Madison and Pine

SXSW and stuff

So if I'm quiet for long periods.. it's 'cause there's only 24 hours in a day and that just isn't enough right now... yes I sound whiny.. but hey here's part of what I'm involved with 

Fader Fort lineup

WEDNESDAY MARCH 14

1:30 - 1:55 WHITE RABBITS

2:15 - 2:40 STARDEATH & WHITE DWARFS

3:00 - 3:25 WINTERKIDS

3:45 - 4:10 KENNA

4:30 - 4:55 FOALS

5:15 - 5:40 DAVID VANDERVELDE

6:00 - 6:25 HOT CLUB DE PARIS

6:45 - 7:15 THE BOGGS

STEREOGUM PARTY MARCH 14

8:15 - 8:40 NEW VIOLATORS

9:00 - 9:25 LO-FI-FNK

9:45 - 10:15 MEAT PUPPETS

THURSDAY MARCH 15

1:30 - 1:55 THE PIPETTES

2:15 - 2:40 FOREIGN ISLANDS

3:00 - 3:25 BLACK LIPS

3:45 - 4:10 PETE & THE PIRATES

4:30 - 4:55 BONDE DO ROLE

5:15 - 5:40 THE FRATELLIS

6:00 - 6:25 COCO B's

6:45 - 7:15 SLOAN

FRIDAY MARCH 16

1:30 - 1:55 GALLOWS

2:15 - 2:40 CLOUD CULT

3:00 - 3:25 JAMIE T

3:45 - 4:10 BADLY DRAWN BOY

4:30 - 4:55 YOUTH GROUP

5:15 - 5:40 OFFICE

6:00 - 6:25 AMY WINEHOUSE

6:45 - 7:15 MEW

SATURDAY MARCH 17 (THESE TIMES MAY CHANGE AGAIN)

2:00 - 2:25 FANCY

3:00 - 3:45 THE GOOD THE BAD & THE QUEEN 4:20 - 4:45 NO AGE

5:05 - 5:30 LADYHAWK

5:50 - 6:15 VIETNAM

6:35 - 7:05 REDMAN

7:25 - 8:10 BONE THUGS -N- HARMONY

Thomas Dolby Tour

look for a remix contest coming soon.....

and apart from that I got my taxes done this weekend too!!

l8t

r

NME awards rocked pics of Mick Jones

I just got back in from a wicked night as guest of the NME at their annual awards show... and as blurry as it is here's a couple of pics of one of the most incredible and rare musical events I've witnessed in person...

I wish my phone was a better camera.. but here's Mick Jones with Primal Scream from tonights show at the Hammersmith Palais... simply awesome(it'll be broadcast in a short while on UK Channel 4).. and a crowd that included Noel from Oasis, Kate Moss, Artic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Klaxsons... and a myriad of others famous and UK influential were on their feet dancing and crowd surfing.. oh the power of great music!!

l8t

r

Slacker....

And again years pass in the world of MnP without so much as a peep...but hey until they make a 28 hour day, I think this'll be how it is!

Last week I spent catching up from Grammy world and moving forward on SXSW. We have some killer stuff going on with NME, Fader and XLR8R so if you're going to be down there ping me and let's see if we can hang out. Tuesday I'm off to the UK for a couple of days, primarily to attend the NME awards show in London but then a bunch of meetings too.

I finally have my permanent desk/digs at the office.. we're moved.. for the third and "final" which is a relief , although my Kraftwerk DVD boxed set seems to have disappeared somewhere.. weird. We do now have a regular Friday afternoon DJ set in the atrium, which is great. Staff members run 3 on 3 from vinyl, CD or Zune, which is great fun and even the uber smart super focused developers have revealed some mad mixing skillz.. who knew?

Anyway, that's what's up with me

l8t

r

Grammys schmammies.. I hung out with Cowboy Jack!

So I'm here in LA again getting ready for our Grammy bash.. I actually have an iron in my room and may use it on my new shirt if I can work out how to switch it on!.. of course news of Wolfmother and RHCP and Madonna and all sorts abounds.. but the truth is I got to hang out with a real music guy on Friday in a studio and in his 80s (I'm guessing) he made more sense that all this glitter would in a hundered lifetimes! Yeah I spent time with  Cowboy Jack , he's produced a few records in his time Johnny Cash ~ Waylon Jennings ~ U2 ~ Charley Pride ~ Louis Armstrong ~ Doc Watson ~ Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Townes Van Zandt ~ Eddy Arnold ~ Frank Yankovic ~ Carl Perkins.... and over the years has evolved some rules that could probably see more use!

1. Be alert. 

2. Be on time.

3. Don't bring or invite anyone.

4. Don't talk about your troubles.

5. Don't mention the words "earphones", "headphones", "cans", "earmuffs" or the like.

6. Be quiet when the Cowboy is speaking.

7. Don't be timid or shy with your playing.

8. Have a good day.

9. Listen.

10. Remember that it only takes three minutes to cut a hit record.

anyway, it made my day to meet him.. thought I'd share

l8t

r

Bluebird

Nashville is sooo much fun....here's where I'm going tonight!

9:00 A Night of Rock and Roll Stories In The Round with Chris Wallin, Jim Peterick , Bonnie Bramlett Thursday February 8th, 2007
Time:	9:00 PM
Information:
9:00 A Night of Rock and Roll Stories In The Round with Chris Wallin, Jim Peterick , Bonnie Bramlett and Kelly Keagy, $12.00 Wallin has written for Trace Adkins (I’m Tryin’) and Montgomery Gentry (Speed). Peterick was part of the monster rock group Survivor (remember Eye of the Tiger? Yep!), Bramlett cut her teeth in East St. Louis. She’s sung with Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, and Jimmy Buffett. Check her growly, wailing voice on tunes like Superstar (Grammy nominee!). Keagy’s rocked with the power group Night Ranger (Sister Christian‹Blurbchick waxes nostalgic!). Sure to be a mon-stah rock evening. !!!!!! heeeeel yeah! l8t r

Nashville & Grammys

Just as the dust is settling on another fab Seattle weekend ( I discovered Stephens Pass and a whole bunch of snow) It's time to head to Nashville for a series of label meetings and  to do a Leadership Music panel... and then off to LA for our part in the WMG Grammy afterparty which will be happening at what used to be the Catholic Cathedral in downtown...looks like it'll be a fun night!!

Look for this in a few press pics next week :

 

l8t

r

it just made me smile

Cesar over at ZuneInsider just emailed me this picture

I'm not sure why it made me so happy.. perhaps due to my sleep deprivation following last nights Mad Professor show.. who knows.. but it did, and in the spirit of Zune I thought I'd share.. so here you are :)

l8t

r

Errol & Astralwerks-passing of an era

There are few people in the music industry that can claim to have had a significant impact on American Culture. My good friend Errol Kolosine is one of them. I just learned today that he's leaving his gig running Astralwerks (yes I know I'm late on this but I don't have time to read the gossip as much nowadays) for opportunities that will allow him to continue to expand on his abundant creativity.. (my words not his, he's way to modest!)

Anyway, him leaving Astralwerks is truly the end of and era. His legacy is amazing, and I know I'll miss half of it, but VHS or Beta, Beta Band, The Chemical Brothers, Air, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Phoenix, Small Sins, The Little Ones, The Kooks, Hot Chip, Badly Drawn Boy....not bad and there are soooo many more. So while a "passing" always brings with it a little sadness, I'm incredibly excited to see where Errol ends up next. He is after all one of the smarter people on the planet!

pic: Errol - finally after more than a decade he will get a day off!

Because Z-Boyz Rock

I'm knackered.. the whole getting home at 2:30 propped up on a few cans of RedBull then trying to get to sleep so I can get out of bed at 6:30 to do it all again looks way better in Outlook than it feels!

But hell it was worth it last night!.. our lifestyle guys did a "Seattle Takeover" event last night, stuffing the Baltic room (max capacity of 300 tops) with the "whose who of Seattle urban culture" to see a one off from Clipse . The line was round the block when I got there at 10:30 with Markus and the War Room crew.. by 11:30 the line was in the street and thanks to Jamaal I was whisked up into the sanctuary of the VIP area (this is where I got my hands on the free Red Bull... read-caffeine mistake)

pic: Clipse - just add Zune for the real Shizzle

Anyway.. when Clipse eventually went on, the place went nuts.. and courtesy to the really big guy next to me I disappeared in a huge cloud of shall we say "smoke with healing properties".. I guess one mans pleasure is another mans poison!

net net... if you ever get a chance to go to one of our takeover events.. go...

l8t

r

Strummin with the Devil......

I couldn't resist... I think I just found one of the weirdest albums of the year, and all thanks to Peter over here on the Zune team... he casually mentioned "have you ever heard the Blue Grass-Van Halen- tribute album 'Strummin with the Devil' ? " After doing a double take like a boxer getting the first wallop on the chin, he came back at me with a left hook.. "oh yeah David Lee Roth sings on a couple of songs"

pic : Strummin with the Devil - it just ain't right!!

With their kinda reunion tour just announced, I'm looking for a leap in banjo prices...well perhaps not!!

I have nothing more to say on this subject....the devil is all yours should you choose this path!

l8t

r