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todaysbiggesthits · 4 years ago

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The Exam

Best Music Moment of 2020

Bin: Re-discovering 1990s alt-rock and listening to some previously unknown and/or forgotten jams culminating with discovering that Cherub Rock is an all-time track

Chap: Dancing to Frank Sinatra with my kids on NYE

Bronco: Started jamming with John on Rocksmith. He pointed out that there was a multiplayer mode, so I ordered another cable and, lo and behold, we were both able to play. He's starting to learn the bass while I continue to tinker with the guitar. Pretty awesome to jam out to some Alice in Chains or some Mastodon with my 10-year-old son. Only two more years and he should be able to tour with Korn!

Code: - climbed up to the roof for 4th of july and brought the big set outside to jam at an ear splitting volume. Arden and i danced until we got almost too drunk to descend the ladder. that was major fun. - broke quarantine (and my smoking cessation plan) in late april to ride my bike to the lake and listen to townes van zandt while thinking of bobcat the wheelie king. - listening to shadowplay while closing out each opponent in a summerlong match play tournament. - watching the sun rise through the fog on an october morning while crossing the mississippi river with elliott smith's XO

JD: July: Sitting by the window watching a rainstorm with the Barwick album on the day it came out. October: A big spin of The Big Ship. November: Blasting “House of Jealous Lovers” when they called the election and turning it into a 2.5 hour club mix. November: jj having a violently negative reaction to a song by that Muzz band that came on shuffle and saying it sounded like Jason Mraz.

BC: Haphazard attempt at The Music Game over Zoom in April with last partiers standing - JD, Maddy, and I "Live Drugs" first listen

Larse: Probably streaming through YouTube Music's Top Indie 2020 on my Chromecast TV and seeing all of the music videos for the songs on a lazy weekday afternoon whilst I wasn't working over the holidays

Best Shows Seent in 2020

Code: pqc - 10th anniversary show (streamed) silver jews - final show (01/31/2009) a handful of live phish performances while facetiming with jonas, bc and geoff not a single in-person show attended

Nasty:"Dinner and a Movie" series - Phish Youtube with BC, Code, and Dillon via facetime

JD: 1. Peel Dream Magazine at whatever they call Hi-Fi now on the day before lockdown 2. Real Estate busking on the sidewalk in front of closed record store locations in Manhattan 3. Parkay Boys’ 10th anniversary stream on my couch

Laser: Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson One in Vegas in January…that was the only show even remotely related to music I saw all year

Bronco: Only seent one, and it was Cold War Kids with my wife. Had a really good time. It was nice to share some quality music time together, away from the kids for a night... basically the only time of this butthole of a year.

Chap: Ted Lasso

BC: Yeeeahhh right

Confession of 2020

JD: I think I engaged with Aerosmith music videos more than any new albums.

BC: Listening to new music often feels like a chore

Rotty: I played over 75 rounds of golf this year…another ample opportunity to listen to new music and I found myself just listening to Classic Pop/Rock Hits!

Codem: - i didn't even listen to taylor swift's album. - i listened to bob marley - live! for the first time in 20 years while driving my dad's car and i sobbed and sang.

Nasty: I'm a phish fan now?

Bronco: I'm still reading the book I mentioned in last year's Resolution for 2019 Status...such a slow fucking reader and this book is 1000 pages. Kindle app says I'm 63% of the way through. Jesus.

Biggest Disappointment of 2020

Nasty: Still Kanye...

NACK: Sufjan Stevens

Code: - no shows with my sweet one - no stones while waiting for the canons - i think i grew out of diet cig - i didn't put my heart into finding cool album art this year.

Larson: JD's wedding being cancelled (editor’s note: sure hope you mean postponed)

JD: Don’t know if it was my advanced age, the lack of concerts, commuting, and hearing music in bars and restaurants, or the platform economy murdering my attention span and turning them all into yet more ephemeral ‘content,’ but the new albums really didn’t take this year.

Bronco: Kvelertak was okay, they changed lead singers and the new album was fine, but after their last offering that landed quite high on my list, this one was kind of a let down. Also, 2020.

BC: 2020

Most Overrated of 2020

Chap: Fiona

BC: I fully expect Fiona Apple to flood this answer. But the correct answer is Waxahachee.

JD: It’s hard to say given the way ‘institutional’ narratives feel mostly guided by risk minimization, but I always keep this seat warm for Run the Jewels.

Bronco: Any and all death metal. It's all so samey. I have a hard time trying to get in to any of it, so I don't bother...and then it bothers me when it ends up on end of year lists like it's some revelation of sound. It's literally all the same.

Code: podcasts

Bin: The human brain

Laser: my golf game!

Make it Stop 2020

Nasty: WOP (editor’s note: WAP?)

Larse: Having to talk about Politics

Code: "better off alone" - purity ring

JD: The impossibly grating contempo pop that’s always on the radio at the bodega down the street.

Chap: Covid? Trump? Celeb deaths? SNL? Murder Hornets? Talkin' tv models via email? Not enough exposure to pop culture to really get annoyed by anything.

BC: The raging pandemic. Seriously.

Biggest TBH Regret of 2020

Laser: giving this the old college try and having just a shit list!

Chap: Only seeing one show in my 2.5 years in NYC

JD: Skipping Nap Eyes opening for Destroyer in February because I’d so obviously be able to catch Nap Eyes headlining a better venue later on.

Codem: i wanted that teenage halloween album to sound better because i loved the album artwork

Bin: Not buying Lilly stock

Bronco: No regrets to be had, couldn't do anything in this godforsaken year.

Detective Murtaugh of 2020

BC: My back giving out upon bending over to change a light bulb

Chap: Trying to give Taylor Swift the ol' college try.

Larson: This damn pandemic!

Bronco: I'm too old for being stuck in my house all day, every day, listening to the rest of my family non-stop. I need this shit to end. I can't listen to my kids anymore... not all day. It's crushing me.

Code: now that i own a car again, my favorite pastime has become zoning out to a good album on a long drive and seeing if i can reach an arbitrary mpg number for my trip.

JD: I remember browsing the racks at Media Play and getting mad at every magazine that ranked Love and Theft ahead of Is This It? in 2001 and 19 years later I came thisclose to doing it m’self.

Bin: Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Nevada taking their sweet ass time counting ballots

Resolution for 2020 Status

Larse: None How It Went: More than likely it was related to being better at this and this year was probably the worst of all time…

Code: i'm making it easier this year. catch ovlov, washer, EMA and colleen green live this year. bonus points: see dom's much anticipated return to the stage. How It Went: ain’t caught but a one!

Bronco: Build a vinyl collection. I know I dumped on Brendon for suggesting he press copies of Carpet Affair, but my kid's getting way into music and listening to it on his own (via Alexa in my bedroom which is super fucking annoying), so we're getting him his own record player and I think it's going to be a cool activity to go record store diving for whatever classics we can scrounge up. How It Went: Started the vinyl collection. Went record store diving with John at the beginning of the year. He picked up Ride the Lightening. And I've got an original pressing of Back in Black on its way, didn't make it in time for Christmas. I decided on purchasing that album, then a day or two later John said, "I think I know what I want my next record to be...Back in Black". Sad it didn't make it in time, but psyched I was able to predict it.

Chap: Eh I'm cool How It Went: Ironically, reading back it contradicts what it says

Bren: See Phish in 2020 How It Went: Phish tickets purchased and ready

Bin: Send an email about music on the TBH! thread. How It Went: Ha! Set the bar low! Finally. Send an email about music? Check.... "can you believe Trump plays Fortunate Son unironically at campaign events???"

JD: Get to more shows. Take more aimless strolls spinning tunes. How It Went: Turns out I did a lot of sitting around inside this year.

Resolution for 2021

Bronc: Get vaccinated.

BC: Get vaxxed up and return to normalcy

JD: - Massively reduce my ‘news’ consumption to free up more time to spin tunes and smell the roses. - Get vaxed and get partying.

Code: see a live music concert

Nasty: I'm going to be ambitious. See a show with JD. Coward move to shy away from this in 2020.

Nicky: To start earlier. It takes me longer to get into new stuff. I didn't even like my top 4 until at least late December, but now I feel like they could compete with most years.

Laser: Be better at this! If anything, the pandemic should have allowed me to listen to more music whilst at home working, but it seemed to have the opposite effect…

Most Anticipated of 2021

BC: TWOD

Bronco: Mastodon, and live shows... not sure I even care which ones.

JD: Dry Cleaning, Park Hye Jin, Viagra Boys

Larse: No clue…

Chap: It's way too early!

Bin: Freedom of movement

Code: it seems like there should be a buncha new cool musical ideas to come out of this time indoors. something like this era's disco? a big celebratory sound that makes us all smile and move. in other words, the next dom album.

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trevorbailey61 · 7 years ago

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Van Morrison

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Monday 13th November 2017

It has been a busy evening. Whilst being a multi-instrumentalist was taken as a given for everyone in the band, most could at least relax and play just one during the course of each song. Adding the percussion, however, required dexterity and alertness, one moment tapping out the rhythm on bongos, then a short solo on the vibraphone before a tingling of bells at the precise moment to illustrate the lyrics. If that wasn’t enough, two microphones placed either side of the instruments that all needed to be hit indicate that whatever else is going on, backing vocals are also required to provide an interesting harmony with another backing singer standing to the left. Amongst all this, however, the percussionist can still turn to her fellow singer and smile, she is having a good time, as are everyone else. Now I have never seen Van Morrison before but I have talked to many who have and the one thing they tend to agree on is that having a good time is something that can’t be taken as a given, either for the audience or those who share the stage with him. Many years ago, shortly after introducing myself to his music through a copy of “Astral Weeks” that I managed to pick up for £1 in a Nottingham record shop, I was dissuaded from hearing him live when a friend shared his experience of waiting for hours for him to appear only for him to disappear about twenty minutes later. More recently, I found myself relieved that I hadn’t taken the plunge at Symphony Hall a few years ago due to him spending the entire concert with his back to the audience. With time for both of us running out, however, there are only so many times that it can be put off and as I take my seat amongst the Van veterans around me I start to hear of mesmerising and spellbinding concerts along with those where he clearly couldn’t be arsed. I am confident that this will be one of the good ones.

At precisely 8:00pm with the hall still fully illuminated and many still finding their seat, the band take to the stage. The star, however, waits for his introduction; musical legend and knight of the realm, Sir George Ivan Morrison walks purposefully to the microphone as the band form a semi circle around him. Dressed in a black suit with the jacket buttoned tightly, dark glasses and a small hat obscure much of his face; there is still little that he is prepared to share with us. In his arms he cradles an alto saxophone to which he will turn frequently to add stabs of brass, with an often muted trumpet played to his side, as well as a few restrained solos. It is the instrument he clearly prefers now but one that he has perhaps yet to fully master. A light swing rhythm sets the mood and forms the background as each of the band introduce themselves through a short solo; precise, exquisitely played and none outstaying their welcome. Without skipping a beat, the pace quickens, a familiar baseline emerges and a few chords on the piano appear on the off-beat. Morrison begins, “Well, it's a marvellous night for a Moondance”; the articulation may not be as precise as it was, a few words are slurred particularly as he pushes his voice to the limit of its range but the joy in its warm familiarity offers reassurance; he is here to give us a show.

There is, however, little time to wallow in its nostalgia; “Moondance” forms part of a short medley where it is fused with a later song, “Look Beyond the Hill”, an approach he will use to present other familiar songs, in particular those he recorded with Them at the beginning of his career. Starting with “Baby Please Don’t Go”, he takes us through some of the blues standards the Ulster boys would have cut their teeth on, “Don’t Start Crying Now”, “Parchman Farm”, “Custard Pie” before “Here Comes the Night” rounds off this excursion into his distant past. Even where a return to the home key indicates that the song has reached its conclusion, the next is being counted in before the applause has started, the appreciation that we want to express is not expected nor it appears even wanted. The set may run to a generous twenty plus songs lasting nearly two hours but the star remains intent on spending as little time on stage as he can get away with. Needless to say, there are no introductions and other than a couple of muttered thank yous the only spoken words are when a technician was attempting to set a microphone to the correct height on the one occasion he played the piano, the song continuing even as the adjustments are being made.

With 37 albums already to his name, number 38 is expected in a few weeks, even though its predecessor was only released in September, the breadth of Morrison’s output is staggering and in drawing on different parts of his career, he showcases the sheer quality of his music and the consistency of his writing. With so much great music, there are the inevitable disappointments about what is left out, particularly the absence of any songs from “Astral Weeks”, but alongside the familiar and expected, there were a few obscure gems that it was a pleasure to hear him return to. Throughout the playing was immaculate, the band effortlessly moving from a rolling jazz swing to blues to soft west coast rock and even to country for a cover of “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. The pace was gentle allowing space for each of the musicians the chance to adorn the songs with well judged solos, held together by Paul Moran’s carefully structured musical direction. With the band remaining on stage at the end of the show, it does become more indulgent emphasising just how meticulously the arrangements have been put together prior to that. So smoothy and seamlessly does this work that it is noticeable on the one occasion it doesn’t; as Morrison completes the first verse of “Did Ye Get Healed”, he is momentarily frozen as he waits for the refrain to be picked up, the rest of the band looking helplessly at each other before Moran points to the guitarist to get things moving. The stutter was for no longer that a couple of seconds but the moment of tension stood as a contrast to the easy feel of the remainder of the set.

The In his early work, Morrison tended to reflect on his youth in Belfast, often from the perspective of an exile remembering the places and people as they were then. “Brown Eyed Girl”, possibly his best known song which makes it a surprise inclusion given his contrary nature, recalls a romantic encounter with a sense of joy that can either be infectious or irritating depending on your point of view. It is a song that over familiarity has not been kind to, particularly given the hamfisted way in which it is often covered, but Morrison did manage to remind us why we did, at one time, love it. For someone who has revelled in his role as a curmudgeon for the best part of his life, love and companionship are themes that occur with a surprising frequency in his lyrics. “Warm Love” shares a tender moment of intimacy, something that “Vanlose Stairway” tries to recapture despite the despite the distance that now separates him from the other person. Through this search for personal fulfilment his songs are united by an underlying spiritual quest. This was rarely overtly religious, although he wasn’t averse to this as on “Whenever God Shines His Light”, originally performed with Cliff Richard although his female backing singers now provide a more intriguing contrast to his own voice. Mostly, however, his interest is in how the resolve to carry on can be found within, of how we are strengthened by the way in which we respond to adversity and the terrible things that life can throw at us. “Days Like This” is typical in this respect, whilst there is nothing in particular to face up to, “When you don't get betrayed by that old Judas kiss”; the struggle to carry on can still be very real. In “Little Village”, his quest is to ”Hear the voice of the silence, in the evening; In the long cool summer nights”, a rural idyll where “Everything’s going to be alright”. This sense of optimism, that deep though the well may be, there will be another day and that within us we have the strength and courage to face it, is what makes Morrison’s work so uplifting and is what, despite his gruff exterior, gives an emotional heart and warmth to the show.

Morrison returns to the early days once more for “Gloria” for which the audience are on their feet and chanting back the letters as he spells out the name, the only time deliberately looks for a response. “Thanks to the band” is his final comment before he leaves them to indulge themselves more than us as he makes his escape before the audience fully realise it is over. Morrison’s reputations as an awkward live performer has always put me off seeing him before but tonight showed the passion that he has always had for his music, and probably explains why when it isn’t happening he can’t fake it. With a superb backing band, it was a show of warmth and sincerity, a legendary act who I am glad I finally managed to get around to seeing. “A marvellous night for a Moondance?” - you bet.

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caseclosedonsilvershore · 7 years ago

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A-HA – MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice

by Barry Page

Acoustic love from Norway’s finest…

“Suddenly we’re a band again, suddenly we understand why we’re together, and we’re in agreement like never before.” – Morten Harket

“This current process has given us an incredible team spirit and a creative exchange that we haven’t had in many years.” – Magne Furuholmen

“I can’t remember the last time we had such a natural and easy way of working together.” – Paul Waaktaar-Savoy

It was in mid-December 2016 that a-ha officially announced that they would be releasing a new live acoustic album, with a mixture of songs old and new being selected from a series of intimate shows. Throughout their career, the band had performed many of their songs in more pared-down versions in concert (for example, ‘Stay On These Roads’), but until this point had resisted offers to perform an entire set of stripped-down songs. Singer Morten Harket, who has actually appeared on an MTV Unplugged album (performing ‘Wind Of Change with The Scorpions on Live In Athens), was enthused enough to declare: “There is palpable growing excitement about this in the group… I really look forward to it all!”

Whilst such a project had been discussed many times, the announcement was something of a surprise as the band had, ostensibly, moved on to other projects following the conclusion of the Cast In Steel tour. Paul Waaktaar-Savoy had signed a new recording deal with Drabant Music, debuting ‘Beautiful Burnout’ (the first single from World Of Trouble, his upcoming album with Zoe Gnecco) in September 2016. Plans were also in place to release another Savoy album (the long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s Songbook collection). However, the band had already come out of retirement once (following the Ending On A High Note tour in 2010) and, despite the fact that a-ha’s return was a temporary one (Cast In Steel was originally touted as two-year project), fans were well used to expecting the unexpected.

Of course, many of a-ha’s contemporaries – particularly from the 1980s – have dabbled with the acoustic format. Spandau Ballet used their Once More album as a springboard for their 2009 comeback; Erasure re-interpreted many of their well-known songs in acoustic versions on their 2006 album Union Street, while Nik Kershaw utilised the format to great effect on his 2010 album No Frills. In a concert setting, the likes of Midge Ure, China Crisis (see the Acoustically Yours album) and Howard Jones (see Live Acoustic America) have all enjoyed some success by employing a more stripped-back approach. And then there are the rock veterans Status Quo, whose recent Aquostic albums and shows have reinvigorated – and extended – the band’s career.

The subsequent MTV re-branding this year – from a historical viewpoint at least – makes sense. Whilst they never performed an MTV Unplugged set during the programme’s heyday, a-ha’s initial flurry of success in the USA was largely down to the exposure the MTV network gave their iconic video for ‘Take On Me’, eventually propelling it to the top of the Billboard charts (the band also won several awards at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1986).

The MTV Unplugged shows that came to prominence in the early 1990s featured an array of both established and contemporary acts. Rock and pop luminaries such as Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart certainly benefitted from the wider exposure of their back catalogues, racking up some best-selling – and sometimes award-winning – albums along the way. At the height of their popularity in 1993, Nirvana recorded an acoustic set in New York that, arguably, rates as one of their finest albums.

Since 2000, the show’s popularity has tailed off and the number of performances has been somewhat more sporadic, but recent performances by Shawn Mendes – and now a-ha – have given the show a new lease of life.

Whilst the electronic technology of the 1980s characterized much of the band’s early recordings, key tracks such as ‘Hunting High And Low’ hinted at a more acoustic foundation to their songwriting. “We don’t use much technology at all when we write the songs,” confirmed Waaktaar-Savoy recently. “[So] the idea of an entirely acoustic show makes total sense. Playing all these songs now in their acoustic versions is like returning to their origins.” Indeed, the project has represented something of a return to the band’s musical roots, particularly messrs Waaktaar-Savoy and Furuholmen who, as one half of the band Bridges, had released an album (Fakkeltog) in 1980 that owed more to the music of The Doors and the progressive rock scene of the 1970s than the more fashionable punk and new wave music of the day. “We started as a band back before a-ha, writing and recording on acoustic instruments,” Furuholmen told Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø at last month’s Berlin press conference. “And then, when we moved to England and formed a-ha, we discovered a whole music scene that had moved on to Electronica, and we were a part of that first wave. And we started incorporating that, [and] that kind of defined our sound. But all along, we’ve added acoustic instruments on almost all the songs. So it’s not really something new in that regard.”

Tapping into the band’s progressive rock past was 37-year old producer and multi-instrumentalist Lars Horntveth, who had already worked with the band on string arrangements for 2015’s Cast In Steel album. A former Spellemannprisen award-winner, Horntveth had gained a good reputation as a producer, helming albums for artists such as Susanne Sundfør (including 2010’s The Brothel). In addition to his work with the Norwegian rock band, The National Bank, Horntveth has recorded several albums with experimental jazz outfit, Jaga Jazzist; with one of them (A Livingroom Hush) receiving some favourable attentions from the BBC in 2002 (“It’s the mix of 21st century texture, intelligent jazz writing and improvisational concision that makes this one of the most enjoyable records of this (or any other) year”).

For the Summer Solstice project, Horntveth assembled a band that included bass player – and fellow Jaga Jazzist member – Even Ormestad, plus Morten Qvenild from The National Bank, musicians that were familiar to a-ha via the recording of Cast In Steel and its subsequent tour (more recently, Ormestad has played on Anneli Drecker’s highly rated new album, Revelation For Personal Use). Elsewhere, drummer Karl Oluf Wennerberg has been involved with a-ha since Foot Of The Mountain, and has also played on Morten Harket’s Out Of My Hands album. Completing the line-up was a string section comprising Madeleine Ossum, Emilie Heldahl Lidsheim and Tove Margrethe Erikstad.

In the end, the choice of producer Horntveth proved to be pivotal, as Harket explained: “Lars is a stubborn guy, he’s a strong character himself. And we really need somebody who has greater balls than brains, who is strong and one-track-minded enough to stand up for what he thinks is right. And he was commissioned by us to attack the songs freely – no directions given by us – because we needed to strip every song. We needed to reset everything, so that we could kind of rediscover the songs… Lars attacked it so that we had something to respond to… and respond we did. We hated what he did, and that was great, because we needed to react; we needed to have something to respond to.” Horntveth’s recollection of the experience mirrored that of Harket’s: “Working with the three of them has been enjoyable and fun, but very frustrating,” he told Aftenposten. “I have been utterly pissed off at times, and so have they. After all, they’re not used to a stubborn bastard like me interfering like this – but it’s been very healthy. Deep down I think they like it, even if they have hated me at times!”

Horntveth spent several months working on prospective arrangements for the show’s concerts but, due to his touring commitments with Jaga Jazzist, the number of shows was whittled down from four to two. Whilst the scheduling problem was rectified reasonably easily, choosing a venue for the brace of shows wasn’t so straightforward. “I wanted to build up a whole TV studio near London, but the band didn’t want that,” the band’s manager Harald Wiik told Aftenposten. “They wanted to go to the Amazon or the Brazilian city of Belém, but that proved to be too difficult. Then Magne figured we could do something ‘Norwegian’, inside a stave church, but that would be too small – although Morten suggested we solved the problem by simply using the mannequins from the ‘Sun Always Shines On TV’ video as our audience!” Eventually the band settled with Giske, a remote island in the Sunnmøre district of Møre og Romsdal in Western Norway. Following some preliminary sessions, the band resumed rehearsals at the island’s state-of-the-art studio, Ocean Sound Recordings (a facility that Scottish band Travis used to record their 2013 album, Where You Stand), while the nearby Øygardshallen venue would provide the setting for the actual shows on the 22nd and 23rd June.

What is initially impressive, following a first run-through of the set, is not only the high level of musicianship, but also some of the adventurous – and often sonically challenging – new arrangements.

Of the two new songs, set opener ‘This Is Our Home’ stands out the most. Penned by Furuholmen, the beautiful piano-driven piece utilizes a simple chord progression, and its “This Is Our Home/ This Is Where Belong” refrain perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the show. Waaktaar-Savoy’s country-tinged ‘Break In The Clouds’ is less immediate, but nevertheless impresses with its blend of harpsichord, pedal steel guitar and strings.

True to the spirit of the original MTV Unplugged shows, the band introduce a number of musical guests; a mixture of influential artists and younger, more contemporary performers. Introduced by Furuholmen as “An American with Swedish genes”, Lissie is a Rock Island-born singer who, in addition to working with the likes of Robbie Williams and Snow Patrol, has released three solo albums to date. No stranger to performing cover versions (check out her version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Go Your Own Way’), Lissie certainly impresses on a duet of ‘I’ve Been Losing You’. Ingrid Helene Håvik, who trades vocals with Harket on an epic version of ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’, is a more local talent, based in the nearby town of Ålesund. A regular user of the recording facilities of Ocean Sound Recordings, Håvik has released one album as solo artist, but is better known as a member of the Spellemannprisen award-winning indie rock band Highasakite (their Silent Treatment album reached number one in Norway, and spent an impressive 120 weeks in the charts).

During Ian McCulloch’s introduction, Furuholmen mentions the impact that Echo and the Bunnymen had on the development of a-ha’s sound in the early 1980s (“we modernised our sound because of these guys”), citing the Heaven Up Here album as a key influence. The charismatic singer performs two songs with the band, beginning with ‘Scoundrel Days’; its sombre tones a perfect fit for McCulloch’s mournful voice. Whilst the Bunnymen’s third album Ocean Rain didn’t quite live up to its billing in press advertisements as ‘The Greatest Album Ever Made’, there’s certainly a case for ‘The Killing Moon’ being one of the greatest songs of that decade. The band duly perform the classic track, one of the highlights of the set.

Another influential band during a-ha’s formative years was Yazoo, whose combination of melodic synth-pop and soulful vocals appealed greatly to the fledgling band. Singer Alison Moyet is the final guest of the show and performs a fine version of ‘Summer Moved On’ (in a slightly lower key). The only disappointment is the glaring continuity error, as the song was clearly performed earlier in the day.

Another standout performance is ‘Sox Of The Fox’. Previously known as ‘The Vacant’, the song originally appeared on the rare Bridges album Fakkeltog, and was sung by Waaktaar-Savoy in a style that evoked both Jim Morrison and Scott Walker. Harket tells the 300-strong audience that he’d been ‘pestering’ his bandmates to do the song for over 30 years, and the new version – which faithfully mirrors the original arrangement – provides one of the set’s thrilling moments. Also stemming from the Bridges period is ‘This Alone Is Love’, with part of its lyric being recycled from two Fakkeltog songs. Ingeniously arranged with a jazz-like 11/8 time signature, the rarely-played track features some infectious harpsichord and an effective oboe solo from Horntveth.

Other highlights include the Furuholmen classic ‘Lifelines’, which is rearranged so that the spine-tingling “one chance to get back to the point where everything starts” lyric is pleasingly introduced into the song earlier than its studio counterpart; ‘Over The Treetops’, another rarely played song, includes some lovely harmony vocals and 12-string guitar playing, and then there’s ‘Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale’, which includes a stunning vocal from Harket. It is evident, however, that there are some tracks that work better than others (the versions of ‘Analogue’ and ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ feel a little leaden and plodding), but it’s largely a crowd-pleasing set.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the set is the closing ‘Take On Me’, presented in a fresh, ballad-like style. Furuholmen, who has in the past referred to ‘Take On Me’ as the band’s ‘party song’, discusses his fondness for the new arrangement in the sleeve notes of the excellent ‘Fan Box’ edition of the album: “It went from being an uptempo synthesizer-driven pop song to a much more melancholic, yearning ballad in this slowed down arrangement. It shows with much more clarity how the song, at its core, is not some standalone upbeat track, but belongs squarely inside our catalogue alongside more thoughtful, darker songs like ‘Scoundrel Days’,etc.”

The problem of how the intimacy of the Giske shows will translate to the upcoming arena tour is something that Furuholmen addressed at last month’s Berlin conference: “It’s not really about the number of people – it’s what you make happen in that room, making that moment glow…It will be strange to go from a 300-audience to a 10,000-audience or whatever, but we are used to that format, too. The challenge for us is that we have to make sure we don’t slip into trying to change the musical content out of panic, thinking there’s 10,000 [who] are gonna get bored shitless if we continue this way. We have to stick with the plan.”

As for the possibility of another a-ha studio album, as ever it’s Waaktaar-Savoy who is the most optimistic about the possibility: “When we recorded our last few albums, we were sometimes working pretty isolated from each other. We should do this again – sitting and recording in the same room together for a couple of weeks or months and see what comes out as a result.”

MTV Unplugged – Summer

http://www.electricity-club.co.uk/a-ha-mtv-unplugged-summer-solstice/

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thecloudlight-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on Cloudlight

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Here are the best app launches

It turned into a massive month for photography apps. Snapchat brought 3D lenses to its rear-going through the camera, Memoji released to assist turn your selfies into emojis, and FaceApp, that may age a photo of you or switch your gender, released on Android.

Plus, Google made modifications to 2 of its maximum-used services.

Here are some of the best new app launches and updates you can have missed this month.electronics buy

Best Sixteen Songs From Procol Harum

This time the information simply become approximately the band, unlike the misinformation, my mother related to me about six months ago. She had referred to as to inform me that a few Islamic extremists had followed the call of one of the bands I used to concentrate to, Procol Harum.

Finding that information hard to believe, I straight away scanned the Internet, relieved to discover that Mom had misheard the information table. That Islamic extremist group in the news last yr turned into now not the musicians who fashioned inside the late sixties, however rather turned into referred to as Boko Haram.

This week, but, it changed into indeed Procol Harum who made the news, pronouncing plans for his or her fiftieth anniversary. The exceptional item among the one’s plans is a new album, Novum, on the way to be the organization’s first in twelve years.

As we assume its release later this summer, fanatics would possibly need to mirror on the delights the band has already given us. Here are the first-class 16 Procol Harum songs, one for every of the vestal virgins stated inside the band’s biggest hit.

Toujours L’Amour from Grand Hotel

The man spends 3 versus thinking of his plans after locating a Dear John letter, perhaps sojourning to France or Spain. His last concept is to buy a revolver and strongly remember suicide.

Conquistador from In Concert With the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

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Originally just a tune from the debut album, it has become a long-lasting hit as soon as the band performed it with this musical ensemble.

Man On a Mission from The Prodigal Son

Its recording date says 1991, but it sounds as though it can very well be in the course of the institution’s peak inside the early seventies.

Souvenir of London from Grand Hotel

Banned from the radio because of a reference to a sexually transmitted disorder, the humorous music has lengthy due to the fact emerge as a fan favorite.

Whiter Shade of Pale from Procol Harum

This hit turned into the tune that delivered the organization to America, wherein it is nonetheless a staple on oldies stations.

Learn To Fly from The Prodigal Son

Any critics who say that prog rock artists cannot rock ought to pay attention to this electric powered guitar gem from their final concept album.

T.V. Caesar from Grand Hotel

The electricity of tv is offered as a risk in this track, one of the few songs in rock records to say the underrated Superhero Mighty Mouse.

Pandora’s Box from Procol’s Ninth

Even after eight studio albums, this music proved that lyricist Keith Reid nevertheless had a special chemistry with singer and tune-author Gary Booker.

Wreck of the Hesperus from The Salty Dog

Having already struck gold with allusions to The Canterbury Tales in “Whiter Shade of Pale”, the group grew to become this classic poem right into a track.

Bringing Home the Sir Francis Bacon from Grand Hotel

This scrumptious song should be prevented whilst you’re desperately hungry, for its references to meals will best go away you feeling greater famished.

How A Mobile App Can Create A Roadmap To Customer Success

That’s the cause the corporations constantly hold a room for the innovation and great modifications to step in with what clients needs and the marketplace developments. The cell utility is one of the ways to live competitive because the customers spend a minimum half in their time and electricity on mobile gadgets.

Understanding the clients’ trend, the agencies have commenced weaving cell DNA within the commercial enterprise methods, workflow, and operations. Even, the organizations that take the consumer experience, in reality, have already jumped on to the cellular app development bandwagon.

The retail enterprise is the best instance of it, that is enriching the purchaser revel in at every contact factor leveraging new generation to take keep of the clients all the time. But, what is the method or how the cell can useful resource the corporations scoring high on income, income and the most important treasure- customers.

Here, pinnacle 10 ways are enlisted that shall we corporations recognize a way to allure, engage, and preserve the customers to gasoline up the gross sale:

Enhancing interplay When patron himself want to speak, then responding to their queries is the best way to lead them to experience that your enterprise holds the clients at the pinnacle priority. The precise conversation nurtures a strong bond between customers and agencies.

During off-top hours, the promotional push notifications concerning discounts, special give, and applications may be sent to the clients that enhance the probabilities of messages to get open and study. The sports beautify the clients’ interplay with an enterprise.

Personalization

The information the agencies receive about the clients may be used intelligently to plan a custom plan for the character clients to deliver the targeted experience on the right time. Sending the personalized message works as a catalyst that compels the customers to examine the contextual message and initiate a motion.

The personalized digital interactions on mobile offer a completely unique possibility to the corporations to provide what customers want at the time and location they want. It uplifts the sales and purchase experience.

Product Launches – Follow These Easy Steps To Ensure Product Launch Success

Knowing the stairs to your product launches may be the way to in the end having success with net advertising. Unfortunately, many online entrepreneurs struggle to have fulfillment on the internet due to the fact they lack the understand the way to correctly launch their merchandise or provider. They may be very rewarding and really profitable if finished successfully. It also can ship your product to the recycle bin and take a look at your financial sources if the launch isn’t so a hit.

Now before your release turns into unmanageable right here are some fantastic steps to help you have a greater a success launch.

The first step in a new product launch technique is to devise each detail. If you intend your launches properly it will come up with a feel of the path and provide you with maximum manage over the entire process. Planning needs to be performed well earlier with a purpose to come up with time to create your internet site, sales letter, squeeze pages, graphics, associates and to get your release crew together. The element with net advertising and marketing product launches, is, if they may be well planned there may be less hazard of failure. The 2nd step is to be clear along with your mechanics. If you select to have a contest as a part of your new product launch technique, make sure instructions are clear and easy to observe. If the competition is most effective aimed toward your goal marketplace be blunt approximately it. Be beneficial and supply wonderful prizes and be precise with time frames.buy a video card

The 1/3 step in getting started with your release is to ensure you create a bang. A release video or motion pictures can create masses of pleasure and feature your target audience clawing for more. Don’t be afraid to spread the phrase around approximately your release in boards and blogs. Create anticipation nicely in advance which will have your target audience looking ahead to each piece of pre-release and release content material. The fourth step is to recognize you’re subsequent circulate after the release. Your one-week product release will assist pressure your product to the top, however, you want to sustain the hype. Improve your internet site through including greater contents and products to it or over deliver in your offerings. If you have got a listing of e-mail subscribers, observe them up and ask for their opinion about the release and, most of all, about the product.rent to own laptop

Plus, Google made modifications to 2 of its maximum-used services.

Here are some of the best new app launches and updates you can have missed this month.

Best Sixteen Songs From Procol Harum

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Your ultimate guide to Justin Bieber's Dubai concert

International pop star Justin Bieber is about to electrify audiences in Dubai’s Autism Rocks area tonight.

In light of the chaos that took place at some point of the Guns N’ Roses concert in Dubai earlier this 12 months, the organizers – 177Live have taken extra measures to ensure that the night time goes easily. Below are the tips incomplete. Please see underneath for vital records regarding Justin Bieber’s concert on Saturday, May 6th

– Doors open at 4 pm. If situations permit, doorways will open earlier. If so this may be communicated on all 117Live Social Media Platforms- Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook- so please preserve an eye out for stay updates also on display day.

– Please notice that professional images aren’t accredited on the live performance. Mobile phones are permitted

– Guests are capable of entering the arena with open water bottles

– In order to overcome important road traffic, arrive early on the location and experience the comfy facilities at the Dubai Outlet Mall, located a stoneís throw away from the area, Courtesy go back and forth buses could be furnished from the mall to the arena beginning at 3 pm

– The major act may be on stage at 8 pm. X-Factor Winner Hamza Hawsawi, Canadian Rap Duo Deen Squad, DJ Rodge and your favored Virgin Radio presenters will entertain the group beforehand. Getting to the Autism Rocks Arena.

Green Coffee Bean Extract, Your Ultimate Fitness Solution

If you were wondering, and additionally fearing the reality that they might need to get yourself in a gymnasium if you want to get rid of the extra amount of fat from your frame, then suppose something else. The people that without a doubt had a lot of fulfillment in getting rid of excessive movement of the body and in fact vouch for the usage of an extract of inexperienced espresso. Most of the humans to realize greater approximately this precise component, because of the reality that they may be now not conscious that espresso can truly a completely destructive impact at the telephone. In all situations, one is to realize that task the help of seeking in of inexperienced espresso extracts, might certainly have the ability to attend to your excessively in the body. Most of the humans insist at the circumstances sense that dropping record amount of weight is a very famous technique, and also you discover that you may clearly have a lot of antioxidants placed inside this particular essence of a factor.

Green Coffee Bean Extract Is For You

Green Coffee Bean Extract is a super weight loss components, which aids in burning excess fat from the frame quicker than could food regimen and exercising. According to Doctor OZ, this is a “miracle pill that burns fats, speedy”.Ultimate synonym crossword.

According to “Diabetes, Metabolic Obesity Syndrome Journal”, Green Coffee Bean Extract is a powerful metabolic booster and a powerful fat burner. In reality, research display that those who have used this formula have managed to lost 10% in their total frame weight, without a change of their food regimen and workout applications.Ultimate assassin 2 newstudyhall

The Benefits of the components:

The answer helps in assisting and boosting the greatest fat metabolism of a person.Ultimate synonym crossword.It is an effective answer additionally, that assist with the regulation of blood sugar stage.The product has an extract, chlorogenic acid, which aids in accelerating the herbal weight reduction mechanism of the body and slowing the intake of glucose, making it clean for the balancing of blood sugar stage. I agree that weight loss plan and workout are primary weight reduction strategies you can’t do without. However, there are simply times whilst your weight-reduction plan needs a further increase.

How to Become a Singer in Dubai

Dubai is a splendid vicinity within the Middle East, wealthy with prosperity and possibility for brand spanking new and current groups to thrive. Dubai is also a top location for entertainers and singers to perform and reach a full-time profession within the artwork to which they love.

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But what does it take to come to be a singer in Dubai and what should you realize as an entertainer looking for to break out into the Dubai amusement enterprise?

As a professional singer and performer in Dubai, I have put together what I have observed and learned all through my journey and skilled whilst entertaining in the UAE.

Awash with eating places, motels, nightclubs, and amusement venues there has never been any such extraordinary vicinity for entertainers, bands, and singers to attain their complete potential.Get professional photos

There is nothing worse than being empty passed when a company or venue requests some professional pictures.Having an expert and appealing commercial enterprise card is the quickest way to get your touch information into the right palms and generate a few business.

Be positive to have the subsequent information printed on the business cards:

· Make it clear what you are imparting

· Your Name

· Contact Numbers

· Email Address

· Website Address

Build a website

I have been asked by way of countless businesses if I had a website which they can use to direct their customers too. Having a web portfolio is speedy becoming the future for plenty entertainers.Underwater restaurant dubai

Your internet site ought to appearance expert in it is look, be smooth to navigate and find facts, have your tracks embedded or linked to and feature expert pics.

Including any video on your internet site of stay, performances is also a powerful marketing device.

Visit venues

Get dressed up and put your quality footwear on! Time to get accessible and start traveling venues to drum up a few enterprise.United arab emirates government

Simply traveling restaurants, bars, golf equipment and nightclubs is an extremely good start. Ask to meet with the amusement supervisor at every venue.

It’s usually wise to call the venue previous to traveling to make certain that the person you want to talk to are the gift when you plan to visit them.

This truly is going without pronouncing but it’s far unexpected that when I meet different singers who’re just beginning out, they inform me they haven’t begun to do this

Concert Promotion Tips

If you want to attract a crowd on your concert, you should sell it properly. This applies to clubs church buildings and other venue owners, and PR firms as well as bands and different expertise. Whatever your position within the manner, the following concert promotion recommendations will assist you to attract large audiences.

Concert Promotion Tips For Venue Owners

Venue proprietors can do many things to revel in better turnouts for his or her events.

Strategic scheduling. One of the first issues you ought to cope with is scheduling. You should be aware of any competing events which are taking region on any given date. You must additionally preserve in mind such things as vacations and something else that could affect turnout. If you are booking a famous rock band, don’t agenda it on the identical night time that an excellent extra popular band is on the town. In preferred, the bigger the act, the further in advance the date is scheduled. This gives you plenty of warning for massive name acts that could save you your personal show from being a success.Country music concerts near me

Press releases. Make sure you send out press releases to neighborhood media well in advance of the date. Don’t neglect the cost of sending live performance statistics to loose neighborhood publications. Most cities have unfastened weeklies that many people read for entertainment information. In addition to occasion listings, these papers regularly publish interviews and tales about local live shows.

Your venue internet site. Your venue internet site has to have an expert appearance and be smooth to navigate. It ought to also offer hyperlinks to performers’ websites. They ought to provide you with this, but even if they do not it’s really worth it to do a couple of minutes of studies. Nowadays, nearly each performer has either an internet site, a Facebook page or song published on websites along with Bandcamp, SoundCloud or different such websites. This is especially crucial for acts that aren’t widely recognized. You must additionally use social media to promote concert events. Be sure to remind your fans several instances about upcoming performances. Some human beings buy concert tickets ways earlier at the same time as others wait until the last minute.Summer rock concerts 2016.Concerts within 100 miles

Concert Promotion Tips for Performers

Today, musicians, comics, and other expertise have to be very proactive approximately promoting their live shows. Venue proprietors will, with a bit of luck, do their component in publicizing your event. However, the bulk of the obligation lies with the artist. You are, in any case, seeking to now not only have a successful concert, however, attract greater lovers and build your emblem.

Send out press releases and CDs. Send out press releases to the media within the city wherein you will be appearing. You should additionally ship out sample CDs to tune reviewers and local DJs. This can bring about having your music performed on local radio stations and possibly a threat for an interview before your concert. Many bands schedule live shows to coincide with album releases. If you are doing this, sending out previews of your album is a great manner to get press insurance and, with any luck, airtime in your CD.

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