Uncensored Interview & WITNESS.org Party at CMJ

Where Awareness, Video and Music Collide...

NEW YORK, NY, Oct 20, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Uncensored Interview ( www.uncensoredinterview.com) is officially partnered with music pioneer Peter Gabriel's human rights organization WITNESS for an end-of-week celebration at CMJ 2008. WITNESS is dedicated to using video and online technologies to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations. Uncensored Interview, a broadband video platform for interview content of musicians and bands, is also an official partner with CMJ, and will be hosting the event with WITNESS and dedicating the evening to raising money for their cause.

The party will be held on Friday, October 24, 2008 from 7:30 - 10:30 PM at Andrew WK, Spencer Sweeney and Larry Golden's hipster-hot dance spot Santos Party House - downstairs, on 100 Lafayette Street in New York City. The eclectic and exciting lineup includes sets by Rob da Bank, critically acclaimed Bhangra ambassador DJ Rekha, international DJ sensation Aaron LaCrate, hip hop scratch master DJ Boo and surprise guest DJs. The guest list includes CMJ artists, New York musicians, actors, industry insiders and tastemakers in the music, digital and venture communities.

During the event, WITNESS staffers will be conducting video interviews with attendees to be uploaded to WITNESS' participatory media site, The Hub ( http://hub.witness.org), in support of the 60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 2008. Yvette Alberdingk Thim, Executive Director of WITNESS, made the following statement: "We're thrilled to be working with Uncensored Interview on this event as the common goal of our companies is to foster communication via video. CMJ presents an opportune time to bring the music community together and spread support for human rights."

As a partner of CMJ 2008, Uncensored Interview will be sitting down with an extensive lineup of acts playing the festival and will be distributing video clips from these interviews across the CMJ network. "We planned to throw a party to celebrate our partnership with CMJ this year, and were ecstatic when the opportunity presented itself to join forces with WITNESS and raise awareness towards human rights violations in the world," stated Melinda L. Lee, Co-Founder of Uncensored Interview.

About Uncensored Interview:

UNCENSORED INTERVIEW ( http://www.uncensoredinterview.com) is a broadband video platform featuring interview content of breaking and established musicians. UI officially launched in November 2007 and has been garnering extremely enthusiastic attention from all areas of the music and digital industry, including the music blogosphere, CMJ (partners for the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival), SXSW (finalists for the 2008 SXSW Web Awards), the 2008 Webbys, leading indie labels and major music festivals and tours. Participating bands interviewed by Uncensored Interview include The Kooks, Stars, The Kills, Mudhoney, Super Furry Animals, Broken Social Scene, Dizzee Rascal, Mogwai, The Go! Team, Sons and Daughters, The New Pornographers, Secret Machines, Lykke Li, Black Kids, Juliana Hatfield, The Stills, Martha Wainwright, Xiu Xiu, The Shout Out Louds, !!!, The Teenagers, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Helio Sequence, The Whigs, The Dodos, Del the Funky Homosapien, Takka Takka, and dozens more.

About WITNESS:

WITNESS ( http://www.witness.org) uses video and online technologies to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations. We empower people to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change.

WITNESS was founded in 1992 by musician and activist Peter Gabriel and the Reebok Human Rights Foundation as a project of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First). In 1988, Peter was part of Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! Tour. He was struck by the stories he heard from survivors of human rights abuses and the lack of attention these stories received. Peter had brought along one of the first camcorder models and realized the potential of video as a tool against abuse; he noted that perpetrators of abuses were often brought to justice when photographic or video evidence of abuses existed. In 1992, WITNESS was born. Today, WITNESS is an independent nonprofit organization with offices in Brooklyn, New York, and human rights partners based around the world.

M pour Montréal dévoile la programmation de sa troisième édition

Le 21 octobre 2008, Julie Rhéaume, Branchez-vous

Karkwa participera au spectacle M pour Métropolis le 22 novembre.

La troisième édition du Festival M pour Montréal se déroulera du 20 au 22 novembre. Plusieurs délégués internationaux seront à nouveau de la partie afin de découvrir les talents montréalais. Cette année, on proposera également une plate-forme appelée T pour Toronto, qui permettra de présenter quelques artistes originaires de la Ville-Reine.

Une quinzaine de groupes montréalais joueront sur les scènes du Cabaret, du Studio Juste pour rire et des Foufounes électriques. Duchess Says, Beast, Pas Chic Chic, Radio Radio, Chinatown, Winter Gloves, The National Parcs et Les Dales Hawerchuk y présenteront notamment des prestations de type «showcase». Les noms d'autres artistes devraient s'ajouter à l'alignement musical au cours des prochains jours.

Le 20 et 21 novembre, les organisateurs présenteront également la plate-forme T pour Toronto. Woodhands, The Mark Inside et Arkells partageront notamment la scène avec les groupes de Montréal.

Le 22, on aura également droit au concert M pour Métropolis, qui aura lieu dans la salle du même nom. Karkwa, We Are Wolves, Pierre Lapointe ainsi que des invités surprises seront de la partie.

Une cinquantaine de délégués internationaux seront présents au Festival. Les organisateurs mentionnent que des représentants du Glastonbury Festival; du magazine NME; de Xfm et du journal The Guardian (Angleterre); du Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; The Windish Agency et du Central Park Summerstage (États-Unis); du Festival de Rock les Eurockéennes de Belfort; du Printemps de Bourges et des Inrockuptibles (France); du Paradiso (Pays-Bas); du Sziget Festival (Hongrie); du Festival Primavera Sound (Espagne); du Dour Festival (Belgique); du Spiegel Online (Allemagne); du Provinssirock (Finlande) et de DF Concerts (Écosse) ont déjà confirmé leur présence.

Les billets pour les spectacles seront disponibles à compter du vendredi 24 octobre, à midi, sur les réseaux Admission et Ticketpro. Un nombre limité de passeports pour les 3 jours sera disponible pour le public à prix spécial.

M pour Montréal est une initiative d'exportation et de réseautage fondée en 2006 par Sébastien Nasra (Avalanche Productions) en consultation avec le légendaire programmateur anglais Martin Elbourne (Glastonbury Festival, The Great Escape et cofondateur avec Peter Gabriel du WOMAD Festival), peut-on lire dans un communiqué.

Hot Chip

Alexis Taylor, le chanteur d'Hot Chip, vient tout juste de terminer l'enregistrement de son album solo, intitulé Rubbed Out. Il sortira cet automne, apparemment en édition limitée, sur le label londonien Treader.

Pendant ce temps-là, Hot Chip ne chôme pas puisque les Anglais ont déjà concocté quelques nouveaux morceaux en vue d'un quatrième album qui pourrait déjà paraître durant le premier semestre 2009. Un quatrième album sur lequel on devrait noter la présence de Peter Gabriel, avec qui le groupe a récemment enregistré une reprise du Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa de Vampire Weekend.

Dernière chose, le groupe sortira encore en octobre une collection de remixes intitulée Remade In The Dark et sur laquelle on trouvera des remixes de We're Looking for a Lot of Love, Whistle for Will ainsi que le titre Remade In The Dark enregistré en compagnie de Robert Wyatt et que l'on suppose être un remix du morceau Made In The Dark. En parlant de Robert Wyatt, Hot Chip, décidément hyperactif, produira un morceau de son prochain album à paraître chez Domino.

Fripp & Eno: No Pussyfooting / Evening Star

By John Kelman, allaboutjazz.com, Published: October 19, 2008

“Experimental electronic music would still exist without Fripp & Eno, but without them and these two highly regarded and influential albums, it would be a different beast altogether.”

Few artists think they're doing something momentous, something that can change the landscape of music. Most just follow their instincts, follow their ears, do what they do, and sometimes the result goes far beyond any expectations, personal or otherwise.

When King Crimson co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp brought his pedal board to Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno's home studio on September 8, 1972, hooked himself up to two Revox reel-to-reel tape recorders and, utilizing this primitive, pre-digital approach to looping, recorded two improvised tracks, who was to know how significant they would become? Of course, were it not for Eno's real-time sonic manipulations of what went to tape, there'd never have been a 21-minute "The Heavenly Music Corporation," and the shape of electronic music would, no doubt, be fundamentally altered.

Fortunately, "The Heavenly Music Corporation" did get released, along with a second experiment called "Swastika Girls," as No Pussyfooting (1973), on Island Records' budget-priced Antilles label. Island didn't know what to do with this strange music that ranged from ethereal and, well, heavenly, to more angular and menacing; but No Pussyfooting—a Fripp reference to not compromising what he and Eno felt was right—still went on to sell over 100,000 copies in the UK and Europe.

While it finally reached North American shores (beyond being an expensive British import in the 1970s) in CD form in the 1980s, No Pussyfooting and its follow-up, Evening Star (Antilles, 1975), never sounded the way they deserved. With Fripp & Eno an ongoing collaboration that has become increasingly active again since the release of The Equatorial Stars (DGM Live, 2004) and Beyond Even (DGM Live, 2007), it makes perfect sense that the two albums that not only started it all for Fripp & Eno, but were vastly influential in the realms of electronic and ambient music, finally receive the sonic updating they deserve. Additionally, No Pussyfooting is expanded to a double-disc, with some interesting alternate views of the music that are the result of both happenstance and intention. (...)

TV on the Radio "Dear Science"

Michael Lavine, Sunday paper, Sunday, October 19, 2008

The frequency with which major labels hit the elusive target of artistic credibility meshed with popular acclaim has shrunken to such a degree that when it happens, it seems like an anomaly. Factor in the unlikelihood of those few acts releasing follow-up albums in the “give us a hit” pipeline, and you can see how unusual TV on the Radio is.

Although the band’s third full-length album (and second for a major) is somewhat slicker, there are enough unexpected twists and non-commercial turns to make this a relatively risky proposition for a company as bottom-line orientated as Interscope.

There also aren’t many predominantly black groups on the contemporary rock scene, let alone those that fuse TVOTR’s diverse elements of electronics, Euro-pop, soul, hip-hop and edgy funk. Pushing the envelope while appealing to the masses is a tricky tightrope to walk, but the band manages to make it look easy, and guests (the Antibalas horns and a classical string quartet) provide additional backspin to songs that are unpredictable to begin with.

Singer Tunde Adebimpe shifts from a soul-caressed croon to a dark, almost John Cale talk-sung style, and, on “Golden Age,” to a Prince-ly falsetto. His diverse palette paints each tune with a slightly different tone, but there’s sense of continuity to the disc.

Tunes like the ballad “Family Tree” manage to balance elements of indie rock, classical and Peter Gabriel-influenced pop without falling into either, remaining true to TVOTR’s experimental roots while boasting (gasp!) singalong choruses and a knotty eclecticism that feels entirely natural.

3 STARS—Hal Horowitz

Paula Cole is back with renewed confidence

By Paul Crocetti, GateHouse News Service, Posted Oct 18, 2008

Paula Cole is happy to be back at home. The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter recently moved from New York to Rockport, where she grew up. Cole, who lives with her 6-year-old daughter, Sky, said she wanted her parents, who live here, and her daughter to know each other. Cole also started a new relationship. "Love - that's why I moved." Cole said. "I wanted to do it for years." Cole also recently concluded divorce proceedings. "It's been a long and hard past few years," Cole said. Now that the divorce is final, Cole feels free to sing and talk about it.

On Oct. 30, Cole will headline the annual benefit for The Center for Arts in Natick. "A lot of those feelings come out in my music," Cole said. "Thank God for music - it's my therapy."

Cole hit it big with her 1996 album, "This Fire." The album featured the singles "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and "I Don't Want to Wait," which was the theme song for the show "Dawson's Creek." Cole won Best New Artist at the 1997 Grammy Awards. After her 1999 album, "Amen," she waited eight years before releasing a new one.

"I just felt misunderstood and depressed by the music business," Cole said. "I was in a bad place in my life." Then Bobby Colomby, a producer and friend, came to the rescue. "He put fun in music again," Cole said. Now one of Cole's managers, Colomby threw her into a new context of jazz, "which I love," she said. Cole calls Miles Davis as big of an influence as Annie Lennox or Peter Gabriel, who she toured with in the 1990s. "Courage" came out last year.

"I'm having a second, more authentic career, without MTV, hit singles - for all the right reasons," Cole said. "It's just better, because I'm more comfortable in my own skin." Cole got back to playing live shows last year. "I took a lot of time off," Cole said. "The audiences have changed and dwindled."

But she noticed that when she returned to the stage this year, the audiences have been building. Cole has never played at TCAN, which last year hosted Judy Collins for its annual fall benefit concert. "I heard it's a great place," Cole said. The annual benefit is typically on a Saturday, but since the Thursday date worked for Cole, the center made the adjustment.

"We're very excited about Paula Cole because she's part of the next generation of artists," said Terri Evans, a member of the center's publicity team. Cole likes the cyclical feeling of interaction with an audience - a concept Evans thinks will work well in the intimate center. "For someone who is a significant and known artist like Paula Cole, that makes it even more special," Evans said. "You're seeing someone who would easily be in a larger venue."

The benefit, celebrating its fifth anniversary at the center's current location, is an event that regulars look forward to each year. For the first time, the benefit features an online auction that starts Thursday, Oct. 23, Evans said. The auction includes contributions from past performers, such as a night out with one of them.

Cole has a light performance schedule right now, but said she is gearing up for a new album, possibly to be released next year. She still has a number of things she would like to accomplish, such as putting out a Christmas album. But she is sure of at least one thing - she won't be taking another long hiatus. "I don't expect big success," Cole said. "I know how to listen to my heart more now. I'm not as afraid."

Enya : "I never look back and regret anything"

By The Telegraph, Saturday October 18 2008

Reclusive Enya opens up to Jacques Peretti and talks about stalkers, the bitter family split and how she had to practise piano as her siblings played in the sun

(...) How did they come to be involved with Enya? Was she part of your master plan? Nicky [Ryan] sighs. "In a sense, it was a master plan. We had managed Clannad. But after seven years, the fact of the matter is they didn't want us any more." (Clannad -- best known for composing the theme music to two popular ITV television series of the 1980s, Harry's Game and Robin of Sherwood -- were the band that Enya's musician parents formed before Enya finished school, and included Enya's brothers and sisters, plus Enya herself on keyboards.)

Nicky wanted to drag Irish folk into the 1980s, using a Prophet-5 keyboard and creating a big new 1980s sound, to go with the big new hair. But Clannad, he says, weren't having any of it. They believed traditional meant traditional. Nicky and Roma [Ryan] hatched a plan to go it alone with Enya, but the family forced a showdown. "They stood her in a room and said, 'It's them or your family', and Enya said, 'I'm going with Nicky and Roma'."

The split was acrimonious. "Don't believe a word about how friendly traditional music is. We lost a lot of friends. Let's just say that." Enya is characteristically guarded. "Look, you cannot impose someone else's life on another person," she says. "I have to say I'm very comfortable with my decisions. I'm able to make decisions very quickly. Do you want to do this or do that? I never look back and regret anything."

But they didn't speak for years, and only recently does she now see her nieces and nephews. In a quirk of fate, Nicky says, Clannad were recording at Peter Gabriel's studio when news came through that Enya had got to Number 1. Gabriel came through with a bottle of champagne and said, "Are you not going to toast your sister's success?" (...)