was also hailed as one of the “Best Albums of 2014” by REVOLVER MAGAZINE. The new effort has accumulated critical praise with outlets like LOUDWIRE declaring “Wylde’s guitar playing has always been at an extremely high level, but the instrument that’s improved steadily over the years is his voice.” New Jersey’s AQUARIAN WEEKLY states, “This is Black Label Society at its finest!”
With cover appearances on the likes of both Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines and a first ever TV performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers following the release of Catacombs Of The Black Vatican, the presence of the band has dug itself deeper into the history of modern day rock music.
Date Venue Location
Feb 11 O2 ABC Glasgow, United Kingdom
Feb 12 The Institute Birmingham, United Kingdom
Feb 13 Roundhouse London, United Kingdom
Feb 14 O2 Academy Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom
Feb 15 O2 Academy Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom
Feb 17 UEA Norwich, United Kingdom
Feb 18 Rock City Nottingham, United Kingdom
Feb 19 Manchester Academy Manchester, United Kingdom
Feb 21 Melkweg The Max Amsterdam, Netherlands
Feb 22 Ancienne Belgique Brussels, Belgium
Feb 24 Batschkapp Frankfurt, Germany
Feb 25 FZW Freizeitzentrum West Dortmund, Germany
Feb 26 Le Bataclan Paris, France
Feb 27 La Laiterie Strasbourg, France
Mar 01 Train Århus C, Denmark
Mar 03 Rockefeller Music Hall Oslo, Norway
Mar 05 Close-Up Båten Stockholm, Sweden
Mar 06 Nosturi Helsinki, Finland
Mar 08 Rock Cafe Sodom Tallinn, Estonia
Mar 09 Forum Palace Vilnius, Lithuania
Mar 11 B90 Gdansk, Poland
Mar 12 Club Studio Krakow, Poland
Mar 14 Z7 Pratteln, Switzerland
Mar 15 Les Docks Lausanne, Switzerland
Jul 18 Pistoia Blues Pistoia, Italy
Jul 19 Metaldays 2015 Tolmin, Slovenia
Jul 26 Universiada Hall Sofia, Bulgaria
Jul 27 Arenele Romane Bucharest, Romania
Jul 28 GARE SBB-CFF Bale, Switzerland
Jul 29 Fezen Festival Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Jul 30 Wacken 2015 Wacken, Germany
