Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants
30 Seconds to Mars
In this edition we bring You two brothers Rocking to Mars in true Hollywood style. What are the Odds & the Muppets resurrecting Queen... - Ed
Streetlamp Peeps, the drought is over! After a short absence we are back in full swing, ready to rock your socks of, or just chill, man, give you the latest skinner, and to tell you what’s happening in your area. Yep, nothing’s gonna stop us now!
Author: Estelle Venter (estelle.vent@gmail.com)
Ladies & Gents, Kings & Queens: This Is War!
Two brothers formed this prolific rock band in 1998, one of them a silver screen star and at that stage already internationally loved. Intent not to use his Hollywood status to market the band, Jared went as far as to refuse to perform at any show hyped with the mention of his name. Now, nearly a decade later, 100 million YouTube views, numerous awards including a Fuse Award, Kerrang! Award as well as several MTV awards, radio hits, chart toppers, and album sales on their last offering reaching multi-platinum status, it is safe to say: Jared Leto might be one of the foremost reasons that 30 Seconds To Mars had fans hysterical on their 2008 visit to SA, but certainly not because of his status as an actor, but rather his ability to connect with the audience on such a personal level that you believe each cry, melody & word of every track was written only for you.
It is exactly this ability to connect with the fans that makes their third offering so unique. Entitled: “This Is War”, this album contains more than the usual hollow Thank You-note, and instead the band recorded vocals of their fans singing along to their tracks, and included this as backing vocals and choruses. This album will feature 2000 covers, each an individual photo contributed by a fan. According to EMI VP of Promotion & Marketing: Greg Thompson, the fans will participate in the marketing of “This Is War” as well: “This is a band that was built by passionate fans, they have been doing a lot of the viral marketing themselves, preaching the gospel to their friends and families.”
Musically Leto describes this album as a “…metamorphosis, nothing short of a complete rediscovery”, although we can still hear the melodic, but slightly harder rock that you heard on their 2nd album: “A Beautiful Lie”. Listening to their first single: “Kings & Queens” we are convinced that this album will live up to “A Beautiful Lie” if not outsell it. In the spirit of being unique the video for the feel-good “Kings & Queens” track was made into a short film entitled: “The Ride”. Until the release date (Mid December ’09) we leave you with a reminder of the old, and a taste of the new. Check it out!
Some facts to impress your friends with:
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The title track of their second album: “A Beautiful Lie” was written in sunny South Africa! Yep, it was in the beautiful Cape Town that front man Jared Leto penned this (and 3 other) tracks. Now, that ain’t no beautiful lie!
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The band named their original phoenix logo “Mithra”. (Named after the Avestan language name for the Zoroastrian (a previous majority religion in Iran) divinity, also an all-seeing protector of truth.): This logo bears the Latin phrase: “Provehito in Altum” which translates to “Launch Forth Into The Deep” or rather – as the band prefers – “Rocket Into Highness”
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The name: 30 Seconds To Mars was chosen from a former Harvard professor’s thesis. One of the subsections in this thesis is titled, you guessed it: Thirty Seconds To Mars, and deals with the rapid growth of technology and then concludes that humans are quite literally thirty seconds to Mars.
Now go forth and impress, ye protectors of truth!
The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody
Jim Henson’s Muppets are surely the world’s most famous puppet characters. Since the 60’s these witty, lovable creatures have been providing both young and old with endless entertainment. Their latest “hit” is their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. This track is the 1975 hit of British rock band Queen, whose front man: Freddie Mercury became a legend in his own right for his musical genius. Flamboyant Mercury, a Parsi – a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent - (and of Persian descent) and his band, bypassed record company execs who didn’t want to release the track due to it’s length, by giving copies of it to a radio DJ they were acquainted with. After playing the track 14 times in two days, many members of the public tried to purchase it at record stores, only to be told that it hadn’t been released. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, more than 3 decades after the original hit, check out The Muppets’ version of the track. In only a couple of days on YouTube this clip amassed nearly 9 million views. Yes, we know, they completely messed it up. Funny & entertaining nonetheless.
Shaun V Rocks Hollywood
Given Shaun V’s background in performing arts and his ability to communicate raw emotion, it is no wonder that a few weeks ago he had the cream of Hollywood’s crop in awe of his talent.
Shaun’s public journey started in 2003 as part of the boy band Hi-5. During his three years as part of this group, he performed on many different stages including The Royal Albert Hall in London as part of Nataniel’s 2005 Nataniel & Friends show. Even though the band was highly successful and received many awards & titles (such as the GMT Best Music Video Award, Crescendo Winners, Africa Vision Winners), Shaun left in 2006 to pursue his solo career. This proved to be a wise decision, as he was immediately scooped up to be a part of the hit musical production: “We Will Rock You” and later on “Rent”. He also spent much of his time supporting charitable causes including the 2007 Hug-A-Thon Campaign. He was billed “The voice of the campaign” after his track “This Love Could Be” was used for the campaign’s TV ads. All of the proceeds gained during this campaign on the track was donated to the cause. Last year Shaun spent 7 months touring Asia as part of the We Will Rock You cast, only returning to SA during this time to record the track: “Not Human” for the Bakgat! Soundtrack. 2009 saw Shaun jetting of to LA to explore international opportunities, perform in Richard Loring’s “Knights of Music” and South Africa’s first full-length, original a cappella musical: Noah of Cape Town, as well as record a track for a British short film.
This track: “A Friend Is An Enemy” is the reason more than 300 industry tycoons, movie reps, insiders and actors were blown away at the premiere screening of the British short film: “A Night At Robert McAlister’s” at Cinespace in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago. After being in talks with Octane Music (LA) for quite some time, Shaun was contacted to record this track, written by Colin “Lizzard” McGuinnes. The film tells the story of an LA band on the verge of hitting the big time, when enigmatic lead singer: Robert McAlister (Dean Jagger) calls the rest of the band to a meeting in his basement. Little do they know, they are about to be sucked into the dark playground of McAlister’s mind, and during this night they realize that a friend is an enemy one hasn’t yet met.
According to Executive Producer Alistair Audsley he couldn’t be happier with Shaun’s performance. Says Audsley: “Shaun V captured the 'voice' and emotion of Robert McAlister perfectly. It is not just a vocal performance of his - it is vocal acting! We were elated when we heard Shaun’s haunting vocals on the song and the movie character quite simply came to life. It complements Dean Jagger's acting performance as Robert perfectly.”
“A Night At Robert McAlister’s” will be screened at some of the world’s leading film festivals including the Berlin, Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, ensuring great exposure to not only South Africa and it’s artists but specifically Shaun V. SA’s brightest star is on the rise. Check out what we’re on about!
Against All Odds
Don’t we just love the underdog? Off course we do! And no term could describe Susan Boyle better. When she came on stage earlier this year on Simon Cowell’s Britain’s Got Talent, we cringed at the site of the frumpy, eccentric lady, expecting her to squawk instead of sing. This does say much of just how judgemental society is, and Susan Boyle reminded us of this when she opened her mouth and with the voice of an angel sang “I Dreamed A Dream” from the musical Les Miserables. In a matter of seconds the audience fell completely silent and with dropped jaws, and teared-up eyes, witnessed what would become the biggest talked about event, and surely the biggest surprise, of this year’s BGT.
Now, seven months later, Susan’s debut album: “I Dreamed A Dream” is breaking records, reaching 135 000 sales on the first day of release (only in Britain) and shifting in excess of 2 million albums internationally in the first week of being on the shelves. This 12-track album contains a mix of pop covers including “Wild Horses” (Rolling Stones) & “You’ll See” (Madonna) and has now officially outsold all except one 2009 release – Eminem’s Relapse. Keep in mind that this offering comes from the middle-aged jobless, husband-less, very dull-looking woman who has a learning disability due to a brain injury when she was an infant. But she is not broken, because she has a voice that can silence thousands. And she dared to dream a dream.
Snippets
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She did it again! No, not Britney, but Shakira. The latest music video from the belly-dancing goddess was just released and in true Shakira-style it’s H-O-T. Entitled: “Did It Again” this track is the latest single of her “She Wolf” album. We do like the contact improvisation dance technique used in the choreographed bedroom scene, although musically this track fails to impress. Check it out and decide for yourself! Some interesting trivia: The male lead in this video is dancer Cloud Campos, who gained recognition as back-up dancer for the Queen of Pop; Madonna.
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The Gallagher brothers (Oasis) are such whiney-pain-in-the-asses that if it wasn’t for a couple of good tunes we would’ve ignored them a long time ago. Last year Noel went solo after a backstage fight in which the brothers smashed each other’s guitars. Now Liam is telling the whole world (and it’s mother) that the new band is better off without Noel and the new material will prove this. Oh, shut up already! Show us the tunes!
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Nearing the end of his contract with EMI, friend of aliens Robbie Williams decided to pimp his career to the highest bidders. The plan is as follows: Find super rich, super gullible individuals/corporations, take their money, go alien-hunting/record an album. Mr Williams will then no longer be at the mercy of the all-evil record companies, and instead be the master of his own destiny. I can’t for the life of me think what the difference is between this and any record label. Even though I do love Robbie’s earlier work, I am sceptical: I want to meet the investor who’ll pump his hard earned cash into the Robbie brand: Even if you do ignore the fact(?) that the man meets with ET’s, it is a bit more difficult to ignore nose-diving album sales & his shrinking personal fortune.
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Much-loved hip hop artist/rapper HHP (Hip Hop Pantsula) is turning out to be the genre’s South African mover & shaker: On his latest album: “Dumela” expect collaborations with American rapper (and son of jazz muso Olu Dara) Nas, and multi-platinum rapper, muso, & record producer Wyclef Jean. You go, HHP! In the words of HHP’s idol – Nas – “No matter how hard you try, you can’t stop us now”
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Check out Bobby van Jaarsveld’s latest music video for his track: “Spieeltjie”. Partly filmed at the musical fountain at Silverstar Casino, Muldersdrift – the largest musical fountain in Africa – this track won’t convert non-fans, but will nevertheless satisfy the die-hards.
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This week in music: Michael Jackson releases Thriller (1/12/1982), the birth of baby Bat-Man Ozzy Osbourne (3/12/1948), Led Zeppelin breaks up (4/12/1980) and Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack (6/12/1988).
Say You, Say Me
“I emotionally killed a man. It was three weeks ago. It’s complicated. Suffice to say that I am now a murderer.”
“Emo Mika. (We don’t have a clue what he’s talking about, either)”
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Author: Estelle Venter (estelle.vent@gmail.com)
Sources:
www.music-news.com; www.youtube.com; www.wikipedia.org; www.billboard.com; www.mio.co.za; www.mnet.co.za; www.mtv.com; www.silverstarcasino.co.za; www.30secondstomars.com; www.myspace.com; www.photobucket.com; www.whatsonsa.co.za; www.bobbyvanjaarsveld.co.za; www.nme.com; www.gigwise.com; www.noahofcapetown.co.za;