Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sarah Jessica Parker Expecting Twins - Matthew Broderick Happy

After years of divorce rumors and public speculation, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are expecting twin girls by way of a surrogate mother.

Parker, the star of the hit show and movie "Sex and the City" is currently filming "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" a romantic comedy costarring Hugh Grant.

It is also rumored that she will appear as Ivy Ames in the dramatic comedy "The Ivy Chronicles" due next year. The film tells the story of a New York mom who starts a new life for herself and two girls after she loses her husband, her apartment and her job on Wall Street.

Matthew Broderick's latest film "Wonderful World" is due later this summer, and he's currently starring on Broadway in "The Philanthropist."

He has also just completed filming on the dramatic "Margaret" due later this year. It stars Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Damon. The story revolves around a young woman (Paquin) who witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.
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Sunday, April 26, 2009

CHEZ MOI in AMSTERDAM

Regressado de uma estadia em Amsterdam, onde usufrui de um período glorioso de Primavera, aqui vos deixo algumas imagens dos meus interiores, "acumulados" seguindo o mesmo principio de visitas regulares, às "Feiras da Ladra" lá do sítio .... com a a única diferença que este espaço apresenta uma "largesse" não comparável à minha "Garçonniére" na Baixa.













































































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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Juliana Hatfield - God's Foot


A lot has been said about how sad the circumstances surrounding the non-release of this album is, so I'm not going to say too much more. To be honest, I'd suggest one consult Dan Leroy's excellent book, "The Greatest Music Never Sold", for a very detailed account of the events Ms. Hatfield encountered on her way out of the major label world. Sadly, it's not the type of thing that's rare these days, but it's still sad and ridiculous.

Juliana has went on record to say she's disappointed by the leak of the album, but more because songs she hadn't intended for public consumption were included in the leak and there was no rhyme or reason to the order of the tracks. She has also said she is unhappy with the fidelity of the tracks as they're clearly unmastered and they may not be final mixes. Add to that the fact that these tracks sound like they're from a cassette copied way too many times which is probably because it is, and you have a classic, pre-digital bootleg, the kind fans complain about but love nonetheless for the extra aura added to the sound and the air of legitimacy surrounding it.

Since the leak, two songs, "Mountains Of Love" and a remix of "Fade Away", were released on a greatest hits compilation named "Gold Stars". Juliana has discussed possibly providing a proper leak of the album or eventually having it released officially, but as not much has happened for quite a while it's probably safe to bet we won't be hearing anything soon. So, enjoy Juliana's long lost album, and if you do want to see it released we should probably let her know, perferably loudly. It's really a shame when something this good doesn't see release.

Juliana Hatfield - God's Foot

01 Fade Away
02 Mountains Of Love
03 Don't Need A Reason
04 Perfection
05 What Have I Done To You?
06 Losing Your Looks
07 Takin' It Easy
08 Can't Put Your Arms Around A Melody
09 Eye To Eye
10 Chance Is Waiting
11 How Would You Know?
12 Can't Kill Myself
13 Jake's
14 Charity
15 Fade Away (Version)


PS-For those interested, this is the supposed official track list of the album as provided by Todd Phillips, Juliana's long-time drummer.

01 Fade Away
02 Mountains Of Love
03 What Have I Done To You
04 You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Melody
05 Chance Is Waiting
06 How Would You Know
07 Don't Need A Reason
08 Charity
09 Eye To Eye
10 Jake's

Thursday, April 23, 2009

BATDANCE


Okay, I know I just did a big Prince post not too long ago and this track was included in it, but this is a better quality mp3 which has been "loudened-up" a bit. Unfortunately, I can't say this is from the highest quality source, but I'm sure you spectral examining folks out there won't notice the difference. But just in case you were wondering, this version went from an unknown source, to a bootleg 12", to a cassette tape made over 15 years ago, to a tape deck which I used to transfer it to an older computer, to a 192kbps mp3, now to my current machine where I fucked with the compression and pitch a little bit because it wasn't loud enough and it ran a bit too fast. So, by all rights this is not a properly transferred version of this track, but if you look at the spectrals of my source, the aforementioned 15 year old cassette, I'm sure you'll agree not much has been sacrificed. On top of that, the version of this track normally circulating seems to have the very end a bit fucked up, and this version is complete and accurate.

Anyway, onto the story for a minute. Prince, as usual, recorded way too much stuff for the Batman project which had evolved from an album tentatively referred to as "Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic". When he was offered the Batman soundtrack he converted some of the material over and created some new material. "Batdance", if Alan Leeds' notes from "The Hits" compilation are to be believed, was created as a remix for the song "200 Balloons", which was the original b-side to "Batdance". That song had been offered for use in the film during the sequence where the Joker tries to gas Gotham while throwing millions of dollars into the streets, but it was turned down in favor of "Trust". Prince, nonetheless, completed the "Batdance" track which was kind-of a soundtrack megamix as it featured bits and pieces of dialogue from the movie, songs from the album and even more songs that didn't make the cut. Pieces of "Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic" and "We Got The Power" can be heard throughout, as well as a vocal sample of Mavis Staples from an early version of the song "House In Order", or at least that's what I think it is. "Batdance", of course, was loved and gained release as the lead-off track for the album. It was edited down to remove some of the lengthier and unreleased bits, as well as to censor the original "GET THE FUCK UP" line. The original version eventually leaked though and, if you were so inclined, you could now listen to the track as it was and should have been released. I still wish this version had been released for the 12" instead of the William Orbit remixes, but it's pretty hard to make Prince do things other than the way he wants to do them. Supposedly, those versions were created because Prince liked tracks he'd heard by S'express, but we all know how fickle the flavor of the month can be, so now we're left with some fragments from the late 80s.

Anyway, I'm going to do more Prince posts eventually, as well as some posts on his jazz side project, Madhouse. Before those things though, we'll be talking about Juliana Hatfield, the fantastic WordSound label and the Jungle Brothers' "Crazy Wisdom Masters" which, I hate to break it to you, has not leaked in it's entirety. Maybe one day it will, or better yet, maybe one day it will see official release! For now though, please enjoy this little hold-over and I will be posting more goodies soon enough. If anything, at least this post puts Sheryl Crow's ugly-ass face a little further down from the top of the page. For now, peace and love to all of you, props to Kevin Smith (I'm sure any Smithites know what I'm talking about), and a big middle finger to Sheryl Crow. Kevin, this one is for you!

Prince - Batdance (Original Version)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Stephen Hawking In Hospital - Very Sick

One of the great minds of physics and math has fallen ill.

Uber physicist Stephen Hawking is very ill and has been hospitalized with a chest infection and possibly other ailments.

He had reportedly not been feeling well for the last couple of weeks.

The news was released by Cambridge University where he works as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

Hawking, 67, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Hawking has survived for more than 40 years with the disease.

Hawking grew to fame with his 1988 book, "A Brief History of Time", and went on to write "Beyond the Horizon" (2009) and "Fate Of The Universe".

He has also appeared as himself on the smash hits "The Simpsons", "Futurama", "Last Days On Earth", "Alien Planet", "God, the Universe and Everything Else"

Video: Stephen Hawking Lecture Video


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Sheryl Crow - Self-Titled 1992


Ooh, if there is an example of an artist I outright HATE, Sheryl Crow, would be the definition. Apart from a few songs that appeared earlier in her career, I have no taste for her musical styles and think of her as a leech. Her well documented abuse of her then-bandmates circa Tuesday Night Music Club just goes to show it's always been all about her, with no room for anyone else. To me, she is a cult of personality, yet she doesn't have a personality to begin with. I mean, this is the person who said that we should use one square of toilet paper in the restroom as this would save us so much! She also said she wanted to design a shirt we could a replacement for napkins. Of course, the next day she retracted both of these comments and deemed them jokes that had went over everyone's heads. In reality, I think everyone got just how loony she was. On top of this, she's made such joyously diluted comments along the lines of "war is bad". You think? Are we in high school here? COME ON! Hell, even Lance Armstrong left her, and I've always gotten the impression that had more to do with her enormous ego then anything else. I would expect Lance to have a bit of an ego trip, but Sheryl Crow must have dwarfed whatever he had. Credit must be given to Lance for being big enough about it not to spit venom in public, and that's something I can't say I've seen him do before but she's rather guilty of.

Anyway, I can rant all day about my HATE of Sheryl Crow, but I'm sure most anyone reading this has gotten the point by now. The real point is that Sheryl's first album didn't get released, and for good reason. A rather schmaltzy, adult-oriented rock album, it was produced by Hugh Padgham who is known for having crafted hit albums for Sting and Phil Collins among others. Sheryl apparently could tell something wasn't right about the album and fought for it's non-release. Well, she won that fight and the album was permanently shelved. Prior to that permanent shelving though, a press release and promotional cassette featuring the complete album was released and apparently slipped through enough cracks that it saw illicit release. It has since found it's way into fans' hands online, although most of the time incorrectly sequenced. The version posted here is correctly sequenced and in decent quality for anyone to either enjoy or make fun of, your preference.

As for more info as to why this album didn't see release, Dan Leroy's aforementioned book, "The Greatest Music Never Sold", features a brief section devoted to the album, but there is also THIS website which provides some interesting information. Unfortunately, the site doesn't seem to have been updated since around the turn of the century and the images are only available as thumbnails, but the information is invaluable.

Anyway, enjoy Sheryl Crow's misstep for whatever purpose you wish. I find this album pretty awful, but some may be interested in it's evolution. Some fans may really want to hear this album and I'm sure there are fans who may actually enjoy it. If you are a fan and have endured my disdain for Ms. Crow, I hope I haven't bruised your eyes to severely. What can I say? I don't like her, but that's not saying your opinion of her should change.

Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow (1992)
UPDATE: Well folks, IFPI got the DMCA to have mediafire remove this album. I don't really care as you can probably guess from the acidic text above, but it sucks it got yanked anyway. What's funny is this had been up for so long and now they decide to yank it. Whatever. Sorry guys.

01 All Kinds Of People
02 Father, Son
03 What Does It Matter
04 Indian Summer
05 I Will Walk With You
06 Love You Blind
07 Near Me
08 When Love Is Over
09 You Want It All
10 Hundreds Of Tears
11 The Last Time
12 Borrowed Time

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Prince Post


I wasn't going to do a Prince post at this point originally, but someone I know was asking for rarities and this post was almost ready, so here it is.

I jokingly call myself a recovering Prince fan. Like a recovering addict, you're never fully recovered, and like some addicts I have an occasional relapse. Now, you may say there is a big difference between ruining your life with drugs and alcohol and buying Prince stuff, but it can be so easy to throw myself into his stuff that it can be similarly dangerous. Luckily, most of the stuff I'm interested doesn't cost anything as it's his unreleased stuff. That isn't to say that I don't care for his released recordings, but I've always found so much more depth in his unreleased stuff. Even if it isn't the greatest material, the unreleased stuff comes with so much added history and so many more questions than you'd ever get with his standard releases.

I usually like to post complete unreleased albums on the blog, but since Prince has so much unreleased material I thought it would be better to post a sampler of sorts from his back catalogue of vault stuff. The first disc focuses on songs that haven't been released in any form officially, while the second disc is dedicated to alternate versions and songs given to other performers. Read on for info on each individual track. Also, you should probably get these quickly as who knows how long they may remain online, especially with Prince's famous reputation for disliking bootlegs.


Prince - The Unheard

Disc 1:

01 We Can Work It Out
This is one of those songs I'm sure Prince thought was long gone. It was recorded shortly after signing with Warner Brothers records in the late seventies. After his ridiculous falling out with them in the mid-nineties, it's all the more entertaining, especially the explosion at the end.

02 Broken
This was recorded around the Dirty Mind era.

03 Turn It Up
This has been called a 1999 outtake although it's probably more likely from the Controversy era. There is a version of this track that ends about 3 minutes in and another that picks up where that one ends, but this version features both parts and is the complete version of the song.

04 Moonbeam Levels
From the 1999 era.

05 Wonderful Ass
My favorite unreleased Prince song! This was recorded with Wendy & Lisa for possible inclusion on the Dream Factory album which eventually became Sign O' The Times. It's a crime that this never came out officially.

06 Schoolyard
This was a leftover from Diamonds and Pearls with good reason. It's a really good song but how do you think you're gonna get lyrics about a 14 and 15 year old getting high and screwing past the censors?

07 Others Here With Us
This was recorded during the Parade sessions and was actually included in an early configuration of the album. Really, REALLY creepy track. It's obvious as hell why it didn't get released, but that doesn't mean it's not excellent.

08 Rebirth Of The Flesh
Recorded as Camille, this track was originally set to open the Camille album, then the Crystal Ball album, then dropped entirely when that mutated into Sign O' The Times. It's the only track from the Camille album that hasn't seen an official release in one way or another. Well, that's not entirely true, as there was a live rehearsal released online via the NPG Music Club from the Sign O' The Times era touring band, but it's simply not the same thing.

09 We Got The Power
This was recorded around the Batman era. Whether it was created specifically for Batman or it's genesis was prior to Prince's commencing work for the film is unknown, but it's a funky track and was definitely considered for the film at one point. There is an early cut of the Batman trailer that features a portion of this song in the background.

10 Possessed (Instrumental Version)
You may have heard a small portion of this in the background of the Purple Rain movie, but the full track has never seen official release. There is also a vocal version of Possessed but it's an almost entirely different song which was at one point offered to James Brown. This is more for those wanting to dance than those needing the funk.

11 God Is Alive
This was recorded around the Batman era but may have been intended for Graffiti Bridge early on. Mavis Staples shares vocal duties here.

12 Work That Fat
I don't know much about this, other than it must not have been a serious day in the studio. I'd say this is the cousin of Bob George from the Black Album.

13 Lisa
Recorded around 1980 during the Dirty Mind period, this song is about Lisa Coleman, ex-member of the Revolution, Wendy's better half of Wendy & Lisa and an ex-romantic interest or you know who.

14 Dance With The Devil
This was intended for the Batman soundtrack. It was actually included in an early cut of the film which is where this track comes from. It sounds like it was meant for the end of the film, judging by the voice samples featured towards the end.

15 All My Dreams
Like Others Here With Us, this was also recorded for Parade and was included in an early version of the album. It almost made release on Dream Factory, but since that didn't happen this one just disappeared into the nothing. Really great, kinda-psychedelic track which should definitely have been released.


Disc 2:

01 Computer Blue (Full Length Rough Mix)
This is the infamous, 10 minute plus, original version of Computer Blue. This features way more of Wendy & Lisa getting weird and Prince telling a rather odd story about a hallway. There is another version of this floating around in slightly better sound quality, but it's missing the hallway speech and most of Wendy & Lisa's stuff, so this is the version I chose to go with. On the other hand, the version without the speech has guitar feedback that sounds like outtakes from Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

02 Train
This was recorded initially for the Dream Factory album but was eventually given to Mavis Staples. The percussion track is made to sound like an actual train. I know that's pretty standard stuff these days, but in 1987/1987 this was pretty special.

03 G-Spot (1983 Reference Vocal)
This was initially meant for Vanity 6's second album, but when that didn't happen it sat in the vault for a few years until it ended up on Jill Jones' self-titled album. This version is very much of the Purple Rain era. Also, there are unmixed recordings of the synths and bass line circulating, just in case you wanted to make your own unreleased Prince song.

04 Feel U Up (1980 Demo)
05 Irresistible Bitch (1980 Demo)
These two go together. Don't know why Prince recorded them like this, but here they are. Feel U Up isn't too different from the finished version other than the vocals being ridiculously low in the mix, but Irresistible Bitch is very different. I LOVE the released version of Irresistible Bitch but this version is quite fun too.

06 Data Bank (Dream Factory era Version)
This is a rather funky workout recorded with the Revolution. You can hear Prince calling out for Lisa and the horns throughout. Prince later gave this to The Time whose version is almost completely different. I prefer this version.

07 Alphabet St. (Remix)
This was at one point probably considered for release alongside the released 12" remix of Alphabet St. I have no idea what this one would have been named but it should have came out cause it's a damn good remix!

08 Tick, Tick, Bang! (1980 Demo)
The essence of the Dirty Mind era! Way dirtier than the version that was released years later on Graffiti Bridge, this one is way punkier and nastier than many might have expected, that is unless you've listened to Dirty Mind. This song would fit perfectly right next to Sister!

09 The Ball
This was originally part of the Crystal Ball album which later became Sign O' The Times. It segued into Joy In Repetition. If the melody sounds familiar, that's because it's the same as Eye No from Lovesexy. Prince apparently liked the work enough to keep the basic tracks but record new vocals. Even the outro on Eye No is exactly the same as the one here and the intro to Joy In Repetition on Graffiti Bridge.

10 Batdance (Original Version)
This is the original, longer and uncensored version of Batdance. It features a few parts not in the finished version. In my opinion it's far superior to it's released counterpart, much in part due to it's length.

11 We Can Funk (Full Length Graffiti Bridge Version)
This version is most likely closer to the original version of the song circa 1983. Long, funky and over 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Charli Baltimore - Cold As Ice


I've been meaning to do a post on this album for the last few days but I've been feeling quite under the weather. Well, it's Monday and, despite being sick, I'm still working this afternoon so I might as well start on my post.

Charli Baltimore, whose real name is Tiffany Lane, is/was a female rapper signed to Untertainment/Epic around 1999 who took her name from the main character of The Long Kiss Goodnight. Like Lil' Kim, she was a protege of the Notorious B.I.G. and the label she was signed to was run by Lance "Un" Rivera, an associate of Biggie. He was also a supposed member of a rap supergroup called The Commission which, if it to be believed, would have consisted of Lance, Puff Daddy (as he was known at the time), Lil' Cease, Charli, Jay-Z and Biggie. When Biggie died in 1997 that killed plans for the group, although there are numerous tracks mentioning the Commission on the assorted member's individual releases. Regardless though, based on her star affiliations, she had a great calling card to get a contract and make some money. And as such, she hopped on the opportunity and recorded her debut, Cold As Ice.

At the time of recording, the credits for the album looked as good as gold. For starters, there were cameos from Ghostface, Cam'ron, Eightball, Mobb Deep, Big Pun, Wyclef and Noreaga, but there was also production from RZA, Teddy Riley and DJ Premier. On top of all of that, it was a decent album, sounding definitely of it's era. So, you'd be hard pressed to wonder why the album never saw a proper release. Unfortunately, so am I as I haven't found much reasoning as to why it didn't. Some possible reasons may involve sample clearance as a song with Lil' Cease was recorded called "Ice" which sampled "Ice Ice Baby" heavily. Another two tracks initially listed on the album, "Money" and "Anyway You Want It", the latter featuring Billy Lawrence, were dropped. Those tracks haven't shown up anywhere as far as I know, so who knows the real reasons behind their removal, but a version of the album was completed without those songs but featuring a bonus remix of "Horse & Carriage" with Big Pun, Wyclef, Cam'ron and Silkk The Shocker. That's where the story ended officially, but as such things are, that's not quite the end.

In the late 90's and early 00's Sony had a bad habit of giving out SHITLOADS of promo copies of whatever their current focus was, which led to some ridiculously early leaks, delays and non-releases. To be specific, most of the advance copies used to come in a small paper sleeve and usually had the album's tracklist. Most of the ones I've seen, even if they were likely to be complete bombs, saw official release, but Charli is apparently the exception to the rule. Why you wouldn't release this but you would put out miserable albums by King Britt's Sylk 130, Vitro and people on Mariah Carey's Crave label is ridiculous. Even if Charli's album hadn't been good it would still have moved some copies for it's who's-who of guest stars and producers, as opposed to any of the albums I listed above.

So, because of Sony's overenthusiastic promotions department we are lucky enough to check out Charli Baltimore's "Cold As Ice". For the record, Charli has since tried to release a few more albums, had a brief contract with Murder Inc. records and threw some disses at G-Unit and 50 Cent on mixtapes with The Game, but alas, none of this has led to her getting any of her music released apart from a few stray guest or compilation appearances and some singles. Since rappers generally have a shorter career than most artists and Charli's real hype disappeared about 10 years ago, I don't think she has much of a chance of blowing up, but you never know.

Charli Baltimore - Cold As Ice

01 Intro Skit
02 Angel's Dust
03 Stand Up (feat. Ghostface Killah)
04 Keep It Real (feat. Cam'ron)
05 Pull The Alarm (feat. Billy Lawrence)
06 Everybody Wanna Know
07 Welcome To The Tunnel (Interlude)
08 Motherfuckas Don't Want It (feat. Tony Dutch & Ace Spade)
09 Pimp Da 1 U Luv (feat. Eightball & Rodney Ellis)
10 Feel It
11 Thorough Sisters (feat. Lady Of Rage, Gangsta Boo, Queen Pen, Da Brat & Scarlet)
12 Infamous (feat. Mobb Deep & Mike Delorian)
13 They
14 Say Your Prayers (Interlude)
15 Have It All (feat. Jeni Fujita & Miss Jones)
16 NBC (feat. Cam'ron & Noreaga)
17 Making Love (feat. Brotha)
18 Wake Up Bitch (Interlude)
19 30 Miles From Baltimore (feat. Brotha)
20 Outro
21 Horse & Carriage (Remix feat. Cam'ron, Big Pun, Wyclef Jean & Silkk The Shocker)


PS - I just want to make it clear I'm not saying the "miserable" artists I listed above didn't make good music or deserve a release, instead I feel from the economical viewpoint of a label if the artists didn't have much of a chance of commercial success why were they signed in the first place? King Britt's aforementioned album, for instance, isn't really that bad, but all it takes is one listen and you know it's not going to be blowing up anywhere, at least not in the US.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Video: Adam Lambert Sings "Mad World" - American Idol April 7, 2009

Most of the east coast was up in arms Wednesday morning when they realized that American Idol ran long Tuesday evening, and most DVR's cut off just before Adam Lambert performed "Mad World" by Tears for Fears.

It was one of the season's best performances and Simon Cowell actually gave Lambert a standing ovation. Awesome.

Last week, Las Vegas odds makers moved Adam into the winner's circle with spot on odds to walk away with the grand prize.

This guy is emerging as one of the most unique and talented performers ever seen on AI.

Watch Adam Lambert Sing "Mad World" April 7, 2009


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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

ALFRED HITCHCOCK


Hitchcock demonstrou a sua verdadeira grandeza através do seu humor, ao deixar-se retratar de forma "casual" e aparentemente secundária em muitos dos seus filmes ... na verdade criou assim, com uma simplicidade sublime, a sua assinatura ...
Ver uma colectânea destas "assinaturas"aqui:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW6Rdiqlg2E

SOLDAdinhos CHEZ MOI et Au PALAIS ROYAL


























































































































































Monday, April 6, 2009

ECCCCCCCCCCCCCen.............TRIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!

John Ward é um INVENTOR .... que se inventou a si mesmo .... como monumento de excentricidade !! ... VER : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74F2yv_lC9c