Friday, August 31, 2012

Muse's Matt Bellamy: ''The 2nd Law' is influenced by U2'



Muse mainman Matt Bellamy has admitted that the band's forthcoming new album 'The 2nd Law' has been partly inspired by U2.

Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, the singer revealed that spending time with Bono and the boys on the South American tour last year influenced their new LP, which is set for release on October 1.

Bellamy, who revealed last week that a recording of his son Bingham's heartbeat will also feature on the record, said:
" We toured with U2 last year in South America. And there's definitely a little bit of influence come on to this album, a little bit of [1991 U2 album] 'Achtung Baby' here and there."

'The 2nd Law' is the follow-up to 2009's 'The Resistance' and has been recorded in London. It contains a total of 13 tracks. The album includes recent single 'Survival' and dubstep-influenced track 'Unsustainable', which you can hear at the bottom of the page.


Muse will tour the UK in October, playing five shows. The gigs begin at Glasgow's SECC on October 24, before the band move onto London's O2 Arena for two shows on October 26 and 27. They then play Birmingham LG Arena on October 30 before finishing up at Manchester Arena on November 1.


 http://www.nme.com

Bono on Anton Corbijn & U2


Anton Corbijn Inside Out: watch a clip of Bono talking about the photographer - video





A new documentary on Anton Corbijn, famed rock photographer and director of Control and The American, explores the relationship between the artist and some of his high profile subjects. In this clip Bono, lead singer of U2, explains how light ties Corbijn and his band together. Anton Corbijn Inside Out is released in UK cinemas on Friday 14 September and is available on DVD from 17 September


U2-sponsored scheme to help children learn music expanding

The U2-sponsored scheme offering affordable music education programme to young children and teenagers is expanding.
The Music Generation programme has put a call put for applications for funding to provide free or cheap tuition to help develop young talent, whether instrumental or vocal.
The programme started thanks to a €5m donation from U2, topped up by €2m from the international charitable network, The Ireland Funds
Already €3m has been awarded to Music Education Partnerships up and running in counties Laois, Louth, Wicklow,Cork City, Sligo and Mayo. The plan is to support 12 local Music Education Partnerships nationwide by 2015.
This is the third round of funding to be made available under the programme and completed applications must be received by 5pm Thursday, November 8.
Music Education Partnerships, which usually comprise public agencies such as a vocational education committee or county council and private music tuition providers, are eligible to apply for 50pc funding, up to a maximum of €200,000 per year over three years.
The Department of Education and Skills is committed to continuing to fund the partnerships into the future when the Music Generation donations cease.
- Katherine Donnelly

http://www.independent.ie

Thursday, August 23, 2012

BONO SINGS WITH GRONEMEYER IN GERMANY

Bono y Herbert Gronemeyer en Alemania

Bono made a surprise appearance     on Herbert Gronemeyer`s show at the Metropolis Hall in Potsdam,Germany on Tuesday night in .
 Bono and Gronemeyer sang his song, "Mensch," the same song they performed together in 2007 at an anti-poverty concert in Rostock, Germany.  The performance was apparently recorded for Gronemeyer's upcoming English-language album, I Walk, which is due for release in October. Bono and Gronemeyer also sang "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" together.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Nostalgic of past days: Night and Day


"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter, written in  1932 for musical play Gay Divorce.

U2 recorded it  in 1990 and appeared on the Red Hot + Blue compilation album. 




A great version of a classic performed by now a band which is a classic!!!

Monday, August 13, 2012

A smile for Miro

Miro Angers is a kid who is fighting against cancer. Participation in his campaign is easy: you just have to send a pic of yourself smiling and supporting his cause.
Look who`s already in!!!



Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mr The Edge!!!


Happy birthday, Edge!!! To our beloved guitar alchemist, the best of days!!!! Not a year older, but a year better!!! 

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

U2 360 Tour Book Available



From the Ground Up



U2: 360° - Um die Welt in 760 Tagen, (U2: 360° - Around the World in 760 days), chronicling the epic U2 360° production that toured from 2009-2011, is available in German from author Dylan Jones with photography by Ralph Larmann, with a release date of September 2012.

It can be ordered here for delivery in Germany at the moment. The book will eventually be published worldwide in several languages. As from 20th November, the book will be available from Random House.ca

From the Ground Up
U2360° Tour Official Photobook
Written by Dylan Jones
Illustrated by Ralph Larmann
Category: Music – Rock
Format: Hardcover, 300 pages
Publisher: Preface Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-84809-368-3 (1-84809-368-3)
Pub Date: November 27, 2012
Price: $39.95


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Adam Clayton: the most rock'n'roll member of U2



Even in the sobering environs of the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Adam Clayton cut an effortlessly cool figure. Tanned, sartorially elegant and with just the right degree of laissez-faire about him, he stood out among the passers-by on Parkgate Street.

Ever since U2's earliest days, when he sported a long Afghan coat and a mop of blond curls, the bass player has exuded cool.

Much of the appeal of rock stars has hinged on that indefinable notion and somehow Clayton has retained it, long after his bandmates lost theirs -- if indeed they ever possessed it.

He has always appeared a man apart.

Not for him the new-age Christianity that U2 clung to in the early 1980s or the save-the-world campaigns that Bono seemed born to champion.

Novelty

While his bandmates proffer their views on just about anything, Adam has been reserved; so when he chooses to address a subject publicly, in that languid Anglo-Irish drawl of his, it's something of a novelty.

Even on stage -- in the stadiums that U2 call home -- there's no sense of self-aggrandisement. While Bono and the Edge boast consummate showman qualities, Clayton is more content at the back, laying down the rhythmic bedrock with Larry Mullen.

You sense he's more comfortable there, hard at work but not appearing to be busting his gut.

Clayton was a crucial figure in the embryonic U2 and served as manger of the group before Paul McGuinness arrived on the scene.

He pushed his colleagues in those fledgling months -- the very period when would-be bands can so easily fall apart despite the lofty intentions.

Without his initial vision, it's highly unlikely U2 would have become the force they are today. The U2 that strode the 1980s like colossi could be a tedious bunch, especially in that earnest, irony-free period when they took to the stage with white flags and Bono first learnt the art of sloganeering.

Outsider

Yet, Clayton's outsider status was never in doubt -- while his mates were more interested in prayer, he was being caught in possession of drugs. His consumption of alcohol was more akin to the hard rockers that had gone before.

And while the rest were settling down with wives and kids, he was hooking up with one of the world's most celebrated women, Naomi Campbell.

But the engagement would be short-lived, and despite a string of romances, there's something of the eternal bachelor about him.

By 1993, his drinking had got so out of hand that the unthinkable happened -- he failed to show up for a show in Sydney which was being filmed for a future video release.

The gravity of the situation dawned on him quickly, not least when the band insisted that he would be dispensed with if such unprofessionalism arose again, and he hasn't touched alcohol since.

It is said that his sobriety has made him less comfortable in certain social situations, and I was struck by how incredibly shy he appeared when meeting him at the band's Dublin studio shortly before the release of the 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' album in 2004.

While Clayton may not number among the all-time great bass players, his importance to the U2 sound should not be underestimated even if one of his most famous basslines -- for 'New Year's Day' -- evolved from an attempt to play Visage's 'Fade to Grey'.

His assertive playing style and his kinship with Mullen has been an essential component of the band's muscular, anthemic songs.

The Carol Hawkins trial laid bare Clayton's jet-set lifestyle, yet the judge praised his kindness as an employer.

It's a view that tallies with those who know Clayton the man -- inherently decent, loyal, a bon vivant and very, very cool indeed.

- John Meagher


Irish Independent


http://www.independent.ie