Posts Tagged ‘music’

U2 : greatest rock band ever!

U2

ONE of only a few bands to achieve consistent commercial and critical success across three decades, U2 has charted success on its own terms on both the artistic and business sides of the music industry. From the band’s earliest days in Dublin, Ireland, to the present, U2 has broken free from the traditional limitations of what a rock band — and rock music — could and couldn’t do. By combining an original sound with honest lyrics and a challenging social message, U2 has earned the respect of their peers and critics, and an almost fanatical following of fans around the world. This is their story.

U2 formed in Dublin in the fall of 1976 after 14-year-old Larry Mullen, Jr. posted a note on the bulletin board at his high school seeking musicians for a new band. From the group of hopefuls that showed up at Mullen’s home that first day, a five-piece known originally as “Feedback” formed with Mullen (born October 31, 1961) on drums, Adam Clayton (born March 13, 1960) on bass, Paul Hewson (later nicknamed “Bono Vox” and eventually just “Bono”, born May 10, 1960) on vocals, and Dave Evans (later nicknamed “The Edge”, born August 8, 1961) on guitar. Dave’s brother, Dick, also played guitar for a while, but left Feedback very early on to join another Dublin band, the Virgin Prunes. Read more…

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M-AUDIO TORQ MIXLAB Digital DJ System : best gear for entry level dj

Torq MixLab delivers everything you need to start producing and performing your own DJ tracks right away. Torq? LE gives you the features necessary to build a modern DJ station. And the included X-Session? Pro USB controller puts you in command of mixing and crossfader action. Easy to learn, Torq MixLab will have you up and running fast – ready to remix, and burn. Plus Torq is powerful enough for the big stage as well as small parties.

Start Spinning Tonight
Compatible with both Mac and PC, Torq LE is designed to work right out of the box. Just connect the X-Session Pro, fire up Torq LE and the program takes care of the rest. Read more…

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ARMIN VAN BUUREN : A State of Trance: Year Mix 2009

What a year for the A State of Trance radioshow. Not only did it celebrate its 400th episode with three events in three different countries, covered by a 72-hour live broadcast, it also supplied the listeners their weekly fix of trance minded music, with hundreds of tracks by renowned producers and new talent. The man behind it all, is Armin van Buuren.

With an unabated enthusiasm and ever-growing passion for music, Armin selects the best and latest in trance and progressive on a weekly base, no matter how heavy his tour schedule might be. For 8 years already has the A State of Trance radioshow been the perfect guide through all new music out there. With 28 million listeners on a weekly base, divided over 40 radiostations worldwide, A State of Trance is one of the most popular radioshows of the dance scene. Created, spread and backed up by the number one DJ in the world, A State of Trance is ready for another year with fresh and exciting trance music. But not before 2009 is being closed down in style. Read more…

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STING : If On A Winters Night…

If on a Winter’s Night presents an arc of songs that conjure the season of spirits, the eerie silences of the snow; days of solitude and reflection for some, a time of re-birth and celebration for many. With traditional music of the British Isles as their starting point, Sting and his guest musicians draw the listener in through a collection of songs, carols, and lullabies spanning the centuries – such as The Snow it Melts the Soonest (traditional Newcastle ballad), Soul Cake (traditional English “begging” song) Gabriel’s Message (14th century carol), as well as two of Sting’s own compositions – Lullaby for an Anxious Child and The Hounds of Winter. Also featured on the album is Hurdy Gurdy Man – a musical reworking and English translation (by Sting) of Der Leiermann from Schubert’s classic winter song-cycle Winterreise. For this exploration of the themes and emotions of winter Sting is joined by friend and long time colleague, guitarist Dominic Miller – and an ensemble of three remarkable musicians from Northern England and Scotland: Kathryn Tickell (fiddle and Northumbrian pipes) Julian Sutton (melodian) and Mary MacMaster (metal string Scottish harp). Additional guest artists include Vincent Ségal (cello), Daniel Hope (violin), Chris Botti (trumpet), Ibrahim Maalouf (trumpet), Stile Antico (vocal ensemble), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Bijan Chemirani (percussion) and the Webb Sisters (vocals). Together they’ve created an album with a wonderful, warm, and unique ensemble sound – an acoustic meditation on winter. Read more…

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CELEBRATION : latest greatest hits album from Madonna

Celebration is another greatest hits album from Pop Diva Madonna, and released by Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, The Immaculate Collection (1990) and GHV2 (2001). The compilation was released in many different formats including a one disc edition and a deluxe double disc. A compilation DVD, entitled Celebration: The Video Collection, was released to accompany the audio versions. The album includes three new tracks, the title track, “Revolver” (featuring Lil Wayne) and the bonus track on some editions “It’s So Cool”.

Celebration was appreciated by contemporary critics who noted the vastness of Madonna’s back-catalogue. The album debuted at the top of the charts in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland. Madonna is tied with Elvis Presley to have the most number-one albums as a solo artist in the United Kingdom, though this tally also includes the soundtrack album Evita which features other artists. In other nations, it debuted within the top-ten. The title track was released as the first single of the album. It became Madonna’s fortieth number-one song on Billboard’s dance chart

Either the 2000s have been good to Madonna, or Madonna has been good in the 2000s. Since Music hit nearly ten years ago, she has sounded so much more convincing as a dancing queen than she ever did as, say, Evita, and that’s taking her Timbalake disasterpiece into account. Still, her decade-capping “Celebration”, produced by Paul Oakenfold, sounds like it’s conjuring several of her younger selves­– specifically the Desperately Seeking Susan starlet who wore her bra outside her shirt and spray-painted that dude’s car. Madonna commands boys to step to the beat just like she did on “Into the Groove”, and that canned laughter on the bridge is right out of the Jellybean Benitez playbook, as is the song’s modest goal of just making people move. Read more…

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BONO : real frontman

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Paul “Bono” Hewson is the second child of Bobby and Iris Hewson. His brother, Norman, is the oldest.

Described by Bobby as “a bloody exasperating child”, Paul got a reputation at an early age for being both absent-minded yet argumentative…traits which earned him the unholy and ironic nickname “the Antichrist” from both family and friends.

At the same time, he was starry-eyed and wickedly curious…the kind of youngster who viewed the world through rose-colored glasses, while at the same time questioning what he saw.

The most notable example of this was witnessed by both Bobby and Iris Hewson when Paul was three-years-old, playing in their backyard garden: the couple watched with both horror and fascination as their toddler lifted honeybees off the flowers on his fingertip, talked to them, then put them back on the petals without ever getting stung. Read more…

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THE EDGE : real guitar hero of U2

THE EDGE

Dave ‘The Edge’ Evans was born in Barking, Essex, in East London, to parents of Welsh descent, Gwenda and Garvin Evans. When he was a year old, the family – which included younger sister Gillian (Gill) and older brother Richard (Dick) – moved to Dublin, where he has lived ever since. There, he grew up as a quiet yet very intelligent kid. He did well in school – first at St. Andrew’s Primary School and then at Mount Temple – and until he met the boys who would be his future bandmates, he wanted to go to university and become a doctor or an engineer.

In the fall of 1976 he spotted Larry’s note on the Mount Temple Comprehensive High School bulletin board asking for anyone interested in forming a band. He was the first to respond, and he went to the first meeting in Larry’s house with his brother Dick. The Edge showed guitar skills well beyond his age, and the chemistry among the group was obvious from the beginning. Read more…

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