Streetlamp News 5
Created on: 7 December 2007
The Parlotones on their Ireland tour (November)
Four legged angels, white zulu philosophy and high revolvers.
Streetlamp News
No more boring evenings!
We have updated our Events section with gigs and shows for December. Our aim is to become a comprehensive events guide, assisting you with deciding where to go and who to see live. We will welcome any comments!New artists
Ettienne CelliersAccomplished songwriter, vocalist and bassist Ettienne Celliers joined the Streetlamp website this week with some classic rock sounds and an Afrikaans track.
function x2ds
NYC based function x2ds describes his music as a mix of funk, hip-hop, dance and electronic.
Streetlamp 101
We have added two pages called Streetlamp 101 for Artists and Streetlamp 101 for Fans to help you get started on the website.Festive Season for animals?
Just a reminder that Wetnose is our charity of choice for the months of November and December. 10% of whatever is spent on the website, will be donated to the four-legged guys in the shelter. As we party and celebrate this time of year, more animals land up in the streets and at shelters like Wetnose. Please take responsibility for your own pets and any animals you might find in stressful situations this festive season!If you’d like to make a direct contribution to Wetnose:
Wet Nose Animal Rescue Centre
First National Bank
Branch- Lynnwood
Branch code- 252045
Account number- 62009123126
Local News
Who will be the next SA idol?
Don’t miss Idols on Sunday (9 December) when Jody Williams (17) and Andriëtte Norman (21), both from Cape Town, will battle it out for the big title. Catch the show live on MNET from 17h00. The winner will be announced at 19h00.As for next season’s wannabe idols, Jody reckons that you should just go for it; Randall is not as cruel as he looks and you’ll never know if you don’t try. Andriette thinks that it’s worth a try, as you never know what might happen. Don’t be scared, but be prepared! You have to love music and entertaining people, though.
The brand new song from the Idols season 4 winner and the runner-up will be available for download from the MNET website directly after the finale.
(Sources: Beeld, MNET)
The White Zulu is back!
Johnny Clegg returns from a seven-month tour in Europe for his One Life show at Emperor’s Palace from December 6th. Fans can expect a line-up of brand new songs from his latest album, as well as a few familiar favourites.Says Clegg of his latest album: “We are all given one life which is precious and unique. At the same time all life on the planet is interlinked and connected into a single planetary force. The private and political choices we make affect how our one life influences the greater whole and so the songs look at the politics of betrayal, love, power, masculinity, the feminine, survival and work. Our one life is connected to the One Life. We each have a story to tell and many of the songs take on a narrative structure to emphasise the story-telling nature of how we make meaning in the world.”
You can get your tickets from Computicket.
(Source: www.citizen.co.za)
Ladies Line-up
In line with the 16 Days of Activism campaign against the abuse of women and children (running until December 16), Ladies In Jazz are running a series of shows called Artists Unite Against Women and Child Abuse at the State Theatre Drama on 7, 8, 14 and 15 Dec. The shows start at 7.30pm and tickets go for R60 through computicket.On Sunday there's the Divinity by Sarita experience at Velmore Hotel and Conference Estate for a celebration of womanhood with a mix of food, computer gaming and beauty tips. Logon to www.saritadivinity.co.za to get invited to this event or for more info.
(Source: www.tonight.co.za)
What happened to the Parlotones at 46664?
The Parlotones released a statement explaining why they left fans high and dry at the highly acclaimed 46664 concert.According to them, when Real Concerts initially approached them, the band said that they had already been booked for a show in Cape Town, but could make it in time if they were to be put on the line-up after 7pm. Apparently, Big Concerts then had them opening at 2pm and that is why they didn’t make it. They also feel that it “…isn’t fair for the band to be reflected in such a bad light especially since they were happy to do the show free of charge and are known for their charity performances with Starfish and many other fund raising events.”
Big Concerts has not yet responded to their statement, but we are sure that a little bit of publicity won’t be able to stop the Parlotones!
(Source: www.powerzone.co.za)
International News
Grammy Nominees
In Los Angeles, the nominees were announced for the 50th Grammy Awards to take place on the 10th of February 2008. Kanye West and Amy Winehouse dominated with West being nominated for eight and Winehouse for six trophies, including album of the year, record of the year and song of the year.Justin Timberlake was nominated for five trophies, including the much sought after award for best record of the year with “What Goes Around Comes Around”. The Foo Fighters were also mentioned for record and also album of the year. Rhihanna’s up with four nominations, with “Umbrella” also in the race for record of the year.
With Winehouse’s pot smoking and binge-drinking party habits, it’s almost surprising to see her on the nominees list. She recently had to cancel some of her tour performances due to “health concerns”.
For a detailed report on nominees, click here.
(Source: www.lasvegassun.com)
MySpace Transmissions not so impressive
The guys at MySpace have developed a new website called MySpace Transmissions to compliment their current offering. The site features streaming video and live music on offer to browse through and purchase if you like it.James Blunt is the featured artist to launch the site and says he loves the way it gives artists an opportunity to communicate with their fans directly
The site will be catering for more established artists as a means of staying connected with their fans, but will not allow artists to upload their music themselves.
The problem is that the site seems to be a beta version, with much of the functionality not yet operational. It’s fun to move the buttons around, but what do they do? The concept seems very nice, but it’s unclear why they launched with so much media attention when everything isn’t working yet. Makes you think of the way some Silicon Valley companies usually launch their products – fixing the bugs of previous versions while developing a newer version.
Have a look for yourself .
(Source: www.pcmag.com; blog.wired.com)
Nokia now comes with not so free Music
Nokia announced on Tuesday that they would be launching a music download service soon with some of their multimedia phones. This service will be offered in collaboration with Universal Music Group with discussions in progress to include the other big labels.Apparently, the service will be offered as “free” to the consumer. Yet, it really (as usual) isn’t free. You will still need a data package from your service provider and pay for bandwidth used. And like with “free” phones that have become the norm when committing to a service provider in South Africa, the full cost of anything you receive will, in time, be derived from you with plenty of profit to the companies involved. According to arstechnica.com, Universal will be paid $5 per month for every device sold with the download functionality.
The other problem is the PlaysForSure DRM installed on the phones. Digital Rights Management means that your downloaded music will not be compatible with a Zune or an iPod. Furthermore, you will need to purchase an “upgrade” before you’ll be able to burn any of the tracks on CD. That’s just not in the spirit of current market tendencies!
(Source: Reuters; www.engadget.com)
Avril’s unoriginal Girlfriend
The Canadian rock superstar’s lawyers were kept busy earlier this year when two American songwriters claimed that her mega-hit Girlfriend was a very close remake of their 1978 song called I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend. Tommy Dunbar, founder of a band called the Rubinoos, filed the suit in July this year.Accusations of plagiarism in the music industry is quite common, with Malcolm McLaren (former sex pistols manager) who was sued in 2005 by a French musician claiming that the producer copied his work to create the song called About Her. The song featured on the Kill Bill soundtrack.
(Source: www.nzherald.co.nz)
Fan claims Akon pushed him
Aliaune Thiam, also known as hip-hop and R&B singer and rapper Akon, this week pleaded not guilty on charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and harassment brought against him.He was charged after tossing a teenage fan off the stage at his June concert near New York City. According to witnesses, a member of the audience threw an object at the singer. Akon grabbed a fifteen-year-old boy onto the stage and then threw him back at the audience, hitting a woman in the process. She claims to have suffered a concussion from the blow to her head.
If he’s found guilty, the 34-year-old star could face a year behind bars.
(Source: REUTERS)
Spiced up with sophistication
Even though they haven’t toured together since 1999, The Spice Girl’s world reunion tour opened in Vancouver to a sold-out audience of 15,000 people. Celebrities attending the concert were, amongst others, David Beckham and Avril Lavigne.The show launched their world tour planned to reach Canada, the USA, Europe and hopefully South Africa in the next three months
The girls are all in their 30’s now and decided on a more sophisticated look for the tour. They performed in costumes designed by the famous designer Roberto Cavalli.
The group came together in 1993 after responding to an advertisement for a girl band. The rest, as they say, is history.
(Source: REUTERS)
Impaired Revolver arrested
Velvet Revolver vocalist Scott Weiland was arrested for driving under the influence of a drug after he crashed his car on a state highway in November.A police officer states that he showed “signs of impairment”. After the 40-year-old Weiland was taken to jail, he refused to take a blood or urine sample test and was released on bail of $40,000.
His publicist, Kristine Ashton-Magnuson, defended Weiland, who has a history of substance abuse and insisted that he voluntarily took a breathalyser test that registered well under the legal limit. She says he is anxious to go to court “…and clear this matter up.”
(Source: Associated Press)
Vinyl to outlast the CD?
There’s something very gratifying about putting a needle on a record, and it seems that a new generation is once again experiencing the joys of vinyl.Against the odds, vinyl has survived the CD onslaught, with many a musical purist persisting that CD’s, or any other digital format for that matter, just can’t reproduce the natural timbre found in a vocal performance and lack the “warmth” and “depth” that are only found in the old LP.
Some music retailers predict that vinyl will outlast the CD, with sales up by 22% for the year up to October. One has to, however, take into account that it only accounts for 0.02% of total album sales, which means its market share is miniscule. Vinyl is (not surprisingly) outselling cassettes by 3-to-1. I can’t remember when was the last time I actually saw cassettes for sale at my local music store! Digital album sales have taken 10.7% of the market and are growing, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Whatever your take is on vinyl, it seems to retain a (growing) market share, albeit as a niche for musical purists or sentimental old folk who just can’t get themselves used to small CD covers where you struggle to read the insert. With an increasing number of artists releasing their albums on both CD and vinyl, it’s clear that vinyl’s days aren’t numbered just yet!
(Source: www.billboard.biz)