While we are waiting for Radiohead's ninth studio album, band's leader doesn't stop surprizing his fans. Six months after his second solo album Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, during 38 minutes, Thom Yorke did recently a song during... 25,920 minutes. Or 432 hours. Or 18 days.
Named "Subterrane", this song has been created exclusively for his friend Stanley Donwood and its retrospective exhibition, "The Panic Office". Donwood worked with Radiohead since 1994 (before The Bends), by designing band's albums plus all associated artwork. His exhbition is presented at CarriageWorks in Sydney (Australia) from May 21st to June 6th. And "Subterrane" is played during all the exphibition.
The thing is that "Subterrane" is made of ambient recordings and played through speakers in the floors, walls, and ceilings of the space, according to Juxtapoz. And the most impressive is that the song doesn't repeat itself several times. That means that it is much worked.
The worst: you won't find it on the Internet. Even by taping "thom yorke subterrane" on Google, the first links are related with Radiohead's song "Subterranean Homesick Alien" from OK Computer (1997). It is natural : Yorke wants this song like Donwood's exhibition : punctual,temporaryandwe can onlyenjoy iteven more, if we are in Sydney.
Just about Radiohead, the band's official website opens by a colorful moving background linked to "Dead Air Space", but we don't know what this means. It's up to you to decode it... Are you able to listen to a 432-hour long song? And more importantly, are you ready for Radiohead's new album release? Sources: Virgin Radio (French), Semi-pernanent
UPDATE: the French website My Band News revealed by Dropbox a 3 minute video of Donwood's exhibition with Thom Yorke's "Subterrane" song in background. Watch it here : tinyurl.com/img7281...
Announced on December 8 with the release of his new single "You're On (feat. Kyan)", Madeon's debut album Adventure will "tell" the story of the French electro producer and prodigy, known on YouTube with his 39-song mashup "Pop Culture" (26 million views today). Expected to be released on March 30, the album will contain 12 fresh songs whose "You're On" and "Imperium", released in November.
The square, always the square ...
... or the diamond. It is what we see on the artworks for "Imperium" and "You're On". And, no surprise : the symbol formed by the square and the two arrows is on the two artworks for Adventure. The Deluxe version artwork shows a part of the landscape appearing in the classic version, inside the symbol. The classic version shows Madeon's logo, "Adventure" in Madeonian code and the tower present in "You're On" video.
On this debut album, we will discover 10 new tracks of Madeon who worked on them with soime artists, as Kyan, Dan Smith, Foster The People's Mark Foster, Aquilo and Passion Pit's Mickael Angelakos (who collaborated with Skrillex on "Recess" song). The Deluxe version will add 6 tracks with the 12 others as "The City", "Icarus", "Finale", "Cut The Kid", "Technicolor" and "Only Way Out", one of Madeon's hidden songs appearing in some old sets.
(from left to right : artworks for "Imperium", "You're On", Adventure and Adventure Deluxe)
Chapter 1 : The city, the tower and the the code
One week after "You're On" release, Madeon revealed on YouTube the official video for the song as Part 1 for Adventure, as M83 did in 2011 for "Midnight City" (from the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming) with the kids having superpowers - and coming back in "Reunion" and "Wait".
Here is what Madeon "built" these last months and what we see in the video : a huge tower and a big city in the desert, full of strange symbols (actually letters). We see a young woman, walking in this city, who is intrigued by the tower, brighting at night. A day, she meets a boy having on his arm a tattoo of the diamond symbol. Both find each other the night during Madeon's set and push together a button, lighting the tower. A "To be continued" ends the video, making us waiting for Part 2.
The "Madeonian" symbols - or letters - as we like to call, are everywhere on the buildings of the city. If we know how to decode them, we can read some words as "Don't Jump", "We see you", "Stay here", "Don't jump" and "City is your home forever".
By the way, the symbols appear on the artworks for "Imperium", "You're On", Adventure and on the videos for "The City" ("This was our city") and the teaser for "Technicolor" ("We can get it back"). This make us believe that Madeon puts codes and clues at each song or artwork.
Ready to join Madeon's adventure ?
If you are in the USA, you will probably go to Coachella Festival from April 10 to April 19 (headlined by AC/DC, Jack White and Drake). Madeon will reveal his first "Adventure" set on Sundays 12 and 19 with maybe screens forming the diamond, and the square screen, which will be connected to his Launchpads as he revealed at La Nuit SFR Live last year.
We all cant wait to here these songs with evocating names : "Zephyr" (a diamond), "Pixel Empire" (appearing in "Technicolor" artwork), "Home" (from the sentence in "You're On" video) and "Isometric" (Madeon looks loving maths). The tour dates will be come in the next days, so stay connected.
Some people did this joke (me too). But we first thought that the name of the next version of Windows was also a joke. We were almost sure that it would be named Windows 9. Some guys thought about new names, like Windows One (because Xbox One, OneDrive, OneNote), but this version of Windows existed years ago. At final, no Windows 9, but Windows 10. Yes.
The king of Windows 7 was the Start Menu, and it returns for desktop lovers on Windows 10. Of course, we have most frequent apps and all apps list. Search bar has been improved, showing file results and web results, as Windows 8.1 search charm did. User folders, as Documents, Pictures and Settings, are now above most frequent apps, and the shutdown/sleep button is on the top, next to user name.
The great new on this new Start menu is live tiles, next to apps list. Like on Windows 8.1 you can change tile size, move them where you want, pin and unpin tiles. And – cool feature – you can resize Start menu’s height by putting your mouse on the top border and dragging it up or down. According to the Windows 10 early build hands-on video by Zac Bowden (WinBeta), we can go from 2 to 8 rows of tiles, depending of your screen resolution.
Desktop and Modern UI on windows
A lot of desktop users also waited this feature, to have Modern UI apps, basically in fullscreen, on simple windows. Now it’s done. All the Modern UI apps of your system or downloaded in the Windows Store are like desktop programs: you can move and resize all app windows (width and now height). Minimize, maximize and close buttons are also here.
Between the snap feature introduced on Windows 7 and the task view, Windows 10 adds a new feature called Snap assist. By snapping a window on the left or on the right, a little task view appears next to the active window to ask to user what other window he would want to snap on this side. This feature supports up to four snapped windows on the screen.
Start screen closer to PCs and tablets using touch
Yes, what about touch? PCs and laptops including touch screen, tablets, Surface products? For lovers of touch and Modern UI, the Start screen is still here, with live tiles and apps. It includes now on the left something we already saw on the Start menu: user folders, most frequent apps and all apps list, linked to the apps list you know on Windows 8.1. Apparently, for PCs using touch plus mouse and keyboard, apps list and tiles on the Start screen are the same when we go on the Start menu, so both are synchronized. Then, people loving using the Start screen could naturally set Start screen by default when they click on the Start button. Note that these two versions of Start (menu/screen) will fit with all devices – PCs, laptops, tablets and probably Windows Phones with a new version), and so all screen sizes – from 4 inches to 80 inches.
Charms bar is still present and didn’t change since Windows 8.1. For search and settings, desktop fans will prefer using Start menu. People loving Modern UI still can use charms bar for searching and sharing what they want.
Command prompt … updated?
Here, no one waited that during Windows 10 demo. The command prompt, for typing commands on grey and old letters on black background, has given an update that its users wanted for years: paste text with Ctrl + V on the command line. We can also now copy, cut and select text using keyboard links. Font used is still the same, so any other update will be done for command prompt.
Conclusion: a good start for Windows 10
For this new version of Windows, Microsoft – very probably – found the way to attract Windows 7 and desktop lovers, especially with Start menu’s back (note the word play used for the conclusion’s title), and it’s not surprising that Windows 10 already received positive reviews. With the focus of desktop, enterprises will probably use more Windows 10 than Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 users – pros or kids - will not be lost with this version.
As old Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Build 2014, “When we brought out Windows 8 (then Windows 8.1), we talked about touch, touch, touch […] touch and more touch.” This time, we heard more the word “desktop” than “touch”. Touch isn’t dead, naturally, and we’ll continue to see touch on the next generations of smartphones, tablets, notebooks and ultrabooks.
Windows 10 will be the first version of Windows which will be the same on every platform (even smartphones with some edits). The technical preview version has been released for free on October 1st, and users downloading this preview can join the “Windows Insider” Program, a program where they receive updated preview versions of Windows 10 directly on their PCs.
We will have to wait next conferences to see more of Windows 10, especially at MWC and Build 2015, before its final release. Windows 10 will be integrated on smartphones and on the next generation of Microsoft Surface – Surface 4 or … 10? – coming next year. In the box of Windows 10 features we could add Internet Explorer 12, improved version of Visual Studio and more. With all this, Windows 10 could start next year a “battle” of sales against OS X Yosemite (revealed at WWDC 2014) and maybe new Chromebooks.
So, do you love Windows 10? Tell us what you like and what Windows 10 needs
Download Windows 10 Technical Preview (build 9841) on Windows website: preview.windows.com...
Skrillex playing at Garorock Festival, Marmande (France), 29-30 June 2014. And we were there ...
Summer is here, and between working on albums and spending holidays on swimming pool, artists let us unwaited surprises. From the new and dreamy Coldplay album to new bands as Files Miles North Of Nowhere and Babymetal (yes, this name exists), here is our selection of 10 albums and EPs, released these 6 past months, we loved very much.
1. Within Temptation : Hydra (January 30)
Sixth studio album for the Dutch symphonic metal band. A great one as we planned. Hydra's "story" launched with the release of the single "Paradise (What About Us?)" on September 27, in which Tarja Turunen (Nightwish) joined Within Temptation singer Sharon den Adel. The album is out on January 30 and directly takes first place in the iTunes charts in Europe.
Who thinks that adding kawaii ("cute" in Japanese) in metal music is not possible ? However it is. The name of band is good found : Babymetal. Three young Japanese girls, aged from 14 to 16, queens of black and red, succeed to make Kawaii Metal, and the results are here : several singles whose a "Gimme Chocolate!!" viewed about 11,4 million times.
After four years of work and singles, the band released their debut eponym album. Begun with speed and dark metal, the girls show us the way to jump and to move your head and your hair at once. And they little by little come in Europa and the USA
The debut album Torches conquered the fans with "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini", that we waited a second album. Mark Foster's band announced on January Supermodel, with the first single "Coming Of Age" and a video showing the mural painting of album's artwork.
The formula of Supermodel is different of the previous album, however the songs are original, good made, still with the touch of indie, pop and alternative rock.
If we waited a huge electronic album this year, it is Sonny Moore's debut album. The king of dubstep and huge light shows launched the alien Recess, starting with "Try It Out". The album is varied, with many featurings, and a new and good evolution in Skrillex's career.
Then, it's a bench of great concerts in festivals, as Ultra Music Festival (with Diplo, the duo named Jack U), Coachella, Glastonbury and Garorock, whose blog founder Wilfried Andral saw in live (see top picture). The show of Sonny has no end ... the proof at Red Rocks, Colorado, on June 21.
5. The Crash Bandits : Closer (March 23)
Discovered last year with their first album Better Off, the trio from Minneapolis (MN) are back with a second EP, Closer. This new one offers 5 songs, in the continuity of their album plus first EP The Mutt (2012), with good punk/rock.
The band did some concerts until July 9, and, for the moment, no more shows have been announced. New dates coming, working on a second album in studio soon ? We hope that.
6. Five Miles North Of Nowhere : Late Nights & Cups Of Tea (April 15)
Fan of Bring Me The Horizon, Enter Shikari, Foo Fighters and all punk bands ? You can add this one to your music library. Coming from Southampton, in the south coast of England, Elliot Jones' File Miles North Of Nowhere are subscribed to powerful and hardcore punk music. The new result after their eponym EP is named Late Nights & Cups Of Tea (launched with its official video), composed of 4 impulsive songs, with good riffs and screams. And the band will get back soon in studio for new songs. A band to watch.
7. Paws : Youth Culture Forever (May 6)
The trio from Glasgow begun to be known with their debut album Cokefloat! out in 2012. After a member change last year, Paws are back with Youth Culture Forever, whose the band revealed 3 new songs at KEXP Studio months ago. The album contains 12 tracks reminding us old pop rock and punk music, still between calm and dynamics songs as Cokefloat! revealed.
After the powerful and colorful Mylo Xyloto released on 2011, Chris Martin's Coldplay revealed a new chapter, calmer and dreamer, with Ghost Stories. "Midnight" is the only song played without guitar, drums and bass, just keyboard, touch screen and rainbow lasers (watch "Midnight" in live), popularized by french music producer Jean-Michel Jarre. Follows "Magic" song, which is really magic. The album releases and became the fastest sold album on iTunes Store this year. The band made also a rock dance song with "A Sky Full Of Stars", produced by DJ Avicii. Even if it's different of MX, Ghost Stories is a successful album, putting stars in your ears.
9. deadmau5 : while(1<2)* (June 17)
Like Skrillex, Joel Zimmermann, known as deadmau5, doesn't stop working on new songs. And about his new studio album, work begun on 2013 with mini album 7, headed by "Avaritia". The double album is announced on Twitter in January, confirmed on May, and is released 5 months later. In the continuity of >album title goes here< (2012), while(1<2) is the longest of all Zimmermann's albums (about 140 minutes) and has the greatest number of tracks, 25. A few days after release, it took first place in UK & US Dance charts, without surprise.
The kawaii journey of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu continues : the third studio album Pikapika Fantasian revealed the fantasia and dream side of the princess of J-Pop, with as key a new world tour. Videos speak about them : fantasy world with "Mottai Night Land", Kyary's story in "Yume no Hajima Ring Ring", robotic match in "Family Party" and, lately, Kyary as strange killer in numeric and beautiful world, with the hoverboard of Back To The Future II movie. All between Japanese and English lyrics.
The next Tony Hawk is definitely this girl. After 75 tries, Sabre
Norris, a 9-year-old skateboarder, lands a 540 on a halfpipe. The video
of the trick became viral and has already about one million views.
Coming
from Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia), Sabre is the daughter of Justin Norris, bronze medal winner for the 200-metre butterfly at the
2000 Sydney Olympic Games and 3-time Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning
swimmer. But instead of following her dad’s way, she took the way of
skateboarding at six years old.
« My skating all started because I
wasn't allowed to get a bike because we don't have a garage. So my mum
bought us skateboards instead. I started from rolling down my dad's
business car park. I've been skating for about 3 years. My favorite
trick is a 540. I watched Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins do it on the internet, and
I just had to do it. »
Sabre attempted exactly 75 times to land the 540. At the 75th, she finally did it.
« Every time I tried one and didn't land it I put a rock on the table. It ended up being my 75th rock. I was frothing. I did some 720s too. Not proper. I called it "540 to revert to splat". I didn't cry though. My goal is to do 100 of them before this Saturday. I'm up to 75. I still can't ride a bike, but I can do a 540. »
And it is not finished. Sabre Norris is at nine the female champion of the 2014 Australian Bowl-riding Championships (as you can see in the picture above), and plans to win an Olympic gold metal in skateboarding which might be included in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Henceforth, we have to monitor Sabre’s career, wait a perfect 720 and hope first places at the next championships !
