boobies and watermarks (something for everyone, even yous whiners)

related: u2's get on your boots video not quite ready

(jetstream)

you can get the new doves song jetstream free on their website. i really like doves. good band. when people say u2-ish, i don't even cringe. the new tune has some of this in it, though.

will.i.am: wtf lottery did this joker win?!

hmmmm ... irish ISP agrees to disconnect repeat P2P users
One of Ireland's largest ISPs, Eircom, has capitulated to the major music labels and agreed to implement a full "graduated response" program—complete with disconnections. Users get two warnings regarding file-sharing, and a third violation brings down the banhammer. The music industry has already said that it intends to pursue the same agreement with Ireland's other ISPs.

amazon.com's editors have put together a top 100 debut albums of all time list. they have boy as #1.

new u2 video for get on your boots will debut today on independent.ie. according to this post on u2log, the art we saw a few days ago may be for an alternate version of the video.

cover art for get on your boots single is up on u2.com (nothing special but a zoom in on this image definitely shows that it captures each of their individual personalities pretty well.)

and ...

there is a legit fan review of no line on the horizon on u2tour.de (german) with a brief english translation tacked onto the end. a longer, rougher google translation is here. highlight: this album is different, this record is a brave one - and this record is definitely the edge "on fire".


latez

u2 playing the grammy awards

u2 grammy performance update is here

it's on february 8 (via u2.com)

interesting use of the equal sign

[mp3] toe jam - the bpa (with david byrne & dizzee rascal)

every day is fucking perfect
it's a paradise
watch my life like it's a movie
had to watch it twice
a boy looks at a girl
and a girl looks like a pony
she gallops all day long
in between my toes

that song is stuck in my head. fo real.

the video is crazy (NSFW maybe depending where you work, ha):



the bpa is norman cook, aka fatboy slim. that song is on the new album i think we're gonna need a bigger boat.

elbow : running to stand still

audio of elbow covering running to stand still is on spin.com

it will appear on this album:



related:



video clip is from this dvd.

look right and pretend you are being hypnotized by a rainbow colored unicorn

gavin bond's u2 images are up on his site now: gavinbondphotography.com. they are the same images that we already saw in q magazine, but on his site they are sharper and free of text. still not free of cliche, but whatever, people, it's all we've got til the next batch comes out.

speaking of which, u2 miracle points out some flickr photos that may be related to the get on your boots video. HERE ... and here and here and here and here.

edge talks about the video here. (women are the future). not sure about the concept, will have to wait and see. but, the bono? he is channeling tony manero, yeah?



we're expecting to see this video for real on january 30.

latez

scarf (but where can i buy these boots?)

as atu2 pointed out a few days ago, bono's "rilke poem" edun scarf generated quite the buzz when he wore it at the inauguration concert. the scarf was not immediately available to buy after the event in the same color scheme. then edun fixed that and made it available online. they are highlighting it on the site as the "inauguration scarf." now just a few days after making it available, it is already on back order. edun online store.

meanwhile, edge is once again dumbfounded by the absence of a clamor for his dumbass beanie. oh wellz.

sweet article

friends united: ali hewson and bryan meehan

slc

it's foggy here. not sure if this drink has anything to do with it.



it's not mine.

does the new u2 single rip off laurie berkner?

bone-o-head's boots song

berkner's* boots song:



technically you might say, "well the music is totally different and larry mullen rips a hole in your face with his drum parts on u2's song compared to the above jokers. oh and edge kicks the frog boot kid's ass. also, adam's bass + bono's voice = slightly sexier than laurie." but, um, these songs do share a key word. b-o-o-t-s. so i call it COPYING! u2 = unoriginal hackz.

also, our friend elmo's review of the new u2 single cracked me up. you don't even need to agree with it to be entertained by it.

*berkner youtube clip = quality desperation video taping job by someone's mommy or daddy.

america's song on oprah (audio / video)

the whole bono vox superstar on oprah thing yesterday with faith hill, mj blige, seal and will.i.am was awful (as predicted). but thankfully bono appeared on video and not in person.

there's a free mp3 download on oprah.com until tuesday at 5:00 p.m. est, and you can also watch the video of the performance.

*i most highly recommend* watching this video of bono and will.i.am in the studio working on the song. it's funny (charming) to see their interaction. (also, the oprah peeps put a fonzi bono picture at the start of the vid - oprah peeps, FTW!)

i still have get on your boots on repeat.

message from pdh

he wears his sunglasses at night. but you already knew that. via the one blog, with a lil dc rehearsal footage at the end.

meet me in the sound

u2 - get on your boots single download is available on itunes (u.s. store) for 99 cents.

audio can be streamed here: goyb.u2.com

lyrics are here

i am VERY optimistic about the album after hearing this single. there is so much going on here, but the most striking thing to me is hearing these guys trying hard to break out of their go-to-basics again. i wish i could break all these guitar, bass, drum parts apart separately and blast them up higher so i could hear exactly what they are up to. also, so it would rock a little harder.

i like it.

u2 dc videos

video: pride / city of blinding lights



more videos:
u2 interviewed on rte news in dc (click on the "bono to perform at obama concert" vid)
u2 interviewed by brian williams on nbc (or try here for nbc video - scroll down page to bono's face)

sunday sunday (sometimes it just turns out that way)

larry, are you in the loo? yoo hoo? looking for war criminals, are you?





(photos via)

SETLIST SPOILER: here's youtube video of u2 rehearsing saturday in washington, dc. (here's hoping bono works on the wording of his "dream sequence" train of thoughts there.) and another one

also, some flickr photos of u2 rehearsing in dc on saturday for sunday's we are one obama inauguration concert (as usual, adam wins the radmobile contest)

i had plans to go to the concert sunday in dc with friends who are way cooler than me, but i pulled a last second cancel. (sorry!) color me lame. my excuses are a raging sore throat and a looming trip out west early this week. but really, those excuses are weak, so just forget i mentioned them.

you can watch the "we are one" concert on hbo and (i think) on hbo.com (2:30 p.m. est, encore play at 7:00 p.m. est) or you can listen online on npr. (2:00 p.m. est)

also, ugh, b-diddy is going to be on oprah on monday in a group sing song. bold prediction: this will be LAME.

and ... edge's movie it might get loud is at sundance this week. paste has an interesting review/write-up on it.

unrelated:

THIS is the way to buy cds.

fleet foxes, sweet live set from november in den haag, netherlands mp3s are here.

g o y b snippets

UPDATE: try here instead.

you can listen here: two new short, fuzzy, but very real clips of the new u2 single. (scroll down to snippet one and snippet two under the "Thursday January 15th - Farewell, my blog... " post). these were posted/taped by a crazy 103.7 fm employee. (how long before these get taken down?) the single will be on radio officially on monday a.m.

right, sure

i love bono's oh my god near the end of this.

i am not really caring what's maybe on (update) definitely on the cover of the u2 cd.

interested in what's ON the cd. (sound). and yes of course neil mccormick has heard it. much respect to neil, but i will not allow his opinion to get me excited.

It could be the glittering sonic mind meld of pop rock and soul that Zooropa wanted to be. Or maybe, like Bono, I'm am just prone to exaggeration.

he is noncommittal. and he did after all, say, in advance of its release, that how to dismantle an atomic bomb was "fantastic" and "wonderful" and "ballsy." so ...

later ...

bonobruceobamawho? (larry mullen, jr. to perform at inaugural concert)

not sure if it is crazy to go to this. or crazy not to go. i am still deciding. either way, i am so happy the whole band will be there.

vacant lot

sorry for my slack blogging lately.

placeholder:


Video from U2rulesmyworld on Vimeo.

(watch to the end.)

more

u2 in rolling stone (scans)

Page 13 and 18 from the January 22, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine (click to enlarge):




related post

glasvegas (really?)

i kept hearing in 2008 that glasvegas were so greaat. and i never really listened. then they were on letterman a few nights ago:



now i read somewhere once that glasvegas had the pomp of u2 without the pretension. and then i see this dude dressed up like joe strummer and i'm like, oh no, that's not pree-tench-us. at all.

still, i bought their album. if i had illegally downloaded it, i could delete it, but buying it? man, that's serious. oh well.

unrelated: i am wondering if demented u2 will REALLY be demented.

still ...

the new issue of rolling stone has some more info on no line on the horizon, including one article that breaks down some of the album's songs.

there is also a second u2 article in rolling stone with interviews in the studio from "early" december. there was a live link to this second article on rollingstone.com earlier today, which is now dead. only one article is up there now, instead of two. but the in-studio article was copied by fans and you can read it here.

trying not to read too much into this snippet below...

"We start simple, we get complicated, and then we re-simplify it," says Eno, as he tweaks on his computer what he estimates to be the 80th incarnation of a song called "Breathe." "It's been a longer process, but I think it's compositionally stronger than anything they've done for a long time." That said, Eno is irked that the band has dropped some of the more contemplative and sonically adventurous songs it developed. "Tell them they're being stupid cunts," he jokes, after playing a lovely discarded ballad called "Winter."

Still, there are plenty of unexpected sounds... [more]

2009liner (vámonos!)

i was thinking after i admitted to myself what crappy albums i spent much of 2008 listening to that in 2009 i would hope to try and like two of 2008's blog-loved albums that i never even tried to get into - the bon iver album and the frightened rabbit album. i think bon iver's sound is so pretty, but my initial reaction way back when was, "oooh this makes me sleeeepy."

[mp3] skinny love - bon iver

and then i saw bon iver's awesome performance on letterman a few weeks back and that drumsy bit really convinced me to reassess. so i will give it a go. and frightened rabbit, so many of my favorite bloggers have been quite convincing in their descriptive love for them. so, now forcing self to *really* listen is required. forcing self to like won't happen, but some aural magic might make it so.

[listen] frightened rabbit daytrotter session

i don't know what to expect on this blog in 2009 as far as the u2.

2008 really did stupid me to death when it came to the internet. the internet and bono, in particular. the level of idiocy available to link to regarding u2, whether it be rooted in hate or adoration, or just rehashed u2 "news", well, it's not a new development. but i guess it just finally got to the point where it literally now bores me to leprechaunsizedeyelinerstreaked tears. there are a few opinions about this band that i value. but lost in a sea of stupid, they are sometimes hard to spot.

of course, 2009 is different. real news. real album. real TOUR.

but the crazy on the stupidnet, good, bad and other is really gonna be manic for those trying to keep up with u2 this year. i guess my point, if i have one, is just that i do not anticipate trying to keep up with all the nonsense all the time. life and sanity will intervene and moments of clarity convince me that an album is just an album after all. more important things exist. (like TOURS.)

there will be much to love this year, we hope, and much to poke fun at, no doubt. we'll see what unfolds...

- catch ya later -



credit: bono photo by gavin bond, from q magazine. scans are here.

ryan confidential: ronnie drew (videos, bono)

gerry ryan's hour-long ronnie drew tribute special aired on rte television in ireland on january 1. info is here. below are two clips, both of which bono is included in.





(couldn't find any other clips.) would love a link to the whole program if anyone has it.

related posts:
the ballad of ronnie drew (audio)
if you're not irish, that isn't your fault (live video)

q scans

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

or ... here are the interview pages collected in a zip file.