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Imogen Heap - Elipse; Now streaming!

The Album Cover Meme

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

15 Albums

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

I was able to name 30.

1. Blondie - Parallel Lines
   The first album I owned and probably the start to my love of music
   
2. ABBA - The Album
   This showed up at the doorstep as the album of the month (my mom's account) and I opened and played it before she had a chance to send it back. The rest if history.
   
3. Erasure - The Innocents
   Reminds me of high school and is probably one of my top albums of all times.
   
4. Madonna - Like A Prayer
   My senior year of high school and the original packaging of the CD smelled like patchouli.
   
5. Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel
   The fourth album by Ms. Amos, but the first album that really caught my attention. This reminds me of 1998 and being in love in New York City.
   
6. Nanci Griffith - Flyer
   The first album I listened to by Nanci and too reminds me of New York City in 1998.
   
7. Madonna - Ray Of Light
   This album has serious power when I listen to it. I am immediately in my loft apt in NYC in Hell's Kitchen. It's like a time machine - the smells, the emotions and the feelings are all extremely present.
   
8. Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
   I thought this album was a bore with the first listen but over the spring of my last year in college (1994) I played it while I worked and was eventually amazed.
   
9. 10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
   Summer 1987 just before my junior year. Driving around Austin in the heat.
   
10. Liz Phair - Liz Phair
    2003 in Austin. Miserable, working at Golfsmith and dealing with someone dying in the hospital. Some people call this album pop trash. I think it's brilliant.
    
11. Liz Phair - WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg
    Driving around Ireland in October 1998 with Jennifer and Eric. Sun shining and driving on the opposite side of the road on tiny Irish roads.
    
12. Maria McKee - Maria McKee
    1989. The transition from high school in Austin to college in Waco.
    
13. Patty Griffin - Flaming Red
    New York City in 1998.
    
14. Alanis Morissette - Under Rug Swept
    Driving from San Francisco to Sacramento and back every week in 2002 for a project.
    
15. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
    Gosh. Driving to my miserable job at SpeakWrite in Austin in 2006. I'm remembering driving through Westlake Hills in the rain with all of the other dumb Austin drivers.
    
16. The Reivers - End Of The Day
    Between my junior and senior year of high school in 1988. This album reminds me of Kristin Goodman.
    
17. Sophie B. Hawkins - Whaler
    Walking (for exercise) in the cold winter Dallas air going over and over in my head whether I should move to New York.
    
18. Maria McKee - Life Is Sweet
    Working at Mitchell Madison Group at night in New York City. This album had been out for years but it was at this time that I gave it a chance and wished I had done so earlier.
    
19. Lily Allen - Alright Still
    2007 in Austin and the beginning of 2008 in LA. "Sun is in the sky. Oh, why? Oh, why would I wanna be anywhere else?"
    
20. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
    2000 winter to spring in New York City on a rooftop in Brooklyn.
    
21. Hush - Hush
    Taking the train from Queens into Manhattan when I first moved to NYC in 1996 and living in Hell's Kitchen with Matt, Will and Joe.
    
22. RENT - Original Broadway Cast Recording
    NYC in the fall of 1996. This show was the definition of my life in New York at the time. I had never heard anything better.
    
23. Erasure - Erasure
    Fall 1995 in Dallas. Driving from Dallas to Chicago with Jenny Wehner for the Brach's Holiday Parade.
    
24. Chicane - Behind The Sun
    San Francisco in early 2001. Working on Market Street at the One Market Center and taking the BART from my apartment in the Mission to work every day.
    
25. Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On
    Being in love in New York in 1998. After Eric left NY for Ireland and it was over, I couldn't listen to this album for a few years.
    
26. Jackopierce - Woman As Salvation
    Staying at Jennifer's house between NCA camps in the summer of 1993.
    
27. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
    Transition from high school to college in 1989. Living in the freshman dorms away from home for the first time.
    
28. Hole - Celebrity Skin
    New York City in 1998 feeling like life was perfect. This album also reminds me of driving around Ireland like Liz Phair - WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg
    
29. George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
    Football season 1991 singing "Freedom" at the tops of our lungs during Saturday night parties at Jason Schulze and Brian Blackstock's apartment.
    
30. Beirut - Flying Club Cup
    Fall/Winter 2008 in Austin Texas. Everything coming to an end and a new life in LA starting.
    

Choral Music

Ever since visiting Westminster Abbey in London this February (2009) I have been obsessed with choral music. I play it while I work and I am completely mellowed. The vast history combined with the nobility of the Abbey is felt on repeat and I am transported away.

Psalms from the Psalter: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey Choir
Genre:Classical
Price: $19.99 (via iTunes)
Release Date: November 28, 2005

Mandy & Patrick are Married!

February 14, 2009 marked the day that Mandy Steckelberg and Patrick Fabian tied the not. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception unique and full of class. Both were held at the Hotel Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles.

Mandy And Patrick's Wedding

Autumn Corn Festival

Music Video?

Tucson, Arizona's Music Video? is a great electronic band that made a good showing at SXSW last week in Austin. Check out the write-up on NPR.

Music Video? on NPR

A Two-Minute Broadcast

Our Lady Hillary has posted a two-minute broadcast before the Iowa caucus. Happy New Year!

R.I.P.

Benazir Bhutto
Former Pakistani Prime Minister and the country's current opposition leader. She was assassinated today at a political rally in Rawalpindi. This is a sad and troubling day that will have a greater impact later.

More
Red alert in Pakistan

image source: www.harrywalker.com

The Queen's Christmas Speech

Queen Elizabeth, a.k.a The Queen of England, gave her annual Christmas speech this year but posted it to YouTube simultaneously with the television broadcast. It was 50 years ago that she first delivered her speech via television and noted "...the speed at which things are changing all around us."

To an American, what the English Royalty have to say may mean only 'rubbish', but the English are deeply enthralled by this once-a-year chance to listen to the Queen speak. Al Gore can't even command this kind of audience.



More
Queen Elizabeth's first televised broadcast 1957

Holiday Message

Song: Carol Of The Bells - The Bird And The Bee
Download it from iTunes

Hillary's Presents

More
Hillary Clinton's website
Contribute to Hillary

Related
The Hillary I Know

2007 Shortlist Music Prize

The 2007 nominees for the Shorlist Music Prize were announced yesterday (Dec. 21). Albums released between January and November 2007 and not yet having been rated gold by the RIAA for shipments in the US for 500,000+ were eligible.

IAB mentions that are nominees are Feist, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, Iron & Wine, Keren Ann, Of Montreal, Peter Bjorn & John, PJ Harvey and The Bird and The Bee.

More
The Shorlist of Music

Related
RIAA Certifications on Billboard

RollingStone's Top 50 Albums of 2007

RollingStone, in addition to Q, has released their idea of the top 50 albums of 2007. There are some surprises, at least in my opinion. The top 10 is posted below.

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RollingStone's Top 50 Albums of 2007

1. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
3. Jay-Z - American Gangster
4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
5. Kanye West - Graduation
6. Radiohead - In Rainbows
7. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
8. Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
9. Against Me! - New Wave
10. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Q Magazine's 'The 50 Best Albums of 2007'

Q Magazine has posted their choices for the top 50 albums of the last year. You can also send your top 5 album choices to Q@emap.com and you'll be entered for a prize. They will compile the submissions into the Q Reader's Top 10 next year (2008). Below is the top 10.

I have heard or own most of the albums in the top 10 including Arcade Fire. But number one?? Does Chris Martin's name reside in Q's masthead? Arcade Fire is as overrated as their groupie-band, Coldplay. But I am happy to see The Boss and Arctic Monkeys back for critical acclaim in addition to Rufus Wainwright, even if I think his latest album is weak.

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Q Magazine's 'The 50 Best Albums of 2007'

Neon Bible THE ARCADE FIRE Average user rating: More>

Icky Thump THE WHITE STRIPES Average user rating: More>

Favourite Worst Nightmare ARCTIC MONKEYS Average user rating: More>

In Rainbows RADIOHEAD Average user rating: More>

The Good, The Bad & The Queen THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN Average user rating: More>

Magic BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Average user rating: More>

Because Of The Times KINGS OF LEON Average user rating: More>

Wincing The Night Away THE SHINS Average user rating: More>

Boys And Girls In America THE HOLD STEADY Average user rating: More>

Release The Stars RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Average user rating: More>

Big Art Group [B!G News] 2007

Caden Manson and Big Art Group have published the goings on with their organization via newsletter. If you are lucky enough to be in the same location across the pond be sure to check them out.

More
Big Art Group website
Big Art Group on MySpace

Related
The Wooster Group
Rob Roth on YouTube

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Dear Friends of Big Art Group, Thanks for being such an important influence and all the generous donations last year. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on our past years’ activities, plans for the future and to invite you to become a part of the experimentation and performance by considering a year-end tax-deductible contribution to Big Art Group this season. No amount is too small -- and every amount makes a big difference. We need your financial support to continue to bring experimental American performance to audiences worldwide! Best Wishes for the New Year, Caden Manson & Jemma Neslon   2007 Wrap Up We started off ‘07 by presenting DEAD SET #3 at the Kitchen with some of the best reviews we’ve received yet from the New York Press: TimeOut NY called the piece “visually and sonically ravishing...leaving you rattled, amazed and perhaps a little queasy;” and the NYTimes described the performance as “an orgy of spectacle...live theater itself seems under assault." The production was a partnership with the Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, MAC Creteil and the Festival d’Automne in Paris. After our successful run in NYC we toured the piece to Belgium, Germany and Austria. Last spring the company took an exciting new direction with THE PEOPLE. After a residency in Polverigi, Italy, Big Art Group produced a site specific performance that involved the community of this close-knit italian town. The results were so positive that we’ll be repeating the project at Theater der Welt in Germany next June 2008.   2008 In January we start another big year with a commissioned premiere of “CINEMA FURY: THE IMITATION” as part of the 100th anniversary of The Hebbel Am Ufer in Berlin. We are very pleased and honored that the Hebbel commissioned us to help celebrate their anniversary. For 2008 we are working on two other new projects, SOS (a coproduction with the Vienna Festival) and THE PEOPLE for Theater der Welt 2008 in Halle, Germany. Both promise to be as creative and innovative as our audiences have come to expect!   HELP MAKE THE WORK HAPPEN Your individual donation makes all this possible. We need your help to achieve our goals. We need funds for equipment, rents, salaries, and other day-to-day operations as well as for the continuous cycle of creation and experimentation. Please send a check, or even easier, donate online via the links below. Checks can be mailed to Big Art Group, PO BOX 1034, New York, NY 10276. Please support the arts, creativity, and critical thinking and make a contribution to Big Art Group. Donate -->   BIG ART SPACE Are you on Myspace? We are! Come join our page for an inside look at Big Art Group. Check back often for pictures and video of us on tour and in rehearsal. Big Art Space ->   INTERN Join an international dynamic team of interns working with Big Art Group.   We offer internships based around your interests as well as needs for the company. We are also always looking to expand our base of performers and lighting, set, and costume designers, please send work samples and resumés to info(at)bigartgroup(dot)com. Always include a cover letter to let us know your specific interests and experience. INTERN ->   CHECK OUT If you're in NYC this January, check out these other performances... Under The Radar Festival (January 9 - 20, 2008) Crime or Emergency (Janaury 11-13, 2008) Everyone (January 14 & 15, 2008) Maybe Forever (January 30 - Febuary 2, 2008)   THANK YOU! Thanks to our funders, supporters, co-producers, and host theatres who made Big Art Group 2007 possible: Theaterworks - Singapore, Hebbel Am Ufer, Festival d’Automne, MAC Creteil, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Donau Festival, de Singel, Inteatro, IFA, The Greenwall Foundation, Kings Fountain Foundation, ONDA, Florence Gould Foundation and étant donnés: The French-American Fund for the Performing Arts, James Davison, and Diane White. Board of Directors • James Davison • Cyd Margulies • Caden Manson • Jemma Nelson • Kim Gill Caden Manson / Big Art Group Caden Manson & Jemma Nelson - Artistic Directors PO BOX 1034, New York, New York, 10276 www.bigartgroup.com

2007 End Of The Year Songs

Working from home warrants a lot of time to listen to music and I mostly tend to play my 'Current Music' playlist in iTunes. While I am concentrating on work there are songs that wrestle with my subconscious, causing me to come to and take notice. I have compiled these tunes that have been swimming in my head for the past month and a half, into one playlist called '2007 End of the Year Songs'. I think these songs are the best from the best of the best.

	Bat for Lashes What's a Girl to Do?	Creepy, sad and so well executed. One of the best songs, videos and bands of 2007.
	Duran Duran Falling Down	Classic Duran Duran yet with a contemporary sound.
	Beirut Cliquot	Sexy and classic-sounding French village music from a musical savant just barely old enough to drink.
	The Bird And The Bee Carol of the Bells	The enigmatic re-do of the classic Christmas carol (with lyrics!). The only thing wrong with this song is that it is the only child of a non-existent album.
	Erasure Sucker for Love	Yes, Erasure.
	Jarvis Cocker Running the World	A poignant song sung with the right ingredients of the rock-n-roll spirit and pop catch.
	Just Jack Starz In Their Eyes	Everyone wants to be a pop star. Even Just Jack.
	KT Tunstall Saving My Face	As usual, I love the album that is not the commercial success of the two. Give it a try...
	Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs Different Drum	A brilliant pairing of artists that find their voice in the songs of the 60s. This song still applies to life today.
	Pink Crash & Burn	This is a bonus track on I'm Not Dead that has become the mantra of my personal life. Pink describes the busy and demanding rock star life from an airplane, massaging it into the positive spin of "I'll never crash and burn."
	Iron & Wine House By the Sea	I am immediately withdrawn into the world of Gordon Lightfoot and Dan Fogelberg but with an alternative music spin. This is good working music.
	Bruce Springsteen Radio Nowhere	I am a product of the 80s and damn proud of it. Unfortunately this also means my 'first experience' with a lot of classic music acts is disgraced with some of their worst music. The Boss is in this category and I am happy to change my mind with his latest effort.
	Tegan and Sara The Con	This song is like an Indiana Jones movie; it starts with quick opening credits that dive straight into non-stop action. If inclined, check out the brutally honest lyrics online.
	Rilo Kiley The Angels Hung Around	I don't know why this album is so different from Rilo Kiley's others. This song sounds like a classic 70s country song sung with the crystal clear voice of a Southern Belle.
	Maria McKee Late December	Maria is the best musician alive and probably one of the most forgotten if ever known. Of course, she is my number one.
	M.I.A. Paper Planes	Controversial? You decide. War profiteering epitomized into children's voices, gunshots and the 'cha-ching' of a cash register.
	Lavender Diamond Open Your Heart	Channeling Olivia Newton-John circa the mid to late 70s. If you like this song, get the album. If you want to keep liking the album, don't ever watch the band's videos on YouTube.

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