INDIE NEWS BEAT September 26, 2005 Edition
* Daniel Pearl Music Days
* Rick Ray Releases 28th Album - Temporary World
* UK's ANEMO Release "slow burn" On City Canyons Records
* Engineers Sing The Praises Of Har-Bal Mastering Software
* Airplay Direct Announces Launch Of Revolutionary New Digital Delivery System
* Jann Klose Will To Play The Bitter End, September 27
* MIDEM 40th Celebrations Start With 40midem.com
* Wampus Multimedia Releases Johnny J Blair CD
* Kusha Deep Ride High With KU's Haunted Dancehall
* Review Of Tupac Inspired 'The Rose - Vol. 2'
Inspired by the life of Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by terrorists in 2002 in Pakistan, Music Days connects thousands of diverse groups, using the universal language of music, to diminish hatred, respect differences and inspire "Harmony for Humanity."
You can join Music Days by adding a dedication to any musical event you already have scheduled or by organizing a special event during October 1-10, 2005. Artists with musical events - large or small, amateur or professional - are encouraged to register their concerts at www.musicdays.org and to make a dedication from stage or in a written program. There is no fundraising or financial obligation to participate.
Harmony for Humanity e-Stage will be introduced this October with a web-based collection of selected words and music inspired by Daniel Pearl and the pursuit of tolerance and diversity. A dedicated internet radio station will play original music and playlists with the themes that echo Harmony for Humanity. Participants can contribute by submitting music, lyrics, poems, articles or suggested playlists.
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Rick Ray Releases 28th Album - Temporary World
Rick Ray is like a lot of us, he saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964, and his life changed forever. Shortly thereafter, he got his first guitar and subsequently formed a band. Since 1979, Ray has been in the studio recording music. Twenty-eight albums later, a new release titled Temporary World is already creating a stir.
Ray has opened for notable artists such as Robin Trower, Allan Holdsworth, Michael Shenker Group, Kansas, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, The Dregs, and The Steve Morse Band to name a few. The respect from his peers is obvious and his future looks bright and promising with the release of Temporary World.
Over the years, Rick Ray has developed into one of the most versatile and eclectic guitar players recording music today. His sound, although not defined easily, has become recognizable to his listeners as very distinctive. He mixes rock, jazz, blues, and progressive into one simmering musical stew.
Ray is the prototypical D.Y.I. artist, handling all the recording, production, and distribution of his recordings through his own Neurosis label and then made available through his own website and various internet outlets. The momentum has never subsided for this 'man on mission.' His intention was to get the music to the masses and his methods have garnered tremendous success. He has taken his career into his own hands right from the start. While enjoying the satisfaction and rewards for all of his hard work, Ray's music is a direct reflection of his attitude and endless drive to become the epitome of independence.
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UK's ANEMO Release "slow Burn" On City Canyons Records
City Canyons Records announces the release of "slow burn" a remarkably original album by a new creative force from the UK, ANEMO. Release of "slow burn" will be supported by a North American radio promotion program and a full scale publicity and public relations campaign both in traditional media and on the internet. Prior to its general release date on September 6, "slow burn" will be available in limited quantities online at CD Baby and at the City Canyons Records Online Store.
ANEMO is bracingly fresh, featuring its own definitive sound which combines crunchy drum and expressive guitar ranging from pop-rock to metal with knock-out stratospheric vocals, courtesy of lovely diva Hazelle Woodhurst. That sound and those vocals wrap around strong edgy lyrics and songwriting from the team of Woodhurst, Kingsley Sage (keyboards) with additional contributions from Matt Palmer (guitar). ANEMO completed their first CD in late 2001 and made first public appearance at the Hippodrome Theatre in September for the BBC.
Hailing from Brighton in the UK, ANEMO (which means "changing forms") was formed in summer 2001 in Brighton, England. The ANEMO core is the songwriting partnership of vocalist Hazelle and keyboard player and producer Kingsley Sage. This core is then supported by the remarkable Matt Palmer on guitar. A talented "live" crew joins the trio for appearances at UK venues.
ANEMO has appeared at London"s Hippodrome Theatre for the BBC, the 2003 MIDEM festival in Cannes, France, the 2004 SXSW music conference in Austin, Texas, and also played at the X04 festival at the Brighton Centre in April 2004 and the BBC summer stage at Whity City in June 2004.
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Engineers Sing The Praises Of Har-Bal Mastering Software
Har-Bal, the world's first visual mastering software, has been revolutionizing the mastering process since its launch in August 15th 2003, with sound engineers increasingly turning to the software to improve the quality and efficiency of a variety of studio projects. Harmonic Balancing provides a reliable means of correcting and removing the tonal imbalances inherent in any song, thus producing a more naturally pleasing and agreeable sound to the listening ears.
"Har-Bal makes all of the difference in the final product at MISA Studio," noted MISA Studio's Sam Casamento. "Any problem area is immediately visible in Har-Bal and therefore, very simple to address and adjust, resulting in a finished product unsurpassed in audio quality."
Sam continues "Before discovering Har-Bal, mastering was a slow and tedious process. Using spectrum analysis and making constant adjustments as changes in one range often made the previous change in another frequency void. This time equates to money as well as a struggle to meet deadlines."
"When you are able to focus in on the minutest details of a frequency, and properly adjust the amplitude in a specific range you can now realize finished products that are easy on the ear."
Har-Bal was the result of a collaboration between Paavo Jumppanen, an electrical engineer and an expert in speaker design and room acoustics, and Earle Holder, a highly sought mastering engineer in great demand worldwide, who will be releasing a book named "Mastering Audio Exposed!" in October 2005.
The Har-Bal software has received numerous awards, including the Keyboard "Key Buy Award" and EQ Magazine's "Exceptional Quality Award," with respected journalist Craig Anderton noting "If you have the ears to know how to use this clever program, HarBal makes fixing equalization problems in everything from samples to master recordings just that much easier."
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Airplay Direct Announces Launch Of Revolutionary New Digital Delivery System
AirPlay Direct proudly announces the launch of their new corporate web site and digital delivery service on September 7, 2005. www.AirPlayDirect.com
AirPlay Direct's easy to use digital file transfer system was developed to streamline radio promotion activities for today's music industry. This revolutionary, new web-based digital delivery system allows artists and record labels to deliver their music safely, securely and efficiently to radio programmers / stations around the world.
Radio Professionals can now manage new releases online anywhere - in the office, at home or traveling  before deciding to download them to station hard drives.
Radio stations can search by artist name, genre, song title or by record label, preview and then download broadcast quality music for airing on their station. Sign up for this FREE service today and see just how easy and efficient it is to deliver new music to the ³decision makers² at your station and more importantly your LISTENERS.
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Jann Klose Will To Play The Bitter End, September 27
Jann Klose will be playing THE BITTER END, 147 Bleecker Street in New York City on September 27 at 9:30 PM. The venue phone is 212.979.9762, and tickets are $7.
Jann Klose's new digital EP, LIVE AT THE BITTER END features four songs--new tunes: "Beautiful Dream," and "Doing Time," plus a jammin' live version of "Walk Through The River" (the studio version appears on Jann's EP, BLACK BOX), and a lucid, call & response rendition of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues." The digital EP also includes cover art, liner notes, wallpaper, lyrics, and a video clip.
Jann is a motivated musician and artist, successfully booking shows and performing throughout the Midwestern and North-East U.S. and in his native Germany. Klose's genre is singer-songwriter, and he's been compared to a variety of artists including "a young Sting and less histronic Jeff Buckley" by the Cleveland Scene Magazine and as "soulful and exciting" by the Boston Phoenix.
Jann's recent endeavors include MOONLIGHT INTERIOR, a movement theatre production and collaboration with dancer, choreographer and director Yo-el Cassell. This evening length piece finished a sold out run in New York City and featured Jann's full band as well as five dancers. The team of MOONLIGHT INTERIOR is planning a run in Boston this fall and another run in NYC as well as an accompanying CD/DVD package. His current studio recording, BLACK BOX EP was released in 2004 and continues to sell.
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MIDEM 40th Celebrations Start With 40midem.com
MIDEM, the World's Music Market (Cannes, January 22-26, 2006), launches the first initiative designed to celebrate its forthcoming 40th anniversary edition.
40midem.com is a monthly web magazine whose first issue goes live. Until January 2006, it will trace the histories of music and MIDEM with exclusive articles, anecdotes and photos. Articles include interviews with artists such as Marc Cerrone; and in the dynamic photo gallery, selected photos are accompanied by special musical extracts.
40midem.com also offers visitors many opportunities to contribute to its content. They are strongly encouraged to share their fondest memories of the world's music market for the monthly "My magic MIDEM moment" page, and to take part in innovative interactive features. The first of these, for example, asks visitors to submit a list of their all-time favourite songs of the past 40 years.
All those who submit their lists to 40midem.com's interactive features will be entered into a prize draw to win 3 iPods and 3 pairs of tickets to the 2006 NRJ Music Awards.
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Wampus Multimedia Releases Johnny J Blair CD
Wampus Multimedia announces the release of 'Treadmarks', the new CD from Pennsylvania-based "singer at large" Johnny J Blair. Blair creates pop music hailing from sources as diverse as Motown, Tin Pan Alley and the British Invasion. An adept multi-instrumentalist, he writes adventurous songs that get under the skin while speaking to issues larger than romantic love and loss. His recordings reflect a spectrum of styles and traditions, drawing on influences as disparate as the Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, and the Velvet Underground. Through this virtual clinic of composition and performance rings a note of missionary passion.
'Treadmarks' distills his influences into a finely cut slice of acoustic pop. With touchstones ranging from the Beatles, Kinks, and Roxy Music to Al Green and James Brown, 'Treadmarks' is mainstream music with a bold edge, accessible pop bent on originality. Building on the success of 'Fire' (2000), 'Exotic Animals & Beaches of Pennsylvania' (2001), 'Snapshots' (2003), and his contribution ("Sunday Morning") to 'After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed' (2003), Blair mines his strongest material, old and new, to create a heady mix of thought and soul that speaks unerringly to the present. Displaying an affection for composers from Stravinsky to Gershwin to Boyce and Hart, he recasts his influences, making them his own.
While Blair's work can evoke Ray Davies, Brian Wilson, or Smokey Robinson, it ultimately is more diverse, and closer in sensibility to the explorations of David Bowie or Elvis Costello. An accomplished arranger and producer (e.g., Davy Jones of the Monkees), he employs a colorful palette on his landscapes, where genres happily co-exist.
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Kusha Deep Ride High With KU's Haunted Dancehall
Our eyes and ears get bombarded every day with visual and audio overload, were caught in the cross fire of advertisers and magazines selling see through dreams, in the back of our heads there's a voice saying 'it's not safe out there anymore', and everyday things start to make less and less sense as struggle for survival goes on'. In times of aversion most of us turn to our record collection for solace as music is the way we've always made sense of the world around us.
Every now and then a record breaks through the sonic threshold of banged out music from the wallet, you know it when you feel it and your soul responds accordingly by giving you an escape route from the merry go round. The record on the stereo doing the service for the soul is KU's Haunted Dancehall, 4 minutes forty five second of soulful bliss.
The first single from a forthcoming album titled From 'Sinners To Angels' shows that the standards for quality British music is alive and well.
The KU's objective is clear: to make great records, records that reflect what's going on in the world around them. The Haunted Dancehall EP is a reggae soul influenced track which demonstrates that they can switch genres from rock to soul and dub effortlessly; you know they are coming from the soul and are on target to produce a great album. KU take their inspiration from classic rock, reggae and dub and the psychedelic Asian underground, creating a unique sound that is further underpinned by the quality of the songs.
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Review Of Tupac Inspired 'The Rose - Vol. 2'
The Rose: Vol 2, the new release from Amaru Entertainment is truly a plus to the legacy of one of hip-hop cultures greatest rap icons Tupac Shakur.
After the 'Loyal to the Game' album outraged many true Tupac fans, this album should be embraced by all fans of the late rapper. Much love is offered to Afeni Shakur for this project. Afeni is the executive producer of the album and she does Tupac's legacy proud with this project.
The album contains 15 tracks inspired by the late rap icons poetry, mostly from poems in Tupac's 'The Rose that Grew from Concrete' book.
Here we see the 'other' side of Tupac. The side that many true fans know existed; the Tupac that is deeper than a rapper or just some hip-hop artist. Listening to Tupac's poems put to beats just enhances the message of his poetry and enhances his intelligent and emotional words.
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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission
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