The big tech news yesterday was of course the joint press conference in London by Apple and EMI. Below links cover that stunning news:
Among the many festivals happening in London this month, there is the London Jazz Festival.
I’ve skipped last year iteration, but attended the event 2 years ago where I’ve enjoyed the great saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
This year, I was there and on wednesday I’ve been to the Barbican to see 2 artists I’ve never heard about: Michel Camilo and Tomatito.
I had no expectation as I was clueless about what it was about.
And they started playing, and their first tune was a cover for Astor Piazzolla’s famous “Libertango”. It was a tremendous start. I love Piazzolla, so for me it was surprise, a very good surprise. This great start didn’t fad and the concert was fantastic.
apparently both are masters in their own domain (Camilo as a latin jazz pianist, Tomatito as flamenco guitarist), the marriage of their style was delightful to my ears.
to change a bit, I’ve got a positive thing to say about MySpace.
Few months ago I’ve been to the 606 club (a well known Jazz club in Chelsea) to listen to a band centered around the lead female singer.
It was a great moment.
The singer was advertising her album, and she gave the audience the url to here website on MySpace. Her name was Juliet Kelly.
Is she one of these “3 millions” ?
(*cough*, see my previous post for why I’d rather take this number with caution)
I think if her tunes were downloadable, I could be attracted, not because they are MP3 or lacks of DRM, but because they come straight from the artist.
(it’s comparable to the Fair Trade for third world food producers)
This will give a kick in all of this stinky music distribution business.
I think the problem is more the Music industry rather than DRMs.
But, I’d be honest and say that right now, buying it on the iTunes Music Store (her songs are also available there 
doesn’t bother me at all as it is more convenient for me:
Oh and by the way, any artist can submit songs directly to the iTunes Music Store without having to be signed in a label.
Myspace to Sell MP3s From Unsigned Bands: “soldrinero writes ‘Yahoo! news is hosting a story about a new competitor to Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Nearly all the other iTunes competitors have been strongly controlled by the music industry, shackled in DRM, and giving little back to artists. The new MySpace music store will feature vanilla MP3 downloads at prices set by the individual bands (3 million of them!), all or nearly all of whom are unsigned musicians with no industry affiliation. Is this the example we have all been waiting for of how the Internet will obviate the business model of the recording industry?’ (Via Slashdot.) ,“
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internet, myspace, music, musicindustry, itunes, julietkelly, DRM, mp3, download, legal
This weekend, I’ve watched the film “Lost In Translation” for the second time.
I loved this film. It’s very atmospheric and subtle.
It reminded me another great film Sofia Coppola directed before: “The Virgin Suicides”
With that in mind, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by her last work “Marie Antoinette” which has coincidentally just been released (at least in France).
I’m not known for being a fan of “Period” drama,
but after having recently seen Barry Lyndon, and Doctor Who episode “The Girl In the Fireplace” I’ve gradually become interested in this genre again.
As a consequence of browsing Imdb on the above subjects, I’ve just discovered that Sophia Myles who plays Madame De Pompadour in “The Girl In The Fireplace” also stars in a recent period romance “Tristan & Isolde”.
She’s charming and acts well in Doctor Who and I’ve read that she did a brief but strong appearance in the film Underworld: this a film I wanted to see for the style and atmosphere - gothic, vampire, werewolves, but didn’t because I was afraid to waste my money on an unoriginal, insubstantial action film. I’ve been wondering If I didn’t miss a good film there.
While on the subject of werewolves, the trailer I’ve seen of Marie-Antoinette shows a costumed ball with accelerated motion.
I’ve seen such scene in the music video of the german industrial-rock band Rammstein, “Du riechst so gut” in which an aristocratic lady is being stalked by a werewolf.
I’ve read that music (leaning toward rock) is a “character” of the film Marie-Antoinette (as in all Sofia Coppola’s films so far, for my greatest delight).
I need to find out when and where I can go and watch Marie-Antoinette in London
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sofiacoppola, sophiamyles, marieantoinette, perioddrama, film, music, doctorwho, tv, bbc, rammstein, france
It was a great concert.
They played songs from their 1st and 2nd album and also songs from their upcoming album.
Before the concert, I just knew them through the songs on their first album “Sympathique”
I’ve just bough thier second album “Hang on little tomatoe” on iTunes.
On Wednesday I went to the Royal Opera House to see a ballet.
It was Prokofiev’s Romeo And Juliet.
I’ve never been to a ballet before, and after that I’m still not a big fan (and I don’t like when I don’t see the musicians), but
- The performance of the lead female dancer was absolutely fantastic
- the costumes, lighting and set were beautiful
- the Royal Opera House is a beautiful hall, more intimate than the Royal Albert Hall, as beautiful as Wigmore Hall.
This is a great band. I discovered their album “Sympathique” 2 years ago.
It is beautiful, it has an nostalgic aspect and is a blend of classical and latin.
They are in concert in London at the Barbican at the end of the month.
I won’t miss it.
