Archive: 2003

Who knew: big black holes sing bass. One particularly monstrous black hole has probably been humming B flat for billions of years, but at a pitch no human could hear, let alone sing, astronomers revealed yesterday (Sept. 9).
“The intensity of the sound is comparable to human speech,” said Andrew Fabian of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge. But the pitch of the sound is about 57 octaves below middle C, roughly the middle of a standard piano keyboard. This is far, far deeper than humans can hear, the researchers said, and they believe it is the deepest note ever detected in the universe.
The sound is emanating from the Perseus Cluster, a giant clump of galaxies some 250 million light-years from Earth. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year.
Source Billboard.com.

First time director, Catherine Hardwicke, has created an unrelenting portrait of adolescent culture, being widely herald as the next Kids. Where its predecessor was an inside peek into urban teen life, Thirteen was co-written by 13-year-old Nikki Reed, enabling the film to intimately capture the essence of contemporary struggles young girls must face, as they strive to be independent women still innocently enrolled in Middle School.

While he is certainly a household name as the bass player for Phish, Mike Gordon’s interests and passions range far beyond just playing the four string with one of the world

Once again, Keller Williams

Most people don’t speak of mountain biking and New York City in the same sentence, but those who know better, realize the big apple is smack in the middle of a geological convergence, with several of earth’s forces providing a variety of riding. With so much terrain to choose from, locals often regale an unfamiliar listener with tales of wrist-shaking downhills, technical body busters, and some of the sweetest single track on the entire east coast; and it’s all within one hour of Times Square.

A rapid fall in temperature, accompanied with sleet and a relentless climb made for a somewhat unsettling scenario, and we quickly found ourselves in the belly of an unforeseen weather front. After another mile of frigidly trekking on, we received some much needed encouragement in the form of smoke coming from a campfire settling over the relaxing terrain, and then briefly, the sleet stopped…or so it seemed.

Conscious hip-hop, combining steady beats and heavy rhythms, with political and social commentary may not be a new phenomenon. But with artists such as The Roots and Talib Kweli gaining momentum to new live audiences outside the hip-hop realm, it

If we learn from times of hardship more so than in times of joy, the founding members of Blues Traveler should be members of Mensa. Enduring a motorcycle crash that almost took the life of frontman John Popper, followed by angioplasty, major industry struggles, and the tragic death of bassist Bobby Sheehan, they were inevitably brought to a fork in the road, where one path went to what could have been, and the other straight ahead to reinvention. Truth be told, they chose the latter.

Phish bassist Mike Gordon has announced his first-ever solo tour, a 9-date run in support of his solo debut Inside In, released last month on Ropeadope Records. Kicking-off October 5 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the tour will stop at 8 cities, playing theatre and clubs in major markets throughout the United States before concluding on October 16 at New York’s Irving Plaza.
Marking his first outing as bandleader, the tour will feature a seven piece all-star group handpicked by Gordon that is as eclectic in its instrumentation as it is in personnel. Comprised of longtime Phish collaborators James Harvey on keyboards and Gordon Stone on pedal steel and banjo, as well as trombonist Josh Roseman (Dave Holland, Charlie Hunter), guitarist Scott Murawski (Max Creek), tap dancer and vocalist Jeannie Hill, vocalist and flutist Julee Avallone and drummer Doug Belote (Anders Osborne, Tony Furtado), the band will perform songs from Inside In as well as other material from within and without.
Tourdates:
10/5 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA10/7 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO10/8 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO10/10 – Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL10/11 – Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH10/13 – Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA10/14 – Toad’s Place – New Haven, CT10/15 – Avalon – Boston, MA10/16 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
Guitarist Kaki King will support all dates.
Specific ticket sales information for all shows is available from Phish.com

A film chronicling last fall’s star-studded George Harrison tribute at London’s Royal Albert Hall will open Oct. 3 in select U.S. cities. Filmed in high definition and recorded in 5.1 surround sound, “A Concert for George” will be released worldwide on DVD in November, distributed internationally via ArenaPlex LLC.
Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton served as the music director for the event, which featured appearances by Harrison’s surviving Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as friends Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Joe Brown, Anoushka Shankar and Billy Preston. Among the Harrison songs they performed were “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “I Want To Tell You,” “Inner Light,” “Give Me Love,” “Taxman,” “I Need You” and “For You Blue.”
The event also saw members of Monty Python re-enacting some of Harrison’s favorite skits. Harrison financed and served as an executive producer of the comedy troupe’s second feature film, 1979’s “Life of Brian.”
The theatrical engagement will open in New York, Los Angeles and other select U.S. cities to be determined.
Source Billboard.com.