"Ordinary Love" by Matt Cermanski

On Thursday February 27,the "Oscar Concert", an event organized for the first time by the Academy as part of the Week Awards, was held at the Royce Hall in Los Angeles .Each of the compositions / scores and original songs nominated   were interpreted.

"Ordinary Love" was sung by  Matt Cermanski, not U2 as had been rumored at the beginning. Cermanski has risen to fame thanks to his participation in the 5th season of the television show "The Voice" and he has  recently released his first album "Long Road Home".

www.U2Valencia.com 

"Ordinary Love" in Vinyl

"Ordinary Love", the song U2 made for the biopic Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, has been released in vinyl by Interscope Records.

Danger Mouse(Brian Burton) appears in the credits as producer of the new song  and side B song, "Breathe" is produced by Declan Gaffney.

Both were recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York.

The cover has been made by www.ampvisual.com  and is based on Oliver Jeffers' art.

Tracklist: 

U2 ‎– Ordinary Love

Label:Interscope Records ‎– B0019655-11
Format:Vinyl, 10″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Limited Edition
Country:US
Released:29 Nov 2013
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Indie Rock

A Ordinary Love 3:39

Additional Backing Vocals By – Angel Deradoorian
Additional Production By – Declan Gaffney
Additional Recording By – Grant Ransom, Ben Baptie and Barry Gorey
Additional Synths and Piano By – Declan Gaffney and Brian Burton
Assisted By – Ben Baptie
Backing Vocals By – Edge and Larry Mullen Jr, The
Lyrics By – Bono
Mixed At – Electric Lady Studios, New York
Mixed By – Tom Elmhirst and Danger Mouse
Music By – U2 & Brian Burton
Producer – Danger Mouse
Wurlitzer and Synth By – Barry Gorey

B Breathe (Mandela Version) 4:02

Assistant Engineer – “Classy” Joe Visciano
Backing Vocals By – Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, and Adam Clayton, The
Lyrics By – Bono
Music By – U2
Producer – Declan Gaffney
Recorded At – Electric Lady Studios, New York

http://www.discogs.com

U2 at Bray: Shooting for their new album?

U2 was seen at Bray, near Dublin. Shooting pics for their new album? 

“U2 spotted shooting their new album cover on Bray seafront today”


@AndrewJDMcNulty

Vintage Christmas

An article about old times Christmases in Ireland (Rolling back the Christmases) reminds us of U2´s first time in England , "hoping to crack London".


"...Just before Christmas in 1979, a young Dublin band billed as The U2s arrived in England.


They were hoping to crack London.


"I want to replace the bands in the charts now, because I think we're better'' said the precocious lead singer, known as Bono Vox. (It had to be Bono!!!)


However, only nine paying punters turned up in Islington to watch them..."


To round the memories off, a rare video  of U2 playing John Lennon Cover
 "So this is Christmas"on a TV Show.(probably mid-80´s, after the release of The Joshua Tree)

http://www.independent.ie

U2 Achtung Baby – a look back

The Achtung Baby early sleeve drafts

ampvisual.com (the design consultancy based at  Dublin , which has been responsible of many of the visual work of U2) has published  a very interesting post on Achtung Baby and its covers.

When I first heard the opening salvo of U2 Achtung Baby and the channel flipping darkly distorted sound of Zoo Station, I literally thought that the CD player had broken, or that the speakers had blown, or that we had mistakenly been sent music by another band, it really was that different, that NEW, that un-U2 like.
It’s difficult to sum up the days before the internet, wall-to-wall media and the power of online networking – the days before instantaneous speed of the transfer of information. But after U2′s Lovetown tour ended just after the Dublin Point Depot shows and Bono saying that the band would have to, ‘go away and dream it all up again’, there was an almost 2-year silence, broken only by the band’s appearance on the Red Hot And Blue Cole Porter tribute album with their version of Night And Day in 1990 – the first real inkling of the band’s new direction. Otherwise just silence.


Then suddenly, The Fly, the first single off Achtung Baby. It was as if a very different door had opened for the band that allowed them to not only sound re-invented, but that also allowed them the freedom to act in a brand new way also. There were suddenly now so many new colours and shades to the band’s palette that it was mesmerizing to hear and to see it happening.


When Achtung Baby was released three weeks later, it was to astonishing reactions. The album had a visceral heat pouring from it. It crackled with brand-new sounds. It throbbed from your sound system with its expansive, distorted metallic textures and deep rhythmic sound with a sheer intensity. Bono’s double-voice, his falsetto and deep distorted low-register vocal spat out words of dark personal angst, sexuality and intimacy unheard before in his lyrics.


I was a youngster not too long out of college working with Steve Averill’s design studio Works Associates, when he asked me to work with him on U2′s as yet untitled new studio album in early 1991, my first job for U2. I was used to seeing the panoramic, monumental and monochrome imagery of The Joshua Tree sleeve and so on, but suddenly boxes of photographs were arriving in to us of new U2 photoshoots from Anton Corbijn that were very different to what I’d ever seen for U2. They didn’t have the serious sincerity of his previous work for the band, instead Corbijn had strove for a lighter vibe and the photos were a great combination of spontaneity and of a vivid kaleidoscope of colours from arctic blue to desert red mixed with ink black and sepia-toned lith prints of intense portraiture; of new landscapes, of various animals, of serious masculine men in frocks in full-on wigs and makeup, of band members smiling, fun… and nakedness. There was an astonishing amount of photographs – hundreds of beautifully printed photographs.


For us to make a sleeve that would break the mould of any previous sleeves done for band we had to see this as a brand new phase of the band, it had to be quite different from what had been done before. We wanted the sleeve to reflect the multiplicity of themes on the album, its shades of light and dark, its sense of place and time at the dismantling of the Berlin wall. We didn’t want a fashion sleeve, something that would be out of date soon after. We strove hard to make a ‘classic’ album sleeve that would thematically have both depth and meaning and that would go to form the complete album both sonically and visually. No one image was enough to convey the shades and personalities on the record and so out of many experiments we ended up with a regular grid of images with examples shown to the band of sleeves by the likes of Pink Floyd and The Who.

Download 'Ǎhk-Toong Bāy-Bi Covered'

Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi Covered featuring Nine Inch Nails, Patti Smith, Depeche Mode, Jack White, The Killers and others is available for download from today in the iTunes Store.


All proceeds will benefit Concern Worldwide's work in famine-stricken areas of East Africa. (The album will be available on iTunes in the UK on November 28th.)


With the support of iTunes, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) and all the participating artists, managers and labels, all proceeds from the sale of Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi Covered will support Concern’s response to the East Africa crisis, where thousands of children have already died of hunger or related diseases and over 10 million people remain at risk.


'This crisis in East Africa is still very much an emergency and Concern is delighted that all of the parties involved are making this hugely significant contribution to our work in the region,' said Concern CEO, Tom Arnold. 'We are honored they have chosen Concern as the exclusive beneficiaries.


'It is disappointing that such a major ongoing humanitarian situation has largely disappeared from the media headlines. Offering the proceeds from Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi Covered to Concern’s East Africa appeal also provides a timely reminder that alleviation of the hunger and wider health crisis in the region must not be forgotten and should remain a global priority.'


 Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi Covered was conceived for Q Magazine to mark their 25th Anniversary issue,  coinciding with the 20th Anniversary re-release of Achtung Baby. The CD is available with Q Magazine’s December 2011 issue. 


'Drought may be an act of nature, but famine is not.'  Visit ONE  for  more information on the causes of famine and how to prevent it.





www.u2.com

Behind the scenes on U2's Q magazine cover shoot

Behind the scenes with U2 on the cover shoot for the latest issue of Q, Q305 which is out now.  Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr shot it  in Montreal earlier this year for the issue which not only sees the band discussing their Achtung Baby reissue and their future, but which comes with a special version of the iconic album that features the likes of Patti Smith, Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, Jack White and more covering tracks from the record. 



More details,here. 

More Achtung Baby Covers

Glasvegas playing "Acrobat".




Nine Inch Nails playing "Zoo Station"









And one of the most awaited ones, at least by me, Gavin Friday singing "The Fly"







youtube user:  ToneNoir

Who´s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

A new cover version  for  'AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered'. 'Who´s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses' by Garbage 

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - Garbage by u2m

www.u2fanlife.com