Stuart Estell

I mentioned Stuart a while back (in the “New Bloggers” post), but I’m going to give him another plug; largely because he’s not really “blogging” over at his website, he’s using it to share his music. So a “New Bloggers” post doesn’t really do him justice.

There are two sites you need to have a look at: his MySpace page, and his personal site.

The MySpace page has samples of a few instrumental tracks from his new album Mother’s Thinking Bath: “The Ambassador”, “The God of Sleep”, “Will Beckett’s March”, and “Trip to Mars”. The album will be available soon, and I hope to feature a review on this site and Blogcritics once I’ve got a copy.

Stuart’s personal site contains much more music, and full recordings of a variety of tracks (both covers and Stuart’s original songs); a recent favourite of mine being Cuckoo’s Nest. Better still, the site’s RSS feed is now set up as a podcast, so if you subscribe you can have all of Stuart’s music delivered conveniently to your computer. Or, if podcasts aren’t your thing, subscribe to the feed anyway and manually download new music as he posts it.

I hope you enjoy Stuart’s work, and please post a comment here and on Stuart’s site letting us know what you think.

The Inner Steve

It’s only rarely that we get to see the “inner” Steve over at GailyColouredPlasticBag. All too often his site is made up of his insane ramblings (see his previous sweating post as a prime example).

And while I wouldn’t want him to stop creating those loony posts, it’s articles like this that are such a joy to read. I can see now why it took him so long to write.

So, thanks for sharing your thoughts on Syd, Mr Local. A splendid post, and I look forward to more in the future.

Second Life: Third Dimension

Duran Duran have always been on the ball when it comes to technology. Whether it’s filming ground-breaking extended videos for 1981’s “Girls On Film”, producing a video using only Macromedia Flash, or serenading Opportunity, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover across the reaches of space; they’ve harnessed technology in a way that very few bands have.

And now they’ve focused their gaze on that great untapped PR wilderness: The virtual world. Duran Duran are coming to Second Life.

Second Life is perhaps most comprehensibly described as an online game, of sorts. Although simply describing it as a game doesn’t capture the scope, imagination, and potential that exists within the Second Life universe.

“Players” in Second Life - or perhaps more accurately, residents - have the freedom to create anything they desire, assuming they have the skills with the tools provided by the creators, Linden Labs. These creations aren’t just limited to clothing or visual augmentations for these virtual characters (often called Avatars) but are limited - or perhaps unlimited - only by imagination and ingenuity.

As an example, it’s possible to harness the Second Life environment to create whole other games. A simple example might be to create a clone of Nintendo’s popular Tetris puzzle game, or to fashion a version of Space Invaders.

The flexibility and popularity of Second Life is starting to catch the attention of many bands and organisations, who are seeking to turn this environment into a significant PR opportunity. Recently, the BBC used Second Life to host a virtual festival: Their Big Weekend event was simultaneously broadcast within the virtual world. Visitors were even provided with a virtual digital radio, allowing them to listen to the BBC’s radio services whenever they find themselves in the game’s environment.

Big Weekend event’s content was limited to large video screens displaying the action from the real world. And while the BBC created virtual versions of certain DJs (for example, Chris Moyles), these Avatars were not controlled by their real life counterparts. None of the bands featured actually performed in Second Life. If Radio One have ever considered simulcasting one of their radio shows in Second Life, they never have.

Duran Duran intend to change that. Their goal is to harness the power of Second Life to its fullest extent, by creating - and perhaps more interestingly controlling - their own specially crafted Avatars. Strategic marketing company 3003 Group have even requested dual passports for band members in the hope that Second Life will be recognised as an entirely new nation.

BBC hosts the first virtual music festival?

Wonderland have posted some very interesting news indeed. As far as I’m aware, this is the first virtual music festival I’ve come across. Regardless, it’s certainly the first virtual festival the BBC have arranged. I can’t seem to find any information on the BBC site, however.

I’ve been meaning to have a look at Second Life for a while now. It’s a fascinating concept and is far more popular than I ever imagined it would become. I might register over the weekend and give this a go. It’s an incredibly intriguing idea, and I can’t help but think that this is something we’ll see more of in the future. I know there have been virtual book signing and other social events hosted within Second Life, but when someone like the BBC starts to host events in there you have to take notice. They’ve even created virtual digital radios for players to take away with them, which can be used to listen to Radio One from within the game.

This whole thing reminds me a little of Tad William’s Otherland books…

Have you tried Second Life? I’d be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the virtual world and this event.

Sisters Of Mercy - Nottingham

Let's just get one thing straight from the start: I love the Sisters Of Mercy. They're an important band for me - the soundtrack for some fond memories from my childhood is provided by Andrew Eldritch and co. One such memory involves the first paper-based role-playing game I ever acquired (Nightlife, thanks for asking) and the track playing in the background as we rolled our first characters was "Vision Thing".

And I've continued to love them. Despite my wandering preferences, and lack of enthusiasm or tolerance for some of the bands I favoured back "then", I've continued to listen to, and enjoy, "Vision Thing" and "Floodland" in recent years. And so, it was with much excitement that I made my way to Nottingham to see them perform at Rock City. Little did I know that discovering a new car park would be the most exciting event of the evening…

It doesn't start well. The support act, The Ivories, give an uninspiring performance full of jangly, haunted-house guitars and screeching vocals. Their front-woman's painful lack of charisma renders the whole performance deeply tiresome after the first few songs. Credit where it's due: The drummer does a nice job, and her backing vocals are far better than the lead's.

During the relative calm of the post-support interval, I pick my way through the assembled crowd (one of the largest I've seen at Rock City) to the bar. After much dodging and weaving I arrive and wait keenly, elbows perched on the bar, for a member of staff to catch my gaze. My eyes wander to the full-length mirrors behind the bar and I realise with some amusement how bizarre I look. I'd made a half hearted attempt at "goth" for the night; an old Vampire:The Masquerade t-shirt had been dusted off and pulled out of the wardrobe. This proved too small (I'm sure it must have shrunk in the wash or something), and so I switched to my faithful grey Bullseye t-shirt. As a result, my reflection in the mirrors makes me look like a darts fan at an Addams Family convention, surrounded as I am by frilly white shirts, black sequined dresses, and large amounts of leather. 

John Martyn - Wolverhampton - May 3rd

Many years ago, when I was significantly younger (not to mention smaller) than I am now, my Dad would play John Martyn cassettes in the car. There's no doubt that my Dad has been and continues to be a massive influence on my musical tastes (as all fathers should be), but back then I didn't think I liked the music very much, couldn't understand a word of it, and was bemused by my Dad's enthusiasm for it; to me, this seemed like nothing more than a shouty incomprehensible man. It must have left an impression though as a few years ago during a flight to Barcelona, I was scrolling through the vast array of music on my iPod. As I reached the Js (and just why is it that I have so many artists beginning with J on my iPod?) I came across Solid Air. And so began my musical re-evaluation of John Martyn. He's not incomprehensible, I discovered; you just have to pay attention. And this is music that's well worth paying attention to.

Flash forward a few years to the present day, specifically Wednesday the 3rd of May 2006. My father, my uncle and I (a trio who regularly go to gigs around the Midlands area of Britain) travelled to Wolverhampton to see John Martyn perform at the Robin 2. My father had seen him perform before (and has the t-shirt to prove it), I hadn't. As a result, I didn't know quite what to expect.

The last time I visited the Robin (to see an entertaining performance by Nils Lofgren) it was being renovated. The renovations are now complete and the venue is perhaps one of the finest I've been to. The ceiling slopes down on one side of the hall, an architectural feature which I suspect enhances the acoustics significantly. It's not too big, not too small, and has a good sized, raised stage to provide the audience with a better view of their performer. Future acts at the Robin include Jeff Healey, and The Blue Oyster Cult.