important news from spain

Zapatero se reúne con Bono from u2miracle.com on Vimeo.

madrid

it is awesome here. going to barcelona tomorrow.

in my name

photos are always better when your peeps take them. here's one that bob f. is giving us the exclusive on :) it's, um, bono and will.i.am in nyc today at the launch of the in my name initiative, an oxfam-sponsored campaign that is basically a global call to action against poverty.

check out the details and consider signing the petition here

bono = an experienced grafitti artist.

hellooooooo

Singer Bono, center, greets Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, left, and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as he is introduced during the opening plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting Wednesday, Sept 24, 2008 in New York. [photo]

also: that "other" meeting of his = cancelled.

.

nathan followill FTW

from new york mag's entertainment blog:

Pitchfork has called your band "the SNL parody of U2 lost in the rural South." Do you find that flattering or funny or rude?
I don't think Pitchfork has ever really been a fan of ours. We put about as much weight into that as we do taking out the trash.

Well, would you guys ever make that parody skit?
I don’t know; we'd all probably fight about who got to play Bono. There would end up being four Bonos. [Pauses.] With pitchforks. [more]

your haircut is making me feel funny inside

french president nicolas sarkozy shakes the hand of the leader of the free world. september 22, 2008. new york. [photo via]

it's okay, these feelings you are having, nicolas.

also:

atu2 points us to the financial times website, where bono and jeffrey sachs are blogging this week from the millennium development goals summit and surrounding meetings with heads of state in new york. bono already has a few posts online. keep up with bono's blog posts here.

he's on his knees looking for the answer

we've been talking a little bit about the killers here. today their new single, human, became available to stream online. some people are also (for now) offering up a free mp3 of human (here / here / here). i'm not going to pretend i'm not going to listen to this on my plane ride to spain. (soon soon soon!) i mean i'm not going to not pretend to not not to. oh wait. whatever.

latez

look who is in new york

more photos here and here.

apparently the top photo is bono going to church and the bottom one is bono at the launch party for spain: on the road again. and then there is this.

latez

sugar daddy

update: listen to sugar daddy here.

i've got male intuition
i've got sexual ambition
i'm the last of a great tradition
let me state my position
the older i get, the better i was
and it's all just for show ...bom-bom
it's all just because
the show must go on
what else can i do?
i'm gonna drop the lot on you!
boom-boom ... sugar ... dee-dee-dee
sugar daddy
dum ... dee dee dee
sugar daddy

if you read the michka assayas book bono in conversation (aka bono on bono), you might recall that at one point in the book, bono sings/recites the above lyrics to michka. it is during a passage when michka is asking bono if, as a boy, he recalls ever having heard his mother sing. he says no, but he remembers watching tom jones on tv with her. and then bono goes on to say that he and simon carmody have been writing a song for tom jones called sugar daddy. (this conversation between michka and bono took place in may, 2004.)

so, i'm not saying those are the lyrics, but ... as you may have heard, bono and edge "guest" on the upcoming tom jones album, on a track called sugar daddy. the official news release says: "Bono and the Edge of U2 contribute and play guitar on a brand new song, Sugar Daddy, written specifically for Jones and inspired by a meeting of the friends in a pub in Dublin."

i think we can assume that the lyrics and song have changed a bit since 2004, but you've also gotta think it'll have the flavor of the above.

bono also told michka way back when that this song has got a "really amazing bass part, which goes boo-boo-bom boo-boo-boo-bom."

(chuckle)

and...

bono's chest's best tom jones (1:00-1:10 in):



that's a clip from this dvd. here's another clip.

when did linda evans join ac/dc?

quality email incoming from madison square garden insider today. despite the ridiculousness of gramps in his short pants, the linda evans guy jumps out at ya. i googled to find out when exactly linda joined the band, and darnit, someone sure did beat me to that comment. (click that for highly intellectual discourse).

i lost my way, but now i'm following

[mp3]
lille - lisa hannigan

someone in ireland is making music worth waiting for. lisa hannigan's debut album sea sew, which the song above appears on, will be out in the u.s. "sometime next year." but it is out in ireland already. and it is getting rave reviews like this one from the irish times:

"Any preconceptions there may be about Lisa Hannigan (ie, that she's this willowy, whispery Damien Rice acolyte floating about wittering on about birds, bees and how best to offset your carbon footprint) will be well and truly shattered by her debut album.

That's not to say she upends certain assumptions by coming across as, say, a mixture of an X-rated Alanis Morissette and a raw, confessional Liz Phair. In fact, it's something else altogether. Hannigan avoids the pitfalls of your typical singer- songwriter by sidestepping the obvious and following the path less travelled.

The song arrangements on Sea Sew are brilliant. Hannigan avoids the traditional approach, which can bedevil and instantly date even the best of songsmiths. Instead, she filters the melodies as if through a sonic prism; the highly defined tunes are as tough as steel and as durable as a Toyota engine.

By eschewing the tried and tested, Hannigan has, at very least, raised the bar for her Irish peers and contemporaries. When - and it is very much a when, not if - this record goes mainstream, it will set a new benchmark for aspiring creative types.

Hannigan subtly gets to the nub of matters emotional and, yes, romantic in a way that is utterly fab and truthful. Lines such as "I spoon you into my coffee cup, spin you through a delicate wash, and wear you all day" ( An Ocean and a Rock ) and "I don't know if you write letters or if you panic on the phone - I'd like to call you all the same. If you want to, I am game" ( I Don't Know ) highlight a frisky yet intuitive brain at work, rest and play.

See Sew is a stealthy stunner and a serious contender for record of the year. As for the artist, there are too many singer- songwriters around these days that are 10 a penny. Lisa Hannigan is, without question, the full shilling."

stream more songs from sea sew here.

it might get loud: press conference (video)

the tiff website has a high quality video online of the press conference held earlier this month for the documentary film it might get loud, which the edge is one of the SUPERstars of. you can find the press conference video here (scroll down on left and click image of jack, edge and jimmy).

the press conference is pretty long, and edge is sharing time with everyone else in this, so it's on and off when he is talking, but i found it to be pretty interesting. and of course, there are a few dry edge witticisms to be heard. watch at least until they open it up for questions so you can hear the first reporter ask if there will be a led zeppelin reunion and if jimmy page might also want to make an album with the edge and jack white. (ha!) edge: "well, if the money is right..."

and if you watch long enough you can even see edge make jack white blush.

previously:
it might get loud: reviews, q&a, videos, photos
it might get loud: movie premiere

as far as i know, no distribution deal/release date for this film has yet been announced. you can sign up for email updates on the website: itmightgetloud.com

click

also:

scattered thoughts: ontd!

a deer attacked our dog!

remember rosie who lives at my mom's house? sweetest dog. ever. she got kicked in the head by a deer! (a girl deer.)

according to the trustworthy source who witnessed this incident, this deer was a doe. and it had skills. like serious moves. the description sounded to me like the deer had moves that were a cross between all-star era tim hardaway, rihanna and kung fu panda. my mom (the trustworthy source) says maybe the deer reacted aggressively because it had babies. i said that maybe it had rabies.

anyway, the deer appeared on a street corner in montauk, which is over-run with deer, most of which are full of ticks and lyme disease. (not that i am judging you, deer bastards!)

this deer is in trouble if i ever see it. i am pretty anti-gun, but don't fret, we can still take you on, deer. rosie is, like, almost 12 years old, deer. she old yo. yeah she barked at you, deer, but that means you should run, not attack! (sidenote: do you think there is ANY chance the deer is reading this blog? bono or the deer? which one is less likely to be reading this?) wait, sorry .. continuing ...

in my mom's awesomely hysterical reenactment, the deer looks at rosie and mom, and is about 10 yards away. the deer sees rosie barking and then stutter steps, head fakes, swivels its head side to side and then runs towards mom and rosie. the deer then takes a hop step, a mini jump, and performs a reverse flutter kick ON ROSIE'S HEAD! rosie falls to the ground dumbfounded.

okay, rosie is on the ground.

mom is telling me the story and i say, "oh NO! what did rosie do after she got kicked?"

mom says rosie looked up all sweet, stupid and stunned, like, "Huh, Whaa?"

and then the deer just stood there staring at my mom! did this deer think it was going to kung fu rihanna hardaway panda kick my mom?! this deer clearly does not know my mom. so then mom looks at the deer and says, "Uh-Uh, nooo" and tosses what is left of the coffee in her cup onto the deer. who then ran away.

despite this incident, rosie remains her sweet self and is still firmly in the anti-gun camp. she contemplated devoting her life to examining suburban development and how this has crowded the deer out of its natural habitat. how best to ethically control this crazy overpopulation of deer in certain areas. however, due to the fact that she GOT KICKED IN THE HEAD, rosie has decided to just spend all day sleeping instead. she wishes the deer the best. and is currently relaxing with her pet pig. (no lipstick jokes).



rosie also wants you to know that the top photo makes her nose look abnormally big, but really, it's just the camera angle.

reading / watching

reading / watching

listening

bono in london, september 12

[click for photos] (at sotheby's, where damien hirst's auction items are on display.) these items include an embalmed horse with a horn jammed onto its head. which totally makes it a unicorn. or something.

related:

damien hirst: bad boy makes good

hirst in a pickle if bling fails to sing

mini rooftop nyc: edun party (video)

this video segment is 95 percent lame, but, it exists, so, yeah ...here ya go:



also:

minispace: edun fashion party and presentation

the current: edun's spring collection

not related:

post-it notes = banned FOREVER

your eyes

that's waz interpreting i will follow. heather originally brought that to my attention and i posted about it a while ago here. (you guys had some interesting comments about his version.) for anyone who missed that, you can still find the mp3 of i will follow by waz [here].

all of which leads to this: waz recently released a new ep called the secret. no, i will follow is not on it. but click here to sample the songs that are on it, if you are so inclined.

also ...



[mp3] i will follow - u2 (live in washington, 1981)
march 3, 1981, bayou club, washington dc. get the whole bootleg at u2start (free registration required).

[mp3] i will follow - u2 (live in gothenburg, 2005)
july 29, 2005, ullevi stadium, gothenburg, sweden. one of my fave bootlegs from the last tour. get the whole concert here (free registration required).

and ...

edge presented peter gabriel with amnesty international's ambassador of conscience award today

edge also told nme some blah blah stuff about that album they are totally working on still

would you eat these guys?

via jacket lunch box, a blog full o' bento boxes designed as album covers, including the above. would love to know the exact ingredients in that. i wonder who tastes best.

thanks m.

huh?

[mp3]
from here to there - dylan champagne
recommended listen. a bit more to it than its acoustic simplicity at first reveals. from the album new equation. [more info]

unrelatedly clicking on:

slate: will mccain's heart stop?
idolator: can sarah palin keep firing up barracuda?

the wilson sisters from heart might not like it, but in many instances, politicians CAN use an artist's song even when the artist doesn't want them to.

my mistakes were made for you

that's the new video for my mistakes were made for you by the last shadow puppets.

previously: adam clayton's version of a video for this song

get an acoustic mp3 of the song here.

roll'd

it might get loud: Q&As, fan reviews, photos, video + much more

the edge in toronto, photos courtesy of emma (check out her blog / more flickr photos)

- ryan, aka, the mad hatter from toronto, attended the it might get loud premiere, and posts about it on his blog [with photos, check it out].

i asked ryan for more details and he sent me an email saying, among other things, that he thinks the eyeweekly.com review i mentioned here (which gave the movie a poor review), is bullshit. "I'm very picky when it comes to rock docs, and have indeed sat through a few of these. However, this movie is so much more than talking heads and archival footage... IT MIGHT GET LOUD is aimed at fans of good music," he says.

also:

- there are some edge quotes from the it might get loud press conference in this article.

On how U2 endures and continues to be relevant with each new release ... "It's never easy," he said. "And we fail most of the time. But that's the challenge."

- another fan recap of seeing the premiere of the film

- a good look at jack white's sense of humor in this blog post about the film.

- edge talking in audience shot q&a vid:



and finally:

reading through the press notes available on the website for it might get loud, a few things jump out. there is a scene in the film where edge takes us back to the classroom the baby band used to practice in at mount temple. that sounds cool. also, according to the music credits, edge performs part of the new song “GET ON YOUR BOOTS” and the songwriting credits for that track are listed as : Written by Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. (no mention of eno or lanois).

there are also two pre-packaged Q&As in the press notes. one with producer thomas tull and one with producer/director davis guggenheim. both are posted in full below.

----------


Q&A WITH PRODUCER THOMAS TULL

How is this film different from other music documentaries?
While there have been a lot of performance documentaries, this one is really about the relationship between these three men and their instruments. We tried to show what drives the artists, what got them passionate as players, what made them pick up the guitar in the first place.

Where did you come up with this concept?
The guitar is something I am ardent about. I was thinking how, on a global level, the personification of contemporary music IS the guitar: from video games to debates over Top 10 guitarists lists, from rock to jazz to blues, this instrument captures everyone's imagination. It was a subject I hadn't really seen explored on film, from that perspective.

What was instrumental in you picking Davis Guggenheim to direct?
I've known Davis as a friend for a number of years. He is one of the best documentarians there is (as shown in "An Inconvenient Truth"), and he's passionate about music too. He was the only person I thought of for this film.

Why did you want to make this film?
As a fan I wanted to see a movie that captured the essence of why people are so fanatic about the guitar. I wanted to tell that story through these three, particular artists.

How did you choose Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White? What was it like working with them?
It was almost like casting a movie. We wanted to show a wide range of styles and eras by focusing on three of the best players in the world, from three generations...and they said yes! Like many kids, I had a poster of Jimmy Page on my wall--he is a living legend. U2 is one of the greatest bands ever, and The Edge is a brilliant and distinctive player. Jack White is the new generation -- cutting his own path but also keeping the guitar, and great guitar traditions, alive.

What do you hope audiences will experience while watching the film?
Honestly, I made this film for people like me, people who love music and the experience of a live show. When you love a band or a musician you want to know how and why they do what they do--what makes them tick. Davis was able to show this, to get inside these guys' worlds and inside their heads in a way I don't think any other music documentary has. I hope fans are as excited and fulfilled by seeing and hearing what he uncovered as I am.

----------


Q&A WITH PRODUCER/DIRECTOR DAVIS GUGGENHEIM

What was your initial reaction when Thomas Tull first approached you about IMGL?
Thomas asked me to come to his office in Burbank - I had no idea why. I get there and he launches into this passionate pitch about the electric guitar and how no film has ever captured what it is that makes the instrument so great. He described the huge influence the electric guitar has had on him and our entire society. Soon, without ever realizing it, I was hooked: totally into this idea of looking at the subject matter in a different way. The history of the instrument has already been thoroughly explored. Most Rock and Roll documentaries focus on car wrecks and overdoses; or they pontificate with sweeping generalities about how this guy was “God” and how “music was changed forever”… Thomas and I didn’t want any of that. We wanted to focus on story-telling and the path of the artist, we wanted to push deeper beneath the surface.

Are there particular moments from the film that are your favorites?
There are so many. We were filming in Jimmy Page's home outside of London - which he has never allowed before – and he starts pulling out his favorite albums and playing them for us. These are the records that he listened to and learned from as a young musician. Just watching him listen to the records was incredible - and then he started playing air guitar!

We were filming Jack in Austin, Texas, and he's playing this out-of-control guitar solo. Through the lens, I start realizing that he's so focused and playing so aggressively that his hand is bleeding without him even knowing it.

Or Edge taking us to the classroom where he and U2 first met and rehearsed when they were 16 and 17 years old. This was just a regular high school classroom – they would meet for practice and spend the first ten minutes clearing all the desks to the sides before they could actually play.

In Tennessee, I asked Jack to write an original song on camera – and he did it – right in front of us… I don’t think I have ever seen that before.

Another time, Jimmy played us previews of two new tracks he was writing – both of which actually ended up in the movie.

What was the most challenging part of shooting this film?
The most challenging part of the project was weaving these three stories together. Each guitarist comes from a different generation, has different roots, different theories - sometimes in direct conflict of one another. I had a hunch that inter-cutting their stories would be really interesting, but was panicked at times - worried that it would never work.

How long did the shoot take?
Lesley Chilcott and I spent the better part of a year flying between London, Nashville and Dublin, following these guys. Sometimes it would be a very small crew, very intimate and sparse. And then we had a huge shoot on one of the largest Hollywood soundstages. There were seven cameras, the three rock stars, all their guitars and crew -- it was like a three ring circus. I'll never forget the look on the crews’ faces (and even those of us in the business who are so jaded) when Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, turned on their amps and started playing together.

What I love about this movie, and what makes it so unique, is how the scale will change from Edge alone in his studio late night - to the three of them jamming on a Led Zeppelin track together with the volume full blast and the cameras capturing every angle.

What do you hope audiences will experience while watching the film?
I hope the audience will fall in love with these guys as much as I did. Not just as rock stars - that part is easy - but as individuals and artists who turned their individual life experiences into music: beautiful, raw, in-your-face, visceral, and transcendent. And I hope that audiences feel a touch of that child-like excitement that Thomas sparked in me, that first day we sat down.

related: it might get loud (premiere + reviews) / press conference video

it might get loud (premiere)

jimmy page and the edge in toronto last night at the premiere of the film it might get loud .

twitch review: it might get loud

"... The film is, in essence, a love letter to the electric guitar.

The concept behind the film is simple. Take three recognized guitar gods, each from a different generation. Then put them in a room together and let them talk about their craft, their instrument. And for good measure, throw a few of their favorite instruments in there with them and let them jam a bit. The players? Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page, U2‘s The Edge and White Stripes front man Jack White. Two of these men are arguably the most influential players of their respective generations while the third has a fighting shot of claiming that title for the current age, and each has a radically different approach from the rest...

...Page seems perfectly comfortable playing the elder statesman throughout, White is a curious mess of contradictions, while The Edge comes off as the most thoughtful and heartfelt of the three...

...White gets some of the most compelling individual moments - the film starts with a brilliant bit in which he knocks together a single stringed electric slide guitar out of some scraps of lumber, two nails, a length of wire and a pop bottle before defiantly asking why anyone would need to go out and buy a guitar - but despite his protestations that art needs to be about honesty and truth he never quite steps out from behind his carefully molded image. Much more interesting are the sequences with The Edge and Page, both of whom have spent the bulk of their careers hugely overshadowed by larger-than-life vocalists being given the chance to talk about themselves and their craft in their own words, with scarcely a mention of their respective front men.

Also fascinating are the sequences in which the trio sit to jam together, each of them taking a turn to show off a favorite riff, to teach one of their songs to the others. When White and The Edge step up to the plate the other two men watch intently, trying to figure out how the man playing does what he does - what is different from what they themselves would do if left to their own devices, and why. But when Page steps up and hits the opening notes of Whole Lotta Love both The Edge and White visibly struggle to keep themselves from cracking up like a couple of star struck kids. Yes, as much as they’ve accomplished they’re both still fans first, both still in it for the love of the music and the people who make it ... " continued




this eyeweekly.com review is much less kind:

"Another TIFF, another VH1-ready rock-documentary: this one features Jimmy Page, The Edge (avec toque) and Jack White (avec numerous borderline-insufferable affectations) meeting up in a carefully dressed-down warehouse and waxing philosophical about the electric guitar. Just because director Davis Guggenheim knowingly includes a clip from This Is Spinal Tap doesn’t mean his subjects don’t tread dangerously close to Nigel Tufnel territory whilst discussing sustain, although there are a few good bits, like White’s sincere appreciation of Sun House and Edge sheepishly playing the riff from “Elevation” sans effects pedal (and, subsequently, sans riff)."

itmightgetloud.com

bono + cigar + pink guitar

celebrating the completion of new u2 album anniversary of some stupid place with some stupid people. henri leconte even? HA.



[more]

rock pop star haircut update (2.0)

sept. 1 '08 at the zenith in strasbourg. we approve of this haircut. (photo credit)

more haircuts ... buttons:




finally:

[mp3] the call - ciam
[mp3] over the edge - ciam
synth math rock. these guys cite depeche mode and muse among their influences and describe their sound as "alternative emotronic experimental". some of it works a little. above songs are from the album anonymous, which you can download for free on the band's website.

u2's new album will probably come out in 2009, possibly even before the band members start turning 49 years old

so says bono. this extended wait for an album that, really, who knows if we'll even like, well it sure makes some people mad. but not me.

other things i am more concerned with than when u2's next album will arrive: finding a new place to live; buying a new car; remembering to come home when i go to spain in a few weeks; securing a professional tennis player to let me be his new york girlfriend; praying liz lemon comes back to SNL to play the drill baby drill lady; also, making sure each member of u2 has appropriate haircut when album is eventually released.

unrelated:

[mp3]
she's gone - benjamin taylor
remember when we had a contest to decide who was on ben taylor's shirt - and it wasn't edge, but was bruce lee? yeah, no? okay. anyway, his last album was a ben taylor album, but his new one is a benjamin taylor album. and it is called the legend of kung folk and it is out on september 16th in north america. the above song is on it. ben is playing joe's pub in nyc on september 20, and a few other places in the u.s. before that. i am sure i don't need to mention that i approve of this haircut:

do what you like

[mp3]
tired of waiting for you - the kinks



[mp3]
singing to the earth (to thank her for you) - apollo sunshine

more: apollo sunshine / the kinks

new u2 album: untitled / unexpected (q magazine scan)

update: hi-res scans of the whole u2 article in q magazine, february 2009 issue can be found here.

release date = TBC = TO BE CONFIRMED

So, THE EDGE, this album is being completed as we speak? "Yeah. It's happening live in real time. It's totally frantic."

Having effectively abandoned their initial plan to work with Rick Rubin (although some material has survived), U2 took the unusual move of bringing in their long-time producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as co-writers early on. "We thought, if we're all writing together we'll get more stuff and it'll be a more fruitful use of time," Edge says....

"There is some dark, heavy stuff but there are also some lighter things.Some we've really had to sweat to get and some just came so easily." Work-in-progress highlights include "fuck-off live rocker" Breathe; For Your Love, which Edge says is one of his best-ever riffs; and ... Get On Your Boots ("Eddie Cochran with barbershop harmonies").

... FULL TEXT BELOW in scan from q magazine / via

(click to enlarge)

redimensiona el vertigo

hot-t

from reforma.com via u2eastlink