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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

cafe idly @ bangalore: Mark Clarke's first Solo Album - Moving To The Moo...

cafe idly @ bangalore: Mark Clarke's first Solo Album - Moving To The Moo...: "Mark Clarke - Moving To The Moon Moving to the Moon is the first album from the veteran bass player from Colosseum, Uriah Heep and Natural..."

Mark Clarke's first Solo Album - Moving To The Moon

Mark Clarke - Moving To The Moon

Moving to the Moon is the first album from the veteran bass player from Colosseum, Uriah Heep and Natural Gas (with Joey Molland of Badfinger and Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie) has been a long time coming. After 40 years of his friends and fans asking for a solo album - here it is. And it's a masterful collection of extremely well recorded and performed tracks that rival any from the bands he's played in.

For over four decades, Mark Clarke has been involved with some of the most respected bands in Rock history including Colosseum, Uriah Heep, Tempest, Billy Squier, Mountain, Ian Hunter and Natural Gas to name but a few. He’s even toured with The Monkees, jammed with The Rolling Stones and performed with The Who’s Roger Daltrey! But while he’s known for his exceptional bass playing and harmony vocals, Mark’s talents as a songwriter and lead vocalist have seldom received the attention they deserve.

The album comprises of 12 songs,blending modern production with his Classic Rock background, the album is a timeless mix of heart, soul and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Some may classify the album as AOR or Melodic Rock, which is certainly a fair of assessment, but the album’s influences take in everything from The Who (“One Of These Days”) and Paul McCartney (dig the vocal hook in “A Cowboy’s Song”) to Progressive Rock so it’s a hard one to pigeon-hole. Whatever you prefer to label it as, Moving To The Moon is nothing less than wonderful.

I personally listened to few of the tracks from this album and it brings back the memories of the good old rock era and it keeps getting stronger with each listen.I strongly recommend this album to all rock fans.

Play : Samples of the entire album

source:itsaboutmusic.com

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Clapton guitar auction exceeds expectations

Even without his nimble fingers touching their strings, Eric Clapton's guitars rocked New York City on Wednesday,9th March 2011 as an auction of them brought in millions of dollars.

An auction of more than 70 of Eric Clapton's prized guitars has raised $2.15m (£1.34m) for charity.Several of the musician's signature instruments fared better than expected during Bonhams New York's public sale on Wednesday, 9th march 2011.

Among the items sold was a 1948 Gibson L-5P guitar, which far surpassed the $20,000 pre-auction estimate by fetching $83,000 (£52,000).Additionally, a customized 'Eric Clapton' signature Fender Stratocaster brought in $51,000 (£32,000).

Proceeds from the sales are to be donated to Antigua's Crossroads Centre, which Clapton founded in 1998 to aid those struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.

Clapton, 65, is widely regarded as one of the best guitarists of all time. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine named him fourth on their list of the 100 best guitarists in music history.
The rocker has received numerous accolades over the course of his lengthy career, including three separate Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions and a Grammy 'Lifetime Achievement Award'.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The song that changed a band's destiny forever

John Rzeznik was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and the end product was "Iris". This song propelled the band Goo Goo Dolls to stardom, as it stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks, and was nominated for three Grammys that year. According to several interviews with Rzeznik, he was experiencing serious bouts of writer's block when he was approached, and was on the verge of quitting the band days before he wrote the song that would launch the band to worldwide fame.

The Goo Goo Dolls is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac

"Iris" was included on the triple-platinum Dizzy Up the Girl, and was among Top-Ten hits "Slide", "Black Balloon", "Broadway", and "Dizzy" from the same album. The new, polished sound garnered legions of new fans, many of whom had not followed the band before their mainstream success. Most of the Goo Goo Dolls concerts feature few, if any, songs the band wrote before 1995, reflecting the band’s more mainstream sound. In 2001, the Goos released their first ever compilation CD, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce. Next, Gutter flower (2002) — the last longplay in spirit of America, with dark lyrical undertones from Rzeznik's divorce—achieved gold certification, producing the hits "Here Is Gone", "Sympathy", and "Big Machine".

Current members

John Rzeznik – lead vocals, lead guitar, backing vocals (1986–present)
Robby Takac – backing vocals, bass guitar, lead vocals (1986–present)
Mike Malinin – drums, percussion (1995–present)

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/wikipwedia

Monday, February 21, 2011

Yanni Releases new Album "Truth of Touch"

WATCH YANNI live at the TAJ

Yanni's "Truth of Touch" Album Review

By: Markos Papadatos.

Acclaimed composer and world-renowned pianist, Yanni, released his latest album "Truth of Touch" on Feb. 8, 2011. This is Yanni's sixteenth studio album, and he arranged, wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks.

Throughout his illustrious career in music, Yanni has sold over twenty million records, and has garnered two Grammy nominations for his "Dare to Dream" and "In My Time" records; moreover, his 1994 "Yanni Live at the Acropolis" concert, which was seen by half a billion viewers in over sixty countries, is considered to be among the top PBS fundraisers of all time.

Particularly impressive about this album is that it emerged from Yanni's experimenting and playing in his Miami recording studio. The end result is a fresh new sound to Yanni's music, with less live orchestration, yet more rhythms and catchy melodies. With its stellar opening song, the title track, Yanni is able to take his listeners on a journey, transporting them to alternative realms.

Equally promising tracks include "Flash of Color," "Vertigo," "Can't Wait," "Secret" and "Mist of a Kiss." On the operatic and soulful "O Luce Che Brilla Nell' Oscurita," Yanni collaborates with gifted vocalist Nathan Pacheco. "Can't Wait," which contains elements of gospel music, features Kentucky native Leslie Mills on vocals; while the jazzy "Yanni and Arturo" represents a soaring collaboration with veteran Cuban trumpet player Arturo Sandoval. "Secret," featuring Chloe Lowery on lead vocals, is a soothing and hypnotic track with which he closes his album, leaving audiences yearning for more.

All three guest vocalists, Pacheco, Mills and Lowery, re-unite with Yanni on "Truth of Touch," after previously working with him on his 2009 Yanni Voices record.

In summation, Yanni's newest album "Truth of Touch" is an eclectic fifteen-track masterpiece. It is a substantial indication that Yanni's contemporary instrumental music is like fine Greek wine; he only gets better with each release. Yanni's "Truth of Touch" may very well be every Greek-American's "guilty pleasure."

Yanni is slated to embark on a forty-city North American tour in Spring of 2011, including leading venues such as New York's Radio City Music Hall, as well as Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. For more information on Yanni, his music, and his upcoming North American tour, please visit his official website: www.yanni.com.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Have you got the BLues????

Above: Blues Legend BUDDY GUY Live in Mumbai 2011

Like Rock and roll, heavy metal music, hip hop music, reggae, country music, and pop music, blues has been accused of being the "devil's music" and of inciting violence and other poor behavior. In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s.

Blues is a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.

Some of the well known bands or artists that have a strong blues flavor are Eric Clapton, Lenny kravitz, Santana, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, John Mayer trio, Johnny Cash, The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Rolling Stones and Miles Davis.

Many of Led Zeppelin's earlier hits were renditions of traditional blues songs.

One blues rock performer, Jimi Hendrix, was a rarity in his field at the time: a black man who played psychedelic rock. Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock. Prominent jazz, folk or rock performers, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Bob Dylan have performed significant blues recordings.

Most forms of modern music and artists that we listen today have an influence or have a strain of blues to them. Some of the Most Popular Blues artists are B.B king, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, "T-Bone" Walker.

Have you listened to a song that is real bluesy? Please do let us know.

Till then keep rockin, err Happy bluein....

Source: Wikipedia.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Best Selling Musicians of All Time : Really????

Have you ever wondered why the Greatest Musicians of all time are called Great in the first place???

Is it because of their talent, voice, skill or is there something more? You bet if they couldn't sell their music to a lot of People you and I would'nt be even talking about them. While Music undoubtedly is a central aspect of the who they are, it is the little nuances and intricacies in their whole approach to life that add a different dimension to their persona and creates that aura around them which eventually lead to album sales - yes the all important moolah!!!!

While there are thousands of talented music artists around, the following list made it really big and there is something unique about each one of them other than the music.

What sets them apart? You let us know:

The Beatles:

Genre:Pop, rock Claimed Sales: 1 billion