11 posts tagged “music”
APB out of Aberdeen, Scotland is one of my all time favorite 80s alternative bands, although they are fairly obscure. They are best known for their song "Shoot You Down" off their "Something To Believe In" album, and although they never put out much material (two albums, one EP), I like just about every track they made. Here is a live sample of APB, although I think their recorded work is what really shines:
A Little APB History:
During the'80s, one of the most popular underground alternative bands to make a splash in the New York Tri-State area was, surprisingly, not a local band. In fact, APB hailed from across the pond in Scotland. While most alternative bands of the'80s used chiming guitars and/or icy synths to get their points across, APB were an anomaly, as it was funk bass that led the charge (quite comparable to Gang of Four -- minus the political lyrics). In fact, their early work served as a blueprint for what the Red Hot Chili Peppers would follow on their first few releases. Formed in Aberdeen, Scotland, APB were comprised of singer/bassist Iain Slater , guitarist Glenn Roberts , and drummer George Cheyne , with a pair of percussionists added over the years ( Nick Jones from 1982-1983 and Mikey Craighead taking Jones 'spot from 1984-1989).
The group initially caused a buzz in Europe, which lead to several sessions for BBC Radio 1 between 1981 and 1984 (the John Peel Sessiontwice, and the David Jensen Sessionand Peter Powell Sessiononce apiece). Several singles were issued as well, which served as the basis for APB 's debut full-length, Something to Believe In , in 1985. New York radio soon embraced these singles (namely"Palace Filled with Love,""Rainy Day,""One Day,""What Kind of Girl?,"and especially the infectious"Shoot You Down"), which led to several U. S. tours -- including spots over the years opening for both the Clash and James Brown . Additionally, APB headlined their own New York gigs (including a performance at the famous venue the Ritz).
In 1986 a sophomore effort, Cure for the Blues , was released, as well as a four-song EP, Missing You Already , later that same year. The group would continue to perform sporadically for the remainder of the'80s, but would not issue any more new recordings. Interest in APB increased by the early 21st century, thanks to the emergence of countless new wave revival acts, which led to a double-disc reissue of their debut in 2005, Something to Believe In: 20th Anniversary Edition , as well as a compilation of their early radio sessions, The Radio 1 Sessions , a year later.
I have XM satellite radio packaged with my new car, so usually I have 4 favorites I listen to, but since they are young, they like to listen to the Top 20 or XM Hits station. I have to admit, I've downloaded a few songs off of iTunes, as I've been enjoying some light, mindless Top 40 pop this summer on my iPod, XM and computer as a kind of guilty pleasure, along with ABBA and George Michael making the TOTALLY guilty pleasure list. So what is your guilty listening pleasure? Just as an FYI? I don't stoop to Barry Mannilow or KC and The Sunshine Band, but if you do, feel free to get it off your chest here! LOL. ;)
Read the full story
AllofMP3.com
Based in Russia, AllofMP3.com is iTunes for the morally flexible. The site allows users to download copyrighted music from major labels at the rate of three cents a megabyte, about one dollar an album. A group of American record companies are suing AllofMP3 for damages of $150,000 for each of the millions of songs they say it sold between June and October 2006. That adds up to a total of $1.65 trillion, more than twice the GDP of Russia.
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- Alluc.org
- VideoHybrid.com
- Peekvid.com
- TVlinks.co.uk
- YouTVPC.com
- 1Dawg.com
- Bitme.org
- Bitme.tv
- Google Search Parameter Engine
A few weeks ago, I went into a well known chain of office supply stores to pick up some printer ink and some odds and ends since I have a business account, and happened to see a "special" clearance item that caught my eye. I usually don't shop at office supply chains for the best price or for anything for my computer, but again, having business account there means is a convenience and it's not directly coming out of my pocket. Anyway, they were practically giving away a discontinued or to me a "throw away" external USB [Lite-On who rebadges for many companies, including SONY] DVD-RW with Dual Layer recording technology (I happened to want an external drive with LightScribe, but the price was right on this one) for $39, including tax, so I figured, "What the heck?" and went for it. I really only need it to burn an occasional DVD and to back up larger files from my back up drive (yeah, I'm paranoid, my good stuff goes in a fire safe box) and to archive older material for which a CD is too small. (Who would have thought an external DVD-RW would be cheaper than dirt, literally, a couple years ago?)
Well I unpacked it, hooked up the power and the USB cord. Then I fired it up and XP automatically assigned drivers and we were all good, right? Launched Nero and got ready to burn baby burn. No burned disc, but I was burning. Yeah, el cheapo drive-o couldn't work that easily or flawlessly, right? Right. So due to Murphy's Law, I kept getting error messages saying the drive couldn't handle the media, even though the media was correct and other such nonsense. It wasn't the price of the drive though, it was the fact that sometimes XP has problems with external USB drives when it assigns drive letters.
I had Alcohol 120% on my machine at one point, which had assigned several virtual drives, which may not have been recovered on removing it. I don't know if XP assigned/mapped it to one of those old drives, but the drive wasn't showing up anywhere except when I went into Control Panel>System>Device Manager>DVD/CD-ROM Drives. The only way to hopefully rectify the situation was to go into XP's Disk Management by typing diskmgmt.msc at the run command prompt. If the drive shows up there, as mine did, the fix is to rename it. Mine was originally drive L. I right clicked the drive letter and highlighted "change drive letter or path". From the drop down box of available drive letters, I took the easy road and chose Z, knowing for sure it had never been used. Then I right clicked "properties" and ticked the hardware tab. I highlighted the Lite On drive and right clicked "properties" once again and then went under the "Volumes" tab and clicked the "Populate" button. After saving out of all that, I was good to go. My drive was now showing up in Explorer. I dragged and dropped the drive shortcut onto my desktop (being a USB device, it doesn't show up under "My Computer") and this time, my throw away external drive worked "like butta" and I'm still in the process of slashin' and burning the excess fat from my internal hard drives...and except that I don't have my light scribe, I'm happy as a clam.
Can you believe how young (and HOT) Robert Smith looks? Geez, aging sure takes it's toll, huh Rob? I should know! ;) Thanks 'Cello!
I saw Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young there last August on their Freedom of Speech tour, which was fabulous and having Neil Young there really was a major treat, as he doesn't join them very often. I didn't wear my tie dye or my Birki's that evening (I like to do the unexpected) and I think I was in the only group that wasn't so attired!
It was the first summer the venue opened and I think it was the third or fourth performance of their maiden season. I have to say that Bethel Woods is one of the most scenic, well thought out, naturalized, architecturally and acoustically beautiful venues, period. That's saying a lot, as I've seen scores of shows all over the U.S. and abroad. The architects who worked on the project were Westlake Reed Leskosky who built the Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, the Denver Arts Center and Playhouse Square in Cleveland. Landscaping the lush and expansive site were the Olin Partnership who designed the grounds at the Getty Center in LA, Bryant Park in NYC and the Los Angeles County Museum. The acoustics were done by Mark Holden of Jaffe Holden Acoustics, which has also produced the acoustics for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the new concert space in Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, and the renovation of the New York Philharmonic's home, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Not too shabby, yet a far cry from the venue's roots. This year the BW site is advertising they are upgrading the food service, but I have to say the food, snacks and beer were pretty outstanding last year. The majority of my experience there was organized, easy to navigate and pleasurable. Even the bathroom lines, although typically long, were not overly obnoxious. The kettle corn was amazing and the smell of patchouli (not weed, unbelievably) and kettle corn permeated the venue.
I opted for lawn seats with my party and got there a half hour before the gates opened, about two hours before the show, since I only live about an hour and 20 minutes away if traffic is reasonable. Since the concert was on a Sunday evening, I knew I'd be heading up at a low traffic time. That's an iffy proposition for a a show on a Friday or even Saturday night, as the corridor up to Sullivan County, which marks the departure line from extended metro NYC region, is called the "Jewish Alps", a dangerous and rather narrow highway that winds through rural territory that becomes congested with traffic (complete with overloaded, beat up vehicles with people who drive worse than lunatics) due to the abundance of Hasidic camps and resorts that swell to beyond capacity in the summer. Sullivan County can be summed up in 3 words: Hippies, hillbillies and Hasidim. That's some mix, eh? Despite that, I didn't take any back routes, just the standard advertised driving directions and didn't experience any extraordinary traffic issues even though the show was sold out. Bethel Woods can reportedly handle nearly 20,000 guests between the Pavillion seating and lawn.
Arrival parking went like butter and having snagged lawn seats that were just above where assigned seating ended let us enjoy the spectacular night and allowed more freedom of movement, so we didn't regret the decision from a visual, musical or financial standpoint. The only complaint I had was the three hour wait we had getting OUT of the parking lot. We were some of the first people parked and we bolted out, but to no avail, we may as well have hung out. We literally couldn't and didn't move further than out of our spot and into the actual parking row in that whole time. It was one of the worst traffic jams I have ever been in. Despite that rather daunting issue, I wouldn't hesitate to see a show there again, but I'd have to really be dying to see the performance rather than just going for something fun to do, until I hear they have worked out that rather major "kink".
To wrap, I hope they end up attracting some current talent there. It's definitely a 60s and 70s lineup so far. Arlo Guthrie, Ritchie Havens and Country Joe Mc Donald as well as [yuck] Chicago with Peter Cetera are rumored to be lined up for July. Last year, opening well into the summer, The Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows and Ashlee Simpson were the only performers of this generation. Frankly, although to some it might seem counter intuitive, I'd love to see a real alt.rock or head banging line up there myself. Something like the Lollapalooza's of old (even current) or the K-ROCK Dysfunctional Family Picnic line ups of more recent years would suite me fine. LOL I happen to love classical music, but until they get the exit traffic issue handled, I think I'll pass. For those in it for the long haul or wanting to make a weekend of it, here are some suggestions for places to eat and stay and for navigating beautiful Sullivan county [insert dueling banjos] for the uninitiated.
DRIVING TIPS and FROM LOCAL POLICEMAN "RADAR RAY" (or how to avoid traffic along the main route to Bethel Woods and get there with less stress and hassle, especially on a Friday or Saturday coming from the NYC metro area):
- Stay away from 17B as much as possible to avoid traffic. If you're in Orange County try 97 to 55, then a left on Duggan Dr. If you're in the Liberty area, take 52 to Fosterdale and come in from the west; where there's less traffic. From Pennsylvania, get on 97 to 52 or to County Route 114 to 17B.
- If you're in Monticello or at Exit 104, you can bypass 17B by going toward 17B west, but instead of taking it, you get on old Route 17 and go to the stop sign for Catskill Regional Medical Center. Turn left on Lieutenant Brender Highway (Route 73), go to Fraser Road, turn right. Go to the end of the road, turn left. Follow that to Route 55 to Kauneonga Lake. Bear right on 141 to Layman Rd. Go to Perry. Turn left to Jaketown. Go to Burr, make a right to 17B. Hurd is just two roads away to the east.
- You can stop and eat at the Fat Lady, Buster's, the Front Porch and the Lighthouse. Blanche's will be closed (after 3 p.m.). You could try Friends in Smallwood (just off 17B, 583-1050). It's a little out of the way and good. You get a filet mignon and lobster tail for about $25.
- Don't speed through the zones, you'll get nailed - the limit drops from 55 to 40 in White Lake.
Ministry with Sympathy.
Desert Island material for me.
"Say You're Sorry" is probably my favorite track.
Can you believe big Al ever made this album???
Also love the 12" Singles CD which features
"Everyday Is Halloween"
"Cold Life"
and
"All Day"
All this music is played on:
Generation 80s [alternative] Retro Radio
