Ever since Obama legitimised social networking with his campaign last year in the eyes of traditional media, a lot of other politicians around the world have been trying their hand at engaging with the population online. Many candidates have taken to Twitter to connect to their potential audiences including Paschal Donohue, Mannix Flynn and Newbridge candidate Willie Crowley, who incidentally gained visibility thanks to his poster which featured the cheeky tagline ‘Put Willie In’. Twitter is hardly a good platform for debate and the discussion for complex issues yet it is useful for broadcasting where the candidate will be present or relevant party news.
Blogging has been recognised as a more engaging method. The Green Party’s Ciaran Cuffe has been blogging since 2004 (at http://cuffestreet.blogspot.com), Cork Green Party candidate Ian Gallagher has an impressive site with video blogs promising to use the web to give locals a say in City Council decisions through voting on the site.
The parties have also been open to inviting bloggers along to events and talks. The Socialist Party’s Joe Higgins held a blogger press conference recently, The Green Party invited selected bloggers on a trip to the Dáil and in an example of how not to do things, Fianna Fáil didn’t exactly endear themselves when a talk with Joe Rospars (one of the chief architects behind Obama’s internet campaign) wasn’t revealed as being run by FF until people arrived at the talk.
Irishelection.com and Election.ie have been doing a great job of covering the run-up to the elections and they have thrown up a few music gems in the process. Labour’s Alan Kelly thought his message would sound better through the medium of Cork rap , Martin Kennedy went for the cheesy Irish song angle and perhaps Ireland’s most notorious musical politician, John Bracken has a new song called Give John Bracken Your Number One He’s The Councillor for You.
Ash are ready to make good on their decision never to release albums ever again. Their A-Z project which sees the now New York-based band release 26 songs; one every fortnight for the next twelve months, on 7” vinyl and digital download kicks off in December.
Another act taking the completely independent route are Canadian band Metric who recently released their album Fantasies. Metric’s manager told the LA Times that by selling direct to fans from their website and download stores like iTunes, Metric have already made more money on the new album than their last (and relatively popular Live it Out) record achieved in four years.
Taking the “direct to fan” approach further is Josh Freese, who gained plenty of exposure thanks to his unique scheme. The alt-rock drummer made enough noise with former bands A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Devo and The Vandals, that when it came to releasing his second solo album Since 1972, he decided to come up with a novel and attention-grabbing way of releasing it. Continue Reading..»
While the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Jackman, Elizabeth Banks use Twitter to communicate with fans, Gwyneth Paltrow is on a wholly different Oprah level. Following Winfrey and Martha Stewart into the lifestyle advice arena, Paltrow’s fledgling site GOOP.com (christened after her childhood nickname) sends out a weekly email newsletter which bears the new-age tagline “nourish the inner aspect”.
In her own words, she started the site because she felt “I had a lot of really useful information that I was privileged enough to get, because I have this amazing, super, fortunate life..” Right. Stop. Right. There. We know where this is going.. Continue Reading..»
In which Digital takes a trawl through the music blogosphere to find some overlooked songs and soon to be huge bands.
The constant wave of new bands can be a strain on your ears and that’s where music bloggers can help you separate the wheat from the chaff. Last week, a lot of electronic-leaning bloggers went gaga for the Burial/Four Tet 12” release and rightly so. The two prolific producers have quietly released a collaborative and limited split vinyl of superior quality and the best place to hear it is on the music blogs.
In the new music department, I was most impressed by retro-futuristic dance act Vega’s ‘No Reasons’ which has been gaining some new fans particularly after Gorilla vs. Bear posted it last week. The UK’s Wave Machines funky and sparse tune ‘Keep the Lights On’ is been given away free from their website while the alt-shoegaze of Sweden’s Liechtenstein is a delight if you’re into ’80s-inspired noise pop. Also from IKEA-land, the electro/hip-hop pairing of Lorentz & M.Sakarias are starting to permeate beyond Scandinavia and Ireland’s own MP3hugger is enthused by the 10 minute drone rock of The Chasms. Top of the pile though, especially if you’re into Little Boots and La Roux, is another UK electro-indie-pop girl here to steal your heart. Her name is Ellie Goulding and her cover of Bon Iver’s ‘Woods’ is a scene-stealer.
The term “blog-house” didn’t come into existence for nothing for music blogs are a breeding ground for ambitious new producers and opportunistic DJs looking to exploit the latest hit for their own gain. More often than not, these remixes are transparent but there is always some impressive official reworkings to be found. The Fred Falke near 8 minute remix of the Little Boots single ‘New in Town’ has an epic dance quality not many can muster, Calvin Harris amplifies Passion Pit’s buzz (and his own) with his bassline-heavy remix of ‘The Reeling’ , L.A. duo Classixx improve Phoenix’s ‘Lisztomania’ with their spacey house version and remixers du jour, The Golden Filter add to Empire of the Sun’s already over-subscribed remix trail with this admirable stab.
With the release of the big-screen version of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit still three years away, a group of impatient fans have taken it upon themselves to fill the void between Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Guillermo del Toro-led project by creating their own fan film.
While the idea of ultra-fans making their own short films inspired by a hit movie is not new (science fiction series like Star Wars have spawned dozens and dozens of parodies and homages) The Hunt for Gollum, with its slick production values, accurate costumes and faithful cinematography is by far the most impressive amateur fan film I’ve ever seen. Continue Reading..»
While royalty negotiations continue to breakdown between Youtube and European music publishers, one Irish-based music video company is aiming to take advantage of the situation. MUZU has struck licensing deals with many independent and major labels as well as unsigned acts to stream music videos, live concerts, video blogs and archive TV footage from programs like The Tube with the aim of sharing the advertising revenue with bands, labels and video owners. Best of all, it’s all 100% legal, and free to watch. So how can a little company like MUZU compete with an online video behemoth like Youtube? “We believe we can co-exist and succeed alongside YouTube which is heavily reliant on poor quality ‘home made’ video and has no definitive focus – a jack of all trades, but a master of none,” says MUZU’s Graeme Slattery pointing out MUZU’s 100% music focus.
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The biggest story in digital music last week concerned the advent of the MP3 price wars. Apple announced a new pricing system for iTunes worldwide which would change the standard €0.99 per song to a new three-tiered system. Under the change which came about under the pressure of major record labels, the Irish iTunes Store (and the country’s most popular digital music service) now sells songs at €0.69, €0.99 and €1.29, the latter now applied to popular acts like Lady Gaga, The Script and Beyoncé. It has been indicated that the €0.69 price tier will apply to the majority of older back catalogue music in the store.
While it currently makes little sense to charge more for music in times of recession and in a time when a LOT of people get their music illegally, Apple has also said that more tracks will be available at the €0.69 than €1.29 in the long-term and tracks are now sensibly DRM-free, meaning you can play them on any computer or device without restriction.
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It wasn’t an April fools joke. The fourth installment in the X-Men series – X-Men Origins: Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman was leaked onto the internet via BitTorrent networks in a DVD-quality, full-length and unfinished state last Wednesday, a full month before official release.
The leaked version is said to be a rough cut of the film with missing special effects, temporary music and sound. A slideshow of images from the movie shows scenes lacking full CGI, action sequences with stunt ropes and green screens clearly visible. Continue Reading..»
