Thursday, March 18, 2004
Disney is teaming up with Microsoft in an agreement which will see Disney selling its films on the Internet later this year, using Microsoft software to prevent potential counterfeiting of the films.
The deal with Disney comes after Microsoft struck a similar agreement with Time Warner in May 2003, to protect the films it was putting online.
Disney is keen on finding new ways to distribute its films and sees the potential for selling films via the net; last year it trialled disposable DVDs that stop working after a period of time .
The deal with Microsoft will wrap its Digital Rights Management (DRM) system around the media being made available, to stop it being illegally copied. The system will allow buyers limited ability to move the films between PCs and media players.
The films will be available on Disney’s website, with plans also to licence films to third parties to create versions that can be viewed on portable media players. buy dvd
The deal with Disney comes after Microsoft struck a similar agreement with Time Warner in May 2003, to protect the films it was putting online.
Disney is keen on finding new ways to distribute its films and sees the potential for selling films via the net; last year it trialled disposable DVDs that stop working after a period of time .
The deal with Microsoft will wrap its Digital Rights Management (DRM) system around the media being made available, to stop it being illegally copied. The system will allow buyers limited ability to move the films between PCs and media players.
The films will be available on Disney’s website, with plans also to licence films to third parties to create versions that can be viewed on portable media players. buy dvd
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
The attempt on his life at his home in Henley-on-Thames in December 1999 was an awful reminder of the constant and curious intrusions into private worlds that he first experienced during the turbulence of "Beatlemania," and that he hoped had vanished forever. In one sense, of course, despite his protestations, he never left the Beatles. How could he? Economically, the group was largely responsible for the evolution of popular music in Britain from a small branch of the domestic entertainment business into one of the country's most profitable exports. Musically, the Beatles introduced innovative elements into the creation of their songs that served as examples for others to follow. Industrially, they demonstrated assertions of independence that helped to free them, and others, from the restrictive and paternalistic patterns of management and organization that had characterized the business in Britain. Historically, the group existed, and continues to exist, as one of the key moments in the narrative of the twentieth century. Politically, they demonstrated that entertainers might also be permitted to step into the role of intellectuals. Socially, their unprecedented global popularity was achieved in part by the capacity that they, and their music, possessed to overcome traditional distinctions of nationality, age, social class, and gender amongst communities of fans. Culturally, they shifted the consumption, discussion, and analysis of popular music into settings--like this journal--from which it had been previously excluded.
To have achieved just one of the above would represent a considerable accomplishment. To have played a part in all of them is, quite simply, staggering. This is why George Harrison could never leave the Beatles.
In Richard Marquand's 1979 biopic Birth of the Beatles, the individual members are described thus: "Paul is the heart of the group, George its soul, John is the mind, Ringo the flesh and blood." It's not a great movie, but the identification of George Harrison as the Beatle whose early introspection was to evolve into a restless search for spiritual enlightenment is a perceptive insight into the personality of "the quiet one." George Harrison left school in 1959, a working-class teenager with no qualifications and a report card that stated: "I cannot tell you what his work is like because he has not done any." He died, from cancer, in 2001, a much-loved musician, composer, and humanitarian who never sought to change the world, but always yearned to understand it.
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To have achieved just one of the above would represent a considerable accomplishment. To have played a part in all of them is, quite simply, staggering. This is why George Harrison could never leave the Beatles.
In Richard Marquand's 1979 biopic Birth of the Beatles, the individual members are described thus: "Paul is the heart of the group, George its soul, John is the mind, Ringo the flesh and blood." It's not a great movie, but the identification of George Harrison as the Beatle whose early introspection was to evolve into a restless search for spiritual enlightenment is a perceptive insight into the personality of "the quiet one." George Harrison left school in 1959, a working-class teenager with no qualifications and a report card that stated: "I cannot tell you what his work is like because he has not done any." He died, from cancer, in 2001, a much-loved musician, composer, and humanitarian who never sought to change the world, but always yearned to understand it.
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The virtuosity of the Dave Holland Quintet is a marvel to behold. The group's compositions are complex and invigorating. They display shifting and odd time signatures, timbral and dynamic variety, abrupt textural contrasts, rich harmonies, and masterful counterpoint. Equally exceptional are the improvizations that are intertwined through these marvelous pieces. The complexity of the compositions and the organic unity that exists between the written material and the improvizsations bring to mind the great artistic visions of Ellington and Mingus.
Many jazz historians and critics have explored the relationship between jazz, American society, and democracy. One interpretation of the music is that it represents a balance of the rights of the individual (as expressed by the improvized solo) with civic responsibility (as expressed by the arrangement as performed by the rest of the group). In Not For Nothin', Holland so skillfully balances these two elements that we cannot help but be reminded of this metaphor.
Dave Holland has been a part of many groundbreaking projects, including Miles Davis's Bitches Brew album in 1969 and the groups Circle and Gateway in the 1970s. During the 1970s, jazz had begun to splinter into a multiplicity of contrasting styles. Just as jazz was becoming more difficult to pin down stylistically, Holland was emerging with a sound all his own. He favored arranging that often made two or three horns sound like four or five, not by scoring a lot of notes but by scoring carefully chosen notes. Holland's emerging sound was in contrast to the fusion aesthetic that was part of the stylistic melange of the 1970s, an aesthetic that was defined, in part, by Bitches Brew. The jazz world seems no more stylistically unified today than it did in the 1970s. Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Jim McNeely, and Medeski Martin and Wood are some of the artists who represent a variety of these subgenres. During this extended period of stylistic flux, Holland has released a string of exceptional recordings as a leader, starting with Conference of the Birds in 1972. Jumpin' In, Triplicate, Extensions, and Dream of the Elders are just some of the superlative albums that have followed. The 2001 release Not For Nothin' is one of the finest albums in an already impressive body of work.
"Global Citizen," the opening cut, starts with a Latin drum groove in 11/8 time, with the vibes and sax joining the vamp after a few measures. The vibes veer off into a countermelody and the bass enters shortly thereafter. The trombone takes over the vamp and the sax and vibes return to a unison figure. Then the harmonies shift and the sax and trombone state the head. By the time we have the time signature figured out, it changes to 13/8. However, this is not complexity for complexity's sake. Through all this compositional and arranging wizardry emerges a group sound that is emotionally potent and artistically unified. There is a joyous exuberance that is expressed through the virtuosic playing. Robin Eubanks takes a bebop-tinged trombone solo over a funk-flavored groove powered by Billy Kilson's explosive drumming. Kilson's kinetic drumming both propels and binds the group together at once.
"For All You Are" is a lovely, slow waltz, penned by Holland, that gives us a chance to catch our breath after "Global Citizen." Holland and Kilson are supportive and responsive in their comping role to Chris Potter's sax and Steve Nelson's vibes solos. Holland seems to shy away from using pianists in his groups. Nelson's comping on the vibes creates a texture that is more ethereal than a pianist's and helps define Holland's compositional sound.
Many jazz forays into odd meters sound contrived, but on Not For Nothin' the musicians use them as a jumping-off point to create richly conceived heads and solos. Listen to the flow of ideas in Potter's and Eubanks's solos on "Lost and Found," a Potter composition in 7/8 time. The rhythm section's precision and ability to propel the soloists in odd meters is also noteworthy. The Holland composition "Shifting Sands" features counterpoint that is reminiscent of his 1972 masterpiece "Conference of the Birds." His bass solo is characteristically creative and displays wonderful intonation and tone. In another of his compositions, "What Goes Around," Holland uses an 11/4 vamp as a homebase of sorts but explores other feels and uses intricate interludes. The tune also features fiery solos by Potter, Eubanks, and Kilson. The solos are strong enough to withstand the rhythm section's energetic and interactive comping.
"Go Fly a Kite" starts with a quirky melody on the vibes that becomes the basis for the bass figure throughout much of the piece. A more wistful feel replaces the humorous mood of the introduction once the horns come in on the head. Nelson, the composer, plays some beautiful figures behind the horns. For the solos, Potter and Eubanks trade eight and fours, and finally take a short ride together. There are a few spots on the CD where two soloists work together. Their ability to create improvized counterpoint underscores the musicians' sensitivity, ability to listen, and responsiveness to each other--attributes that come with maintaining a working group with stable personnel over an extended period of time.
The Holland composition "Cosmosis" closes the disc with an up-tempo 4/4 (!) tune whose opening phrase brings to mind John Coltrane's "Lazybird." Kilson gets to cut loose on a solo and the horns solo together once again on the outro vamp. It's a fitting way for the CD to end. The musicians leave us with a burst of improvizatory energy and once again demonstrate the power and elasticity of the jazz language.
buy dvd
buy dvd
The virtuosity of the Dave Holland Quintet is a marvel to behold. The group's compositions are complex and invigorating. They display shifting and odd time signatures, timbral and dynamic variety, abrupt textural contrasts, rich harmonies, and masterful counterpoint. Equally exceptional are the improvizations that are intertwined through these marvelous pieces. The complexity of the compositions and the organic unity that exists between the written material and the improvizsations bring to mind the great artistic visions of Ellington and Mingus.
Many jazz historians and critics have explored the relationship between jazz, American society, and democracy. One interpretation of the music is that it represents a balance of the rights of the individual (as expressed by the improvized solo) with civic responsibility (as expressed by the arrangement as performed by the rest of the group). In Not For Nothin', Holland so skillfully balances these two elements that we cannot help but be reminded of this metaphor.
Dave Holland has been a part of many groundbreaking projects, including Miles Davis's Bitches Brew album in 1969 and the groups Circle and Gateway in the 1970s. During the 1970s, jazz had begun to splinter into a multiplicity of contrasting styles. Just as jazz was becoming more difficult to pin down stylistically, Holland was emerging with a sound all his own. He favored arranging that often made two or three horns sound like four or five, not by scoring a lot of notes but by scoring carefully chosen notes. Holland's emerging sound was in contrast to the fusion aesthetic that was part of the stylistic melange of the 1970s, an aesthetic that was defined, in part, by Bitches Brew. The jazz world seems no more stylistically unified today than it did in the 1970s. Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Jim McNeely, and Medeski Martin and Wood are some of the artists who represent a variety of these subgenres. During this extended period of stylistic flux, Holland has released a string of exceptional recordings as a leader, starting with Conference of the Birds in 1972. Jumpin' In, Triplicate, Extensions, and Dream of the Elders are just some of the superlative albums that have followed. The 2001 release Not For Nothin' is one of the finest albums in an already impressive body of work.
"Global Citizen," the opening cut, starts with a Latin drum groove in 11/8 time, with the vibes and sax joining the vamp after a few measures. The vibes veer off into a countermelody and the bass enters shortly thereafter. The trombone takes over the vamp and the sax and vibes return to a unison figure. Then the harmonies shift and the sax and trombone state the head. By the time we have the time signature figured out, it changes to 13/8. However, this is not complexity for complexity's sake. Through all this compositional and arranging wizardry emerges a group sound that is emotionally potent and artistically unified. There is a joyous exuberance that is expressed through the virtuosic playing. Robin Eubanks takes a bebop-tinged trombone solo over a funk-flavored groove powered by Billy Kilson's explosive drumming. Kilson's kinetic drumming both propels and binds the group together at once.
"For All You Are" is a lovely, slow waltz, penned by Holland, that gives us a chance to catch our breath after "Global Citizen." Holland and Kilson are supportive and responsive in their comping role to Chris Potter's sax and Steve Nelson's vibes solos. Holland seems to shy away from using pianists in his groups. Nelson's comping on the vibes creates a texture that is more ethereal than a pianist's and helps define Holland's compositional sound.
Many jazz forays into odd meters sound contrived, but on Not For Nothin' the musicians use them as a jumping-off point to create richly conceived heads and solos. Listen to the flow of ideas in Potter's and Eubanks's solos on "Lost and Found," a Potter composition in 7/8 time. The rhythm section's precision and ability to propel the soloists in odd meters is also noteworthy. The Holland composition "Shifting Sands" features counterpoint that is reminiscent of his 1972 masterpiece "Conference of the Birds." His bass solo is characteristically creative and displays wonderful intonation and tone. In another of his compositions, "What Goes Around," Holland uses an 11/4 vamp as a homebase of sorts but explores other feels and uses intricate interludes. The tune also features fiery solos by Potter, Eubanks, and Kilson. The solos are strong enough to withstand the rhythm section's energetic and interactive comping.
"Go Fly a Kite" starts with a quirky melody on the vibes that becomes the basis for the bass figure throughout much of the piece. A more wistful feel replaces the humorous mood of the introduction once the horns come in on the head. Nelson, the composer, plays some beautiful figures behind the horns. For the solos, Potter and Eubanks trade eight and fours, and finally take a short ride together. There are a few spots on the CD where two soloists work together. Their ability to create improvized counterpoint underscores the musicians' sensitivity, ability to listen, and responsiveness to each other--attributes that come with maintaining a working group with stable personnel over an extended period of time.
The Holland composition "Cosmosis" closes the disc with an up-tempo 4/4 (!) tune whose opening phrase brings to mind John Coltrane's "Lazybird." Kilson gets to cut loose on a solo and the horns solo together once again on the outro vamp. It's a fitting way for the CD to end. The musicians leave us with a burst of improvizatory energy and once again demonstrate the power and elasticity of the jazz language.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2004
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The Spinal Tap of folk music (brought to you by the guys who created, duh, This Is Spinal Tap). A film that dares to prove that even acoustic guitars can cause egomaniacal brain damage. Depending on your relation to the genre, it's truly hysterical at times. (Opens April 16)
The Spinal Tap of folk music (brought to you by the guys who created, duh, This Is Spinal Tap). A film that dares to prove that even acoustic guitars can cause egomaniacal brain damage. Depending on your relation to the genre, it's truly hysterical at times. (Opens April 16)
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I was asked a while ago what I thought might have happened to the Beatles had they not persevered in the music industry. Paul, I suggested, would have gone to college and become an art or music teacher. Ringo I saw as the owner of a bar, maybe in a Spanish holiday resort. John would eventually have drifted into some kind of media-related role--an illustrator or a journalist. And George, I thought, would have settled down to a long and steady job as an electrician or TV-repairman.
I'm probably light years from the truth, of course. Just as it's almost impossible to imagine rock and roll without the Beatles, it's equally difficult to imagine them without rock and roll. And yet, in thinking again about the life and times of George Harrison, I keep returning to the idea that it was he, of the four, who changed the most--who had to change the most--in order to accomplish what he did.
Faced with the perfectly tuned commercial sensibilities of McCartney's songwriting and the force of Lennon's creative impulse, it would have been easy for George to opt for the security of a supporting role within the group. In fact, he never considered this. Having overcome Lennon's initial opposition to his membership (he was, at fifteen, considered a mere youngster), he practiced the guitar relentlessly, often until his fingers bled from the effort. Given a token one or two songs to perform on the Beatles' first few albums, he went on to produce some of the group's, and its members', loveliest music--"While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something," "Give Me Love," "The Light that Has Lighted the World." Confused by the complexities of life as a Beatle, he sought spiritual guidance in India, bringing about a fusion of Eastern and Western musics, whose influence persists today. Confronted by a humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh, he responded by organizing rock's first large-scale benefit concert and persuaded friends like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and Leon Russell to join him.
Many of his comments stand as signposts along the route of the Beatles story: "Well, for a start, I don't like your tie" at the group's first meeting with George Martin; "That's it ... I'm not a Beatle any more" after the final concert in 1966; "If you're going to be in a rock 'n' roll band, it might as well be the Beatles" when asked to review his career; "I'm really quite simple. I'm a gardener. I plant flowers and watch them grow. I don't go out to clubs and partying. I stay at home and watch the river flow" when describing life as an ex-Beatle.
After the spectacular success of "My Sweet Lord," which established him in many eyes as the most immediately impressive of the post-Beatles, he gradually opted for a less hectic, less public life in which to regain some of the privacies he had surrendered through the 1960s. While his professional activities grew fewer, when they did take place they were (with some exceptions) well chosen, and generally attracted little of the suspicion or criticism directed at some of the other Beatles. The concert for Bangladesh was a spontaneous and prototypical gesture; his involvement in Handmade Films helped to sustain the British cinema at a time of crisis, and led to some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s; the formation of the Traveling Wilburys was a bold assembly of the ultimate super-group; his appearance at Bob Dylan's 30th-anniversary concert celebrated three decades of musical and personal interaction; and his final album, Brainwashed, was greeted as a profound and thoughtful collection of songs.
I was asked a while ago what I thought might have happened to the Beatles had they not persevered in the music industry. Paul, I suggested, would have gone to college and become an art or music teacher. Ringo I saw as the owner of a bar, maybe in a Spanish holiday resort. John would eventually have drifted into some kind of media-related role--an illustrator or a journalist. And George, I thought, would have settled down to a long and steady job as an electrician or TV-repairman.
I'm probably light years from the truth, of course. Just as it's almost impossible to imagine rock and roll without the Beatles, it's equally difficult to imagine them without rock and roll. And yet, in thinking again about the life and times of George Harrison, I keep returning to the idea that it was he, of the four, who changed the most--who had to change the most--in order to accomplish what he did.
Faced with the perfectly tuned commercial sensibilities of McCartney's songwriting and the force of Lennon's creative impulse, it would have been easy for George to opt for the security of a supporting role within the group. In fact, he never considered this. Having overcome Lennon's initial opposition to his membership (he was, at fifteen, considered a mere youngster), he practiced the guitar relentlessly, often until his fingers bled from the effort. Given a token one or two songs to perform on the Beatles' first few albums, he went on to produce some of the group's, and its members', loveliest music--"While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something," "Give Me Love," "The Light that Has Lighted the World." Confused by the complexities of life as a Beatle, he sought spiritual guidance in India, bringing about a fusion of Eastern and Western musics, whose influence persists today. Confronted by a humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh, he responded by organizing rock's first large-scale benefit concert and persuaded friends like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and Leon Russell to join him.
Many of his comments stand as signposts along the route of the Beatles story: "Well, for a start, I don't like your tie" at the group's first meeting with George Martin; "That's it ... I'm not a Beatle any more" after the final concert in 1966; "If you're going to be in a rock 'n' roll band, it might as well be the Beatles" when asked to review his career; "I'm really quite simple. I'm a gardener. I plant flowers and watch them grow. I don't go out to clubs and partying. I stay at home and watch the river flow" when describing life as an ex-Beatle.
After the spectacular success of "My Sweet Lord," which established him in many eyes as the most immediately impressive of the post-Beatles, he gradually opted for a less hectic, less public life in which to regain some of the privacies he had surrendered through the 1960s. While his professional activities grew fewer, when they did take place they were (with some exceptions) well chosen, and generally attracted little of the suspicion or criticism directed at some of the other Beatles. The concert for Bangladesh was a spontaneous and prototypical gesture; his involvement in Handmade Films helped to sustain the British cinema at a time of crisis, and led to some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s; the formation of the Traveling Wilburys was a bold assembly of the ultimate super-group; his appearance at Bob Dylan's 30th-anniversary concert celebrated three decades of musical and personal interaction; and his final album, Brainwashed, was greeted as a profound and thoughtful collection of songs.
