bono + alicia keys singing (video)

someday i will stop posting stuff from that black ball event. i swear. it's just a snippet. don't give up (africa) from last thursday:



video via awesome fan [here.]

the same kind person also recorded all of bono's 13-minute speech from that black ball event. it's sort of tipsymanitarian and includes a final prophecy about drinking and dancing. you can download the video of bono's entire black ball speech here. (pretty large, avi file, about 450 MB).


also, a little (non) stalker birdie told us edge was at the bruce sprinsgsteen show in los angeles on monday.

the edge told the los angeles times "It's a great place for this show; it was perfect. He does have quite a lot of good songs too, doesn't he?"

that reminds me, i meant to follow up my bruce video post with a part 2 all about my inner feelings for the springsteen. i think edge just did it for me!

ps: happy birthday LMJ.

more bono @ the black ball (video)

brief audience-shot video:



adorable.

another brief video clip: bono and iman.

more youtube videos are here. i don't think alicia keys and bono's performance of don't give up (africa) is on there.

previous post: bono @ black ball (pics)

also, here is an ap video news clip with interviews outside the event. if that link doesn't work, try this one.

also banned: this laundromat

can you see what that is in that washing machine? can you guess? does my camera phone do this justice?

~i did not use that machine.

best disguise. ever.

more here and here.

bono @ the black ball (pics)

photos from this fundraiser/gala that took place thursday night in nyc.



hip-hop bono...

...and bono and billie joe armstrong discussing hair dye...





rolling stone says that alicia and gwen stefani performed a version of sunday bloody sunday. my ears hurt imagining gwen singing that. but, yay (!) for charity events.

just because... below is the video of bono and alicia singing don't give up (africa) on the oprah winfrey show last year:



they released that song in a studio version, too (charity single). you can get the mp3 of that here.

here are some sites with more photos of the event: alicia-keys.net / confessions of a paparazzi etc

and this is the charity the event was raising funds for: keep a child alive.

~peace

guess we're all caught up now

this is what i was watching last night. very much happiness. this is what bono was doing.

just make sure it's long and unwieldy

[photo 1] bono and damien hirst, october 23. [photo 2]

wow, is it time to name the new album already? heh.

bono will be honored at hammerstein ballroom tonight at a benefit for the keep a child alive charity. alicia keys, gwen stefani and sheryl crow are scheduled to perform.

4th avenue and 13th street

every time i pass by that shooter jennings ad i think of dr. robert.

i need help.

this look...

...falls under the same category as this one.

from october 3. [via]

world's greatest guitar player*

"the girls in their summer clothes pass me by. la la la la, la la la la la la la ..."

photo [via]. taken last week (?) in nyc.

* not pictured

(related)

stop & shop is banned. forever.

so, yesterday i parked at stop & shop (the grocery store), went across the street to the bank, withdrew $100, went back to stop & shop and spent $75 and went back to my car and found a giant orange sticker on my window that said "you have been booted, this is a private parking lot."

um, what?!

i found the guys who put it there in there assy tow truck hiding in the corner of the parking structure and i said, "hi, i think you made a mistake, as you can see i have a car full of groceries, so obviously i parked here to go to the grocery store, and i am not in violation."

one guy's name was danny, but i am going to refer to them as vito and vito. so, vito and vito told me that they saw me leave the parking structure and go to the bank and that once i left the premises, i was in violation. and if i didn't give them $50, they would not take the boot off my car.

i said, "but isn't this the grocery store's parking lot? and haven't i only been parked here for one hour? and don't i have a car full of groceries?"

vito "legally, you are in violation."

me "i went to the bank. to get money. to go to the grocery store."

vito "this is not the bank parking lot. you see what i am saying?"

me "i have a car full of groceries. i have been here one hour. you see what I am saying?"

vito "legally, you are in violation."

me "is this a scam?"

vito "no. this is legal."

me "is it moral?"

vito "what?"

me "do you find what you are doing to me right now to be morally acceptable?"

(their answer was "yes.")

i paid them because i was in a rush. came back the next morning, went inside the store, spoke to the manager, showed him my receipt. got my $50 back. i realize they have a parking problem obviously and that is why they do this, but they hired vito and vito, so fuck them. forever. stop & shop is banned.

(this includes all stop & shops everywhere and anywhere. forever.)

also:

how's this for a segue ...


[click for bono photo] october 17, nyc. green hat. red star. grey jacket. hair on jawline proliferating. bono contemplating lyrics he can screw up in the song girls in their summer clothes.

also:

killers + lou reed. tranquilize. oh dear. killers b-sides album next month. download tranquilize @ i guess i'm floating.

eddie vedder + nels cline, etc. covering bob dylan. all along the watchtower. from the soundtrack to the dylan movie i'm not there. listen to it @ i am fuel, you are friends.

the independent has an article with anton corbijn and depeche mode's dave gahan describing each other. it's slightly interesting.

[listen]
kingdom - dave gahan
first single off his second solo album hourglass. the song is sort of been there, done that, but i like dave's voice. [buy].

~ latez

bruce

video



10-18-msg. sound on my camera = not good. sound in arena = good.

i have more thoughts in my head than i have time to process. more later ...

sidenotes:

bono went to the show the night BEFORE. he thinks girls in their summer clothes is "the hit" on bruce's new album.

[mp3]
the river - josh ritter
bruce springsteen cover. we did not hear this song at the garden last night.

cake sale (out now)

"we didn't want to put out a charity album just for the sake of it."

brian crosby, guitarist and keyboard player in irish band bell x1 is in nyc this week for cmj - just checking it out. and he was nice enough to spend a minute catching up with me and telling me every secret known to man in ireland. (just kidding). we talked a teensy bit about other irish artists, but mostly we chatted about the cake sale. this is an album that brian orchestrated. it features many of the best musicians in the current irish scene. and all proceeds benefit oxfam. (the cake sale album was released last year in ireland, but is only just now getting a proper release in the u.s.)

hot press magazine (ireland) described the cake sale album as such: it makes a group of disparate songwriters and performers sound like the most talented and cohesive band in the world ever. in short, the cake sale is a happy threesome of fabulous musicianship, incredible songwriting and a fucking amazing cause.

the core band for the album is made up of crosby and paul noonan (bell x1), along with crowded house bassist nick seymour and drummer graham hopkins. all songs were previously unreleased and recorded specifically for the cake sale project with all publishing royalties being donated by the writers. a variety of fantastic singers are involved. different parts were recorded in different studios to make it all happen. vocals on the album are provided by gary lightbody (snow patrol), glen hansard (the frames), nina persson (the cardigans), conor deasy (the thrills), neil hannon, lisa hannigan, gemma hayes, josh ritter, etc. etc.

bell x1 has worked with oxfam in the past. brian notes that "in ireland, oxfam is quite proactive about campaigning at bands' shows." brian became a supporter of oxfam and if you click here, you can see a pretty cool diary of a trip he took to tanzania with oxfam. cake sale proceeds benefit oxfam's make trade fair campaign, and proceeds earned so far for oxfam ireland have been channeled to programs in 10 different african countries.



[buy]

[video]
some surprise - gary lightbody and lisa hannigan
from the cake sale. we love lisa and can't wait for a post-damien solo lisa hannigan album.




not from the cake sale:
[mp3]
heartland - bell x1
u2 cover. more audio available on the band's website.

~ latez

the 33 1/3 achtung baby book (i read it)

the 33 1/3 series celine dion book? i haven't read that yet. but that's only because it's not out yet. i am totally going to read it when it comes out.



before you laugh or think i fell on my head, go read idolator's post about the book pictured above. it's about bad taste. now you are going to read it, too. aren't you?

the 33 1/3 series book on achtung baby is out right now. i read it while listening to the new radiohead. it's a slim little book and even a dummy could read it. though who knows if i'd she'd understand it.



the book is stephen catanzarite's reading of the album as being about the fall of man. he traces a relationship between a man and a woman, leaving the garden of eden and entering real life, where the man is kind of a dick and the woman stays with him even though she is miserable. (that is my reading of his reading, as it were.)

in the author's view, zoo station starts the album off with the man and woman entering the world of bad choices. eventually, love is blindness brings it full circle, and the relationship reflects hope at the end as edge's searing love is blindness guitar solo takes over and the man and woman "experience together all of the anguish and torment they have inflicted upon each other, magnified infinitely by the presence of Divine Love that surrounds them."

the author feels that the album has already been analyzed to death from a political and personal standpoint. his reading, centered around one couple's relationship, struck me as a slightly detached look at love. though the preferred term might be "universal."

because the book does not analyze lyrics, the whole debate over "is this part about sex or is this part about God? both? neither? and what is that noise bono is making?" - well, that is not how this book rolls. (for further info and an explanation of this, read the atu2 Q&A with the author).

it's a good bet that anyone who is an ardent fan of the band and/or album will read this book and say "what? that's not exactly what i think." but, i suppose that is sort of the point. of reading. it challenges your own point of view.

if you're looking for a book about your achtung baby, this might not be it.

anyway......

this might appeal to you:

u2, live, feb. 11, 1998, santiago, chile
a few achtung baby tunes. the sound is excellent. from a tv/radio broadcast. the singer's voice is very healthy by popmart standards.
[mp3] even better than the real thing live
[mp3] until the end of the world live
[mp3] mysterious ways live
[mp3] one live
get the full show at u2start (free registration required).


related: remember the super-awesome book list?
part 1: my u2 reading list
part 2: best rock bios (says jukebox graduate)
part 3: music-related books that heather likes
part 4: dr. bob k's list focuses on the beatles
part 5: extrawack! book picks
part 6: ekko's favorite music books
part 7: coming someday.

~ latez

2 flavors in 1 bag

the other option is taco + ranch flavor.

some people i know think this is nasty. some others think it is omgz awe. some.



this is not an ad.

that is (not) all.

i was reading this interview with our man anton corbijn and he says this about digital photography: "film is better, but everyone thinks it's hipper to use digital and everyone thinks you're an artist. it's like cameras in mobile phones. we're submerging ourselves in useless imagery."

useless imagery. (x) infinity. (above)

~out

oh look, it's bono

[photos] nyc, october 13.

crowding my brain

someone posted on altcountry.org that they met bono friday night. on university place. my favorite of the comments is the one that says: i hope you fucking killed bono when you met him.

teenage girls: the zealous core audience for across the universe
all the problems working against the film, such as "benign studio neglect" are working for it. or something. plus jim sturgess doesn't want to be a heart throb. and 14-year-old girls dig are addicted to beatles songs. the movie's soundtrack, distributed by interscope, has also helped drive the film's popularity. it peaked at #2 on the iTunes album chart and at #24 on the billboard 200.

u2 tower to have a dangling egg shaped studio
an egg-shaped recording studio suspended from the top of a 600ft luxury apartment block was unveiled as part of the rock band U2's plans for a skyscraper that will dominate dublin. the "pod" studio will dangle beneath a battery of vertical wind turbines and a huge solar panel, hanging free from the innovative energy centre for acoustic reasons.

are high rises necessary in dublin?
Mr Paul McGuinness is also, in a sense, an arbiter of the True, the Good and the Beautiful—manager of U2, former member of the Arts Council, etc. But in relation to ultra-large buildings he seems more concerned with hard-edged stuff like inevitability, progress and size than with aesthetics.

"The city has to go up ... we have to allow high-rise in the city," he said.

But he did not say why.

The architect, Ulrik Raysse, availed of the opportunity to deliver a patronising little lecture.

"Ireland and especially Dublin, is very strong on literature, poetry, music and theatre. But where is the excellence in architecture? What we're trying to do is to raise the bar here, by daring to create a place that's unique."

In fact there is a lot of really good new architecture now in Dublin, Cork and Belfast, but it does not seem to count in Mr Raysse's eyes because it is not Big.

This is becoming the general attitude. To be against high-rise is to be old-fashioned, backward, out of date and it is to refuse to allow Dublin to become part of the contemporary world.

"Every other city", we are told, has high-rise. Why shouldn't Dublin?

But every other city has not.

sigur ros on npr: worst interview in history of electronic media?
totally uncommunicative, yet i liked the last minute where they explain in yes and no answers and grunts that the lyrics are not actual words, just gibberish and this is what singers do.

jonny greenwood talks in rainbows
"It's just interesting to make people pause for even a few seconds and think about what music is worth now. I thought it was an interesting thing to ask people to do and compare it to whatever else in their lives they value or don't value."

tunes:

[mp3] that's that - cass mccombs
[mp3] deseret - cass mccombs
from the album dropping the writ. he goes from dark to light quite deftly. channeling interesting influences. recommended. [buy]

in my brain

popmart dvd contest. win one at fabulist.

new bono photos. our man the munchkin in los angeles, october 11.

nuns doing karate. you MUST click on this image of sister mary. so bitchin.

bono and partners sold their evil video game empire (hello hugo chavez) for a nice profit. mephistophewson. in his spare time, he blasts hot air onto polar bears.

oink snorts at radiohead. interesting thoughts and comments there regarding sound quality on in rainbows. i'm still processing this album. listened to it on the plane a few times through. it is not possible that i would not like it, just deciding if i love it. i'm a fan of the beats. bass and drum. it cracks me up how on half these songs they are literally one hook or chorus away from a hit and they obviously don't want it.

hallmark greeting cards go (red). now that is awe. some. indeed. totally buying a bunch of those.

new edun one t-shirts on sale now. ben affleck thinks they are wicked cool.


tunes:

[mp3] many thanks for your honest opinion - the lodger
[mp3] kicking sand - the lodger
guitary pop, northern england style. tiny vocals (not tinny, tiny), but it works for saturday mornings. more mp3s here.

buy / myspace


—latez

the way the relationship works is ...

... one side is full of ugly arrogance. (the other side just wants to be snarky and maybe puke in your parking lot). guess which side i'm on.

video: Boston College student newspaper sports editor vs. Notre Dame student newspaper sports editor:



wow. i'm not going to make fun of a college kid. but ... (dork on the right.)

—that is all.

sheet of clouds

slightly more interesting than what i found on the ground at my destination.

spicey and not

bono: not spicey!
comments (first few, at least, are worth the click.) so he may not really be a spice girl. can i please still call him old spice?

naomi klein: spicey!
decrying the bono-ization of protest. he has gentrified the terrain. and it is corrosive. she thinks.

video: julie taymor on charlie rose

julie taymor on charlie rose [click here if above video does not work] - she discusses bono's dr. robert-ness about 8 to 10 minutes in. bono is bold. and game. that's a G, not an L.

near the end (21 minutes in) she gets into spiderman. more bono (and edge) discussion included. they are composing the songs. we know. they were on board before she was. did not know this. jim sturgess (cutie mc-hottentot from liverpool in across the universe) has an offer to be peter parker. (thanks for the tip brenda.)

... i'm down south for the next few days. but not too far. billy graham parkway and waffle houses included ...

stripes

the bono was out and about in nyc this weekend [photo]. bono's buttoned up look is ever-evolving.

that photo is from the after party for the movie no country for old men, which screened at the new york film festival, and which those two other guys in the photo (javier bardem and josh brolin) are in. raise your hand* if you think javier bardem (middle guy) is the hottest guy in that photo.

the movie is directed by joel and ethan coen (fargo), and is an adaptation of a cormac mccarthy novel. it involves texas. craziness. violence. terror. and stuff. you can watch the trailer on youtube.



*(if you raised your hand i'm killing you.)

underworld: boy, boy, boy (larry)

atu2 points out that larry mullen jr. plays drums on the new underworld song boy, boy, boy - listen above - lmj puts his foot down about 2-to-3 minutes in.

the song is on the upcoming cd oblivion with bells. an article (translated from japanese) in this forum quotes underworld's karl hyde as saying "we phoned an old friend from u2, larry mullen, and he was happy to help out ... on boy, boy, boy, rick had programmed in a beat, but we wanted to make that into a natural sound, so we ended up asking larry to play that for us on the drums."

underworld: myspace

we really need a shark attack

porsche. cayenne. turbo. go away.

go home

video: bono meets the press in washington dc
i'm not sure, but i'm beginning to think bono likes attention. ha. at the 1:10 mark or so, i swear bono (almost) contemplates just making stuff up. he is flanked by joe biden and john kerry and the look kerry is giving bono the whole time is really fascinating. eyebrow warfare.

kanye west has a blog and i like it more than i like him.

gilbert arenas has a blog, too and he used it to make fun of the adidas sneakers that adidas pays him to wear. chuckle. "i'm sitting there looking at the shoe like i hope you guys aren't serious. because i'm not going to wear this shoe. ... nobody is going to wear this shoe."

unrelated tune:

[mp3]
fool for love - chris stills
this song somehow has the vibe of 1986 in my brain. but i'm not hating on this. chris's dad is stephen stills and his mom is french singer veronique sanson. he put out a debut album almost 10 years ago and worked with ryan adams (demolition) and the jayhawks in between. he now he has another album out in the u.s. that was previously only available as an import. he sings some of the songs on the album in french. (not this one). one of the songs on the album, for you, was co-written with ryan adams.
chris stills: myspace / itunes.

~ later

click

maroon tie

Washington DC - October 3: U2 frontman Bono (the hot one) walks with U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democrat, to a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Old Spice was on the Hill to discuss gobal poverty and lobby for untucked shirts. The guys to the right and behind yer man, with the goofy grins, think Elevation is, like, so awesome.

article: u2's bono charms freshmen house dems

photo via

slow runner, quick Q&A

michael flynn, singer/songwriter/frontman of the charleston, south carolina-based band slow runner calls his band "music dorks with hearts of gold." mmm. yeah, we like that description. slow runner has some pop sensibility to them. press play below for proof:



the band signed with j records a few years back, but then they got dropped and instead made a record on their own. it's called shiv!

michael and i did a little Q&A, you know the type...



so, what is the worst thing about not being on a major label anymore? what is the best thing? (is there one?)
Michael: I think the correct joke here is "having to pay out of pocket for blow." Actually the worst thing is that we never got to make an expensive record in a nice studio. All our records are homemade. Which is kind of how we prefer it but it would have been fun for once to blow obscene amounts of money on recording a choir and orchestra and whatever else.

The best thing is that we don't have to dance for the man, or pretend like we're taking their inane ideas seriously, or be insincere in any way really. We don't have to worry about what any corporate businessmen think of us. I always felt guilty for stressing about stupid shit like that. I never felt comfortable in that world.

what is the music scene like in charleston? how does it influence the music you write?
Michael: The music scene in Charleston is really interesting; there are lots of talented people here, like a disproportionate amount, and only a thin audience of passionate music lovers to support them. It's a wonderful place to live though, very romantic and old-school, and feeding off of the pool of creativity that everybody creates is downright luxurious. The scene is really close-knit and everybody helps out everybody else.

who are some of your favorite current bands?
Michael: Some of my current favorites: Apparat, Sparklehorse, The National, The Frames, Hot Chip... mostly indie and electronic these days.

what about musical heroes you might have had growing up?
Michael: I've got lots of songwriting heroes: Tom Waits (in the alternate nation that exists in my head, his face is on the $1 bill), Randy Newman, Ric Ocasek, Paul Westerberg, Cory Branan. My musical heroes from back in the day would include Ray Parker Jr., Wyld Stallyns, and a talented young man by the name of Jon Bon Jovi. I went through lots of bad music before I stumbled onto some good music. Not that there's anything bad about Wyld Stallyns.

can you tell me a secret?
Michael: When I was a kid I used to wish with every fiber of my being that my last name was Jackson. It just sounded so cool and preordained for greatness. Michael Jackson. Luckily, God wasn't listening.

[mp3]
long division - slow runner

slow runner is michael flynn, josh kaler, jonathan gray and scott baumil.

buy / website

wonder

peoples not living under rocks are aware that they can pre-order the digital version of radiohead’s upcoming album, in rainbows, for any price they want , but most are choosing to pay an amount similar to what would be charged at a retailer, according to a band spokesperson. you can pretty much pay nothing, but the most you can choose to pay is $205.81. interesting marketing. i wonder what the spice girls think of it. (really).

i can't wait to hear it. (the radiohead record).

unrelated:

i put a post about bono (and edge) on the atu2 blog.

also, there's a buyer in the pink building, and it ain't bono.

awake

there's an interesting article in the houston chronicle about nba all-star tracy mcgrady's recent journey to refugee camps in chad. this interests me way more than your average celebrity vacation to despair in africa. if you read that article, i would recommend then reading this post about it, particularly the comments.

GQ

this month GQ put out a 50th anniversary issue and inside there is an article called "the legacy project" which profiles 15 men that the magazine says "we believe will change our future." the article includes some interesting portraits by photographer richard burbridge, but the shot of bono and jeffrey sachs is not really so awesome.

(click images to enlarge).



if we're just looking at bono's hair and jacket; we're cool. but has nobody told professor sachs that when standing in a photo with the bono, you are meant to stand still like a normal person? the bono does the work.

here's the part with words:

wtf? omg! onyd! (mofo)

is this true? has bono written a song for the spice girls? and if so, under what circumstances is this acceptable?

if he has in fact written this song, i will call him old spice. forever.

this was my cell phone experiencing kaiser chiefs on saturday night. oh my GOD i can't believe it:



~ latez