SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Computer Inc. has unveiled a pencil-thin “iPod nano” digital music player and a long-anticipated cell phone that plays music like an iPod, both aimed at extending its domination of the digital music market.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs also said that in 2006, some 30 percent of all new U.S. cars will sport stereos that can easily connect to the iPod.

The seriously slimmed-down nano – about a quarter of an inch (0.6 cm) thick, 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) long and 1-1/2 inches (4 cm) wide – drew “oohs” and “ahhs” from the audience at the product release in San Francisco, outdoing the buzz generated by the Rokr phone, which some said failed to meet high expectations for design.

The nano players, either all black or all white, are nearly as small as the entry-level iPod Shuffle but sport click wheels and hold up to 1,000 songs.

Apple has about 75 percent of the market for digital music players, with iPod sales about one-third of its total revenue, and Jobs said competitors had set their sights on the iPod mini, which he said was Apple’s best-selling iPod model.

The nano replaces the mini, and Gartner analyst Van Baker said that Apple – which has sold 21 million iPods since introducing them in 2001 – has moved the goal posts farther down the field with the nano. “It changes the rules of the game,” Baker said.

The iPod nano uses flash memory chips to store songs and photos, rather than the hard-disk drives that the iPod mini and the larger iPods use.
Test for music

The Rokr phone is Apple’s long-awaited foray into the wireless realm. Developed with Motorola Inc., it can store up to 100 songs and has a color screen, stereo speakers, stereo headphones and a camera. Cingular will be the first mobile carrier for the Rokr. Several operators in the United Kingdom are expected to offer the phone soon.

But some said the silver phone did not meet style expectations set by Apple’s iPod and Motorola’s slim flagship Razr phone, and others cited its limited song capacity for iPod users accustomed to carrying thousands of songs.

“It doesn’t have the emotive cachet that the Razr or the iPod has,” said Yankee Group analyst John Jackson. “When you whip this out in the bar, nobody’s going to say, ‘That’s a cool device.’”

The Rokr iTunes phone will be available in Cingular stores on Thursday.

No. 1 U.S. mobile service Cingular Wireless, a venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., will be the exclusive U.S. carrier of the phone, which it will sell for $249.99 to customers who sign up for a two-year service contract.

Cingular does not make money from the songs played on the phones, but hopes they will help boost sales and reduce customer defections to rival services. One analyst said it could become Cingular’s top-selling phone by next year.

“If this phone is easy to use, at this price I think it will fly off the shelves,” Charter Equity analyst Ed Snyder said. “Cingular will reap the benefits of the combination of Motorola and Apple’s brands.”

The phone does not allow for wireless downloads, but it does eliminate the need for carrying two separate gadgets.

Motorola said the phone would be available in the United Kingdom at Carphone Warehouse Group’s stores in mid-September and with operators such as O2, Orange, BT Mobile, Virgin Mobile this month or next.

In the coming months, it is also expected to be available in countries such as Germany, Canada, Italy and France.

Motorola’s chief marketing officer, Geoffrey Frost, said the phone – the first in a whole family of Rokr devices – would be followed by more stylish designs.

“As this continues to develop you’ll see it become as iconic as our other new products,” Frost said, referring to a new products inspired by its Razr phone.
Flexible

As it tests the market for music on mobile phones, Apple is free to work with other handset makers and cellular service providers, said Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of worldwide product marketing, in an interview.

“We have flexibility to do many things,” Schiller said. He declined to comment on the financial arrangements of Apple’s partnership with Motorola and Cingular.

Music is expected to be one of the hottest new features in mobile phones, which already sport everything from cameras to video players.

Apple has to keep up a steady pace of innovative new music products to maintain the level of growth investors now expect.

Shares of Apple fell 12 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close at $48.68 on Nasdaq. So far this year, the stock has gained 52 percent and trades at about 34 times its projected earnings per share in fiscal 2006. Apple’s fiscal year ends in September.

Apple said it was teaming with car makers Acura, Audi, Honda and Volkswagen to integrate its iPod products into their car stereos for 2006 model lines.

Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SPAS007: All new and original 8 track EP from Dsico That No-Talent Hack. No bootleges, no mashups. Raw Electronic Alt-Pop with guitars and vocals and stuff. Written and Performed by Luke Collison, recorded at Luke’s in Newtown/ Sydney. Great stuff!

http://plurn.com/play/161

Plurn is an online playlist community, which is a folksonomy in the way it handles playlist content. Playlists can be browsed by tag, imort a page as a playlist and the new XSPF format is supported. The site has very nice text based look.

Kingston, ON - Avril Lavigne’s heart-felt song, “I’m With You", has been selected as the first song to fill the skies over Toronto, Canada in an upcoming acoustic magic show developed by Reichen Minogue of IMXLabs.com. Dubbed as the “show to end all shows", Minogue prepares the Canadian population for a “grand event” which will “dazzle humanity".

“The concept is a magical performance unlike any other prior magic-based stage production. Using advances in acoustic broadcasting and quantum sonic mechanics, we have eliminated the need for speakers outright. Music will literally engulf the entire greater Toronto area leaving no space void of Avril Lavigne’s voice. Her song will be heard in the middle of the night by no less than five million people during a single daily broadcast to be repeated over fourteen subsequent days", he stated during a recent telephone interview.

The show has been titled as ‘The Gabriel’s Trumpet Project’ and is currently still within pre-production in Cairo, Egypt by Artist Group Agency (AGA) and Reichen Group Corp (RGC).

No show date has been released.

Source: popmusic.org
Project Website: www.musicfromthesky.com

Peerflix has come up with a great idea, tired of your old DVDs? Well, swap for some new DVDs.

:Link:

The site was have some severe CSS issues which have been fixed. Wordpress was in some kind of recursive loop when attempting to import the stylesheet URL. WP 1.5 here we come!

Well from time to time we like to take pictures around here. The problem is they always need resizing before the are posted. Along comes the extra nifty ViewNResize, a kick-ass JPEG resizing program from Mr. Xavier Poulain. Requires the .NET Framework.

ViewNResize v. 3.0 by Xavier Poulain
Size: 386k WinXP 02-Feb-2005

ViewNResize is a multilingual Jpeg file viewer that allows you to easily resize images by resizing the program’s main window. Once the image’s size suits you, you can save it, send it directly by email without changing your original or put it in an image basket to send it later with other pictures. Requires the .NET Framework.

“The devil made him do it", representatives for R&B singer Houston said in a statement explaining how his eye was seriously gouged. Houston’s publicist issued a statement Thursday night denying reports he tried to take his life by jumping from a London hotel window last week. The statement said Houston “found himself in the midst of a spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment industry.” Houston, whose 2004 single I Like That was used in a McDonald’s commercial, was found in his London hotel room with a serious eye injury. He was briefly in hospital.

“I went to check on him before going to bed and I saw blood on the floor,” Houston’s bodyguard, Marco Powell, said in the statement. “Houston was lying on his bed with a towel over his face and I removed the towel to find his eye hanging out. He said he had to get the devil off of his back and that’s the only way he could kill the devil.”

Houston, whose full name is Houston Summers, is a Los Angeles resident. He was raised strictly Christian and was “constantly at odds with the temptations that come with success in the music business,” the statement said.The incident prompted a statement from Bushwick Bill of the rap group The Geto Boys. In 1991, a severely intoxicated Bushwick forced his girlfriend to assist him in a suicide attempt. She shot him in the eye but he miraculously survived.

“Fame will make you crazy,” Bushwick’s statement said. “I want Houston to know that he is in my prayers and that I will ask God to give him peace of mind and peace of heart and I hope his eye heals as well as his mind and his emotions.” Houston was recuperating Friday at his Los Angeles home. The condition of his eye was not known. “I still love all my fans. Please pray for me and know I’ll be back with some more hits,” Houston said.

The O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (ETECH) is coming up this March 2005 and will take place in Sand Diego. Judging by the programs and speakers this year, it’s going to be a big one. The Birds of a Feather (BOF) events are wide open and could turn out to be very interesting.

“Just some of the themes you’ll find reflected in this year’s ETech program are: The grand vision of web services is morphing into the more useful–and profitable–goals of providing alternate interfaces to data and services. Social networking services are groping for more dimensions of value. Wireless meshes made of small devices continue to accelerate decentralization. Mobile devices of many forms and functions now inhabit desktops, pockets, and cars. Hackers have discovered the joys of cracking open devices to prod and mod, using cheap, off-the-shelf technology.”

:Main:
:Register:

Ok, so we loved the rare brasilian vinyl posted on Sabadabada. Make sure that you check out the album covers.

Just got back from NAMM 2005, man have we got some hot gear to share. Red-hot gear porn pictures coming soon. Stay tuned to emusiq.com.

KVRaudio / Muse Research, will be at the Winter NAMM Show 2005 in Anaheim, California, USA, between January 20th - January 23rd.

If you are visiting the show please drop by our booth (#1101, Hall E) and say hello! We’ll have a couple of Receptors being put through their paces and several special guests will be passing through (schedule to be confirmed).

We will also be featuring various third party plug-in developers who will be demoing their “Receptorized” plug-ins on Receptor. (Schedule to be confirmed).

:Link:

Just reminder that the 2005 NAMM show is coming up. So much music gear so little time!

NAMM Show Hours
Thursday January 20th 10 AM - 6 PM
Friday January 21st 10 AM - 6 PM
Saturday January 22nd 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday January 23rd10 AM - 5 PM

:Link:

Press Relesase: Leading RSS Software Platform Provider NewsGator Supports DivX Connected Certification Program

NewsGator Technologies, the leading RSS software platform provider, today announced support for the upcoming DivX Connected Certification Program from DivXNetworks, Inc. Through the program, users will be able to easily access RSS news and information feeds from the popular NewsGator Online service on their televisions through low-cost, connected consumer electronics (CE) devices such as DVD players and set-top boxes.

NewsGator Technologies has a number of cutting-edge content management/aggregation offerings, including NewsGator’s free online service. NewsGator Online is a state-of-the art web-based aggregator, where users can track all their favorite RSS and news feeds online at no charge. The DivX Connected Program is a comprehensive technology initiative that will bring together online service providers, independent software vendors, integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers and consumer electronics (CE) original equipment manufacturers to create interoperable products and services that enable consumers to easily access digital media from networked devices throughout the home.

“With a dynamic range of RSS feeds that allow consumers to instantly access news and information, the NewsGator service is a perfect fit for the DivX Connected Program,” said Paul Sarena, Product Manager, DivX Connected Program at DivXNetworks. “In the near future, users will be able to easily access all their favorite news and information services, personal media content and a range of premium content not just on the PC but throughout the house. NewsGator is uniquely positioned to play a vital role in that scenario.”

Two Australian indie legends come to Ozmusicweed Australian Music site this week in the form of David Virgin from Sekret Sekret, and Dan Rumour from the Cruel Sea who have teamed up together for an album of new songs, which they are releasing in Weedshare format. These elder statesmen of the Australian underground music scene have been making music together since 1979 in various different bands, starting with seminal industrial noise band SPK. Read more and ownload tracks from their new album “Virgin & Rumour". Weedfiles from the Virgin & Rumour album can be downloaded from http://www.ozmusicweed.com

Virgin & Rumour are one of the increasing amount of artist’s releasing their music in the new Weedshare format.

Weedshare (as in the music “spreads like a weed”) is a relatively new digital music distribution model that pays people to share your music. Weedfiles are basically windows media files (so most people already have the software needed to play them) with a very clever form of digital rights management built in. You can download and listen to a Weedfile 3 times free before you have to pay for it, then if you buy it, the artist/label always get’s 50%, the last 3 people to pass the song around get 35% (split 20%,10%, 5% in order of who purchased song first) and SML, the Weed parent company get 15% for administering the system. So once you pay for a Weedfile, and pass it around to your friends, you get 20% of the sale price every time one of them pays for the song. It’s a natural thing to want to share music you like with people you like. Weedshare works on the principle that it’s better to reward people for doing the right thing, rather than punishing them for doing the wrong thing.

LOS ANGELES - Restructuring helped recording company Warner Music Group narrow its net losses by 43 percent over a 10-month period, the company reported Monday.

The privately held, New York-based firm, home to artists like Madonna and Kid Rock, reported a $136 million net loss for the 10-month period ending Sept. 30, compared to a $239 million net loss during the same period last year.

Including a benefit from changes in currency exchange rates, total recorded music and publishing revenue was $2.54 billion during the period, up 2 percent over the $2.48 billion for the same period last year.

Without the benefit, total revenue was down 3 percent compared to the previous period, the company said.

WMG Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said the company’s restructuring plan was ahead of schedule.

“Now that the lion’s share of the restructuring has been completed, we can turn our entire focus to building and developing the company’s roster of recording artists and songwriters,” Bronfman said in a statement.

The financial report covered a 10-month period because WMG has changed the end of its fiscal year from Nov. 30 to Sept. 30. The reporting includes the period from Nov. 29, 2003, to Feb. 29, 2004, when the company was still part of Time Warner Inc.

Factoring in the exchange rates, WMG’s recorded music unit generated $2.06 billion in revenue worldwide in the most recent period, up 1 percent over the same time last year. Excluding the benefit would mean an estimated 4 percent decline in global recorded music revenue, the company said.

Among the company’s recent top releases were albums by Josh Groban, Green Day and Jet. The previous year, its releases included albums by Madonna, Metallica and Linkin Park.

WMG’s music publishing business saw revenue of $505 million during the period, up 8 percent over the previous year.

Excluding the impact of the exchange rates, the company’s worldwide publishing revenue rose 1 percent, with the bulk of the gains in the United States, the company said.

WMG reported financial results earlier this year after it was acquired from Time Warner Inc. for $2.6 billion by an investor group including Bronfman, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners. The deal closed March 1.

The company forecast the restructuring would generate at least $250 million of recurring annualized savings by the end of 2005. As of Sept. 30, the changes have resulted in an estimated $240 million in annualized cost savings, the company said.

In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Bronfman said he expects the company will double its sales next year from digital distribution channels such as online download sites and mobile music retailers.

“The trends are encouraging, and in 2005 we expect (digital sales) to represent 4 percent of overall sales, up from 2 percent this year,” Bronfman said.

He was also optimistic that the music industry’s sales slide in recent years has finally abated.

“We hope we’ve seen the bottom,” he said. “There is a more positive picture than the industry has lived the past three or four years.”

New York – Jay-Z, who has professed retirement from his rap career, now has a new job to occupy his time: president of the Def Jam record label.

The appointment, rumored for months, was announced Wednesday by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group.

The multiplatinum rapper – whose work on the “The Black Album” was nominated for three Grammys – will take the helm Jan. 3. He will also continue to run Roc-A-Fella Records, which he co-founded with Damon Dash in 1995.

Unknown attackers have downed file-sharing networks based on a common peer-to-peer technology, according to the administrator of LokiTorrent, one of the networks affected.

The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the BitTorrent infrastructure prevented some users from downloading files for up to 10 hours on Wednesday, said the administrator, who asked to be identified only by his online handle, “Lowkee.” The target was the central BitTorrent directories, or trackers, which are used by people to find movies, music and other content on the file-swapping network, he said.

“It maxed out our 100-megabit connection,” Lowkee said Thursday in an online interview with CNET News.com. “I can’t say how many systems were attacking, because our Web server took a dive at the time.”

A DDoS attack is a common online assault that aims to overwhelm network bandwidth using a flood of data, to prevent access to servers. While BitTorrent technology eases bandwidth requirements for downloading files, since the data comes from pieces stored on various members’ computers, it does little to protect against such attacks on the central servers.

Lowkee claimed that administrators at three other networks said servers on those hubs had been attacked. CNET News.com could not confirm those outages. The BitTorrent networks are currently in operation as normal.

BitTorrent technology lets people download files from the computers of other members taking part in a peer-to-peer network. Centralized directories, known as tracker servers, hold critical information that pinpoints which users’ computers have the various fragments that make up a single file. Once a fragment of a file is cached on a PC, that machine then makes it available to other users, to speed downloads. Though distribution is shared, the technology still relies on central tracking servers to direct a downloader’s software to different pieces of a file, which could be hosted on several users’ PCs.

While the technology allows members to share the bandwidth costs of file sharing and speeds downloads, it doesn’t prevent a flood of data to the tracker servers from interrupting the service.

“Avoiding future attacks will require an overhaul of the BitTorrent protocol itself, as right now there lies too much reliance on the trackers,” Lowkee said. “We’re hoping future changes will reduce the requirement of the tracker to an initial connection, therefore moving the actual peer-sharing burden to the peers themselves.”

This is the latest attack against peer-to-peer file sharing services. Last spring, a variant of the Netsky virus leveled a denial-of-service attack against Kazaa and eDonkey, two other peer-to-peer networks. Web site caching service Akamai was hit by a massive data attack earlier this year as well.

It is unknown how widely the BitTorrent attack affected other networks. The creator of BitTorrent, Bram Cohen, could not be reached for comment.

Wurld Media, a leading developer of proprietary e-commerce and file transport technologies, today announced it had signed agreements with three major record labels. SONY BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have agreed to provide access to their vast catalogs of music to be made available on Peer Impact (www.peerimpact.com), Wurld Media’s new peer-to- peer (P2P) digital file-sharing network. Peer Impact is currently concluding internal beta testing and is scheduled to launch publicly in the first quarter of 2005.

Peer Impact’s proprietary business model is designed to provide a clear, legal alternative for consumers to buy and share music, video and an assorted variety of digital content. At the same time, the service ensures that artists and rights holders receive their due compensation for each file shared on the network. Peer Impact is a revolutionary platform that harnesses peer-to- peer technology to create a low-cost infrastructure for distributing licensed content. Because Peer Impact will distribute only licensed and public domain content, it leverages the efficiencies of peer-to-peer distribution while respecting the work of artists and copyright holders.

“We’re excited and proud to gain the cooperation of leading record labels, and we look forward to concluding even more agreements in the coming weeks, but we are not stopping there,” said Greg Kerber, chairman and CEO of Wurld Media. “Peer Impact actually revolutionizes P2P in two ways: By minimizing distribution costs and by allowing legal file sharing within a closed network. Our goal is to populate Peer Impact with the greatest, and most diverse, collection of digital content anywhere.”

“The online media market is presently split between authorized legal paid- download services and unauthorized free services; the consumer is stuck somewhere in the middle, and that’s where Peer Impact comes in,” Kerber continued. “From the beginning our objective has been to reach out to the consumer and help build a secure and legal file-sharing community, created by – and for – the fan, but which also ensures that digital-rights owners get compensated. We look forward to realizing that objective with the coming launch of Peer Impact.”

The final programme John Peel recorded for the BBC World Service before he died has been broadcast. Peel died last month at the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Peru. Before leaving to go on holiday he recorded three music shows ready for transmission. Beginning with a tribute from Mark Coles, the final show featured music from Sweden, Germany, the US, and up-and-coming Liverpool band Ella Guru.

Peel was BBC Radio 1’s longest-serving DJ and in recent years had also presented Home Truths on Radio 4 - a whimsical look at family life. Club DJ Rob Da Bank is to host Peel’s Radio 1 show for the “foreseeable future".

The Streets’ Mike Skinner was on the verge of cancelling his American tour after gambling away the tour budget. The English singer says he’s lost thousands of dollars of his A Grand Don’t Come For Free album royalties, and has had to remortgage his house to finance a third album and the US tour. “It’s scary,” he says. “I’ve lost a lot. Basically, I was getting too drunk and betting lots of money. This year I’ve had to face that I’ve got a problem with everything outside music.”

Southern California heavy-rockers System of a Down are to release a double album in two parts, six months apart. Hypnotize is due early next year, with Mesmerize to follow about six months later. “We mixed a lot of styles together without making them seem like they don’t belong together,” says guitarist Daron Malakian. “We’re going to give everybody the System of a Down rollercoaster, but don’t expect it to sound like it has before.” The band play at the Big Day Out in January.

Vladimir Hropov and Andrew Kolochinsky might be familiar names under their “Randomajestiq” music project, with releases out on Subsource (De:Bug netaudio of the month) and Kikapu. The two artists describe themselves as two scientists hidding from civilization and exploring it from the underground perspective. On Autoplate they start our focus on the east-europe musicscene which will last for a couple of releases, and bring a 12 song ep which thematically deals with the exploration of Area 51. They express themselves with different flavours of either gentle flowing soundscapes, warm expanding space pads and harsh metallic beats. Although the album is produced completly digital, the sounds sound analogue to me in the majority, and therefore with classic reminisces to mid 90s electronica. Songs like “Nsomnia” or “Nikkl” dig deeply into emotional electronics while tracks like “R-Type” or “Green Fireball” have a more industrial approach.

http://www.thinnerism.com/apl/practical.php?release=apl011

Chart-topping rapper 50 CENT has set up his own record label.

The star, whose debut LP ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin'’ has stormed the US chart this year, has teamed up with Interscope to form G-Unit Records - and he hopes to use the label to release his near-legendary mix tapes.

He said: “I put out two mixtapes since ‘Get Rich…’ came out, and I’m not going to stop. That’s the largest form of promotion. I can put out some of the new artists that are signed to my label.”

50 Cent insists he isn’t worried about the extra work running a label takes. He admitted: “I’ve never had a job before in my life, but I’m a lab rat. I stay in the studio."According to Rolling Stone, among the first releases from G-Unit the label will be an album by G-Unit the group, which comprises 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. The trio’s first official record is due for September, after Yayo is released from Riker’s Island Penitentiary in New York, where he’s serving a six-month sentence on gun charges. Letters from Eminem and Dr Dre convinced prison officials to shorten Yayo’s stay.

Yayo said from prison: “They said I’m a nice person, and they gave me an association with them. They’re also taking care of the legal bills - everything

Looks like VH1 is trying hard to attract that hip-hop audience. As previously reported, VH1 will be adding more hip-hop flavored shows this and as part of Black History month, VH1 premieres two new episodes of their popular show Driven. On Sunday (2/9), the channel premiered the Jay-Z episode which follows the life of Jay-Z on his road to fame, from growing up in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects to his hustling days and his early days in hip-hop with Jaz and Original Flavor. For those that missed the episode, it will air again on February 12, 13, 18, 20 and 28, check your local listings.

On Sunday, February 16, VH1 will premiere the Lil Kim episode of Driven. The episode details the early life of Kim coming out of the projects in Brooklyn and hooking up with Junior Mafia and Notorious B.I.G.. The episode includes interview with those involved in her career and life such as her mother, and brother, Jermaine Dupri and Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace. The show even highlights details on when Kim was pregnant Biggie’s baby. Check local listings for when the show will air this Sunday.

Koala Bear Studios, a brand new Indie label in Long Beach, California has signed Danny Hamilton, nominated male singer-songwriter of the year at the 2002 Los Angeles Music Awards! You can listen to MP3’s of Danny’s music at Koala Bear Studios, and buy an earlier CD of Danny’s directly from their online store. Danny and his Band will be going into the studio to do their first high-end studio-recorded, mixed and mastered CD sometime in the next couple of weeks and we can’t wait to hear the results! In the meantime, you can go to www.kbearstudios.com to check out his stuff! You won’t be disappointed!

First record in five years in progress

“We always work a little slower than others,” says Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. Five Years after Hello Nasty, the group is busy recording in a New York studio it built last year.

But have patience: The new CD is unlikely to be finished before 2004. According to the band, “it’s about fifteen percent done.” One completed track, however, was posted on the Beasties’ Web site this week: the anti-war tirade “In a World Gone Mad.” “We wanted to offer out help in the war-protest arena,” says Yauch. Over a herky-jerky beat, the song attacks President Bush, but it also flashes trademark Beasties humor, as when Mike Diamond addresses the president: “You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day/With the cocaine and the Courvoisier.""It’s a bit of a goof,” says Yauch. “The implication is, rather than involving everyone in the world in their problems, the two of them could go work it out somewhere.”

During a quick recording break, the Beasties have two live appearances scheduled: the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Japan, on April 19th, and the Coachella Festival on April 26th. “I don’t quite know how bands put out a record every year,” says Yauch. “It takes a year to make the record, a year to tour and then a year of vacation. We just happen to stretch that vacation part to two or three years.”

After all those Grammy wins followed by a record spike on last week’s charts, you’d think no one could keep up with the (Norah) Jones. Think again.

Now in his fifth week on the charts, rapper 50 Cent reclaimed the top spot with his smash rookie album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, knocking off Jones’ mega-debut, Come Away with Me.

The Queens emcee sold another 358,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures, to win top honors for the week ended Sunday. Jones’ disc, a 54-week chart mainstay, sold 336,000 copies in the runner-up slot. Aside from 50 Cent’s return to the top, hip-hop dominated the debuts, scoring two new entries in the Top 10. Brooklyn rapper Fabolous opened at number three as his sophomore release, Street Dreams, moved 184,000 copies. The album features a strong female supporting cast, with appearances by Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and Ashanti.

Lil’ Kim bowed at number five with her third album, La Bella Mafia, selling 166,000 copies. Her disc also features an appearance by Missy Elliott, as well as cameos by Method Man and Styles P. A onetime Junior M.A.F.I.A. associate, Kim is perhaps best known for being one of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack’s Ladies Marmalade and getting her breast fluffed by Diana Ross at the 1999 MTV Music Awards.

The only non-rap debut belonged to the rock outfit Evanescence, whose Fallen opened at number seven, selling 141,000 copies. Fronted by the brooding Amy Lee, this Little Rock, Arkansas, group first made noise as a standout on the Daredevil soundtrack.

The remaining Top 10 albums were R. Kelly’s Chocolate Factory at four, the Dixie Chicks’ Home at six, Kid Rock’s Cocky at eight, the Chicago soundtrack at nine, and the Cradle 2 the Grave soundtrack at 10.

Avril Lavigne’s Let Go, which came up empty-handed at the Grammys, dropped from the Top 10 for the first time in more than six months. The album, down 27,000 for a 69,000-copy week, now sits at number 11.

Outside the Top 10, the most ear-splitting new offering came from the double-disc Kidz Bop 3 at number 17. The successful series–which features kids covering recent hits by artists like Avril Lavigne, Sheryl Crow, and Mary J. Blige–benefits from massive direct-response television ads.

Following a Grammy win, Christian rockers Third Day scored their highest chart debut ever with Offerings II: All I Have to Give. The disc sold 53,000 copies to open at 18 and also handily topped Billboard’s Christian music charts. The original Offerings: A Worship Album, released in 2000, will soon surpass platinum sales status, a rarity in Christian circles.

Other notable newbies on the charts included: Warped Tour faves the Ataris at 24 with their major label debut, So Long Astoria; Wayne Wonder’s No Holding Back charted at 29; Donnie McClurkin’s self-titled opened at 31; and Choppa’s Straight from the N.O. closed its first week at 54.

Lastly, Hootie & the Blowfish’s new eponymous disc sold 25,000 copies to open at 46. The Blowfish have simply blown since rocketing to fame with the 1994 smash Cracked Rear View. Their last effort, 1998’s Musical Chairs, tanked, and this time around, legendary producer Don Was held their hand in the studio in hopes of a solid comeback.

Here’s a rundown of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday, according to SoundScan:

1. Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent
2. Come Away with Me, Norah Jones
3. Street Dreams, Fabolous
4. Chocolate Factory, R. Kelly
5. La Bella Mafia, Lil’ Kim
6. Home, Dixie Chicks
7. Fallen, Evanescence
8. Cocky, Kid Rock
9. Chicago soundtrack, various
10. Cradle 2 the Grave soundtrack, various

Koala Bear Studios is now open! We are dedicated to promoting and featuring new local talent from the greater Los Angeles area. Recording is free if we think your music has merit! We will create demo CD’s, white labels, promotional posters, and will also feature MP3’s of a sampling of your music on this site!

Come take a look at www.kbearstudios.com!We are currently featuring two artists. The albums are called Bad Jones by David Silva,
and Shards of Love by Sandra McTiernan (currently being recorded). Both of these artists
are very talented, with very different styles of music. David Silva’s music is of the Classic
Rock/Alternative Rock genre. Sandra’s music is of the New Age/Pop Rock genre. As our featured artist, MP3’s of David’s music is available on our home page. A rough cut of one of Sandra’s songs can be listened to on the Other Bands page for a preview of her music!

Maurice Gibb, one of the singing Gibb brothers who rose to fame in the 1960s as The Bee Gees, died in Florida over the weekend at age 53. Gibb had complained of stomach pain at his home in Miami Thursday and was hospitalized. After surgery to remove an intestinal blockage Gibb remained in critical but stable condition for three days before passing away. Brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb began singing together professionally in the late 1950s in Australia and became an international sensation on the strength of a string of 1960’s hits from “The New York Mining Disaster 1941″ to “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights.” In the 1970’s the group enjoyed a remarkable comeback as the premier act of the disco era on the strength of the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack” with its signature hits “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever” and “More Than A Woman.”

An eleventh hour reprieve from the recording industry’s royalty collection agency has given new life to “smaller” Internet broadcasters facing an October 20 deadline for the payment of the controversial CARP rate structure.

SoundExchange, the RIAA agency mandated to recoup royalty payments from Web broadcasts, granted the last-minute reprieve to the those webcasters that qualified for the ‘Small Webcaster Amendments Act of 2002,’ which narrowly missed a Senate vote late last week. SoundExchange posted a temporary payment plan on its Web site Monday which sets the rate for eligible webcasters at the $500 minimum annual fee proposed in HR 5469, the measure that was put before Congress.

The reprieve means small Webcasters would now pay a flat rate of $500 for every year they have been in business since 1998, or a maximum of $2,500. The SoundExchange reprieve does not extend to larger commercial webcasters like Yahoo! (Quote, Company Info), America Online (Quote, Company Info) or Microsoft’s (Quote, Company Info) MSN Network.

Executive Director of SoundExchange John Simson said the reprieve would remain in effect “until this Congress has had the opportunity to act on the pending legislation.”

“Given the unfortunate fact that a lone Senator apparently held up the small webcasters’ bill, we felt it appropriate to offer this proposal. We hope that this unexpected development will be soon resolved by the Senate. From the beginning, we have wanted to work with webcasters, and this temporary payment policy is an another example of our commitment to the webcasting industry,” Simson said.

The RIAA/SoundExchange move comes after a flurry of activity at the Congressional level to pass new laws that would have fixed the royalty rate at a percentage of revenues but the Bill never reached the Senate floor for a vote.

Paul Maloney, who has been tracking the royalty payment issue for the RAIN newsletter, applauded the SoundExchange reprieve, noting that it “allows for further negotiations for a more reasonable deal that can benefit webcasters, labels, artists, and listeners alike.”

“In fact, it is very nearly what we had hoped for upon learning that the (HR 5469) bill would not pass the Senate in this session,” Maloney said.

“It’s not clear how long this temporary measure is to stay in effect, but SoundExchange’s site refers to legislation in “this Congress,” which ends on the last day of this year,” Maloney added. “The SoundExchange board is made up of representatives of both camps, so perhaps the measure truly represents the desires of those who stand to collect the fees. That, in and of itself, represents a great step forward,” he said.

Separately, the U.S Copyright Office has ruled against a motion from webcaster Live365.com seeking a stay on the decision by the Library of Congress on royalties. The Live365 motion had argued that the royalty fee structure was frustrating “the Congressional intent in creating the compulsory license, and infringed upon the First Amendment rights of smaller webcasters.”

Release Date - Sept 16th 2002

CPEN AKA Chris Penny is not your average house producer. Relying on his heavy music background, CPEN is a true musician who can produce brilliant material while still pushing the house envelope. Based in Los Angeles, CPEN has worked alongside JT Donaldson as ‘Untitled Orchestra’, and with Lance Desardi as ‘Curb Feelers’. Also, Watch for the upcoming release from ‘Untitled Orchestra’ on Straylight. CPEN has also released tracks on Naked Music, Seasons and Glasgow Underground.

With his new release on Straylight, CPEN gives us an intense 2-track 12″. ‘Broken’ is a deep track with a throbbing bassline, addictive rhythm and smooth synth melody. ‘Hi-Tek’ is a well laid-out broken beat cut, with a good build, solid break and plenty of bass for the dance floor.

REVIEWS
“Hailing from Los Angeles, Penny has worked with both JT Donaldson as Untitled Orchestra and with Lance Desardi as Curb Feelers. This is Penny’s first solo performance. “Broken” is a deep aural soundfest of broken beats, meaty synths and sub bass in an outlandish, off-the-wall but nonetheless appealing dub. “Hi-Tek” mashes up vocal samples laid over stabby ethereal chords, melodic breaks and breakbeat rhythm boosted by punchy bass. 3/5.”
- Mark Moore, Blues & Soul, Issue 871
“Los Angeles, California is an area that boasts its fair share of musical talent, and Straylight are amongst their finest. This brilliant powerful two tracker from CPEN should send them soaring even higher. “Broken” sees hammered percussion, a sinister ‘chic’ bass, a beautiful synth and the title vocal line combine for an intense production to blow the rest out of the water. “Hi-Tek” is a slippery affair, with a cut break, a doped bass and a spider like synth that draws you in and will not let you go.”
- Jon Freer’s Reviews 26th June 2002

“No pigeonholing for the Los Angeles based label, with Chris Penny relying on a rump-shaking rezzy Detroit b-line and crisp house beats to power a sublime mix of styles on ‘Broken’. ‘Hi-Tek’s broken beat programming makes the track-listing seem slightly perverse, a deeper blend of chord patterns more in line with the warm-up stint. 4 (Floor Filler)”
- Alex Moran, 7 Update, 26 June 2002

CHARTS/PLAYLISTS
Jonene - Top Choons June 17th, 2002

CPEN * BROKEN * STRAYLIGHT
MIKE DIXON * COOL DOWN DADDY * G SWING (001)
JONENE & TOUCHDOWN * FEARS REMIX * TRONICSOLE (CDR)
LANCE DESARDI & WARIC CAMERON * LETS DO LUNCH * LOWDOWN
MARTIN VENETJOKI * HEARTBURN EP * PANHANDLE (014 WHITE)
MIKE DIXON VS. GREENSKEEPERS * YOU AIN’T SHIT * G SWING (002)
EASTCOAST BOOGIEMEN * SCRATCH N SNIFF * AROMA
??? * I NEED A FREAK * WHITE LABEL
MARTIN VENETJOKI * BABY * ELOGE
TIM DELUX * IT JUST WON’T DO * UNDERWATER
Mazi aka Audio Soul Project :.
Chart Return: August 5th 2002 :.

Sifter “Departed” (Departed Mix)/Honchos CDR
DJ Linus “Who Stole The Soul” (The Usual Suspects Rmx)/BR Traxx
CPEN “Broken” /Straylight
Mazi “Music As Communication” /Detour
Spectrum Is Green “Elephant” /Low Pressings
Shuffle Heads “Roll Call” (Asad Rizvi’s Silverlining Mix)/Fremont
Hanna “Time” (Doza’s LawnChair Generals Mix)/Viva
Fries & Bridges “Affiliated Drums Vol.1″ /Primal
J-Rod & Pat Nice “The Tuesday Nite Chronicles” /Roam
Derrick Carter & Red Nail “People” /Robsoul
Dani Mitchell (Gatecrasher uk) Chart 24/07/02 to 31

Haris & Dedan - Electro Ore (4/4 & Asad’s Silverlining Boggie Dub) (Laus)
Haris & Stubbs - My Love (Swag)
Haris - Chekeba (Special Needs)
Josh One - Contemplation (Alex Neri Mixes)(1Off)
Presslabboys - Ill Never Kick There Arse (Stella)
Sasha - Wavy Gravy (BMG)
Ernest St Laurent - Body Flowers (Cyber)
Nils Hess - Big Calm (Tide)
Royksopp - Remind Me (Zabelia Ingenborg Mix) (Wall Of Sound)
Lussan & Shukie vs Rich Medina - Dance For Life (Invincis)
Milk & Honey - U Me And The Music (Scumfrog mix) (Blue Black)
Julez - My Groove (Valentino Kanzyani Mix) (Premier)
Chris Lum & Jay J - Broken House Beats (Siesta)
Solaris - Midnight (Airtight)
Subtech - Soft Focus (Subtech)
Stefano Greppi - Freedom Is… (M.A.S Collective Mix)(Alternative Route)
Brett Johnson - Were Gonna Move (Hi Phen)
Cpen - Broken (Straylight)
Seig Uber Die Sonne - You’ll Never Come Back (Multicolour)
Seafoam - Dirty Sex (Lo -Rise)

:Link:

James Stinson, one of the members of the Detroit
legendary electro duo Drexciya has passed away due to hearts complications. Here is the Drexciya discography:DISCOGRAPHY :

REPHLEX (UK)

Drexciya - Drexciya 3: Molecular Enhancement EP (12″) - CAT017EP - 1996
Side 1. Alpha:
1. Antivapor Waves
2. Intensifies Magnetron
Side 2. Beta:
3. Hydro Cubes
4. Aquatic Bata Particles
Songs under license from Underground Resistance Detroit, U.S.A. Special thanks to: God and Mad Mike from U.R. All songs were particle accelerated by Drexciya in Drexciya, ion filtered at Black Planet Studio in Detroit.
NOTE: released also on Submerge as SVE-6 (with different track list).

SHOCKWAVE (Detroit, MI., USA)

Drexciya - Deep Sea Dweller EP (12″) - SW1007 - 1993
A1. Sea Quake
A2. Nautilus 12
B1. Depressurization
B2. Sea Snake
Written, mixed and produced by Drexciya.
Published by Dance Threat Music (BMI)
Inscriptions: Side A: “Techno From The Deep” / Side B: “Deep H2O”
NOTE: the first Drexciya release.

SOMEWHERE IN DETROIT (Detroit, MI., USA)

Drexciya - Uncharted EP - S.I.D-005
A. Hi-Tide
B. Dr. Blowfin’s Experiment
NOTE: The S.I.D. series 12’s were EP’s that were supposed to be exclusive to the Submerge Somewhere In Detroit store. The idea was that the only way you could get them was to physically visit the shop on the ground floor of Submerge’s building. A few of them occasionally turn up at other shops, though. There were a few previously unreleased tracks from Drexciya, UR, and a couple of other artists released this way.
Thanks to Submerge’s refusal to play the “release and delete” game, though, these don’t fetch the exorbitant prices a lot of other limited availability releases do. - Dave Walker on IDM list

SUBMERGE (Detroit, MI., USA)

Drexciya - Drexciya 4: The Unknown Aquazone 2xEP (2x12″) - SVE-3 - 1994
1. Intro
2. Living On The Edge
3. Aqua Jujidsu
4. Aquabahn
5. Mantaray
6. Lardossen Funk
7. Take Your Mind
8. Intro
9. Aquarazorda
10. Bubble Chamber
11. Water Walker
12. Red Hills Of Lardossa

Drexciya - Drexciya 3: Molecular Enhancement - SVE-6 - 1995
1. Anti-Beats
2. Antivapor Waves
3. Intensified Magnetron
4. Bata-Pumps
5. Hydro Cubes
6. Aquatic Bata Particles
Produced by Drexciya
NOTE: released also on Rephlex (CAT017EP) with different track list.

Drexciya - The Quest (2x12″ / 2-CD) - SVE-8 - July 1997

CD 1:
1. Intro (?)
2. You Don’t Know (UR-039)
3. Dehydration (unreleased)
4. Bang Bang (UR-037)
5. Antivapor Waves (SVE-6)
6. Intensified Magnetron (SVE-6)
7. Hydro Cubes (SVE-6)
8. Aquatic Bata Particles (SVE-6)
9. Hi Tide (S.I.D.-005)
10. Depressurization (SW-1007)
11. Sea Snake (SW-1007)
12. Aqua Jujidsu (SVE-3)
13. Beyond The Abyss (UR-026)
14. Lardossen Funk (SVE-3)
15. Red Hills Of Lardossa (SVE-3)
16. The Mutant Gillmen (an experiment gone wrong)

CD 2:
1. Seaquake (SW-1007)
2. Bubble Metropolis (UR-026)
3. Living On The Edge (Instrumental) (SVE-3)
4. Aquabon (Remix) (SVE-3)
5. Positron Island (UR-026)
6. Doctor Blowfin’s Water Cruiser (UR-026)
7. Wave Jumper (UR-030)
8. Take Your Mind (SVE-3)
9. Dead Man’s Reef (unreleased)
10. Vampire Island (unreleased)
11. Neon Falls (unreleased)
12. The Last Transmission (?)

Vinyl version (SVE-7, 2x12″):

A1. Depressurization (Bonus Beats)
A2. Beyond The Abyss
A3. You Don’t Know
B1. Living On The Edge (Instr.)
B2. Aquabon (Remix)
C1. Reff Rhythms (Bonus Beat)
C2. WaveJumper
D1. Dr. Blowfin’s Watercruiser
D2. Bubble Metropolis

All songs produced by Drexciya.

NOTE: a compilation with 28 tracks on CD; also a shorter version as a 2x12″.

TRESOR, Berlin, Germany

Drexciya - Neptune’s Lair (2-LP/CD) - Tresor 129 - November 1999

CD:
1. Intro: Temple of Dos de Agua
2. Species of the Pod
3. Andreaen Sand Dunes
4. Running Out of Space
5. Habitat.O.Negative
6. Universal Element
7. Drifting Into a Time of No Future
8. Polymono Plexusgel
9. Surface Terrestrial Colonization
10. Funk Release Valve
11. Organic Hydropoly Spores
12. Draining of the Tanks
13. Devil Ray Cove
14. Fusion Flats
15. Triangular Hydrogen Strain
16. Oxyplasmic Gyration Beam
17. Quantum Hydrodynamics
18. Lost Vessel
19. Bottom Feeders
20. Jazzy Fluids
21. C to the Power of X+C to the Power of X=MM=Unknown
2xLP:

A1. Intro: Temple of Dos de Agua
A2. Andreaen Sand Dunes
A3. Running Out of Space
A4. Universal Element
B1. Habitat.O.Negative
B2. Funk Release Valve
B3. Organic Hydropoly Spores
B4. Draining of the Tanks
C1. Surface Terrestrial Colonization
C2. Oxyplasmic Gyration Beam
D1. Triangular Hydrogen Strain
D2. Bottom Feeders
D3. C to the Power of X+C to the Power of X=MM=Unknown

Drexciya - Hydro Doorways EP (12″) - Tresor 137 - February 2000
A1. Quantum Hydrodynamics (01:16)
A2. Polymono Plexusgel (03:08)
A3. Lost Vessel (05:52)
B1. Species of the Pod (03:53)
B2. Drifting Into a Time of No Future (03:33)
B3. Devil Ray Cove (02:49)

UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE (Detroit, MI., USA)

Drexciya - Drexciya: Aquatic Invasion EP (12″) - UR 30 - 1994
1. WaveJumper
2. The Countdown Has Begun
3. Sighting In The Abyss
NOTE: Aquatic Invasion is not Drexciya 1. If anything is, Deep Sea Dweller is. That’s the first Drexciya release, but it’s not labelled Drexciya 1 either. So technically speaking, there is no Drexciya 1. - rbc3

Drexciya - Drexciya 2: Bubble Metropolis EP (12″) - UR-026 - 1994

Side A: Fresh Water
1. Aqua Worm Hole [5:25]
2. Positron Island [4:05]
3. Beyond The Abyss [2:17]

Side B: Salt Water
4. Bubble Metropolis [6:00]
5. Danger Bay [3:20]
6. Welcome To Drexciya [2:09]
Tracks made in Drexciya for UR in Detroit.

Drexciya - The Return of Drexciya - UR-037 - 1996
A1. Smokey’s Illegitimate Report
A2. You Don’t Know
B1. Bang-Bang
B2. Rubick’s Cube
Surfaced by Drexciya for Underground Resistance Prod.
Compiled (p) Mad Mike Music (BMI) 1996

Inscriptions:
Side A: “You don’t know – what lurks in the fog”

NOTE: label art by Frankie C. Fultz.
WARP RECORDS (Sheffield, UK)

Drexciya - Drexciya 5: The Journey Home EP (12″) - WAP57 - 1995
1. Black Sea
2. Darthouven Fish Men
3. Hydro Theory
4. Journey Home

Compilation appearances:

ELYPSIA RECORDS
Various Artists
The Rave Explosion - The Underground Continues..Vol 2. (2-CD)
1995
A4. Drexciya: Black Sea (Warp)

REACT MUSIC (London, UK)
Various Artists
True People: The Detroit Techno Album (CD / 5x12″)
REACTCD71/REACTLP71
1996
* A1. Drexciya: Davey Jones Locker
(Drexciya) BMI. (p) & Compiled 1996.

STUDIO !K7 (Germany)
Various Artists
Andrea Parker: DJ-Kicks (3-LP/CD)
K 7071LP/K 7071CD
24 August 1998
* 19. Drexciya: Hydro Theory (Warp)
NOTE: The 3-LP is unmixed.

Various Artists
Aux 88 presents Electro Boogie (2-LP/CD)
K7078LP/K7078CD
1999
* 16. Drexciya: Bubblemetropolis (UR)
NOTE: The 2-LP is unmixed.

SUBMERGE (Detroit, MI., USA)
Various Artists
Submerge: Depth Charge Two - Escape Into The Void (CD)
SCD-2
1995
* 14. Drexciya: Welcome To Drexciya (2:09)
Produced by Drexciya for Underground Resistance. Produced
in Detroit, MI – Taken from “Bubble Metropolis” EP. – Mad
Mike Music (BMI).

Various Artists
Origins Of A Sound (CD) - SVE 4 - 1995
* 2. Drexciya: The Countdown Has Begun
(Produced by Drexciya for Underground Resistance
Productions, Det., MI. USA.
Recorded at Black Planet.)
* 5. Drexciya: Living On The Edge
(Produced by Drexciya for Underground Resistance /
Submerge, Det., MI. USA.
Recorded at Invisible City.)
* 8. Drexciya: Wave Jumper
(Produced by Drexciya for Underground Resistance
Productions, Det., MI. USA.
Recorded at Black Planet.)

TRESOR (Berlin, Germany) / POW WOW / METROPLEX (US)
Various Artists - Deep Detroit Volume 2 - Magic Tracks Compiled By Juan Atkins (CD) - PWD7445 - 1993
* Drexciya: Positron Island (5:15)
NOTE: The track is misspellt as: “Drexcya: Positron I Stand".

UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE (Detroit, MI., USA)

Various Artists
Interstellar Fugitives (3-LP/CD) - UR-045 - August 1998
* 8. Drexciya: Interstellar Crime Report
* 9. Drexciya: Aquatacizem
NOTE: a compilation of unreleased tracks from Mad Mike, Drexciya, The Suburban Knight, Andre Holland, et al.

Various Artists
DJ Rolando - “The Aztec Mystic Mix CD” - UR049 CD - 1999
* Drexciya: Dr. Blowfin’s Experiment
NOTE: originally released on SID05; all tracks mixed together by DJ Rolando, so not the full-length version.

Remixes:
UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE (Detroit, MI., USA) - UR - Electronic Warfare “The Mixes” (12″) - UR-034
* Proton Side 2) Electric Eel Mix by Drexciya

Related:
(unknown label)
Glass Domain - English & Music by Glassware - cat # - 04753 - 1991
A. Shatter Prone
B. Hiccups
C. Faory
D. Interlock
NOTE: ltd clear vinyl, and some black vinyl.
NOTE 2: very rare, Drexciya people behind this release.

HARDWAX (Detroit, USA?)
L.A.M. (Life After Mutation) - Balance of Terror EP - HW 004 - early 1990’s?
* 6 tracks (with no titles)
NOTE: A pre-Drexciyan release is without a doubt the L.A.M. record on Rob Hood’s Hardwax label. There are no inscriptions in the record (apart from NSC, of course). The A-side runs from inside out whereas the B side is normal. I do not know the publication date but considering the publication policy of Hardwax (number 10 was published this spring) the record came out in the early 90’s. - Benjamin Holzwarth

RED PLANET (Detroit, MI., USA)
Red Planet V: The Long Winter of Mars - RP-5 - Year: ?
NOTE: A guest appearance from Drexciya.

CREDITS:
Alan M. Parry (his discography on Hyperreal), Ines Ackermann, Mario Atienza, pHinn, rbc3, Mark S-Walker, Dave Walker, Benjamin Holzwarth and people on 313 and IDM mailing lists.

DREXCIYA RUMOURS:
It is rumoured that one or more Drexciya members have been or are at the moment in such groups as Elecktroids and Dopplereffekt. Even “Mad Mike” Banks has been connected with Drexciya once or more times. Since very few people know the actual identities of Drexciya, these rumours will undoubtedly go on and on.

For some reason the muziqnet.com SQL tables become corrupted (’nk_session_info’ and ‘nk_referer’). This doesn’t sound like anything important, except this caused the site to be down for 3 days. The only thing users could read was ‘Session initialisation failed’. It’s all fixed now!

June 12, 2002 (New York, NY) – L.A.W Records (www.landandwaterrecords.com), an independent record label based in Washington Heights, N.Y.C, announced yesterday the release of their first recording. The first release from L.A.W Records is a Single by the “other-ground” group, Krimzon. The 12″ Single includes two electrifying and emotionally charged recordings, “Live Wire” and “Every Ghetto Got.” In celebration of their success, for a limited time this week, fans will be able to download the “Live Wire” MP3 on the label’s web site, free.
With melodic beats by Bigger Picture Productions, their Single captivates listeners of varied likings. “Live Wire” is a festive, pulsating, and up-tempo track. As a celebration of cultural diversity, its energy is accentuated in dance, party environments. “Every Ghetto Got,” on the other hand, speaks of the truths and realities of tenement life. The song is a written observation and reflection of Krimzon’s experience in Washington Heights, N.Y.C. “Every Ghetto Got” also includes guest vocals by Al-Shid, and an original guitar composition by Marco Oppesido. With guitar cries by Oppesido, Krimzon looks to blur genres and deconstruct stereotypes. Production wise, they draw equally from funk, rock, and jazz as well as urban, contemporary hip-hop.

According to Alpha Sesay-Harrell, Director of Productions at L.A.W Records, “[L.A.W] is extremely pleased with the progress of Krimzon’s Single. In both tracks you can feel the passion in their artistry. Krimzon has been successful in executing initiatives, and they are gaining momentum. We are excited about their release.”

In order to make Krimzon’s music more accessible to fans, L.A.W has published a detailed schematic outlining the label’s distribution and retail outlets. The schematic is available online on L.A.W’s web site.

L.A.W expects to build on Krimzon’s momentum. Indeed, Krimzon is expected to release a second 12″ Single by the end of this summer. L.A.W is also in the process of planning the Krimzon Colony Tour of the South and Northeast regions of the United States. The tour will give fans a glimpse into Krimzon’s much-anticipated debut Album, “Le Sacrifice,” set to drop end of 2002. Krimzon is also expected to appear on the Hip-Hop Immortals Vol. 1 Book Soundtrack this winter, a wonderful achievement for this young group considering the Book’s veteran production staff, which includes the likes of Mike Rapaport, Doug E. Fresh, Warren Sapp, and Bonz Malone.

###

Have you ever suddenly been struck by the realization that a scene in your film just had to be set to a particular song? Maybe it was the Tom Waits cut that served as the soundtrack to your adolescence; or a Moby track that someone in your crew was playing during production; or a piece of classical music that would do for your movie what Mahler’s Fifth Symphony did for Visconti’s “Death in Venice.” The right piece of prerecorded music can make a vast difference in how a scene plays. The problem is figuring out how to get permission to use it without draining your budget. Learning about how to acquire the rights to prerecorded music on an independent filmmaker’s budget can be discouraging–more than a few low-budget filmmakers have discovered that music licensing, particularly of songs recorded by current, well-known artists, can be both costly and time-consuming. But if you are determined to use a specific piece of music, and want to take the legal steps to ensure that you won’t wind up in litigation after your film becomes the next indie sensation, you’d better cast off the bliss of the innocent.

First of all, determine which licenses you need. The most important ones for use in films are “synchronization licenses” and “master recording licenses.” Synchronization, or “sync,” licenses pertain to the synchronization of a piece of music to any visual medium, from TV to film to Web broadcasting. When you obtain sync rights to, say, Blondie’s “One Way or Another,” you may legally use a rerecorded version of the song in your film. To use Blondie’s version, however, you will need to obtain a master recording, or “master,” license. It is important to understand and be aware of this distinction, because the owner(s) of the copyright of the composition may differ from the owner(s) of the copyright of the recording you want to use.

Conduct Thorough Research

Your goal is to determine both who owns the copyright of the song you want to use, and with whom you will need to negotiate to obtain the necessary licenses. There are several avenues where you can find this information (see sidebar), but try starting with BMI and ASCAP, the two performing artists’ rights organizations that, between them, represent nearly every songwriter and composer working today. BMI and ASCAP do not issue the licenses you will need, but they each have a vast database that contains reliable information on the publishing of the artists they represent.

BMI or ASCAP will refer you to either the publishing company itself, or to an agency that represents the publishing company. These agencies, the best-known of which is the Harry Fox Agency, negotiate licensing agreements on behalf of the publishers of the song. If the song you want is shared by more than one publishing company (which is nearly always the case), such an agency often represents the interests of all the publishers involved.

If neither BMI nor ASCAP gives you the information you need, call the artist’s record company and request contact information for the artist’s publishing company. However, depending on who answers the phone at the record label, you may be speaking with someone who doesn’t have a complete understanding of the publishing scenario for the song you want. Copyright ownership is often complex and convoluted. To cover all your bases, try to get contact information for the artist’s attorney as well, and make sure that the attorney’s depiction of the publishing scenario matches the record label’s.

After you successfully contact the song’s publisher, or the agency that represents the publisher, the publisher or agency will communicate your interest in the song to the copyright owner. The copyright owner will then determine a fee for the license agreement, and the publisher or agency will make you an offer. Licensing fees are not standardized and vary widely. If you want a song by Prince or the Rolling Stones, you might expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars, or more. If you are interested in a distinctive but lesser-known artist, you might pay a fraction of that amount.

When Your Name Isn’t Spielberg

Some independent filmmakers have taught themselves the basics of music licensing by trial and error. Mark Osborne, writer-director of the popular IFILM short “More” and the feature film “Dropping Out,” which will screen at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, was inspired to make the six-and-a-half-minute “More” by the New Order song, “Elegia.” Osborne analyzed the song’s structure and wrote the animated film to respond to the musical twists and turns of the song. So, of course, by the time he had completed the film, no other music would have suited his needs, and he went about trying to license the song.

Osborne contacted New Order’s management, and after three months, the band agreed to grant him permission to use the song. Unfortunately, their permission turned out to be relatively unimportant–Warner Brothers and other interests own publishing rights to the song as well.

“I thought I was free and clear,” Osborne says. “But months later their manager said, ‘Oh, you never contacted the label?’” Osborne went on to contact Warner Brothers and after six more months of making phone calls and writing letters he was able to license the sync rights to the song, as well as worldwide perpetuity rights, which entitle him to use the song in the film forever.

The struggle to get permission to use “Elegia” highlighted Osborne’s relative lack of clout as an independent filmmaker. “It can be a difficult process to navigate,” he says. “If you blindly go to the tables, you might have trouble.” For “Dropping Out,” Osborne contacted a music clearance consultant, Greg Dawson, to help with licensing. It is a step he would recommend to other filmmakers whose budget can sustain the extra cost. “It was great to just hand him a list and let him do the work,” he says.

If you have the extra financial padding, there are music clearance companies out there that will make your music licensing experience relatively painless. When you retain the services of a company such as Dawson Music or Signature Sound, their employees will determine which rights you need, conduct all the necessary copyright research, obtain license fee quotes, negotiate the most favorable terms for your agreement, review the agreement and deliver the licenses to you, ready for execution. The costs will be significantly higher than if you were going it alone, but if you have 20 songs to license, as Osborne did for “Dropping Out,” and you can afford to hire someone to do it for you, then by all means, do it.

Otherwise, get ready to start making those phone calls.

May 23, 2002 (New York, NY) – Land And Water LLC, a comprehensive entertainment company based in New York City, announced today that it would be launching an independent record label, called Land And Water Records. According to Robert E. Villanueva, Vice President of Business Development at Land And Water LLC, “the label has been created to pursue a vision where barriers to entry are removed and replaced with a universal common ground for the expression of creativity and imagination.”

Land And Water LLC www.landandwaterllc.com will be launching Land And Water Records www.landandwaterrecords.com on May 31, 2002. Private investors back the independent record label, often referred to by the “L.A.W” acronym. The company will be based in Washington Heights, New York City.L.A.W Records will be focused foremost on the Rap genre, making Washington Heights a seemingly ideal setting. Washington Heights is the home of many early 1970 graffiti pioneers, most notably “JULIO 204″ and “TAKI 183.” It is land marked by one of the first Hip-Hop clubs in the country, The Audubon Club, and the neighborhood where members of the High Times Crew shocked the media, when arrested for break-dancing in the Subway back in 1980. Hip-Hop pioneers in Washington Heights have contributed immensely to the culture, with its own code of behavior, slang, and esthetic standards.

“Having been raised in this community, a community that’s played such an integral role in the establishment of Hip-Hop mores and traditions, it’s a natural progression for our company to base its operations in Washington Heights,” said Rene Marcano, a Brown University alum, and Vice President of Land And Water Records.

The first release from Land And Water Records will be a Single by the “other-ground” group ‘Krimzon’ (Anebawk and Modtrikz). The Single will include two electrifying and emotionally charged recordings, “Live Wire” and “Every Ghetto Got.” L.A.W Records will release the 12″ Single, with guest vocals and production by Al-Shid of Bigger Picture Productions, on June 11, 2002. Other singles will follow shortly thereafter. The Krimzon Album, “Le Sacrifice” (Creole translation of The Sacrifice) is set to drop Fall 2002.

Land And Water Records will embrace the Internet as its primary communication media. The website will add visual life to the labels name, provide its fans with unparalleled access to and interaction with the label�s ground, and in essence, manifest its liberation for users of this digital community.

About Land And Water LLC - Land And Water LLC is a New York based, comprehensive entertainment company. The company holds diversified business operating groups in a variety of vertical market segments, including audio and video production; digital graphic arts; entity development; e-business professional services; and interactive, web-enabled marketing. Land And Water LLC leverages the technological capabilities, market reach, content, and overall managerial efficacy of its extended company network to optimize success, exercise industry leadership, and foster growth across the greater economy.

Contact:
T.877.898.7934 F.646.349.3357
info@landandwaterrecords.com
thelabel@landandwaterllc.com

###

SISTER is a place for female DJs to get gigs without bias, providing a supportive, friendly platform for any female DJ, MC or live performer to enjoy their music where gender is not an issue… a place where women are neither fighting to be heard nor imported merely to fulfill a gimmick quotient. We’re not raging feminists - we just think it’s better to be viewed as a DJ first, and then as a woman, when you’re behind the decks.

SISTER was formed in October of 1997 as both the independent idea of several women, and the continuation of an itinerant women’s collective that ran from 1993 to 1995 called Your Sisters’ House. While DJs were definitely a focus of YSH, social activism, inspiration and the celebration of woman as powerful creative beings were equally important - part of their belief was that all aspects of throwing an event could be managed by women. This is just one of the ethics SISTER SF also holds true. Liz Roberts, the Baroness, DRC, Polywog, Shana Kleyman, Susan 28 and Dani were among the people actively involved in YSH.

@see http://www.sistersf.com/

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, the most flamboyant and outspoken member of the multi-platinum trio TLC, has died, according to a spokesperson for the group’s label, Arista Records. Lopes was 30.

The rapper/singer perished in a car accident late Thursday night while she was vacationing in Honduras.

“We had all grown up together and were as close as a family. Today we have truly lost our sister,” Lopes’ TLC partners Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas said in a statement.This afternoon on MTV’s “TRL,” the audibly distraught ladies phoned in, saying, “Lisa had one of the biggest hearts of anybody we’ve ever known. She did charity work with kids for the lupus disease. She adopted a little girl named Snow … Lisa could do anything she put her mind to.”

“No words can possibly express the sorrow and sadness I feel for this most devastating loss,” Arista’s CEO L.A. Reid said in a statement. “Lisa was not only a gifted and talented musical inspiration, but more importantly, she was like a daughter to me. My thoughts and prayers are with Lisa’s family and friends. Her legacy will be remembered forever.”

On Friday morning (April 26) Lopes’ personal publicist released details about the tragedy. Left Eye went down to Honduras — where she would often visit — on March 20, and was scheduled to return to the States on Sunday. While there, she was volunteering at a children’s development center and at the Usha Herbal Resource Institute, an herbal healing center.

Left Eye was driving a rented Mitsubishi Montero SUV and traveling from La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula. According to her spokesperson, a three-person group called Egypt, her brother, sister and two producers were in the vehicle with her. The spokesperson said the SUV tipped over and Left Eye died after sustaining a blow to the head.

According to authorities in Jutiapa, Lopes was not licensed to drive internationally and was apparently speeding and lost control. The car crashed in Roma, which is one of Jutiapa’s provinces.

Everyone was taken to the Vicente D’Antoni hospital in La Ceiba and, according to that medical facility, there were eight other passengers in the vehicle. Four were released and the remaining four remain hospitalized in stable condition.

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras said it is working with the San Jose Funeral Home in La Ceiba and the Lopes family to make arrangements for the body to be flown back to Atlanta. No funeral plans have been made as of yet.

As for the musical projects Left Eye was involved with, TLC were working on an album and at least four tracks have been completed. Left Eye had been in the studio working on a track with David Bowie, and had hoped to do a song with Eve and Pink based on the theme of Philly pride, Lopes’ spokesperson said.

Born in Philadelphia, Left Eye later moved to Atlanta, where she formed TLC with Watkins and Thomas. The trio’s 1992 debut LP, Ooooooohhh…On the TLC Tip, spawned the top 10 hits “Baby-Baby-Baby,” “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” and “What About Your Friends.”

The group’s hip-pop beats — provided by Jermaine Dupri and Dallas Austin — and their identifiable b-girl style captivated fans, helping the trio become instant stars. With condoms on their clothes, their hats shifted to the back and their sagging, baggy pants, TLC exuded girl-powered audacity. As the resident rapper among two singers, Left Eye immediately stood out.

Two years later, TLC proved their staying power with the blockbuster LP Crazysexycool. The group expanded its message while expanding its fanbase, offering such songs as “Creep” (exploring relationship infidelity) and “Waterfalls” (which addressed a number of society’s ills).

Away from the studio, the trio brought the drama that would keep the world fixated on them. In the five years between Crazysexycool and their third LP, Fan Mail, TLC publicly quarreled amongst themselves, fought with their former manager, Pebbles, as well as their record label. They also declared bankruptcy and disclosed life-threatening illnesses, among other things. Lopes upped the controversy even further when she set fire to the home of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, football star Andre Rison, in 1994.

Throughout it all, Left Eye held her head high and spoke her mind on everything. No matter how outrageous the situation, Left Eye would seem to trump it with an even more outrageous opinion. More than any other member of the group, Left Eye became a character, and what she did offstage became just as (if not more) interesting than what she did onstage.

Last year, Lopes was engaged in another beef with her label when it decided not to release her long-talked about solo debut, Supernova, domestically (see “Left Eye Plans To Stream Delayed Album"). Although TLC were said to be working on the their fourth LP for months (see “Reconciled TLC Recording New Album, Solo Projects"), Lopes dropped another shocker at the beginning of this year when she announced that she had aligned herself with Suge Knight’s Tha Row label. Lopes said that she would record a new solo album in Los Angeles under the name N.I.N.A. While “Nina” is slang for a 9 mm handgun, Left Eye said her Row moniker stood for “New Identity Non-Applicable” (see “Left Eye Signs With Suge Knight’s Tha Row” ).

There is no word yet on how much material Left Eye recorded for her new solo album or for the next TLC project, or what plans (if any) there are for the release of those albums.

Anaheim, CA (January 17, 2002) — The newly-founded German synthesizer company Hartmann GmbH enters the market with the revolutionary NEURON Synthesizer. Based on adaptive sound analysis technology, NEURON offers an entirely new approach to creative sound synthesis and marks a breakthrough in 21st century synthesizer design. NEURON combines intelligent analysis and synthesis based on neural networks with innovative user interface design. The result is a completely new type of synthesizer offering spectacular and unique sounds inside an easy-to-use instrument.NEURON’s intelligent software allows the user to first analyze and then manipulate any sound
source in a completely new and different way. With its neural network controlled adaptive sound
analysis, NEURON automatically identifies a sound’s most specific qualities and translates them into
individual parameter sets, perfectly matching the original source sound. All aspects of the sound are
saved in a model, which can be instantly recalled and played. Instead of applying the same
parameters to every type of sound, NEURON learns from the sounds fed into it and automatically
assigns suitable parameters to each type of sound.
HARTMANN President and co-founder Axel Hartmann: „For more than 15 years, musicians had to wait for a really new and thrilling synthesizer. Now the wait is over. The era of sample-based workstations and virtual analog modeling synths has dragged on far too long. NEURON is an entirely new type of instrument, based on our proprietary technology called ‘Neuronal Synthesis’. Musicians will experience a whole new universe of sounds impossible to create with any other instrument available today.“Despite its power, NEURON’s user interface is both intuitive and easy-to-use. Custom designed controls like the new graphic supported stick controllers and rotary encoder wheels provide accurate and smooth control over each parameter. A flexible modulation engine and full parameter
automation allow for dynamic editing and realtime recording of parameter changes. In addition, no
less than 13 alphanumeric displays provide instant feedback over the current status of the
instrument.

Sounds originate in two so-called resynators, each of which generates a sound based on the models
stored on NEURON’s internal hard drive. Using the Blender function, these two models can be
mixed and merged in a variety of different ways, creating totally new sounds based on the
individual models. For example, a three-dimensional imprint of one model can be used to
manipulate the spectrum of another model. The possibilities are virtually unlimited. In addition,
complex sounds can be filtered and processed in many different ways. NEURON not only offers
powerful realtime effects: it is also the first synthesizer to provide full 5.1 surround panning and processing capabilities.

Under the hood, NEURON features a powerful DSP engine with 64-bit floating point precision and a
32-bit signal path, as well as 256 megabytes of RAM. A 10 GB internal hard drive holds factoryprogrammed
and user-defined neural synthesis models. Internal memory consists of 200 sound and
200 setup memory locations, including a convenient snapshot function. External backup storage
devices (such as CD-writers, hard drives and memory sticks) can be added using the integrated USB
interface. Depending on the structure of the chosen neural synthesis model, NEURON offers 16-48
voice polyphony. Its 6 audio outputs can be flexibly configured, from 6x mono to 5.1 surround. The
5-octave semi-weighted keyboard offers velocity control and channel aftertouch.
Stephan M. Sprenger, NEURON DSP software designer and mastermind behind NEURON’s
synthesis technology: „This instrument represents a novel approach to sound synthesis. For the first time
ever, the flexibility of our audio rendering technology is combined with neural model extraction, built into a
powerful stand-alone synthesizer. Still, everything is realtime controllable - thanks to the extremely powerful
processing hardware we’re using.“
The NEURON Neuronal Synthesizer will ship this spring to selected retailers worldwide at a
suggested retail price of USD 4,990.00 (€ 4.890,00).
Hartmann GmbH, based in Torkenweiler/Germany, was founded in April 2001 by renowned
German synthesizer designer Axel Hartmann. Axel Hartmann is the interface designer responsible
for such remarkable instruments as the Waldorf Wave and the Alesis A6 Andromeda. His list of
clients include companies like Access, Alesis, Antares, Creamware, Korg, Line 6, Novation, Steinberg,
and Waldorf. Stephan M. Sprenger is senior developer and director of research and development at
PROSONIQ Software, renowned German manufacturer of computer-based audio editing and digital
signal processing solutions. PROSONIQ provided the essential key technology for NEURON’s
innovative synthesis methods. Sprenger is a pioneer in neural network processing. His design work
for NEURON is based on more than a decade of research and development in the area of adaptive
sound analysis and synthesis.
For more information, please contact Hartmann GmbH, Tettnanger Str. 311, D-88214 Torkenweiler –
www.hartmann-music.com. Dealers and Distributors are welcome to contact Achim Flor (Director of
Sales) – flor@hartmann-music.com – phone +34 922 726 330, fax +34 922 726 331.

MAESTRO is a feature film documentary, 3 years in the making, it captures the intense experiences of the people who were responsible for underground dance music that influenced the world.

MAESTRO takes you into the world of Larry Levan, Paradise Garage; David Mancuso, The Loft, as they formed the links among pioneers such as Nicky Siano, Frankie Knuckles, Francois K., Tee Scott, Francis Grasso (Rest in Peace), and Walter Gibbons. These deejay pioneers transcended musical genres and created magical, lasting moments, not only in clubs but also within the spiritual terrain of our hearts and psyches. These modern day maestros provided environments where our spirits, creativity, passion and diversity both thrived and flourished. They were so significant that without them, dance music today would be drastically different-worldwide.

Most film documents of this movement have fallen short of its true story and impact to the world, providing us with a glossed over account of the time. Opting for a more personal and candid approach, MAESTRO shows the true history of its individuals. Tracing the underground’s dance origin, MAESTRO brings out a true, candid and tragic understanding of this intense lifestyle, and the lives they lived and died for. It is far from mere nostalgia, this film is like the music and experiences it chronicles.

more info: http://www.maestro-documentary.com