A.R Rahman Nominated For The 83RD Annual Academy Awards Twice

Music composer A. R. Rahman has proved time and again that his renditions are certainly amongst the best ever compositions in the world. However, when such works of art are appreciated by the right authorities it does add a feather in his already feathered cap.

Thus it was quite an overwhelming piece of news when it was announced on Tuesday, the 25th of January 2011 that this music maestro has been nominated for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards twice.

The maestro received nominations in two categories. One for his original score in Danny Boyle's flick titled 127 hours and the second for his original song "If I Rise" which is from the same flick.

A. R. Rahman is pitted against top contenders in the original score category with names like John Powell who has received the nomination for How To Train Your Dragon , Hans Zimmer for Inception, Alexandre Desplat for The King's Speech, Trent Rezmor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network.

In the Best Song category Rahman shares the nominations with Dido and Rolo Armstrong who are the lyricists for the song "If I Rise".

Despite having received the nominations, A. R Rahman reportedly does not think that he will be the recipient of the award this time. According to tabloid reports, the maestro thinks he's already got enough Oscars for an entire lifetime. However, he does want to go and enjoy the awards function irrespective of the fact that he might or might not receive the award.

The maestro has already received the Best Original song Award at the 16th Critics Choice Movie Awards for 127 Hours recently.Im sure he can repeat the magic and bring home another Oscar.

The Oscar Awards ceremony is scheduled to be held on the 27th of February.

Here is the video of  "If I Rise" song from 127 Hours..the voice of Dido is just captivating and soulful.

source:youtube

50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock 'n' Roll!

Im sure that im not alone who agrees to the fact that the most memorable part of many rock songs is the riff. In many cases these riffs are fairly easy to play. Bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones all use riffs in some of their most recognizable songs.

A Riff is nothing but a repeating musical theme that forms a song's framework.Though they are most often
found in rock music, Latin, funk and jazz, classical music is also sometimes based on a simple riff. Riffs can be as simple as a tenor saxophone honking a simple, catchy rhythmic figure, or as complex as the riff-based variations in the head arrangements played by an Orchestra. Thus, guitar riffs are the basic
 building blocks of rock 'n' roll -- and there are many best lists' compiled by various musicial faternity groups ,
we've gathered the greatest of the great as per spinner.com ,a leading music portal.

Emotional impact, cultural significance and good old-fashioned recognizability are just as important as being flashy or hard to play. No list of "bests" is going to satisfy everyone, and there's only one song per band, but we hope this will at least get you to go back and listen to some of your favorites. So tell us which riffs rock your world in the comments section.

You can checkout the below link which will take you to the complete Spinner's list of "50 
Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock 'n' Roll! and listen to some of your favorites.

http://www.spinner.com/2011/01/13/rock-guitar-riffs/


source:spinner.com,wikipedia

'Bengaluru Habba' (Bangalore Festival) is back.

'Bengaluru Habba' (Bangalore Festival) is back,  it will be a cultural feast for Bangaloreans which will last till Jan 29^th  2011.The two-week long event showcases both Indian classical music and dance and rock music besides theatre, film and arts.The classical music and dance performances as well as shows by various rock bands and jazz concerts start Monday 17^th Jan 2011.

'Bengaluru Habba' is organised by Artists' Foundation For the Arts (AFFA), set up as a non-profit organisation in 2002 by noted Bharatanatyam dancers Padmini Ravi and Nandini Alva.

This year, the 'Habba' has 15 events playing out at 24 venues with 67 performances and participation over 900 artists, besides craft stalls and art show.

Apart from Sharma's santoor and Gopalnath's saxophone, there will be Hindustani music concert by Keerti Kumar Badseshi, Bharatanatyam by Priyadarsini Govind and Padma Subrahmanyam, and Odissi by Italian Ileana Citaristi, who was awarded Padma Shri in 2006 for her contribution to Odissi dance.

The 'Habba' will conclude Jan 29 at the sprawling Palace Grounds in north Bangalore with a performance by popular band Eka and a Bollywood musical extravaganza by singer Kailash Kher.

Source & For more details pls visit.  http://bengaluruhabba.co.in/2011/home.html

Rick Allen ..the THUNDERGOD

 What would you do if you were the drummer for one of the most popular metal bands of the ‘80s? If you were Def Leppard’s Rick Allen, you’d go the rock-star headbanging route, abusing substances, driving fast and taking chances. Now, what would you do if, two years after recording a masterful and historic heavy metal album that sold over 10 million copies worldwide, you were road-raging down a rural English road on New Year’s Eve and lost your arm in a horrible car accident?

Richard John Cyril "Rick" Allen (born 1 November 1963) is the drummer for the English hard rock band Def Leppard. He is famous for overcoming the complete amputation of his left arm and continuing to play with the band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success worldwide. His fans now call him the "Thunder God".

At the age of 21 Allen meet with an accident which resulted in him losing his left arm .Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very depressed, so Def Leppard's lead singer, Joe Elliott, stopped by to see Allen in an attempt to cheer him up. Soon after, Elliot and Allen sat down with some engineers and started to design a drum set to assist Allen's drumming. After only six weeks in hospital he rejoined the band and by August 1986 was back drumming on stage on his own,with one hand, using his left foot (typically for hi-hat pedals in common drumsets), to play the snare drum. Former Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich was a source of help and encouragement during Allen's convalescence, and they designed an electronic kit Allen could play using only one arm. Electronic drum manufacturer Simmons created a kit to their specifications, and Allen made his post-accident debut in 1986 with a well-received set at the "Monsters of Rock" festival at Castle Donington. In August 1987, the band released their fourth album, Hysteria, which, after a relatively slow start in the U.S., ultimately became another huge success, selling over 20 million copies worldwide.

"If I couldn't play drums it would have destroyed me. If you're thrown in the deep end you swim, and that's basically what I did. I had to do it and with the rest of the band behind me and the encouragement I got from people from all over the world, I knew that I was going to play" Rick Allen


 
Here is a video showing how Rick the thundergod,goes about doing what he loves the most .(.inspite of ....)

 

source: wikipedia.angelfire.com,youtube.metal-army.com