Last.fm Group Journal: i'd die without music

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:45:16 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

Whitney Houston

Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:33:04 +0000

http://www.listenlearnlove.com/2012/02/ed-sheeran-give-me-love.htmlGive Me Love

Tylky's 2012 -- The First Quarter (November '11 - February '12)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:22:04 +0000

Disc 1
1. The Pipettes - Call Me
2. The Like - Narcissus In A Red Dress
3. Rose Elinor Dougall - Come Away With Me
4. Cœur de Pirate - Ava
5. The Baseballs - Follow Me
6. Huey Lewis & The News - The Power Of Love
7. Foo Fighters - Arlandria
8. The Strokes - Machu Picchu
9. sphere - HIGH POWERED
10. eufonius - Megumeru -cuckool mix 2007-
11. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Bittersweet
12. Diana Vickers - Kiss Of A Bullet
13. Oh Land - Human
14. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Heart Attack
15. Paula Abdul - Vibeology
16. Skrillex feat. Sirah - Bangarang
17. Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party - Antidote
18. Avicii - Levels
19. Cash Cash - Speed Highway Act 1
20. Miami Horror - Illuminated
21. She - Home
22. Ellie Lawson - English Way
23. Caro Emerald - I Know That He's Mine

Disc 2
1. Rosi Golan - Say It Anyway
2. Lena - I Like You
3. Emma's Imagination - Puddy Muddle
4. Imelda May - Bury My Troubles
5. Caro Emerald - Back It Up
6. Eduard Khil - I am very glad, because I'm finally returning back home (Trololo)
7. Will Smith - Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
8. Rizzle Kicks - Mama Do The Hump
9. The Wombats - Jump Into The Fog
10. The Vaccines - If You Wanna
11. White Lies - Is Love
12. Kasabian - Vlad The Impaler
13. blink-182 - Heart's All Gone
14. The Blackout - Hope (Scream It Out Loud)
15. Skindred - Nobody
16. Korn feat. Skrillex & Kill The Noise - Narcissistic Cannibal
17. Skrillex - First Of The Year (Equinox)
18. Chase & Status feat. Cee Lo Green - Brixton Briefcase
19. Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata - Stardust Speedway (Bad Future)
20. Jessie J - Who's Laughing Now
21. Nerina Pallot - Butterfly
22. Alice Gold - And You'll Be There
23. Charlotte Martin - Complications

World5 To Release Global Experience May 1st 2012

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:59:59 +0000

Collaborating between five band members spanning four countries with a 4-time Grammy winning producer in a Houston recording studio, and having recently received two number-one slots on prominent internet charts and a Gold Award for their promotional single and video, the band World5 will be releasing their debut album titled "Global Experience" later this spring.

"I think the album is a cool blend of different styles." states 4-time Grammy winning producer Randy Miller. "The songs have the common thread of the individual members of the group bringing their own artistic visions to bring about the globally diverse sound of World 5 . It was a great experience to mix and master this album using technology to overcome time and space to bring all of our musical ideas together. I think the album turned out the way we all hoped it would....very cool!"

"You And I", which is about a positive relationship between a young couple about to be engaged has been well received by a number of folks having reached top 5 slots at such internet stations as the Independent Music Network hosted by Michael Damien, number one on All Access' Songdish and the internet radio show "Radio Gets Wild" gave the single their "Gold Award" among other positive responses from internet outlets on a worldwide level. The video to the single has also garnered much attention as a feel-good story that has gotten over 20,000 views on YouTube, Vimeo and other outlets.

"We already had such a great response from the song but when we released the video the song has gotten so much more attention" states drummer/ percussionist Raimund Breitfeld. "People from all around the world can easily identify themselves with this storyline in the video."

"We were very excited when we heard that "You And I" had hit #1 on a couple of charts and #4 on another," states vocalist Don Bruner as the bands first single from their upcoming album was such a success in a short period. "One of the things that we were hoping for was that our music would not only be appreciated in our home countries but have an appeal to everyone, everywhere."

World5 is managed by Black Mountain Productions Inc. and released through Island Def Jam Digital Distribution.

Email: maelstrompr@gmail.com
Website: http://www.world5music.com
Music: http://world5music.com/files/You_and_I.mp3

meh, im done with bitching and moaning :P

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:26:35 +0000

question: why are we obsessed with people bitching and moaning?
...I can’t think of anything...

Why does it feel like we need something to bitch about? what the fucks up with that?

For Example:
Skrillex / dubstep / music in general (just look at the comments in said pages >:|)
news story’s (although some stories are just plain funny)
Sport (damn footballers, overpaid wankers)
games (Console wars and endless "videos games are bad" thing)
religion (fucking fake gods 'n' shit)
food (this is bad for you, that’s bad for you... bla bla bla)
countries ("oh why can’t we be like Japan", etc)
people (people who make others happy end up on the news's shitlist)
everything fucking else (movies, TV, ads, copyright, you name it)

yes, I’m bitching about people bitching, seems to be the only way to get through to people >:|

when I say 'Look on the bright side' to anyone, 9 times of 10, they say 'what light side? everything’s bad'
Bollocks :|

I ask again: why? well... I guess this is just my welcome to the internet :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fuckit, im done with moaning

now check this shit out

BEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE :D

(watch the video, ignore the rest!)

Ghuffy Hendra INTERVIEW!! 10.2.12 - Zombie Chainsaw Fetish Club -

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:07:07 +0000

After I followed a Bandcamp link to some music that Mr.Hendra had posted on some tag pages, i felt i was greeted with the Perfect kind combining the elements of chaos, originality and comedy all in one package. Of course, curiosity got the better of me so I wanted to find out more and materialized some questions to Ghuffy Hendra. this is where it all began and where you should listen, or try to xD (i love it) http://zombiechainsawfetishclub.bandcamp.com/ and here is the interview.

*******************************************************

1. What program do you use to make the music for both your projects?
Ghuffy Hendra: I use FL Studio 10.

2. I followed your twitter like a boss, is your friend a part of the band yet?
Ghuffy Hendra: Yeah, he's part of it. We're currently writing an EP.

3. For the next Album/LP what kind of concepts would you like it follow if you have any?
Ghuffy Hendra: Not sure yet. Probably gonna do a Rugrats concept album.

4. How would you react if your music kicked off and became more.. mainstream?
Ghuffy Hendra: I would be happy and HONORED that more people are listening to my music. I feel like people listen to a lot of garbage on the radio these days.

That's all i got for now, thanks for your time!

Fatalgroove - Kazumi 和美

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:23:14 +0000

I Present my new techno podcast series "kazumi 和美"
http://soundcloud.com/fatalgroove/sets/podcast/

Dominik Eulberg - Kriechender Gunsel (Ajuga Reptans Original Mix) - Traum
Caytas & Patz - Are You Afraid (Original Mix)
Sidney Charles - Big Bada Boom (Sante Remix)
Sinisa Tamamovic - Freak
Quince - Soba (Original Mix)
Oliver Huntemann - Rikarda (Paul Ritch rmx)
Dyno - Vera
Steve Parker - Innerstate (Original Mix)
Anthony Castaldo - Trapped In A Cage (Original Mix)
Frankyeffe & Snello - Makeapito (Original Mix)
Beckers, Hatfield - Keep On (Velkro & Ido Ophir Remix) - Sprout
Oleg Mass & Alex Okrazo - Inert Sun - Sound of Techno
Lutzenkirchen - We Must Prevail (Original Mix) - Craft Music
Bleak - Ekko - Deeply Rooted House
Danny Serrano & Hector Couto - You Crazy - Suara
Andrew Loyd - Karlkfresser - Kreissaal
Christian Smith - Get It Done (Original Mix)
Echo Vacio - The Ticket Man (Original Mix)
Max Freegrant - Roadkill

http://www.nativebooking.com
http://serato.com/user/fatalgroove
http://www.play.fm/artist/fatalgroove
http://www.decksharks.com/Fatalgroove

http://soundcloud.com/fatalgroove/sets/podcast/

Fatalgroove - Kazumi 和美

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:19:17 +0000

Live365 Announces Release Of Independent Artist Broadcasting Package

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 22:36:55 +0000

Live365, the world's most diverse internet radio network and provider of premier broadcasting services, announces the release of their independent artist broadcasting package, "IndiePro". This customized broadcasting package is a low cost solution for independent musicians looking to promote their music to millions of people across the globe.

The "IndiePro" broadcasting package includes 24/7 station streaming (live or from a playlist), distribution across multiple platforms, shareable player for social networks and websites, and placement of songs in Live365's music library. Inclusion in the library means thousands of Live365 broadcasters have the option to add independent artists music to their playlists for added promotional value. Musicians who sign up for the "IndiePro" broadcasting package will gain maximum exposure from Live365's distribution channels including Live365.com, iTunes Radio, TiVo, Roku, Amazon Kindle Fire, Android and iPhone mobile devices, and more.

"We are excited to provide a broadcasting package that directly serves the needs of independent musicians everywhere," said Jason Stoddard, Director of Pro Broadcasting. "Since 1999 Live365 has embraced the promotion of both independent musicians and broadcasters, and we look forward to helping promote quality unsigned musicians."

To learn more about the independent artist broadcasting package call 1.800.294.4777 x123 or send an email to: pro-broadcast@live365.com

http://www.live365.com/broadcast

About Live365, Inc.

Live365, Inc. is a pioneer in Internet radio and broadcasting, having broadcast continuously since 1999. The Live365 radio network reaches millions of listeners worldwide, offering greater breadth and depth of high-quality streaming music, talk, and audio than any other network. Featuring 250+ genres of music produced by 5,000+ broadcasters and music tastemakers from over 150 countries, Live365 boasts a roster of artists and radio producers ranging from Carlos Santana, Pat Metheny, and Jethro Tull, to commercial and public radio stations, to individual DJs who program stations in every musical style.

Live365's end-to-end broadcast platform empowers individuals and organizations alike by giving them a "voice" to reach audiences around the globe. Through easy-to-use tools and services as well as royalty coverage, anyone with a computer and Internet connection can create his or her own Internet radio station and reach a global audience with minimal cost and effort.

Ed Sheeran - The A-Team

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 02:58:30 +0000

http://www.listenlearnlove.com/2012/02/ed-sheeran-a-team.html
The A Team Ed Sheeran