Candy Girl

I have to profess that Hard Candy is my favourite Madonna album since Ray of Light (1998)! That said, she's pretty much guest starring on cool cuts produced by Timbaland, Neptunes and friends! At times Madonna sounds like Timbaland muse Nelly Furtado and one-time rival Paula Abdul on Candy Shop!

Hard Candy is more a sequel to Justin Timberlake's awesome Future Sex / Love Sounds, which, in my view, is a good thing, even if it doesn't push the envelope and Madonna is a trend follower in this instance!

Is Hard Candy as good as Mariah Carey's blockbuster E=MC²? I'd suggest not!

E=MC² is a formula for single success

The sequel to Mariah Carey's multi-platinum album The Emancipation of Mimi, E=MC², may become the diva's most successful release to date!

Mariah Carey's 11th studio album is front-loaded with a dazzling array of potential singles and not at the expense of musical integrity! Following the coy Touch My Body, I'm That Chick is a cool cut that borrows heavily from '70s disco and even goes as far as directly quoting from the zenith of the era - Michael Jackson's celebrated Off The Wall album! Mariah's introspective dissertation on her failed marriage to Tommy Mottola, Side Effects, is another standout and evokes the paranoia of Michael Jackson's best material! For the Record is mesmeric, replete with Mariah's trademark vocal pyrotechnics.

E=MC² closes with I Wish You Well. With its haunting gospel overtones, the song sounds incongruous against what has proceeded it! That said, it's a beautiful and rare opportunity to hear Mariah Carey's voice emote a cappella.

I've been a fan of Mariah Carey since Vision of Love and it's fair to say that her formula had become homogenised, self-parody (a point that Mariah lampoons on the brilliant album opener Migrate) and, frankly, dull towards the end of the '90s! It's ironic that whilst she has stuck to that commercial formula sans glitter - so successfully brewed by the alchemists at Sony BMG Music and perfected on Emancipation - E=MC² sounds flirtatious, fresh and fun! Mariah Carey is at the top of her gorgeous game!

Now we simply await the return of Madonna with Hard Candy! Pop music lovers are sure to be in for a treat over the coming weeks and months. Bring on the soundtracks to the summer!

Can't Speak French

Yesterday Girls Aloud unleashed the sultry Can't Speak French EP, the third single taken from Tangled Up! The remix hits the sweet spot coupled with an evocative Marie Antoinette video promo, which recalls Madonna's MTV Music Awards 1990 performance of Vogue!

Ministry Of Sound

AOL Radio has been updated and can now be used with free AIM accounts.

Listen to AOL Radio featuring XM's 200+ streaming radio stations on broadband or dial-up. Integrates with iChat and provides a desktop overlay for song changes.

This application is a great compliment to iTunes, which, lets face it, is somewhat lacking in terms of radio support!

Whilst listening to AOL Radio, Jessica Simpson's new single, A Public Affair, debuted! This dance anthem evokes early era Madonna (Angel is a prime example)! Very catchy.

Can't wait to hear Jessica's new album (Epic records). This will be followed by Beyoncé's B-Day, the follow-up to Beyoncé's 7.6 million selling 2003 solo debut Dangerously In Love. A line-up of top producers including The Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins and Swizz Beatz have contributed to the set, which will be released on September 4, Beyoncé's 25th birthday. B-Day is sure to be ushered-in with the pomp and circumstance once reserved for Michael Jackson!

Frankie Say Relax

Back in 1991 I co-wrote and produced, with my longtime friend Dr Michael Williams and Shane Johnson, several radio documentaries (MP3) as part of an Exeter College/BBC Radio Devon partnership. These were broadcast as part of teenage magazine show 90MPH.

Audience reaction to the documentaries were overwhelmingly positive and garnered BBC Radio Devon their highest listener response at that time slot! This synergy was ultimately under-exploited (for too many reasons - not least internal politics - to go into here) to the detriment of all the parties involved.

I've transferred these aging analog recordings, after years of sitting on the shelf, to my Mac. For audiophiles here's my analog to digital workflow (subject to change):

*Sony Stereo Cassette Deck TC-KE500S
*QED QUNEX 1 phono interconnects
*Griffin Technologies PowerWave USB audio interface
*Monster USB High Performance USB cable
*Audacity and GarageBand 3 (clean up and editing)
*WAV exported to MP3 file format for maximum portability

The original 1/4" reel-to-reel 8-track master tapes were unavailable. Therefore the source material is taken from TDK SA-60 (Type II) cassette tapes (Dolby HX PRO B NR) and is subject to the inherent limitations of the medium i.e. reduced fidelity.

After applying a smidgen of digital polish, I'm now making these recordings available for the first time ever on iTunes and online! Cue drumroll please...

Today's archival documentary concerns the subject of censorship in the mainstream music industry and how recording artists such as Madonna, Prince and George Michael, and their labels, exploit alleged deviant behavior for profit. This ideology is as prevalent now as it was in 1991.

Ironically, the original broadcast was subject to censorship itself! Relax, performed by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, was cut by the BBC due to a playlist embargo!

Street Smarts

After a nine-month wait European consumers can now enter the fourth space. Say hello to Sony PSP. Want one? You'll need to get in line, I'm afraid.



Photo reproduced with the permission of the copyright holders SCEE.

In keeping with the Sony theme. Lets focus on their music (software) group and a confession. I listen to Jessica Simpson! Before you flame me. In 1999 I received her debut CD (as part of a larger package) from a US-based friend: Jessica's vocal range and control impressed. Prior to this, Sony had included "Did You Ever Love Somebody" (performed by Jessica) in the first Dawson's Creek soundtrack compilation. So, I was already a convert. MTV's Newlyweds introduced us to her solipsistic lifestyle and has become appointment television (Pepsi floater optional).

Last weekend Michael and me perused the shelves of MVC. The subject of Madonna's next album arose: I had no idea about the forthcoming release of Confessions on a Dance Floor! Madonna sagaciously appears in the new commercial for Motorola's ROKR iTunes phone. The new single "Hang Up" is also premiered during the advertisement. Does this mean that her back catalogue will shortly be made available on the iTunes Music Store? Madonna's lucrative deal with Microsoft (under the Windows Media brand) always struck me as spurious and inherently limiting. Maverick (co-founded by Madonna) artists were introduced last year.

Sweet syndication Batman! Last night FeedBurner got a face-lift and now my Flickr photos are spliced into the feed. The guys and gals at FB are a talented bunch. I'm delighted to have partnered with them. I urge all site managers, overseeing rich media feeds, to do the same. Incidentally, Flickr Uploadr is now at version 2.0.

Firefox fans are in for an early Halloween treat this year. Version 1.5 should bow on October 28th. For further information and news on the Public Preview Beta, point your browser here.

The Final Countdown

The year 1996 forms a convenient segue from the last post and ties-in with today's safe return of space shuttle Discovery. Prior to completing my final year at Bournemouth, I graduated from console gaming (only to return a few years later with the purchase of a PlayStation) to PC/Mac.

My Macintosh Performa 5200 introduced me to the rich CD-ROM tapestries weaved by LucasArts at the peak of their powers. Dark Forces (favorite FPS), Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire (completed between sending off an application to Reuters and accepting the position) and The Dig (demo). The latter remained an enigmatic curio (I'm familiar with Alan Dean Foster's soft cover novel) until this morning, when I obtained a copy of the full game (PC) and played it via the venerable ScummVM.

Based on a story by Steven Spielberg, with dialogue written by Orson Scott Card (The Abyss), the apocalyptic narrative presages Hollywood's meteor movies Deep Impact and Armageddon. The Dig's hand-drawn and animated game art looks fresh and inviting in 2005. Surely this was a franchise in the making replete with animated/live action series and merchandise?

Whilst UK television viewers await the debut of Lost (teasers directed by Madonna and JLo photographer David LaChapelle) on Wednesday night. A few films, that are worth watching more than once, are being repeated. Jean-Claude Van Damme (AKA The Muscles from Brussels) is not an 'action hero' I'm particularly fond of. Yet Timecop (1994) is a riveting yarn from Dark Horse Comics scribe Mark Verheiden (whom responded to a letter I wrote Dark Horse in 1994). Even the wooden Mia Sara can't detract from the forgettable fun to be had. The first time I ever saw Timecop was on a NTSC THX-Certified DTS Laser Disc. The image and sound surpassed VHS and analog broadcast transmissions of the day.

A few of my observations concerning Flickr and Firefox were shared during last night's JMUG meeting. Appreciated.

Singin' in the Rain

The rain is pouring down outside and captures the dramatic nuances of The OC episode "The Rainy Day Women". The reprise of the Spider-Man (2001) 'kissing' scene between Seth and Summer crackled with sexual tension and chemistry.

Having always been a casual fan of No Doubt, when lead singer Gwen Stefani stepped out, to embark on a solo career, I was intrigued by the result. Ms Stefani's debut album repackages early Madonna (an obvious comparison) in a J-pop bubblegum wrapper! Love, Angel, Music, Baby is singularly the most engaging (acidic and schizophrenic) pop album that I've heard in a long while. And the videos are spectacular. Stefani's an audacious Alice.

Platoon

Hot on the heels of last week's Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, which is proving popular with thousands of Mac gamers. America's Army: Special Forces 2.3 was released for Mac OS X today. AA has the somewhat dubious honor of being endorsed by the US Army as a recruitment tool. Unlike ET, AA is based on Epic Games' Unreal Engine 2 and minimum system requirements are higher. I'll leave you to deliberate over any ideological concerns. IMG Pro users can download it now (759MB).

In other gaming news. There's a new unofficial MacMAME Xcode build available. Sega's Thunder Blade (1987) is finally 100% accurate. I remember playing the notoriously difficult Thunder Blade at Exeter's Megabowl whilst MTV was showing Madonna videos back to back.

Express Yourself

Pepsi has announced an iPod promotion in Australia alongside sponsorship of pop sensation Delta Goodrem! Presumably there'll be a similar Pepsi promo in Europe when iTunes Music Store is released?

After losing many daylight hours testing the World of Warcraft beta. DarkRyder has been joined by Human Warrior Mondas (named after the home planet of Doctor Who's calculating Cybermen). He resembles the new He-Man sculpt from The Four Horsemen! Fans of Blizzard's various franchises may be delighted to learn that Mac OS X installation patches for classic titles Diablo and Starcraft are to be released over the coming weeks. Feel the love!

Can't wait for Friday's release of The Day After Tomorrow! CGI geeks (and who isn't?) should see Terragen, a landscape generator that is heavily utilised in the movie!

Madonna begins her "Reinvention" World Tour tonight. Aroused by the success of Britney, Beyoncé and Kylie, Madonna is "dusting off" those old hits - Get Into The Groove to Vogue - and promises a show as spectacular and provocative as Blond Ambition '90 (I attended the infamous live BBC Radio One broadcast from Wembley Stadium in July, 1990).

The Sun and listening to Alanis Morissette's So-Called Chaos is so soaking up my time! BTW I watched The Corrs new video on MTV! It still "hurts" to look at Andrea!