Blog

Countless Tamad-Gigs, especially the one at Thomaheim Regensburg in 2007 ;)

Graveborn, U2 Ingolstadt, in 05' or so

Jamie Cullum, Audi Forum, Ingolstadt, 3. Aug. '06

Klaxons with Xvectors, Atomic Café Munich, 23. Mar. '07, with Beffi

Gossip, Atomic Café, Munich, 31. Aug '07, with Beffi

Editors with The Boxer Rebellion, Georg-Elser-Halle Munich, .Nov '07, MISSED by complete stupidity :(

Feist with Lawrence in Arabia, Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, 1.Jun '08, with Sue

Morrissey, Capitol Offenbach, 9. Juni '09

Kate Nash, Georg-Elser-Halle Munich, Dec '07, with Mira and Tamad

Sands Family, Neue Welt Ingolstadt, in '02 or so

Percussion-Finale, Stadttheater Ingolstadt, in '04 or so, with Andrea

Simply Red, Leipzig, in Dez '05

Helge Schneider, four times so far :)

perrecy, Ingolstadt, Feb 08, with Beffi and Tine

Olaf Kübler, Neue Welt, Ingolstadt, back in '02

Volker Pispers, twice with André

Cristina Branco, 3.Dec '09 in Darmstadt

Rock und Pop-Preis 2009, 12.Dec '09, Wiesbaden

CDs in Alphabetical order according to artist, then bootlegs, vinyls and singles appear afterwards. If the artist has a name such as "Jerry Cantrell" or "Joe Satriani" they are placed according to surname rather than first name. i.e. they are in C and S respectively and not J. Images are below albums that are my particular favourites. (Images added and updated infrequently).

A
Alice in Chains
Facelift

Sap

Dirt

Jar of Flies

Alice in Chains (Yellow case)

Alice in Chains (Purple case)
MTV Unplugged
Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
Music Bank
Live
Greatest Hits
The Essential Alice In Chains
Black Gives Way To Blue

Anthrax
Spreading The Disease
Audioslave
Audioslave
Revelations

B
Beastie Boys
Licensed to Ill
Paul's Boutique
Check Your Head
Ill Communication
Some Old Bullshit
Aglio E Olio
Hello Nasty
Anthology: The Sounds Of Science
To The 5 Boroughs
New York State of Mind (Mixed by DJ Green Lantern)
The Mix-Up
The Beatles
Please Please Me (2009 remaster)
A Hard Day's Night (2009 remaster)
Help! (2009 remaster)
Rubber Soul (2009 remaster)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2009 remaster)

Magical Mystery Tour (2009 remaster)
The Beatles (2009 remaster)

Abbey Road (2009 remaster)
Past Masters (2009 remaster)
One
Beck
Stereopathetic Soul Manure
Guero
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath

Paranoid

Master Of Reality

Vol 4

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Sabotage
Technical Ecstasy
Never Say Die!
Born Again
Seventh Star
TYR
The Best of Black Sabbath
Blind Melon
Blind Melon

Soup
David Bowie
Diamond Dogs

C
Candlebox
Candlebox
Jerry Cantrell
Boggy Depot

Degradation Trip Vol 1 & 2

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Best Of
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Chronicle, Vol. 1
Chronicle, Vol. 2
Alice Cooper
Billion Dollar Babies

D
Deep Purple
Machine Head
Desmond Dekker
Essential
Disturbed
Ten Thousand Fists
The Doors
The Doors

E
Eagles
Eagles
Hotel California

F
Faith No More
We Care a Lot
Introduce Yourself
The Real Thing

Live at the Brixton Academy
Angel Dust

King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime

Album of the Year
Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits (2 disc edition)
The Platinum Collection
The Works
The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection
Fantômas
The Director's Cut
The Fray
Reason
How To Save A Life

G
Godsmack
Godsmack
Awake
Faceless

The Other Side
IV

Good Times, Bad Times: Ten Years of Godsmack
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Demon Days
Grateful Dead
American Beauty
Green River
Dry As A Bone/Rehab Doll
Guns N' Roses
Appetite For Destruction
Gn'r Lies
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion II

Chinese Democracy

H
Helmet
Meantime
Jimi Hendrix
Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix
Hollywood Rose/L.A. Guns
The Roots of Guns n' Roses

I
Iron Butterfly
In A Gadda Da Vida
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden (Remaster)
Killers (Remaster)
Number of the Beast (Remaster)
Piece of Mind (Remaster)
Powerslave (Remaster)
Live After Death (Remaster)
Somewhere in Time (Remaster)
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (Remaster)
Fear Of The Dark (Remaster)


J
Michael Jackson
History
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Nothing's Shocking

Ritual de lo Habitual
Strays
A Cabinet of Curiosities
Jethro Tull
Aqualung

K

L
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin IV

Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti
Presence
Living Colour
Vivid
Time's Up
Stain
Live From CBGB's
Collideoscope
The Chair In The Doorway
Lynyrd Skynyrd
(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Second Helping

Nuthin' Fancy
Gimme Back My Bullets (Deluxe Edition)
Another One From The Road (Deluxe Edition)


M
Mad Season
Above

Yngwie Malmsteen
Marching Out
Marillion
Script For A Jester's Tear (2 Disc Remaster)
Fugazi (2 Disc Remaster)
Misplaced Childhood (2 Disc Remaster)
MC Hammer
The Hits
MD.45
The Craving
Meat Loaf
Bat Out of Hell
Megadeth
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!(Original version with These Boots)
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (Remaster)
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (Remaster)

So Far, So Good...So What! (Remaster)
Rust in Peace (Remaster)

Countdown To Extinction (Remaster)
Youthanasia (Remaster)
Hidden Treasures (Remaster)
Cryptic Writings (Remaster)
Risk (Remaster)
The World Needs A Hero
Rude Awakening
The System Has Failed
Greatest Hits: Back to the Start (with DVD)
United Abominations
Endgame
Katie Melua
Pictures
Metallica
Kill 'em All
Ride The Lightning
Master of Puppets

...And Justice For All
Metallica
Load
Reload
S&M
Garage Inc.
Death Magnetic
Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone (2 disc edition)
Motörhead
Ace Of Spades (Deluxe Edition)
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mudhoney
Piece of Cake (2003 reissue with Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew)
Muse
Showbiz
Origin Of Symmetry
Hullabaloo Soundtrack
Absolution
Black Holes & Revelations
H.A.A.R.P.

N
Nickelback
Curb
The State
Silver Side Up
The Long Road
All the Right Reasons
Nine Inch Nails
Pretty Hate Machine

Broken
The Downward Spiral (Deluxe Edition)

The Fragile

And All That Could Have Been(2 disc version with Still)
With Teeth (with UK bonus tracks)
Year Zero
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
Ghosts I-IV
The Slip (70,500 for those who are interested)
Nirvana
Bleach
Nevermind

Incesticide
In Utero
With the Lights Out
Live at Reading (CD + DVD)

O
The Offspring
The Offspring
Greatest Hits

Ozzy Osbourne
Blizzard of Ozz
Under Cover
OutKast
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

P
Pearl Jam
Ten

Vs.
Vitalogy
No Code
Yield
Binaural
Riot Act
Lost Dogs
Pearl Jam

Backspacer
Pink Floyd
Ummagumma
Dark Side Of The Moon

Wish You Were Here
Animals

The Wall

Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81
Echoes: The Best Of Pink Floyd
Prince
The Very Best of Prince
Public Enemy
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Public Enemy

R
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Evil Empire
R.E.M.
Green
Automatic for the People
Monster
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Up
Reveal
In Time: The Best Of R.E.M.
Around the Sun
Rush
Rush
Fly by Night
Caress Of Steel
2112

All The World's A Stage
A Farewell To Kings
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
Moving Pictures

Exit... Stage Left
Signals
Grace Under Pressure

Power Windows
Hold Your Fire
A Show of Hands
Presto
Roll The Bones
Counterparts
Test For Echo
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
Vapor Trails
Rush in Rio

Feedback
Snakes and Arrows
Snakes And Arrows Live

S
Joe Satriani
The Electric Joe Satriani
Scorpions
Best
Gil Scott-Heron
Pieces of a Man

Free Will
Winter in America
Screaming Trees
Sweet Oblivion
Dust
Simply Red
Life
The Smashing Pumpkins
Lull
Siamese Dream
Pisces Iscariot
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Adore
Greatest Hits (2 Disc edition with Judas ø)
Soft Machine
Fourth
Six (Six + Seven compilation)
Seven (Six + Seven compilation)
Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition)
Soundgarden
Screaming Life/Fopp
Ultramega OK
Louder Than Love
Badmotorfinger

Badmotorfinger (2 disc version with Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas)
Superunknown

Down on the Upside
Status Quo
Heavy Traffic
Steely Dan
Can't Buy A Thrill

T
Temple of the Dog
Temple Of The Dog

Thin Lizzy
Vagabonds Of The Western World
Night Life
Fighting
Jailbreak
Johnny the Fox
Bad Reputation

Live And Dangerous
Black Rose: A Rock Legend

Thunder and Lightning
Toadies
Rubberneck
Tool
Lateralus
10,000 Days

U
Ugly Kid Joe
America's Least Wanted

V
The Verve
Urban Hymns

W
Weezer
Weezer
The Who
Who's Next (1995 reissue)

X

Y
Yes
Close to the Edge (2003 reissue)
Neil Young
After The Goldrush

Harvest
On the Beach
Tonight's the Night
Zuma
Rust Never Sleeps

Live Rust
Ragged Glory
Neil Young Greatest Hits

Z
Frank Zappa
Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III

Soundtracks
Grand Theft Auto Vice City Greatest Hits
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Official Soundtrack
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Official Soundtrack Box Set
Halo Original Soundtrack
Sin City Original Soundtrack
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture
Music From And Inspired By Spider-Man
Star wars episode I: the phantom menace original motion picture soundtrack
Team America: World Police Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

Singles
Alice in Chains
Them Bones
Would?
Angry Chair
Heaven Beside You
Faith No More
Ricochet(blue)
Ricochet(red)
A Small Victory
Godsmack
Awake
Speak
Living Colour
Sunshine Of Your Love

Bootlegs
Alice in Chains
Tasty White Powder
Is Layne Still In Rehab?
Heroin
Sea of Love
Eat The Sun
Come & Save Me
Live & Unchained
St. Paul, MN: Lollapalooza '93
Swarm
Town & Country Club London, England

Music DVDs
Alice in Chains
Music Bank
MTV Unplugged
Godsmack
Live
Changes: The Movie
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rock Case Studies
Muse
Absolution Tour
Pink Floyd
The Wall
Rush
Rush Replay: X3
Rush In Rio
R30 (2 CD + 2 DVD)
Snakes and Arrows Live

Records
Afrika Bambaataa and The Soulsonic Force
Renegades of Funk
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gold & Platinum


I also have access to my brother's CDs, you can view his collection here (updated infrequently)

Сегодня - обзор статистики тега pop.
Today is pop's statistics overview.

предыдущие посты / previous entries
mainstream
russian rock
progressive rock
black metal
jazz


Сначала наше традиционное упорядочение по количеству прослушиваний и слушателей.

First of all, our traditional arrangement with respect to number of plays and number of listeners.








Здесь - никаких сюрпризов, лидируют всем известные персонажи: Britney Spears, Madonna, Michael Jackson. Слушают мэйнстримный поп довольно бодро: миллионы слушателей, десятки миллионов прослушиваний.

There's no surprise here, well-known persons Britney Spears, Madonna and Michael Jackson are the leaders. The mainstream pop is rather popular: millions of listeners, dozens of millions of plays.




А вот из этого графика видно, что четверка лидеров довольно сильно отрывается от основной массы. Любопытно.
Далее - график удельного числа прослушиваний для поп-исполнителей.

From the last plot we can see, that the four leaders are rather far from the main massive of artists. Interesting.
The next one is the chart of specific number of scrobbles for pop artists.




А вот здесь забавно. Лидирует поп-панк группа McFly с удельным числом прослушиваний 48.5, при среднем значении 18. На втором месте опять Britney Spears с 44 песнями на слушателя.

And here the things go funny. Pop-punk band McFly leads the chart with specific number of scrobbles 48.5, when the average value is 18. Britney Spears with 44 plays per listener takes the second place.




Несколько необычно выглядит гистограмма распределения по удельному числу прослушиваний: плато вблизи среднего значения резко обрывается как с той, так и с другой стороны.

The distribution through specific number of scrobbles looks a bit surprising: a plateau near the average breaks toughly from both sides.




Сам по себе график зависимости активности в рупоре от числа слушателей ничего особо интересного из себя не представляет. Интересно то, что в рупоре поп-исполнителей содержится поистине огромное число сообщений. Особенно отличилась Britney Spears.

The graph of shoutbox activity to number of listeners is nothing interesting itself. The really interesting thing is a terribly high number of messages in pop artists' shoutboxes. Britney Spears is especially notable.




А вот здесь я вновь вижу подтверждение того, что только исполнители с удельным числом прослушиваний выше среднего могут иметь много сообщений в рупоре. Этот эффект наблюдался уже в трех довольно разных жанрах.

And here I see the effect of "potential barrier" again: only artists with more-than-average number plays per listener can have a lot of shouts. I've already seen the effect for three rather different genres.

P.S. Суммарное число прослушиваний в pop-top-100 - больше миллиарда.
The total playcount in pop-top-100 is a bit more, than one billion.


P.P.S. Спасибо Hzlqgmnzhh за полезный скрипт.
Thanks to Hzlqgmnzhh for his script.

List of considered artists:

Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, ABBA, Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Lady GaGa, Nelly Furtado, Pink, Pet Shop Boys, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne, a-ha, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Girls Aloud, Sugababes, The Beach Boys, Dido, Katy Perry, Roxette, The Corrs, George Michael, Maroon 5, Gwen Stefani, Phil Collins, Mika, Rihanna, P!nk, Shakira, Jason Mraz, The Cardigans, Hilary Duff, Prince, Westlife, James Blunt, t.A.T.u., Enrique Iglesias, Spice Girls, Jennifer Lopez, The Pussycat Dolls, Duran Duran, Natasha Bedingfield, Ashlee Simpson, Natalie Imbruglia, Janet Jackson, Scissor Sisters, Ce'line Dion, Savage Garden, Seal, Jonas Brothers, Ace of Base, The Veronicas, Anastacia, Ashley Tisdale, Sting, Take That, Simply Red, No Doubt, Beyoncé, Maria Mena, Bee Gees, Mandy Moore, Black Eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper, Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, James Morrison, Fergie, Miley Cyrus, Jewel, Leona Lewis, Cher, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jesse McCartney, Lindsay Lohan, Whitney Houston, Robyn, Texas, The Beautiful South, *NSYNC, Alanis Morissette, McFly, Crowded House, Michelle Branch, KT Tunstall, Darren Hayes, Kate Bush, Vanessa Carlton, Jordin Sparks, Jessica Simpson

1989;

1 The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
2 Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule
3 The Cure - Disintegration
4 Philip Glass - Solo Piano
5 De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
6 Faith No More - The Real Thing
7 Pixies - Doolittle
8 Jungle Brothers - Done by the Forces of Nature
9 John Lee Hooker - The Healer
10 Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol. One
11 Dinosaur Jr. - Bug
12 Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii
13 Galaxie 500 - On Fire
14 N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton
15 Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon

1988;

1 Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
2 The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
3 Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
4 U2 - Rattle And Hum
5 Pixies - Surfer Rosa
6 Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
7 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
8 Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
9 EPMD - Strictly Business
10 Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra
11 My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
12 INXS - Kick
13 Les Négresses Vertes - Mlah
14 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
15 Prince - Lovesexy

1987;

1 U2 - The Joshua Tree
2 Prince - Sign O' The Times
3 Salif Keita - Soro
4 R.E.M. - Document
5 The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
6 Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris - Trio
7 Boogy Down Productions - Criminal Minded
8 Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
9 Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
10 Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
11 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
12 Hüsker Dü - Warehouse: Songs and Stories
13 Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Shaka Zulu
14 Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full
15 Sting - Nothing Like the Sun

1986;

1 Paul Simon - Graceland
2 The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
3 Metallica - Master of Puppets
4 Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
5 Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares - Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares
6 Prince & The Revolution - Parade
7 Alpha Blondy - Jerusalem
8 Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
9 New Model Army - The Ghost of Cain
10 Robert Cray Band - Strong Persuader
11 Peter Gabriel - So
12 XTC - Skylarking
13 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral...My Trial
14 The The - Infected
15 Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock

1985;

1 The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
2 Simply Red - Picture Book
3 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
4 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
5 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
6 Prince & The Revolution - Around the World in a Day
7 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
8 The Cure - The Head On The Door
9 David Byrne - The Knee Plays
10 Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
11 The Dukes of Stratosphear - Chips From The Chocolate Fireball
12 Coil - Scatology
13 The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
14 The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
15 Madonna - Like a Virgin

1984;

1 Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain
2 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
3 Sade - Diamond Life
4 David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees
5 Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
6 Talk Talk - It's My Life
7 U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
8 Cocteau Twins - Treasure
9 Tina Turner - Private Dancer
10 Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
11 Los Lobos - How Will the Wolf Survive
12 Everything but the Girl - Eden
13 Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C.
14 Nena - ? Fragezeichen
15 Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual

1983;

1 Michael Jackson - Thriller
2 Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
3 Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
4 ESG - Come Away With ESG
5 Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
6 The The - Soul Mining
7 ZZ Top - Elimanator
8 David Bowie - Let's Dance
9 Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
10 R.E.M. - Murmur
11 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
12 Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
13 Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock
14 Culture Club - Colour by Numbers
15 The Fall - Perverted By Language

1982;

1 King Sunny Adé - Juju Music
2 Virgin Prunes - If I Die... I Die
3 Orchestra Baobab - Pirate's Choice
4 The Cure - Pornography
5 Eek-A-Mouse - Wa-Do-Dem
6 Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi
7 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
8 Joe Jackson - Night & Day
9 Dexys Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay
10 Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
11 Fun Boy Three - The Fun Boy Three
12 The Gun Club - Miami
13 John Cale - Music for a New Society
14 Madness - Presents the Rise & Fall
15 Roxy Music - Avalon

1981;

1 Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
2 Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
3 UB40 - Signing Off
4 Japan - Tin Drum
5 The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
6 Black Uhuru - Red
7 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture And Morality
8 Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Mambo Nassau
9 Bobby Womack - The Poet
10 Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
11 The Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire
12 Bauhaus - Mask
13 Can - Delay...1968
14 New Order - Movement
15 The Human League - Dare!

1980;

1 Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2 The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
3 Joy Division - Closer
4 AC/DC - Back in Black
5 Suicide - Suicide II
6 Queen - The Game
7 Black Uhuru - Sinsemilla
8 John Lennon - Double Fantasy
9 Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
10 Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine
11 Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
12 Pretenders - Pretenders
13 The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
14 The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
15 Television Personalities - And Don't the Kids Just Love It

See also;
Best Albums of The Late Fifties;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2009/08/17/2y26bt_best_albums_of_the_late_fifties_%281956-1959%29

Best Albums of The Sixties;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2009/08/17/2y23k7_best_albums_of_the_sixties_%281960-1969%29

Best albums of The Seventies;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2009/08/17/2y22fg_best_albums_of_the_seventies_%281970-1979%29

Best Albums of The Nineties;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2009/08/17/2y25kn_best_albums_of_the_nineties_%281990-1999%29

Best Albums of The Noughties;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2009/09/08/2zux3s_best_albums_of_the_noughties_%282000-2009%29

Kerchoonz, the social media networking group, is partnering with cult Mancunian online TV show, "Our House", in a bid to help promote regional UK musical talent.

The announcement follows on from the "Kerchoonz Live" sessions in December last year, when indie artists were invited to upload their music onto the Kerchoonz.com site, the winners going on to perform in front of a live studio audience at the House of Rock studios in Glasgow and receiving cash prizes, promotion in hard press, world-wide blog networking, professional live studio recordings and interview sessions with top journalists around the globe.

Our House is fast becoming recognised as the platform for showcasing indie musical talent. A mixture of music, guests and celebrity guest presenters, with interviews being held on the sofa and live performances in the living room, acts lined up for this year include:

* Tim Scott, a guitarist who works alongside Judge Jules in Ibiza
* Frank Bembini of the Fun Lovin Criminals
* Kristyna Miles, who has toured with Simply Red
* The 66, violet youth, Donna Marie, Darren Poyzer, KRANIUS and the harks

In addition to this line-up, special guests will include Terry Longden, the TV and radio celebrity who also happens to be the nephew of Ozzy Osbourne, and Alan Fletcher, aka Dr Karl Kennedy in Neighbours, whose band is touring the UK this year.

Indiana Gregg, co-founder of Kerchoonz, says: "The Kerchoonz Live sessions are dedicated to supporting live entertainment and showing off some of the world's best raw talent. Similarly, Our House has exactly the same philosophy, cutting through the bull that often fuels the music industry and setting its sights firmly on giving musicians a helping hand, whilst providing entertainment to music lovers everywhere. We have joined forces to do just that, and the signs suggest that Our House is set to really take off".

Claire Curran, producer and presenter of Our House agrees. She says: "Mancunians are truly some of the most passionate music lovers in the world, indeed producing some of the best bands from the last twenty years and so it is fitting that Our House is filmed in Manchester. With the help of Kerchoonz, we will continue to attract and air bands worthy of attention from around the UK, giving them much needed publicity, as well as having our legendary in-depth conversations on the sofa with fascinating guests. We believe that both Kerchoonz and Our House will show musicians that the traditional process of finding an agent and a record deal is not the only route to success."

The episodes will be aired weekly, with the first episode being shown on 30 July at http://www.kerchoonz.com/ourhouse

Kerchoonz, founded by Indiana Gregg and Ian Morrow in 2008, is a group of veteran record producers, artists, songwriters , music and technology industry professionals. Kerchoonz.com is a social networking platform that allows free exchange of music, art, ideas and entertainment. It enables fans to search and discover new music, play games, meet people, watch and upload video, keep up with news and post blogs.

Kerchoonz.com is an ad-funded model that allows artists and musicians to be paid for their audio and video streams, as well as their free downloads.
http://www.kerchoonz.com

Our House is an independent television show, directed by Paul McCarthy and produced in Manchester, offering the best of unsigned talent and featuring a mixture of music, guests and celebrity guest presenters. It is produced in a house with guest interviews on the sofa and live performances in the living room!
http://www.ourhouse-manchester.co.uk

So, after finding out way too late I assume, that the Scottish lads of Simple Minds released their lead single entitled Rockets it took me a few listens to appreciate the track.
A new lead single probably meant that they were on the way to launch a new album as well, but the last I heard from the group was during the 90th birthday celebration of former South African President Nelson Mandela in London last year, when they performed Mandela Day together with the Soweto Gospel Choir, written for the man himself, this time he was released into freedom and could hear the song being perfomed to him in person. The main reason I knew of the event was because of U2, where Bono and The Edge were set to appear singing an adapted version of Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday for Mr. Mandela and Bono's vocals really blew me away, but that's another story. Upon getting used to the sound of Rockets, which at first sounded like same old Simple Minds but offered new influences as well, I wanted to find out more about this album: What was it even called? I started searching Youtube and found a couple of recent interviews with radio and TV stations from all over. Then I signed up for newsletters from the official website to make sure I wouldn't forget about this album. Then I got an "album sampler" in my e-mail inbox with some previews of the different tracks on the record, and I thought, "I have to hear all of this as soon as possible!".

Last week I finally made it to the record store but I somehow forgot that there was an album that I was supposed to buy, I'm not into getting just digital copies of the music I listen to. So I went back a couple of days later and thought that it would be an easy task to locate the album I mean, who doesn't know of the great Simple Minds anyway? After spending probably more than an hour inside the little store, looking for the album I thought; Strange...nothing for "Simple Minds ", not even a placeholder, that's odd? So instead I started looking under "S" for Simple Minds , between Simple Plan and Simply Red perhaps it was misplaced? More looking under "T" for THE Simple Minds "G" for Graffiti Soul, and "K" for Kerr, Jim. Even more looking for the record in the "New releases" section and even in the heavy metal section. I gave up. I swallowed my pride and went to the register to ask the guy to look for it in the computer. "Nope". What the hell? I had been let down by my otherwise trusty record-store, they usually have all kinds of music that I listen to, and this wasn't even an old release!
I was utterly confused, how could this be? "No wonder piracy is taking over the music industry when records stores don't have what people after instead of selling Pop Idol and bloody Jonas Brothers records...!" I thought, obviously upset and disappointed...But I have to point out that after another one of the records stores nearby where I live closed down a couple of years ago, I'd hate to see this other one walk down the same road. If they don't have the records on my wishlist though, I'm forced to seek other solutions.

Today, while on an errand with my brother I went to one of the record stores in the big city of Stockholm to find the CD, "they must have it here".
No, nothing in the "S" section here either? Just as I was about to leave I spotted it! There it was under "New releases"! I had a train to catch so I quickly paid for the album, thanked the cashier and took off. Back home I had some other things to take care of so I haven't listened to the record yet, but as I'm writing this journal I will write down my initial thougths about each track as I hear them. By now I was familiar with the front and back covers so I opened up the jewelcase and took out the booklet after studying the actual disc, it's pretty good looking. Overall the artwork seems to be for me, as a massive U2 fan, a mash-up of Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop with the fantastic, colourful design and pictures of the Simple Minds ' band members. Even though I purchase actual records and despite the fact that I acutally enjoy tearing off the plastic and opening up the jewel case, sitting on my own and reading the booklet while listening to the music, I eventually rip the tracks to put them on my iPod. As an example I've only played the disc of No Line On The Horizon in the stereo about twice but I've listened to the album's tracks far many more times than that by now. That's the way it goes these days unfortunately.

According to the article about the band on Wikipedia, there's another album planned to be released from these sessions next year, interesting. It seems to be the case with bands these days, at least the bands I listen to. First Coldplay (Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends / Prospekt's March EP) then U2 (No Line On The Horizon / Songs Of Ascent) and lastly Simple Minds (Graffiti Soul / Untitled?)

Enough talking, let the listening process begin! Is it the return to form I have heard so much about the last months?

1. Moscow Underground
This track opens with a thundering bass, and the theme and feeling instantly makes me think that this song sounds like a 2009 version of U2's Zoo Station, but better! Come to think of it that's two Achtung Baby references already.
I love catchy, prominent basslines like these, another example can be heard in Coldplay's left-over track "Things I Don't Understand" from the X&Y sessions. From Berlin in 1991 to Moscow in 2009, it's brilliant! The synthesizer sounds in the chorus borrows an 80's feeling, perhaps from a-ha's Bond song The Living Daylights. Jim's lyrics grab hold of me yet again, they're simple but really great! This is surely a track I want to listen to many times!
Judgement: 5 out of 5

2. Rockets
The lead single. As I said the sound is classic Simple Minds , and it was surely a good choice for a first single.
The build-up to the chorus is thrilling and the chorus itself works well. Interesting to note that there's some piano and other arrangements in the mix of this song that I previously couldn't hear in the YouTube video with lesser quality, which was probably the single/radio version because this sounds a little different, but of course there have been some time since I last listened to the song so I might be wrong.
Judgement: 4,5 out of 5

3.Stars Will Lead The Way
Ah, I think Jim mentioned that this is the intended second single from the album and I see why. The opening guitar part apparently was the backbone of the song, I remember watching a video where Jim told us the story of Charlie playing him the demo on his iPhone. Ooh, the middle-8 section is interesting, sounds a bit different from what is otherwise going on in the song! While the guitar melody is catchy, I'm not too sure about the lyrics and it all becomes slightly repetitive after one listen. In a live setting though I imagine this song could work very well with its classic sing-a-long elements and a chorus that is easy to remember. For all I know this might grow on me in the future.
Judgement: 4 out of 5

4. Light Travels
Icy-slide guitar part and another song with a prominent bassguitar in the intro and then dry vocals on Jim, who would probably be drowned out by the ambience of the instruments. Good lyrics and this sounds like it has been around for a while, it could fit well on some of their previous albums. It creates the image in my head of traveling alongside a beam of light in an empty space, filled with stars ("that leads the way :P). The music is very good, the lyrics as well. It seems to me that Charlie really experiments with his guitar on this track to bring out different sounds and moods.
Shame that it's so short, it could easily been extended one minute or so.
Judgement: 4,5 out of 5

5. kiss and fly
Another track which sounds like it was written during the their earlier days. Jim sings like he did back then, with the same passion but perhaps a little less strength.
Again another interesting middle section. I don't know why but somehow I immediately thought that it would fit in a Terminator-movie. Backing vocals similar to U2's 1984 track Indian Summer Sky.
The music is interesting and creates all kinds of landscapes in my head.
Judgement: 4,5 out of 5

6. Graffiti Soul
Obviously the title track, heavy mood on this one. Another beautiful guitar part from Charlie with his tremolo-effect in the background. I already feel like this is a future favourite, it is bound to work well live, shame I can't go and see them myself. I have to read the lyrics in the booklet later, they sound interesting. "You bring me lightnin'", such a catchy tune and an excellent choice for a title track representative of what the band what's to achieve with this electro-influenced album.
Judgement: 5 out of 5

7. Blood Type O
Shouldn't it be Blood Type 0 as in "zero", or is this an imaginary blood type? Oh sorry, that must be the scientist in me speaking.
Charlie continues to play around with his guitar effects and manages to find some really cool sounds for this haunting track.
Another great chorus and the intriguing mandolin-thing going on to be followed by more fuzzy electro-guitar-goodies. The wah-wah effect sounds like the slide solo on Mandela Day. This could be considered a track in the same category as Violet Hill and Fez - Being Born.
Judgement: 5 out of 5

8. This Is It
Already the second last track? Bummer, this was a short album. An uplifting Simple Minds song, like another favourite, See the Lights.
I like the melody of the chorus, beautiful backing vocals on this one but again the melody seems to be looped and thus it gets a bit repetitive.
Again the rotary-tremolo effect from Charlie with a shining overdub. Another sing-a-long section "ooh-aah", they sure want to reach out to their audience, in stadiums and big arenas where they belong, with songs like this one in their catalogue. Oooh, beautiful haunting outro guitar by Burchill!
Judgement: 4 out of 5

9. Shadows And Light (Bonus track)
What is this? A semi-acoustic song? Fun!
Good to see them throwing in a bonus track on the standard release as well.
Simple song, beautiful arrangement and melodies, perfect to put me in a summer mood. They should try this one with the Soweto Gospel Choir, I think.
Charlie tries a little Elevation fuzz-guitar riff while some things reminds me of the Daniel Lanois track Here Is What Is. Shame that this one was the shortest track of the album, it could also have been extended a little longer in my opinion.
Judgement: 5 out of 5

10. Rockin' In The Free World (Bonus Track)
I recognize this cover, not from Neil Young who wrote the track but from Pearl Jam who have also performed this with Bono and The Edge on a charity event in Australia.
While Jim delivers some really impressive and passionate vocals, the rest of band doesn't seem to impress me as much as I know they can. I just wish Jim would be braver with his voice like this on the actual album, but in the end it might wear on his vocal chords after all.
There are other versions of this song that I'd rather listen to and Simple Minds should stick to their own, astonishing, material in my opinion. Luckily I had a hunch this would be the case for me and didn't buy the deluxe package with the extra disc containing cover versions of other artists songs.
Judgement: 3 out of 5

Remaining thoughts and impressions:
For me a new music experience that is kind of difficult to label either "good" or "bad" like this one makes me think that there are to routes for it to go in the future; it could either be a grower or a throw-away. I hope this album is a grower, I hardly fall head over heels in love with an album after one listen anyway and this has some potential to be liked despite the short playtime.
Furthermore I wish that Simple Minds haven't put all their great tracks on this record if they indeed release the supposed sister album next year,
Who knows, in time this might be among my favourite Simple Minds album? For now, Real Life will continue to rule on the #1 spot though.

Ranking as of 2009-07-20:

1. Moscow Underground
2. Blood Type O
3. Shadows and Light
4. Graffiti Soul
5. Rockets
6. Light Travels
7. Kiss and Fly
8. Stars Will Lead The Way
9. This Is It
10. Rockin' In The Free World



Thanks to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamsdb/3731121051/

LONDON, July 2, 2009

Written by Didier Kussu

United Entertainment & Media Limited founder, Didier Kussu argues fans to stop buying Michael Jackson's music and related products.

Millions of fans, leaders, musicians and friends mourn the "King of Pop", but the worst thing you can do at this time is to purchase Michael's music or any
expensive memorabilia because you are making other people rich, rather than
contributing to something positive for Michael Jackson or his 3 children. Michael Jackson needed financial support while he was physically alive.

Unfortunately, with all of his hard work and dedication not to mention the inspiration and happiness that he brought to millions through his music and lyrics, Michael Jackson has died with a mountain of debts. According to my source in 2002 Sony has refused to put out Michael Jackson's CHARITY single "What More Can I Give? Because of the failed sales of Invincible album (2 million copies sold ONLY!) and Michael with his own words has gone far to even call Sony's Tommy Mottola "the devil". Sony still controls Michael Jackson's catalog including the hit albums Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous, HIStory, Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible.

I feel bad that thousands of radio stations are now playing Michael's music
when is dead but while he was alive and he desperately needed money from his performance royalties, nobody was playing his music. Maybe the radio music director around the world could not trust playing Michael Jackson's music because of the allegations of child molestation. That's why, they wanted to keep their good reputations by playing songs about how to be a killer, I am a really queen bitch, party like a rock star etc. in order to teach our kids how to lead the world as killers, bitches and rich super-dupa-dumb-party-sexy-freaky-star!

What about playing song or video such as "Heal The World" or Earth Song? Do you think that when a kid is watching or listening to these particular songs, he or she will have a picture or Michael Jackson molesting someone or the kid will be affected by the images and the lyrics of he song. Or maybe, you believe showing naked women with big boobs, ass and killer, getting high, money lyrics are the best for the future of our kids and the planet in general.

Has Prince or Simply Red also been accused of child molestation? NO, but why we don't hear their music on the radio like we used to? Prince is not anymore with Warner since the nineties, he famously took a stand against Warner Records back then when he went on strike and appeared with the word "slave" drawn on his cheek. He recently had an album out but how many radio stations are playing his new music? Are you waiting for him to die and start claiming how great he was?

Don't get me wrong, Didier Kussu is a first class marketing strategist. Yes, I am a business executive too and Kussu Productions and its affiliated companies do have a good relationship with most of the giant in music and entertainment industries. It is true that if we can make these artists, we should be able to break them as well. However, can we really make a non-talented artist a world star? Based on my own experience, I don't think so, we can push an artist to certain point but if that individual does not really has the talent, we cannot artificially make him or her a star in a long term. I would like to remind other colleague that we have a great responsibility in this industry and we all should be aware of the consequences for the future generation, because many underestimate the power of images, movies as well as what we hear on a daily basis.

I urge fans to buy Prince's music and support the effort of many other creative artists around the globe, whether indie or established, signed or unsigned, it doesn't matter. Because music is one of the most valuable asset in our lives and it takes a lot in order to produce good music, be it time, money, energy, you name it...

Well, Michael Jackson was officially acquitted at trial that means INNOCENT but still demonized by the media. However, The hardest part, Thomas Mesereau Jr., the lawyer who defended Jackson said, was for Jackson to be accused by a child. It had happened once before in 1993 but that case was settled without a trial. "He didn't really trust adults," Mesereau said. He looked to children as the people who wouldn't hurt him.

If the accusation against Michael was not based on truth, I hope that those who accused him for child molestation will one day confess either to Michael
Jackson's family or to the press, because this is the right thing to do. There are laws from the creator himself that no one can escape, it doesn't matter how long it takes or how many generations. And I know that the Jackson family is strong and wise enough to forgive them.

Now, Michael Jackson is gone but not his music nor his debts.
How could a global coalition of fans, leaders and friends help Michael Jackson's children so that his hard work won't be in vain? Maybe a concept that I put together "as a part of my contribution" to help Michael Jackson's legacy as well as his left children so that they could enjoy the fruits of their great latest father by reimbursing the debts and keeping the catalogue rights and other assets of Michael Jackson.

The Jackson Family should consider creating a social network website in which Michael's fans and friends around the world should register, interact and donate money in order to pay Michael Jackson's debts. The website may include memorabilia, merchandizes, unreleased Michael Jackson's music etc. including user activities such as:
- Uploading their own Michael Jackson's related videos (embeddable)
- Telling their own personal stories
- Uploading pictures, biography
- Sharing their memories, concert and whatsoever experiences related to Michael Jackson
- Music gadget with their personal track mix (embeddable)
- Comments and sending messages to each other etc.

That way the fans will know that they're contributing directly to a good cause and giving back to their King of Pop "Michael Jackson". Think of Barack Obama campaign's donation but on a global scale!

May Your Soul Rest In Peace, Didier Kussu.

About the Author
Didier Kussu is business consultant, entrepreneur and music executive. The self-described universal strategist is the founder of companies such as United Entertainment & Media Limited, Kussu Productions, Latin Music Publishing Group USA, Indie Songs Publishing UK, Indie-Distribution, African Music Publishing among others.

For press inquiries, please contact:
Fax: +49 208 6942 240
Email: press(at)Kussu-productions.com
Url: http://www.kussu.net

Simply Red
Rödsögården
Los Bastardos Finlandeses
Heaven & Hell
Eagles
Pet Shop Boys
Tapani Kansa
Paul Oakenfold
Madonna
Mykaboom
Teddy Thompson
Elton John
Muse
Pekka Simojoki