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Montreal’s Alt Rock Artist And Hoan Frontman ALEX NICOL Says it’s ‘All For Nada’

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Canadian alt-rock singer/songwriter and Hoan frontman Alex Nicol has released a new album All For Nada — and single “Two Times A Charm” — via Anniversary and Michel Records.

Directed and edited by Alexander Maxim Seltzer, and produced by Nada Termerinski and AMS Films, the video for “Two Times A Charm” serves as a lushly fevered, retro-drenched dream into the prickly and uncomfortable deception of understanding.

“We know that we don’t control the flow of our ideas, and that they are, by nature, difficult to understand,” Nicol expands. “And sometimes, even if we like to think we have ‘overcome’ feelings, thoughts or behaviours from the past, we are actually deceived by a false sense of self-awareness.

“It is this process of self-deception that’s dramatized in the video, in which thoughts materialize in the form of a blue box which the protagonist is unable to get rid of, even if he tries as best as he can.”

Collaborating with Temerinski — Nicol’s long-time partner who also produced the record and had a hand in everything from song titles to arrangements, to mixing decisions to art direction — All For Nada brings the pair’s creative vision to ultimate fruition across the LP’s eight tracks.

Operating as a unit, Nicol and Temerinski toy with the notions of the stereotypical ‘female muse’ and how ‘she’ is often credited as the primary, if sometimes elusive, source of male creativity. “Instead, we probed into the incandescent spaces where true collaborations — whether creative or romantic — live,” Nicol offers.

The album lands steady as a testament to the creative and emotional labour partners often invest into their loved ones’ work, and the results are narratives summoned and recounted over a sonic terrain, equally haunting and surreal. “Warm, yet full of vigor,” Nicol adds, “it’s a statement of intent from two creative individuals intent on trivializing the status quo.”

As part of Hoan, Nicol has stacked critical acclaim from the likes of the Toronto Star and The Fader for their debut EP Modern Phase (Fantome Records). The band toured North America twice, playing SXSW, Waking Windows, Pop Montreal, CMW, M for Montreal, as well as opening for SUUNS, Half Waif, and Crumb.

All For Nada and “Two Times a Charm” are available now.

Montreal Artist And Filmmaker Anthony Aramouni Weaves Creative Worlds to Release Textural Tribute Track, “L. Cohen”

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Canadian singer/songwriter, composer, producer and screenwriter Anthony Aramouni has combined his ear for music and eye for film in this, his richly textural, hypnotically reverent tribute track, “L. Cohen” — available now.

“This is my attempt to pay homage to a man who has deeply touched my life through his music, words, and genuineness,” Aramouni offers of his long-time adoration for the late Leonard Cohen. “He is forever inspiring me to strive for personal growth and excellence while remaining grounded in, what I think, ultimately unites us all as human beings — love, sacrifice, kindness, curiosity, ambition, gratitude, and all we deem sacred.”

With that sentiment deeply ingrained, the Montreal-based artist’s long-time inspiration took ultimate hold one afternoon, seemingly out of the blue.

“I was in my apartment, strumming the guitar aimlessly,” Aramouni recalls. “The progression of certain chords caught my attention and seemed to be laying themselves out with a certain promise.

“An idea dawned on me in that moment: to tell the story of Leonard Cohen and his muse, Suzanne Verdal.”

That, and Cohen’s 1967 classic hit, “Suzanne,” specifically.

“Taking from my personal experience with such short-lived yet incredibly giving relationships, I attempted to tell a universal — yet personal — tale of love and sacrifice,” Aramouni elaborates on his own songwriting for the track. “It was only moments later the song was born.”

The recording process would soon prove to be just as organic and seamless a process for Aramouni, who went into the studio to record a few weeks later. “I was accompanied by a brilliant musician and sound engineer in Montreal, Kento Kataoka,” he shares. “The recording session was as agreeable as the songwriting process. It was not long before it was officially brought to life.”

A tour de force and frequent fixture across many creative scenes, Anthony Aramouni’s songwriting and productions have been featured in award-winning short films; his latest collaboration with soul/blues artist Eric Mercury is set to be featured in the forthcoming film — which he also co-wrote and is producing — Blue Tongues. In addition, Aramouni is the co-founder, CEO, executive producer and music supervisor of Montreal-based film house Film & Blues Production.

This experience naturally led to creating the “L. Cohen” video in-house, as well as a ‘Making Of’ detailing the process.

“I took the final version to film director Youcef Beghdadi here at Film & Blues Production to explore ideas,” he recalls. “After several sittings, we decided to recreate shots inspired by a number of Cohen’s music videos — like ’First We Take Manhattan’ and ‘Dance Me To The End Of Love’ — and also find inspiration in the work of legendary film director Ingmar Bergman.

“We aimed at telling a visual story that would capture the essence of the song while paying tribute to the work done in his music videos,” Aramouni expands. “I was blessed to be accompanied by a wonderful artist and writer, Claudia Emmanuelle, who’s featured in the music video as well.”

“L. Cohen” is available now.

Coronavirus Has a Playlist. Songs About Disease Go Way Back

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Tunes about hard times during disease outbreaks have a long history.

2Pac’s Isolated Vocals For “Old School”

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Taken from Me Against the World, Old School helped get the album nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards. It lost, but the disc won Best Rap Album at the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2008, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recognized Me Against the World as one of the “most influential and popular albums”, ranking it number 170 on a list of 200 other albums by artists of various musical genres.

…and here’s the original:

Twenty One Pilots’ Isolated Vocals For “Stressed Out”

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With “Stressed Out” being released as a single, Twenty One Pilots became the very first rock act to have a song reach a billion streams on Spotify. “Stressed Out” has received two Grammy Awards nominations: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, winning the second award.[

https://youtu.be/D_kWeIIMc8Y

…and here’s the original:

The Cranberries “Zombie” video Hits 1 Billion YouTube views making history as the first Irish band ever to hit this milestone

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Taken from their second album No Need To Argue and released in September 1994, the official video for The Cranberries track “Zombie” has just passed 1 billion views on YouTube, breaking records as the first Irish band to hit this milestone. The Cranberries now join a small club of iconic artists to reach this landmark and the video is the fifth most viewed rock video of all time globally.

Written by Dolores O’Riordan as a protest song after IRA bombings in Warrington killed two children and injured 56 others in March 1993, “Zombie” was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and was produced by long time Cranberries collaborator Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur). Containing the lyrics “But you see, it’s not me. It’s not my family,” the band were adamant “Zombie” should be the lead single from their new album and resisted the suggestion to go with a less political track, such was their commitment to the song. The official video directed by Samuel Bayer – who now notches his second billion viewed clip following Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ – shows original footage of Northern Irish street scenes with children playing war games during The Troubles, including the now famous political and historical murals. In the video a gilded Dolores O’Riordan stands before a giant cross wearing a crown of thorns surrounded by silver cherubs, with cutaway shots of the band performing live outdoors.

Vans Launches Shoe Customization Program To Support Small Businesses During COVID-19 Crisis

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Vans “Foot The Bill” initiative aims to assist the creative communities of our extended Vans Family around the world during this difficult time. Using our Vans Customs platform, we invite you to express your creativity and be a designer to your favorite Vans shoe, all while supporting the skate shops, music venues, art galleries, restaurants and local hangouts that enable your creative self-expression every day.

Vans are committed to supporting at least 80 local and community driven small businesses including skate shops, music venues, art galleries and restaurants. Though, this amount does not include all of the amazing partners that they work with around the world, they are hopeful this program will help our communities get through this unprecedented time.

All proceeds less the cost of production and shipment will be paid to the local and community driven skate shops, restaurants, art galleries and music venues.

Vans will be producing up to 500 pairs of Custom Vans per partner, based on demand.

For more information, go here.

Diana Ross’ ‘Supertonic’ Digital Release Due On May 29; CD And Vinyl Will Be Available On June 26

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Supertonic is a special kind of Diana Ross magic. Absolutely authentic, it’s her voice, her electrifying sound. This music has no boundaries, blending the past and the now in this new collection. On May 29, the digital release of Supertonic, featuring new remixes of nine classics, will be released by Motown/UMe. Supertonic also will be available June 26 on CD and crystal-clear vinyl. Supertonic is produced by Diana Ross with remixes by producer Eric Kupper. Executive Remix Production & Marketing By Brad LaBeau Co + Peter Nelson for Pro-Motion. All remixes are created from the original multi-tracks of the masters taken from the Motown vaults.

Diana Ross rewrote history earlier this year when “Love Hangover 2020,” the first single from Supertonic, which is available today, topped Billboard magazine’s Dance Club Songs Chart – her fourth consecutive No. 1 remix with a song that had previously been No. 1 in its original release. This unprecedented accomplishment followed her history-making chart success in 2019 when “The Boss 2019” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart during the 40th anniversary of the original version topping the same chart, her then third consecutive No. 1 Dance Club Songs Chart hit. Written by Pam Sawyer and Marilyn McLeod, “Love Hangover 2020” reached top 5 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart in just two months and peaked at No. 1. The song’s original version, produced by Hal Davis, was a simultaneous No. 1 on Billboard‘s Pop, R&B and Dance Club Play charts the week ending May 15, 1976.

Supertonic also includes the three Billboard No. 1 Dance Club Songs Chart singles that reached the pinnacle during a 15-month period – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “I’m Coming Out / Upside Down” and “The Boss.” In January 2018, the remix of Ms. Ross’ exquisite global anthem “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (an edited version of which appeared on Diamond Diana: The Legacy Collection) hit No 1. The original version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” written and produced by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, was a No. 1 Pop and R&B hit in 1970. Kupper’s mashup, “I’m Coming Out / Upside Down 2018,” hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs Chart in just eight weeks. The original versions, written and produced by CHIC’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, were both ranked No. 1 on the same chart during the same week in 1980. “Upside Down” was also a No. 1 Pop and R&B hit in 1980. “The Boss 2019” leapt over a strong field to hit No. 1 on the Dance Club chart in April 2019; the Ashford & Simpson-produced original was No. 1 on the same chart 40 years earlier. These magnificent achievements marked the first time any artist had back-to-back-to-back No. 1 Dance Club Chart hits with songs that were originally No. 1; “Love Hangover 2020” adds to this record-breaking feat. To date, Ms. Ross has had eight No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs chart.

The success of “Love Hangover 2020” continues to illustrate the unprecedented star-power of Ms. Ross as a trailblazer and legend in the music industry.

The balance of the nine tracks on Supertonic include remixes of two more cuts from the album The Boss, whose original LP tracks were collectively No. 1 dance hits: a dramatic, up-tempo rendering of “No One Gets The Prize” and a Latin-ized “It’s My House.” The top 20 hit “Remember Me,” gets a smart R&B feel, while “Surrender,” and the 1973 No. 1 hit “Touch Me in the Morning” are two additional thrilling Kupper remixes.

In addition, Supertonic: Instrumental Mixes, instrumental versions of all tracks on Supertonic, will be available only via all digital services on May 29, the same day as the digital release of Supertonic.

DIANA ROSS SUPERTONIC [CD/DIGITAL]
SUPERTONIC: INSTRUMENTAL MIXES [DIGITAL]

CD/DIGITAL

  1. I’m Coming Out / Upside Down 3:07*
  2. Love Hangover 3:45
  3. The Boss 3:38
  4. Surrender 3:06
  5. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough 4:05
  6. No One Gets The Prize 5:20
  7. It’s My House 4:40
  8. Touch Me in the Morning 4:18
  9. Remember Me :40

*Running time is longer for this track on the digital-only instrumental album.

DIANA ROSS SUPERTONIC [LP]

LP (CRYSTAL-CLEAR VINYL)

Side One

  1. I’m Coming Out / Upside Down 3:07
  2. Love Hangover 3:45
  3. The Boss 3:38
  4. Surrender 3:06
  5. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough 4:05

Side Two

  1. No One Gets The Prize 5:20
  2. It’s My House 4:40
  3. Touch Me in the Morning 4:18
  4. Remember Me 3:40

1-minute tip for artists: Commencement speeches.

Life isn’t fair – you didn’t get asked to do a speech in front of a large crowd? Don’t worry! Do it anyway!

4 rules to follow while writing fictional novels

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Writing novels isn’t an easy task for sure, and most of the people would be thinking as to where to start an anonymous blog. When there are so many people out there who are struggling to put a few words together to come up with meaningful sentences, one can imagine the plight of writers. They would probably be battling day in and day out to come up with some of the best words that can interest their readers. It is easy for a reader to discard a book by calling it worthless or futile and discard it after reading it once but, imagine the amount of hard work that would have gone into writing that book. Well, there are several novels that would have come and gone but, only a few of them would have become famous, and that is because of the style adopted by the writer, the content, and also the gripping plot that would have been woven.

There are a lot of people who fancy reading fiction because these kinds of writings would give the reader a scope to imagine and visualize themselves as the characters. Also, fiction can be quite interesting when the characters are brought into lives. To write fiction, there are a lot of things that have to be done because writing fictitious stories require a lot of intelligence and imagination skills. If the visualization of the writer isn’t up to the mark, then their work is certainly going to collapse because the readers would not approve of them.

Hence, developing certain skills and getting rid of the doubts like, can an anonymous blog be successful are required to become a fiction writer is highly important. There are a lot of sources that you could use to become a brilliant fiction writer but, if you are suffering from time constraints, you could also choose to go through some of the write-ups like these that can give you hints on the rules to follow while writing fictions.

  1. Bring your thoughts together.

The first and foremost thing that one needs to do while writing fiction is to work on their thoughts. Developing visualization skills ­is one of the most important requirements for every fiction writer. The story would be based completely on the level of imagination that the writer has ad also none of the points mentioned in the story would be true. Thus, to develop your imagination power, you must remember to list down all the thoughts in one place. These thoughts would further help you to connect all the dots together for a brilliant story.

  1. Refer to the styles of other writers

Whenever you are reading a novel of your choice on the best anonymous blog platform, make sure to understand the writing style of the author. It is not important that you develop a similar writing style, but you must make sure to observe the key points related to the novel. Ensure to check for the twists introduced in the story, study the detailing of the characters, understand how the author has introduced their character using their behavioral traits, etc.… When you constantly do this, you would be able to develop a writing style of your own, and this will, in turn, help you to come up with your own fiction novel.

  1. Decide on the storyline that will sell

When you think of fiction, the storyline has to be extremely gripping. You must ensure to keep your readers glued to every single word that you write. This is completely dependent on the characters and their description that you bring into the story. Also, the setting and the theme of the story becomes highly essential when you are working on the storyline. Unless and until you have a gripping storyline, there are fewer chances of your novel getting published. Hence, this is one of the most important rules that you need to follow while writing fiction.

  1. Choose names for your character.

Make sure that you give the right names to your characters. The names that you choose for your characters should describe the behavior, their body language, and also their responsibilities in the story. The names that you use for your characters will have a lot of impact on the minds of the readers. Hence, this rule shall also help you in coming up with the best fiction ever. A lot of readers would be fascinated by the names, and they would certainly love the way you have used them to make the characters come to life.

Well, we assume that these tips on the rules to be followed while writing fiction would help you to come up with your own stories or even a short novel. Only when certain things are followed meticulouslywe would be able to achieve our goals of becoming a successful fiction writer, isn’t it? So, when you are working on your novel, we assume that you would be considering these points and apply them in your writing and become the best fiction writer.