July 2004

Ministry: Houses Of The Mole

For those of you who remember and appreciate the dawn of industrial rock, this album is a must have. As they always have, Ministry slams you with their blistering guitar licks, computer-assisted beats and Nihilistic imagery.

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Real Networks Mends MP3 Compatibility Solution

RealNetworks has developed a technology solution that makes tracks from its RealPlayer Music Store compatible with Apple Computer’s iPod, as well as with a number of portable music players that use Microsoft technology.

Real’s new technology, called “Harmony,” will be demonstrated for the first time tomorrow (July 27) at the Jupiter Plug.In conference in New York. The same day, a beta of the Harmony technology — which will be integrated into the RealPlayer Music Store and RealPlayer 10 — will be available to consumers on a limited basis at Real.com/harmony.

Real sells tracks in an AAC-based version of its RealAudio format; it secures the files with its own proprietary Helix digital rights management (DRM) solution.

Until now, music from the Real download store has not been compatible with either the iPod or Windows Media-compatible devices due to competing DRM standards from Apple and Microsoft.

With the introduction of Harmony, Real claims that its files now work with devices from Apple, Creative, iRiver, RCA, Rio, Samsung and PalmOne, among others.

Real’s solution to the compatibility problem is to give consumers two files of the same song when they purchase a track from the RealPlayer Music Store. The first is the normal file, designed for playback via Real’s RealPlayer music management software. The second is a transparent, “optimized” file that is not seen in the music collection but resides on the user’s hard drive. This second file is used specifically for transfer to a portable device.

The RealPlayer determines whether a device uses Apple or Windows Media DRM, and then converts the optimized file into the proper format to enable portability. “Users don’t have to think about the format,” says Sean Ryan, senior VP of music services at Real. “The proposition is: Buy it here; move it anywhere.”

The Harmony technology still doesn’t allow for tracks secured with Windows Media DRM to be directly transferred to the iPod, or for iTunes tracks to be transferred to Windows-based devices from the likes of Creative and Rio.

Previously, there has been no meaningful compatibility between legitimate digital-music offerings from rival technology companies.

Market leader Apple has yet to license its FairPlay DRM technology to any competitors — a fact that has kept secure tracks from music services other than iTunes off the iPod. In April, Apple rebuffed overtures from Real to make the iPod compatible with the RealPlayer Music Store.

Real still does not have a license for FairPlay. Instead, the company has engineered its own technology solution that allows RealPlayer Music Store tracks to work with FairPlay. Real says it is converting tracks into the Windows Media format under an existing licensing agreement with Microsoft.

Source billboard.com.

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Fela Kuti To Be Remixed By Blackalicious’ Chief Xcel

Quannum will on Sept. 7 release “The Underground Spiritual Game,” a mix CD of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s music spearheaded by Blackalicious’ Chief Xcel. The project was previously released internationally on French label Barclay.

According to Xcel, organizers originally wanted him to remix Kuti’s entire catalog, which spans 30+ albums. “So rather than do it all at one time, I decided to chop it off little by little,” he says. “Hopefully this will be the first in a long list of remixes I do of Fela’s music.”

In addition to working on the next Blackalicious record, Xcel is eyeing an Oct. 5 release for “Ambush,” the debut album from his Maroons project with Lateef.

Source billboard.com.

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The Polyphonic Spree Plot August Tour

The Polyphonic Spree have confirmed a two-week run of headline club dates in August that will include two-night engagements in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and New York, as well as a single show in Washington DC. The Dallas-based orchestral pop ensemble is touring in support of its sophomore album “Together We’re Heavy.”

A booking on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” has been confirmed for an August 27 air date; and in early August the Spree will tape an episode of PBS’ “Austin City Limits,” which will air in November. A recently-taped performance on CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” will air this Tuesday, July 27.

“Together We’re Heavy” was released in the U.S. by Hollywood Records on July 13, and is currently #1 on Soundscan’s Top New Artist Albums chart. The album was #1 most-added at college radio in its first week, and is #5 on CMJ’s Radio 200 chart.

Meanwhile, critics nationwide have responded enthusiastically to “Together We’re Heavy.” Rolling Stone said “substance exceeds style on ‘Together We’re Heavy…’ The gorgeous shape-shifting songs allow the diversity of the Spree’s instrumentation, from strings to brass to theremin, to shine.” Interview praised the group as “fantastically original” and Heavy as “a fascinating, ambitious, and majestic masterpiece,” a sentiment Nylon echoed, saying “anthemic, dynamic and enlivening… Polyphonic Spree have made a masterpiece.” And the Spree’s hometown weekly Dallas Observer called the album “stirring and singular and worthy of the swimming pools of critical ink in which the band has frolicked.”

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE SUMMER 2004 TOUR DATES

Aug 13 – Chicago, IL – Park West

Aug 14 – Chicago, IL – Park West

Aug 16 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club

Aug 18 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

Aug 19 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

Aug 21 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church

Aug 22 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church

Aug 24 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza

Aug 25 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza

Aug 26 – New York, NY – Late Show with David Letterman

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Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters score low points for originality, as every beat, bass line and harmony was snatched from the Boogie Nights soundtrack. But they score with their sense of humor, outlandish style and unabashed guts to combine glam, rock, disco and funk back to the radio waves.

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Glide Magazine Sets HeadCount Donation Record

Saturday, July 24th was a very special day for HeadCount. The not-for profit, nonpartisan organization devoted to voter registration set a single-show record of 466 registrations at the Dead show at Alpine Valley. They also generated about $370 in donations. That too would have been a HeadCount record, only at a moe./Chris Robinson/Particle concert on the same day, a Glide sponsored raffle generated $421.

This new donation record was reached through a special raffle made possible by the music and lifestyle Web site Glide Magazine, which donated two Great Woods Phish tickets as the prize. All of the funds generated by donations and raffles at concerts go directly toward HeadCount’s nationwide voter registration campaign, and are crucial to their efforts. HeadCount offered sincere thanks to all the good folks at www.glidemagazine.com for their generosity and support for the cause of voter registration, and to the Dead fans and volunteers in Wisconsin.

Saturday was also very special for another reason. HeadCount co-Chair, Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein, and his wife Deborah had their first child. A healthy 6 lbs 8 oz. baby boy. The mother-to-be went into labor the night before at a Sound Tribe Sector Nine show in their hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif., with HeadCount volunteers registering voters nearby.

HeadCount is a not-for profit, nonpartisan organization devoted to voter regustration and participation. We are run entirely by volunteers and rely on the generosity of others. Volunteer or make a tax deductible donation today.

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