In Memoriam: Michael Jackson's Best Moment

U2 - "No line on the horizon"

I had trouble downloading an iTunes TV show. To test the function, I needed to download some music. The new U2 was placed prominent on the virtual storefront. I bought it and was surprised how good it is. For a band that has been in this game for over 20 years, the new album feels fresh. The are a surprising number of good songs to listen to. These guys are serious to remain the last Megaband in the world.

will.i.am "It is a New Day"

Dave Matthews & Blue Man Group - Sing Along

Various Artists: Barack Obama - Yes We Can music video

Music DVDs: Bruce, Evanescence, Rolling Stones, U2, & Dave Matthews Band

Three years ago I bought a DVD player to watch movies in the gym while burning calories on a Stairmaster. This gave me the chance to watch some music DVDs. I started off with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, then watched U2, the Rollingstones's Slick Tour, Evanescence, and finally Dave Matthews Band Live in Central Park. The first minute of Springsteen Live in Barcelona was amazing because the sound on the DVD was far better than any sound of a live concert I had heard before. You felt as if you were right there on the concert floor with thousands of other people. Before long, however, I got t tired seeing the band go through the same motions. Watching U2's Go Home - Live From Slane Castle also underwhelming. You learn that The Edge and not Bono is the musical force behind the band. I am a big fan of few Rolling Stones like "Ruby Tuesday." But watching 60-year-old men behave as if they are teenagers is painful to watch. The most interesting part of the Four Licks DVD set is the part that takes you behind the scenes of preparing the concert tour. You come to appreciate the marketing and management genius of Mick Jagger. Evanescence in Anywhere But Home proves that stage presence is not easy to accomplish. It is better to simply listen to Evanescence's one hit My Immortal. The band has no stage presence to speak of. The big surprise in my music DVD discovery tour was Dave Matthews Band's Live in Central Park. The band members were by a long shot better musicians than the other groups I had watched on my hourly stairmaster sweat sessions. Click on "More" to see song from this free Concert in New York City. More...

Silbermond "Das Beste"

In a coffee house in Germany, this song drew my attention away from answering emails. Silvermond is a band that is billed as "punk rock." You listen to the song. This is not punk in my mind. For all you romantics out there who understand German, watch the video of the song below. And if you are in really really in love right now, if you have butterflies in you stomach, think about him or her all the time, then send your Romeo or Julia a link this song. To view the video, click here.

Querschlaeger "Live is Lebendig"

A friend of mine sent me the live CD of the Austrian band "Querschlaeger." Fritz Messner, the song writer, has a sharp eye for the comic aspects of life and is a born story teller. Every song is preceded by a little funny story. If you speak, German the CD is a real treat. To keep its artistic independence, the band refuses to sign a contract with a label. Good for them and even better for us. The band is superb. You can buy "Live is Lebendig" and other CDs directly from the band's website.

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The Police Reunites for the First Tour in 24 Years

Good news for all Police fans. Sting has finally become nostalgic and agreed to going on tour with his old band members from the Police, Steward Copeland and Andy Steward. He used the answer the question whether he could ever imagine going on reunion tour with The Police. "This would be good cause to have me certified insane." Watch a fun video webcast of the their news conference performance the morning after they played at the Grammy’s.

I grew tired of listening to Sting records but I am excited about
the Police playing again. I will try to catch them somewhere
around the world this year.

To get excited about the tour, check out this video from the band's rehearsal's in Stingdom (Tuscony, Italy)

Here you can find information on where the band will be playing starting in May: Cities and Dates

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Kanye West's "Late Registration"

I bought my first hip hop CD, Kanye West’s Late Registration, a couple of months ago after hearing his soulful “Gold Digger.” I suspect that Mr. West does not play a single musical instrument. But this does not make him less a musical genius. West proves that most creativity lies in recombining existing material. He takes old music ideas, rearranges them in unheard ways, and lays on top lyrics that offer social criticism and breaks with the hip hop tradition of talking mainly about oneself. Late Registration is brilliant and a novel accoustic adventure not to be missed.

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Nina Simon's "Mississippi Goddam"

Nina Simone has been one of my favored jazz singers for a long time. I counted myself until January 16th as a connoisseur of her entire work. But on Martin Luther King day I heard her civil rights song Mississippi Goddam on the radio that showed me that having all her „Best of CDs“ is no guarantee that one gets to know the best songs of an artist. The live recording of Mississippi Goddam strikes me as one of the best political songs ever.

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The Mysterious Voice of Anaïs Mitchell

All summer I listened to Anaïs Mitchell’s second record, Hymns for the Exiled, trying to figure out the mysterious quality in her singing and writing that is particularly noticeable in songs like Cosmic American and Two Kids. Her voice is not conventionally beautiful in the way people find Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston amazing vocal abilities pleasing. You cannot listen an entire summer to the same record of these two popular chart toppers, but I can attest that you can listen to Anaïs Mitchell. It is the somewhat rugged and vulnerable quality of her voice that keeps you interested in exploring the different regions charted by eleven songs on the record. Most records only have one or two good songs. This one has ten. The lyrics of Orion are so private that the song would have worked better if the melody had played a larger role in the listener's experience and universalized the sense of loss touched upon in words about a complete stranger.

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Genius Works Better Alone

Starbuck’s sells Ray Charles's new and last album Genius Loves Company together with a recording of Ray’s greatest hits. I bought this Box of Genius and discovered that a genius works better alone. The compilation of classic Ray Charles hits is infinitely better than his new CD of duets with others stars such as Norah Jones and Elton John.

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Rachmaninoff "Vocalize" (Op.34 No.14)

Oh, Sergei, What are you doing to our hearts? I just listened this piece for the first time as a piano and violin duet. Very beautiful. But it is even more piercing when it is sung by the human voice... Oh, Sergei, What are you doing to our hearts?

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Brian Mehldau "Live in Tokyo"

I have been listening for the past week to this wonderful CD and cannot get enough of it. Mehldau's jazz piano is very reminiscent of Keith Jarrett. But there is something wonderfully lightfooted about the tunes that he assembled in this recording, making his sound quite distinct from Jarrett's.

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Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloé"

I have heard the main piece of this synphony many times but never with the ears that were given to me tonight. It reminded me of the momentus transition in the history of life when animals moved from the sea onto the shore. I wonder if I will have same association after having listened to the entire symphony.


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Rachmaninoff's "Variations Number 17"

Variation Nr. 17 on a theme of Paganini is a very beautiful piece. One does not have to have much experience with classical music to grasp and enjoy the sense of drama and celebration that Rachmaninoff was able put into this composition.

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