In 2006 a London-based team founded a digital-media production house called GlobalFaction. The intention was to erect a platform — a soapbox — in a corner of the Internet on which conscious lyricists and artists could take a stand against today’s social and political climate. With GlobalFaction as their pedestal and the World Wide Web as their loudspeakers many UK rappers and poets have been doing just that, and thus their independent declarations of dissent have been forged into a revolutionary movement; a Speaker’s Corner for the Hip-Hop community in the 21st century.

Music videos make up a large majority of GlobalFaction’s output, and have helped publicise the scene’s next big things; such as Logic, Kyza and Skriblah Dan Gogh, as well as some of their higher-profile associates like Lowkey, Akala and Klashnekoff.

Since the rise of the music video in the 1980s, the format has been largely subservient to its music, adding little meaning and simply supplying visuals to create a digestible format suitable for television. What makes GlobalFaction’s music videos so special is how they add whole new depths to the original track’s meanings, or extend the meaning’s parameters.

For example; in the video for Lowkey and Shadia Mansour’s track Too Much, Lowkey raps about the emptiness of monetary wealth, compared to true human values; “money can buy power but it can’t buy respect… money can’t buy you love, but it can buy sex”. GlobalFaction shot the video in Cuba — a context the lyrics themselves make no explicit reference to – and during the intro and outro textual information about the embargo imposed on Cuba by the US (which restricts trade between the two nations) is added. Thus GlobalFaction reinterpret Lowkey’s concept — of monetary wealth vs. true wealth — within a Cuban context, and thus speak volumes about the country’s spirit and integrity in the face of oppression.

In another of Lowkey’s videos entitled Hand On Your Gun, GlobalFaction take a different approach and supplements the lyrical themes with even deeper levels of detail. The lyrics take aim at the arms industry, and the video adds further textual information telling us that “Barclays (…) is amongst the top 10 largest investors in US arms companies”, and “HSBC (…) has loaned £27 billion to the industry”, while “Lloyds TSB (…) serves as principle banker to BAE systems” (one of the world’s largest military contractors). The video thus becomes an educational document and, once having reached the masses, itself becomes a devastating weapon in the hands of those making a stand against the West’s invasion of the Middle East.

GlobalFaction also realise that dissent without a supporting community is powerless, and are therefore associated with live events such as the Speaker’s Corner night at the Brixton Jamm in South-East London, and also brings artists together to collaborate on their Youtube show called Beats, Rhymes and Revolution.

This production house is potentially a very powerful force; an online – and sometimes physical – community of revolutionary thinkers with something to say and the talent to say it. They are bringing together the UK Hip-Hop scene’s individual voices of political and social dissent, in a grand step forward in the movement for a truly global faction.

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Sheffield’s longest standing live music venue is in the limelight after being nominated for one of the UKs most prestigious music awards, following enduring success.

The Leadmill, which celebrates its 31st birthday this year, has been nominated for a Live UK Music Business Award. The award is one of the industry’s most highly esteemed acclamations, the final ceremony for which is due to take place on the 6th October.

Live UK is the only music industry publication focused solely on live music, read by the industry’s most influential people, and the award is an outstanding achievement for one of Sheffield’s most prided music venues.

The nomination, which came from industry peers, is for Best Major Club Venue (800+) Teamwork and comes after The Leadmill won Best Live Music Venue in Sheffield at the Exposed Magazine Awards in February of this year.

Rupert Dell, General Manager of The Leadmill, said “The Leadmill prides itself on hosting some of the music industry’s most commended acts and ensuring each event is run to the highest standard.

We’re incredibly proud and excited to have been nominated for such a prestigious award and so grateful to everyone who supports The Leadmill. We are ecstatic that people enjoy the venue so much and urge anybody who loves us or has been down recently to vote for us.”

To vote for The Leadmill and help them win this most exciting award for Sheffield, follow the below link:

Vote for The Leadmill

Details of the Top 3 nominees in each of the 21 award categories will be publicised in advance of the event and the winners will be announced at the final award ceremony, which takes place at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London.

This Autumn, The Leadmill are offering one of their strongest ever line ups, putting on gigs from Hard-Fi, Benjamin F Leftwich, The Pierces, Miles Kane, The Twang, Pop Will Eat Itself, Billy Bragg, British Sea Power, The Pigeon Detectives, Death in Vegas and many more.

See here for their full line-up and to purchase tickets or for updates on The Leadmill events visit their Facebook or Twitter pages.

Don’t forget to vote for The Leadmill

The Leadmill Gig Reviews

Old habits Di’ hard | Diana Vickers
Tuning In: Part 1

Death Cab For Cutie are set to make history tonight by being the first band to film the first ever scripted, single take video and air filming live.

The broadcast of the production will be streamed live by New Beats Media courtesy of Ustream and in Partnership with Atlantic Records, Bing And Redlaser.

Watch the live stream of the making of You Are A Tourist from 12am Midnight GMT/UK Time)

Long known for their ingenious and imaginative videos, Atlantic recording group Death Cab for Cutie are poised to make history with the companion clip for their hugely anticipated new single, You Are A Tourist. Directed by award-winning film maker Tim Nackashi (TV On The Radio, OK Go, Elvis Costello, Radiohead), and conceptualized by frequent collaborator Aaron Stewart-Ahn, You Are A Tourist will be the first ever live, scripted, single-take music video to be broadcast as it is filmed.

Presented by Atlantic Records, Bing and RedLaser, viewers are invited to watch the production unfold before their eyes midnight on Tuesday April 5th (2400hrs GMT).

As well as the video Bing, the decision engine from Microsoft, will offer exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of the band prepping for the video as well as from the live production itself at www.facebook.com/bing beginning on April 5.

You Are A Tourist is the first single from Death Cab for Cutie’s eagerly awaited new album, Codes And Keys, out 30th May in the UK.

Watch the Live stream now (12am onwards)

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Maltese singer/songwriter Adie has just released a new song called Tug of War. This single has been released with the notorious rapper Hooligan. Although Adie’s main focus is Pop, Tug of War was influenced from American music, mainly RnB and Hip Hop.

Tug of War was officially released on Facebook on the 12th September 2010 and has become very popular with the listeners and viewers of the video. In fact those who would like to listen and watch the video of this song can find it on Adie’s Youtube Channel.

Adie is making a name for herself and also for Malta. In fact, a song that Adie wrote last year was classified as a semi-finalist amongst 50,000 songwriters in the UK Songwriting Contest. She also reached no.2 in international charts with her song Somebody Out There.

Currently Adie is working with American, English and Australian top-notch songwriters and therefore, in the next couple of months, we will be listening to more songs from Adie’s second album that are mainly Pop but with a cross-over of RnB, influenced by singers such as Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna and Beyonce.

More information about Adie can be found on her website www.adie.com.mt , on Adie’s Facebook page , on Adie’s MySpace , or follow her on Twitter. You can also contact her directly via her personal email address — adie4you@gmail.com.

Northern Irelands finest Fighting With Wire have recently announced their UK and Irish Tour, they will be back on the road for their first tour in over a year as they prepare to unleash their new album Bones Of The Twilight in 2011, released on Atlantic Records. Fighting With Wire have also announced they will be selling a new EP entitled I AM URSUS exclusively at all UK shows, giving fans a taster of what’s to come on the new album.

Tour Details:

01/11/10 Stereo, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
02/11/10 The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool, UK
03/11/10 HMV Institute Temple, Birmingham, UK
04/11/10 Cellar, Oxford, UK
05/11/10 Joiners, Southampton, UK
07/11/10 Prince Albert, Brighton, UK
08/11/10 Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Wales, UK
09/11/10 Barfly, London, UK
15/12/10 Scala, London, UK (with Helmet + La Faro)
16/12/10 Club Academy, Manchester, UK
17/12/10 Cathouse, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Fighting With Wire emerged from the ever creative Northern Ireland music scene in 2003, the brainchild of guitarist Cahir O’Doherty (Jetplane Landing / Clearshot) and drummer Craig McKean (Clearshot). An idealistic bunch, they’ve since done what rock bands are meant to do: they wrote a bunch of songs, and took to the road. The last three years has seen them play shows with the likes of Reuben, Biffy Clyro, Million Dead, Seafood, YCNI:M and Future Of The Left, racking up hundreds of miles and honing their live show into a ferocious explosion in the process. After putting out a number of limited edition DIY singles, they took a breather at the end of 2006 and finally started work on their long awaited debut album. Recorded in Northern Ireland and finally completed in mid-2007, Man Vs Monster is a dynamic beast of a record – raging out of your speakers one moment, gentle and intricate the next. All without losing focus of what’s important: the song.

For the last year FWW have been writing and recording their 2nd album Bones Of The Twilight in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters, Deftones) due for release early next year on Atlantic records.

The new 4 track EP I AM URSUS contains previously unreleased material and will only be available at the UK shows, the band are excited about getting back on the road again and working towards the album release in 2011.

This E-CD was produced by New Beats Media and featured artists from around the world including Frantic Jack who included their single Vancouver. The song proved popular by downloaders and received great reviews from all.

Everyone here can see Frantic Jack taking their early success in Ireland to a global scale. Competent and catchy guitars mixed with solid, earthy, Irish vocals are at the heart of the Frantic Jack sound. A sound that you will want to hear again and again.

We are happy to announce that their fledgling careers are continuing as they start there brand new 7 week tour of Ireland, which see’s them end the tour supporting Irish legends The Saw Doctors.

The Official Press Release

Edenderry band Frantic Jack have just announced dates for their first nationwide tour to promote their debut album Independence and their single Hold On due for release on the 23rd July.

Frantic Jack’s tour will kick off with a large scale gig in Edenderry GAA pavillion on the 31st of July. Frantic Jack are honoured to finish their tour by supporting the legendary Irish band The Saw Doctors in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on September 25th. The tour incorporates a wide range of gigs across the length and breadth of the country spanning a seven week period. .The release of their debut album will coincide with the release of their third single Hold On. Frantic Jack hope their single Hold On will mirror the success of their first two singles, Firefly which reached No.23 in the official Irish charts and Free which reached No.20 .

The band is made up of five dedicated musicians, Darragh Fitzgerald on Vocals and guitar, Pauric Hurst on Bass, Mark Kelly on Lead guitar, James Kearney on Keyboards and Percussion and Mick Holton on Drums. Frantic Jack have been busy compiling an extensive set list for their tour which will show case their original tracks.The talented five piece guarantee fun, enjoyment and a night to remember at their live shows .In recent months Frantic Jack have had the privilage of playing in front of crowds all over the country taking in festivals such as Vantastival, Louth, The Phoenix festival, Tullamore and the Bray Music Video Festival. At the Bray Music Video Festival they had the videos to their first two singles featured alongside acts such as Placebo, Will Young and the Coronas just to name a few. This was an achievement in itself for an independent band like Frantic Jack.

Frantic Jack’s upcoming single Hold On is currently available on pre-release from downloadmusic.ie by texting “Music 5996” to 57501. Those who purchase the single on pre-release will receive a pin number by text on July 23rd to download the track. Both the album Independence and single Hold On will also be available on I-tunes on July 23rd and also in shops nationwide. Frantic Jack will be playing in-stores gigs throughout the country to promote both the single and the album.

Tickets are also available now on ticketmaster.ie for the following shows: the Edenderry GAA show, Whelans, Dublin and the Olympia Theatre with the Saw Doctors. Frantic Jack hope the continued support from the public will bring them to new heights by the end of the year. Frantic Jack would like to thank everyone who has given them support over the past year. Details on new releases, free downloads and upcoming shows can be found on franticjack.com . If you wish to catch a live show then the full tour is as follows

July 31st – Edenderry GAA w/ Seven Days, Blue Syndrome, Lloyd Mulligan
Aug 1st – Athlone Music Festival w/ The Undertones, Big Generator and more
Aug 2nd – Chaz Bar, Wexford
Aug 4th – Bruxelles Bar, Dublin
Aug 10th – Matt the Millers, Kilkenny
Aug 13th – Kytelers Inn, Kilkenny
Aug 14th – Brandons Bar, Ennis
Aug 15th – Judge Roy Beans, Newbridge
Aug 20th – Goban Saor, Kildare Town
Aug 21st – Grand Hotel, Tramore
Aug 22nd – The Stables, Mullingar
Aug 27th – The Punt Bar, Drogheda
Aug 28th – The 4 Sons, Edenderry
Aug 29th – The Globe, Dublin
Sept 3rd – Harrisons, Blackrock
Sept 4th – Murtaghs Bar, Carrick-On-Shannon
Sept 7th – Captain Americas, Cork City
Sept 16th – Kings Head, Galway City
Sept 17th – Bakers Place, Limerick City
Sept 18th – Rapture Nightclub, Johnstown
Sept 20th – Whelans, Dublin
Sept 25th – Olympia Theatre, Dublin w/ The Saw Doctors

Lets go back thirty years ago. It’s 1970 and Vinyl is king. It’s a musical format that is tangible, comes in various sizes and almost impossible to duplicate by the average person. People cherish their vinyl.

In the two decades that followed, Audio Cassettes appeared. People could listen to music on the go with their boom box or personal tape player. The downside was that people could cheaply copy from one tape to another and this caused the “Home Taping Is Killing Music” campaign by the British Phonographic Industry. Superseding the cassette was the CD, which beat it on usability and the vinyl on sound quality.

With the introduction of the Internet to households in the mid 1990s, any teenager with access to the Internet could duplicate a CD track into an mp3 hundreds of times at no expense to themselves. These could then be transferred across the world in seconds. This increased the decline in the sale of all physical music formats and the music industry was left looking down a very dark tunnel.

Some people could suggest that the music industry had this coming. The major labels had vast control over the music industry.The high price of music and expensive marketing bills of big acts was causing the paying customer to be easily swayed by the opportunity to buy a copy from a pirate or download it for free.

But rather than trying to compete with pirate sites such as Napster, they decided to try to shut them down and sue them. It wasn’t until Apple released iTunes in 2001 that the music industry had a popular, legal, alternative to try to combat the pirates.

With portable mp3 players and the all-conquering iPod, music downloads have become a huge industry.

An mp3 is a compressed file, meaning you lose parts of the sound quality to compensate for file size. On your average portable mp3 player with average headphones, you may not notice the sound difference compared to an uncompressed audio file.

Most of the time, I forget about what I am missing out on when I listen to an mp3, but I recently bought the new Erykah Badu album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). One of the promotional singles, Jump In The Air (And Stay There), isn’t on the album, so I downloaded it. It sounded no different to any other song through my laptop speakers but I burnt it to CD, played it through my budget to mid range hi-fi and what I heard was more than disappointing. The bass felt weak, the mix sounded bad and while most of my original CDs can cope with being played at my tinnitus inducing volume, this just lost more and more quality the higher the volume went.

I’m no tech freak when it comes to hi-fis. My dad spends hundreds of pounds on new cables, jacks, and plugs and with a good ear you can tell the difference they make. But I do like the format I’m playing to be of a decent quality before I even start thinking of spending fifty pound on two foot of speaker cable.

Vinyl may have issues with quality but that can just add character. The blips and squeaks add to the analogue quality of the record. A CD will never lose its quality and although some say it is too clean and digital compared to vinyl, its versatility keeps it on a par. But what do you get with mp3s. You get a list of tracks on your computer, a sub-standard piece of audio and a lack of artwork that you can actually pick up, flick through and take in.

So don’t download your next album, buy the CD or Vinyl, and take in the full, uncompressed delights of your new musical discovery.

There can be few people who have not at least heard of Davis Guggenheim’s influential documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”. The Establishment often points to this work as an anthem and suggests that mankind is solely responsible for global warming and as such the common man/woman must submit to an unprecedented array of new taxes placed on every facet of life, and administered by a newly empowered World Bank that many feel is merely a fiscal front for the New World Order. Recent disclosures of sculduggery and criminal manipulation of data by the largely unqualified Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change has cast serious doubts on the validity of this suggestion. Not least because the planet has actually cooled over the last ten years, but also because it is well known, thanks to ice core samples from Greenland, that the planet has been both much hotter, and much cooler than at present at various times in the past — even before humans were a part of the equation.

Fortunately for us music enthusiasts, however, Guggenheim has just released a far less contentious piece of work dedicated solely to the electric guitar, titled “It Might Get Loud”. The documentary brings together three iconic guitar legends from three successive generations, places them in a room together with their plethora of assorted guitars, amps and effects, and allows them to swap stories, opinions and licks in an informal studio atmosphere, with cuts to the individual’s home turfs, seminal origins and preparations for the live event itself — all taking place within loosely defined titled chapters. The three guitar players in question are none other than Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripe’s Jack White. A Royal Flush by any standards.

From the opening segment featuring Jack white at home on his farm creating a playable electric guitar with a plank of wood, a hammer and nails and a length of wire stretched over a coke bottle, to an orgasmic Jimmy Page unable to contain his excitement while playing air guitar to a 1958 recording of Link Wray’s “Rumble”, this documentary delivers a rare insight into the inner motivations, passions and influences of three men who have undoubtedly influenced the sound of Rock music as we know it today.

Guitar connoisseurs might easily point out that the balance is slightly lopsided, in that White and Page come from a Blues background while the Edge is more known for sonic layering and minimalism. While this may be true, just have a look at White and The Edge’s mutually shared look of awe when Page breaks into the iconic Whole Lotta Love lick. It’s priceless. And later when the three join in on slide guitar to Zeppelin’s In My Time Of Dying, The Edge is playing blues like you have never heard him before. Another high point must surely be the three playing a snip of White’s dirty blues inspired Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground.

We get to hear early 4 track recordings of U2 demos with Bonno calling time, as well as watch White and his ex wife Meg performing to a room full of geriatrics in full military regalia, before being taken to Headley Grange, where Zeppelin recorded much of their classic Fourth album and Page reminisces about recording techniques. Other priceless moments include The Edge, back at his school, pointing to the notice board where he first saw the advert which led to his joining U2. Page also discloses how close the world came to losing a great guitar player to the world of fine art. It turns out the man has a passion for painting as well as music. And we could have lost White to the fine craft of furniture upholstery if not for fate or luck.

After viewing it is even possible to apply a moniker of sorts to each of their philosophical approaches to guitar playing. Page ascribes to a balance of “light and shadow”, White strives to challenge himself at all times by applying handicaps he must then overcome and The Edge seeks to find a synergy between what he’s actually playing and what’s bouncing back at him from his effects set up — getting two for the price of one as it were.

Ultimately, one comes away from this documentary convinced that it would be a pleasure to share a drink and a chat with any of these men. This is a diva-free zone. They are true musicians who have dedicated their lives to the exploration of their instrument’s potentials, and we, the listener, have only benefited from their sonic discoveries.

As Page says at the end, his aim is to keep that inevitable day when he will be physically too old to play “over the hills and very far away” for as long as possible thank you. We should all wish him luck and longevity in that case.

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Rafa and Shakira

International superstar Shakira has been heavily in the news recently regarding her excellent humanitarian and charity work with Haiti and global education foundations. Shakira’s barefoot foundation has announced plans to construct a school in Haiti to aid recovery in the area. Shakira has also been appointed as the ambassador for the 1Goal:Education for all organization; helping to improve global education levels by 2015.

Now Shakira’s music is back in the limelight with her eagerly awaited new single ‘Gypsy’, which is due for release on the 12th of April. The single comes off Shakira’s fastest selling album yet She Wolf. The album entered the charts at number 4 and already boasts successful singles She Wolf and Did It Again

The video for the new single ‘Gypsy’ was directed by Jaunme and features Mens Tennis heart throb and world number 2 Rafa Nadal. The video follows Shakira’s established video style and is being described as “unbelievably sexy” and “her hottest video yet”.

With sales of over 50 million records to her name, ‘Gypsy’ is bound to be a huge success. Shakira’s last album, ‘Oral Fixation Volumes 1 & 2′ to date have sold in excess of 8 million albums worldwide. From that album Shakira boasts over 10 million digital downloads for ‘La Tortura’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie’

Shakira’s latest album ‘She Wolf’ has received rave reviews from highly respected publications :

• The Times: Just because she remains poised on the brink of perpetual laughter it shouldn’t detract from the meticulous attention to detail that distinguishes this as a superior pop album…
• The Sun: Club ready tracks such as Spy and the next single Did It Again means that She Wolf has all the markings of a great pop record…
• Evening Standard: Yet for all its genre hopping hurricane Shakira provides backbone and continuity — She Wolf is exactly the sort of endearingly bonkers, hugely likable often brilliant record all superstars should be making…
• Observer Music Monthly: The music’s Pharrell Williams assisted dance-floor pop, the words entirely Shakira’s — preposterously brilliant…

Additional Resources

• The Barefoot Foundation (barefootfoundation.com)

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