mountain lion tracks

Leona Lewis has today been revealed as the face of Teenage Cancer Trust’s summer sun safety campaign, Shunburn. Supported by Superdrug, the campaign aims to help young people avoid sunburn, one of the primary causes of skin cancer in the UK.

Mary McCartney, renowned photographer and daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, donated her time to photograph the record-breaking singer in a stunning series of shots highlighting Teenage Cancer Trust’s key sun protection messages.

Leona Lewis commented: “I’m proud to be supporting Teenage Cancer Trust’s Shunburn campaign. TCT is a charity that I hold very close to my heart and this campaign is so important because young people really need to know how to stay safe in the sun. I want to encourage teenagers to realise that whether you’re in the UK or abroad, it’s vital to cover up and use a sun cream with an SPF of 30 or above. It’s time to respect your skin!”

Mary McCartney added: “It was a real pleasure to meet Leona and take photographs for this fantastic campaign as I feel the work Teenage Cancer Trust does is invaluable. Both Leona and myself really believe in the importance of raising awareness amongst teenagers about protecting their skin in the summer months. I am sure the campaign will be a great success.”

The images of Leona taken by Mary will be used to spread the sun safety message all summer long on leaflets, on-line and in Superdrug stores across the country. Leona has also designed a head scarf to be sold exclusively on Superdrug.com to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Recent research carried out by TCT on 1,000 teenagers revealed a serious need for education in sun safety: a quarter of teens believe that using tanning oil or playing in the swimming pool protects their skin from burning!

Research also shows that one of the main reasons teens get burnt is that they often simply forget to take suncream with them. That’s why at the heart of Shunburn is an innovative FREE Burn Alert SMS text service sending subscribers friendly reminders to take precautions on the hottest days of the summer.

Young people can subscribe by texting SHUN to 80231 or online at www.shunburn.co.uk and in return they will be entered into a weekly draw to win festival tickets and other fantastic prizes.

Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII [1973]
bridal jewelry winston salem

What? Not only is Alaska in Winter more deserving of the title “maverick” than its eponymous state’s governor, the electronic project is also far more versed in foreign policy. Dance Party in the Balkans, the group’s 2007 debut, married robotic cadence with traditional Eastern European tones, fleshed out by dramatic strings and emotive vocals from frontman/Grand Poobah Brandon Bethancourt. This month’s follow-up, Holiday, takes a trip to Berlin — and in AIW’s Germany, life is a cabaret.

Vocoder melodies and upbeat lyrics tell stories of high-speed boat races (”Speed Boat to Heaven”), a man who “stays awake all night to avoid the sunlight” (”Keep Your Boots Clean and Everything You Step On Is Dirt”), and hard-partiers in need of some pacing (”Korrpromenade”). Even at its most serious, the album’s unfaltering replication of a never-ending European dance party fills you up and never lets you down. With an album cover that features both a keytar and a font that calls to mind arcade video game Cruis’n USA, how could it be anything but fun?

Who? After dropping out of art school in his native New Mexico, Bethancourt spent a winter semester in — you guessed it — Alaska to escape from responsibilities and reflect. Though he meant to take a break from music, solitude bred creativity and he wound up writing the songs for AIW’s first release from his frigid cabin. This year’s album follows Bethancourt’s quest for the perfect party to Europe — and if his foreign-exchange melodies sound at times reminiscent of another musically inclined Albuquerque native, thank high school-chum-turned-collaborator Zach Condon of Beirut.

The two teamed up when Bethancourt returned from Alaska, and Condon reprises his role this time ’round with backing vocals and ukulele on album opener — and standout — “We Are Blind and Riding the Merry-Go-Round.” Holiday also features violin from A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s Heather Trost.

Fun Fact: Hausmusik isn’t the only thing that’s rubbed off on Bethancourt since moving abroad: He’s taken to giving interviews in a phony German accent, as can be seen on his MySpace blog.

Listen: Alaska in Winter, “Berlin” (DOWNLOAD MP3)

Exclusive Video: Alaska in Winter, “Staring at the Sun” (Live)

Dio
Sony BMG has moved

track airline flights live free
TouchScreen

Music Review: - The Sound of Urchin
eComm 2009 - Call for Speakers

Playstation 3 Audio Source
TouchScreen

Chip sales to grow 10% in 2006
simpsons sounds

heart sounds
Offensive Ads - The Cad Fad

Jon Arnolds Blog: Music
Prodigy

RCA’s credentials as the leading record label of 2007 were fully endorsed last night when they won MusicWeek’s most prestigious award, Record Company of the Year. The award goes to the company which achieves the most in terms of market share, working successful album projects, and breaking new artists.

The success of RCA, headed up by Craig Logan, was down to a strong focus on A&R, yielding chart topping sales from The Hoosiers, Newton Faulkner, strong international sales from artists such as Natasha Bedingfield, and RCA’s partnership with Syco, achieving international superstardom for Leona Lewis.

While RCA is now building successful international careers for these acts, it is also focussing on the next wave of UK talent with high hopes for new acts like The Script, Sam Beaton and Ida Maria.

International acts on the RCA label also played their part with artists such Justin Timberlake, Pink, The Fray, and Britney Spears. RCA also has a strong line up of artist albums for 2008, including new albums from Usher, Will Young, Beyonce, Rod Stewart and Dido.

“This is a great achievement for Craig and his team,” says Ged Doherty, Chairman of SONY BMG Music Entertainment UK & Ireland. “Sony BMG led the industry in breaking new acts last year. We plan to do the same this year.”

“I’m thrilled that we have won this award” says Craig Logan, MD RCA Label Group, “Over the last couple of years we have built a great team. Our focus is A&R and getting the music right. We now have established a great platform for RCA to go on to even bigger and better things this year as we continue to build up our fantastic roster of artists.”

TV on the Radio Wow Brooklyn
Music Review: - British India

The fab team of David Byrne and Brian Eno team up for the first time after 1981’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Byrne does the rich lyrics and vocals, while Eno produced the music. Although each has a stellar reputation in their own right, the duo were behind many of the excellent Talking Heads records in the 1970s, and seem to have lost little of their verve in the intervening years.

The opening track, “Home”, gives a multi-dimensional perspective to the common term, looking at it from a distance, remembering, yet appreciating - even the negative stuff

Home- where the wheels are turning
Home- why I keep returning
Home- where my world is breaking in two
Home- with the neighbors fighting
Home- always so exciting
Home- were my parents telling the truth?
Home- such a funny feeling
Home- no-one ever speaking
Home- with our bodies touching
Home- and the cam’ras watching
Home- will infect whatever you do

The vocals are rather unemotional, as one might expect from David Byrne. This is not to say the song is unemotional or shallow. Rather, the singer lets the lyrics and orchestration create the illusion of home, without layering it with the sentimentality a lesser singer might impart.

“My Big Nurse” seems a geriatric ode to life and to the things that protect and care. The song is deathly slow, creating a languid afternoon mood. The quest is for “all the possibilities/For dancing on this lazy afternoon”. This is something one might do, interestingly enough, “When he shakes the stars above/When we lose the ones we love/When the seasons lose their grip/When the tightrope walker slips”. The security one needs for this kind of carefree, Sufi-ish dancing is derived from being “In the comfort of the world/In the arms of my big nurse.” This is perhaps a song best appreciated in the evening, or even, afternoon, of one’s mortality.

There’s a whole lotta stuff going on in “I Feel My Stuff”. This is as much a vehicle for Eno’s masterful orchestration as for Byrne’s out-there imagery, combining Lebanese Sailors with Christian crimes and fast-paced fretwork with staccato electronica notes. Let the song wash over you, give into a ‘fatafat generation’ vibe and “stuff it, step it, pick it, going bye”.

The title track “Everything That Happens” might be just a build-up to the chorus. Then again, it seems to evoke a post-9/11 vibe, from the very beginning, with the ‘neighbor’s car explode’ on a ‘perfect highway’. There is hope, asking, “Oh my brother, I still wonder, are you alright?/And among the living, we are giving, all through the night”. The signature lyrics are perfectly apt for our times, “Everything that happens will happen today/& nothing has changed, but nothing’s the same/and ev’ry tomorrow could be yesterday/& ev’rything that happens will happen today”.

Kaipa