Steve Wozniak, Apple Founder, Loves The Cranberries

June 30, 2005  |  Comments Off on Steve Wozniak, Apple Founder, Loves The Cranberries  |  by Zombieguide Archives  |  The Cranberries

Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple Computer in 1975, said in Tuesday’s issue of Digital Life magazine that The Cranberries are one of his top three favorite bands.

The engineering genius told Digital Life that listening to music is one of his biggest hobbies, with his favorites being Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and The Cranberries: “[My] PowerBook is with me all the time. It’s the high-end version, 17-inch screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 2GB RAM. And of course, I have my music in it.”

“I have six iPods including the iPod Photo, the Shuffle and the iPod minis,” the creator of the Apple I and II said. “My favourite is the U2 iPod. Each iPod contains a different type of music.” Apple’s other co-founder, Steve Jobs, used The Cranberries’ “Dreams” in the press conference to launch iTunes in 2003.

Wozniak joins a list of notables including Madonna, Dido, Rufus Wainwright, and Ben Stein, who have all professed their love for The Cranberries in the past. That should flatter a certain Apple-loving friend of ours.

Wozniak’s autobiography, tentatively titled I Woz, is due in 2007.

Source: Digital Life magazine, June 28 (Singapore)

Harpist Anna Louis Releases Cranberries Harp Arrangement

June 24, 2005  |  Comments Off on Harpist Anna Louis Releases Cranberries Harp Arrangement  |  by Zombieguide Archives  |  The Cranberries

Australian harpist Anna Louis has released a new album which includes harp arrangements of songs by The Cranberries and Sinead O’Connor, Australia’s The Echo reported yesterday.

The album, which she says has a “slightly Celtic, slightly jazz feel,” includes a mix of traditional harp pieces combined with her arrangements of rock songs.

“It is breaking the bounds of where the harp is going,” she says. “Because I use an electric harp I can get away with it.”

While there are some purists who frown upon her turn to covering rock tunes, she thinks she can win them over: “”Yeah, I’ve had a few people look down on me for doing it, but they soon come round,” she says.

She told The Echo that it’s the versatility of the electric harp that has allowed her to go beyond traditional harp pieces into experimental fields.

“Before you would be completely drowned out by the other instruments. Now I can plug it in with effects units and it is something really different and incredibly unusual,” she says.

“The new recording is completely live and was recorded in Barwon Heads… I wanted to catch the ambience of the live sound — I’m pretty proud of it,” she admits.

The album is supposed to be available from her website www.noangel.biz(which appears to be down at the moment). In the meantime, you can visit a mirror of her website here. (LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

We’ll have more on Anna Louis as we know it — hopefully with a tracklisting soon. If you know more about her new album, please let us know.

Source: The Echo (Australia)

Press Release: Zucchero & Co. US Release

June 22, 2005  |  Comments Off on Press Release: Zucchero & Co. US Release  |  by Zombieguide Archives  |  Dolores O'Riordan

Concord Records yesterday put out a press release regarding the upcoming US release of Zucchero’s Zucchero & Co. on July 12. The album features Dolores O’Riordan duetting with Zucchero on “Pure Love.”

Zucchero Teams with Sheryl Crow, Sting, Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, and more for July 12 CD Release
Released by: Special Ops Media: Art Armani
2005-06-21 14:53:10
Summary:
Zucchero Teams with Sheryl Crow, Sting, Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, Miles Davis, B.B. King and more for July 12, 2005 CD Release
Website: http://www.zucchero.it For_Immediate_Release:
Internationally acclaimed Italian superstar Adelmo Fornaciari, known more commonly to his legions of fans as Zucchero, has thrilled audiences worldwide with his pop and blues-infused style for nearly 25 years. He has sold millions of albums in his native country, throughout Europe and beyond, and has received numerous awards and accolades. He has also become a favorite singing partner to some of the most popular artists in the world, from Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, and Sting, to B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Sheryl Crow. American audiences first heard Zucchero’s thrilling vocal talents in a televised performance with Luciano Pavarotti at the 1998 GRAMMY® Awards.
For his Concord Records / Starbucks Hear MusicTM debut, Zucchero & Co., the multi-platinum pop sensation delved into his deep catalog of stunning duet performances and then rearranged, reproduced, and, in some cases, resang them for a fresh, contemporary feel. The tracks include an historic recording of “Dune Mosse” with Miles Davis from 1988, and a new version of “Senza Una Donna” (Without A Woman) with Paul Young that originally topped the charts in almost every European country, as well as the U.S., when it was released in 1991. Other collaborations to make the cut for this new, “best of the best” CD include: Solomon Burke, Vanessa Carlton, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Macy Gray, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Cheb Mami, Maná, Luciano Pavarotti / Andrea Bocelli, Dolores O’Riordan, and Sting.
Zucchero and a few of his friends?Eric Clapton, Dolores O’Riordan (of The Cranberries), Solomon Burke and Pavarotti, among them? celebrated the release of the CD last year in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Critics from the Sunday Express wrote, “The audience would have gladly partied with Zucch all night,” a sentiment no doubt often expressed in Italy where he’s widely credited with introducing his countrymen to the blues. “In Italy, rhythm & blues and soul music was not very popular in the 1960s, when I was growing up,” explains Zucchero. “Fortunately, there was an American from Memphis who was studying at the University in Bologna that lived close by to our house. He introduced me to Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, and all the Stax recording artists. He played guitar, and we spent a lot of time playing together. Discovering that music was a shock to me?it was like a light. I’m Italian so I love Puccini. But I love the blues, too.”
Zucchero’s first instrument was the organ, which his local priest taught him to play in exchange for odd jobs around the church. A longing to be part of a band led him to the guitar and eventually to singing. Soon, Zucchero, whose name translates to “sugar” in Italian, started his own bands to introduce others to the wonderful music that had so inspired and excited him. At first he was dismissed by Italian record labels as having the “wrong kind of voice,” but, by the mid-1980s, he was touring and recording with such well-known musicians as Randy Jackson, David Sancious, Brian Auger, Narada Michael Walden, Corrado Rustici, Joe Cocker, Al DiMeola, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ray Charles, and others too numerous to mention. In fact, Zucchero’s entire musical trajectory reads like a “Who’s Who” of the music industry? culling just 14 cuts for Zucchero & Co was a major feat and took over two-years to complete.
Miles Davis first heard Zucchero’s tune “Dune Mosse” on Italian radio while on tour. “He had never heard of me but liked the song so much that he wanted to do a duet. I was in the Maldives at the time and got a call at 4 a.m.,” explains the singer. “It was in the middle of the night so I didn’t believe them at first. It was such an honor and such an amazing opportunity. I was in a studio in New York the following week.” He continues, “When Miles arrived, he didn’t say hello, he didn’t smile. He just went into the studio where I was playing the piano, waiting and said, ‘Yeah, show me the key of the song, play the key.’ Then I tried to escape and leave him alone, and he said, ‘Where are you going, you have to stay here. I need your energy.’ So I was just sitting there and was a little bit scared. He played like an angel.”
The late blues icon John Lee Hooker is featured in one of his last recording sessions on “I Lay Down.” “I was writing this song and thought it needed a very ancient blues voice. I immediately wanted to work with John Lee Hooker, but thought it would be impossible. So we moved on,” says Zucchero. “I was recording in Sausalito, where the manager of the studio just happened to know Roy Rogers, John Lee’s guitarist. We called him and he called John Lee to ask him to listen to the song. The next day, he came to the studio in a big limo, dressed very elegantly. He was old and thin but he still played fantastically. I just let him do what he wanted. Two months later, he passed away.”
Another blues legend, B.B. King, adds his unmistakable flair to “Hey Man – Sing A Song,” and one of the fathers of soul, Solomon Burke is featured on “Diavolo In Me – A Devil In Me,” although he insisted on rewriting some of the lyrics. “Solomon said to me, ‘I can’t sing this song, I’m a Bishop now,’ and I said, ‘OK, but listen to the song before you decide,’ and then he sent me some beautiful lyrics. Instead of ‘I got a devil in me,’ he wrote, ‘go out of me devil.’ It works fantastically. He’s still dancing and he’s got the face of a child,” says Zucchero of his long-time friend.
The gospel- and opera-influenced tune, “Miserere,” was first recorded with Luciano Pavarotti in the early 1990s. This song? along with “Senza Una Donna (Without a Woman)”?are two of Zucchero’s best known and most often covered tunes. The session with Pavarotti came about after a moment of artistic high drama when the pop star threatened his friend. “I told him, ‘If you don’t do this song, I will burn the tape, because without you on it, there is no reason for it to exist,” says Zucchero. “I made a move to the fireplace and he said, ‘But I don’t know how to do this song. I have never played with a pop artist.’ I threw the tape on the fire and Luciano, not knowing this was only a copy, agreed to record the song.”
Zucchero has often been credited with discovering the now great Andrea Bocelli. The tenor was an unknown artist when the Italian superstar asked him to record the demo for “Miserere.” The song became a big hit, but with Pavarotti unavailable to perform on tour, Zucchero invited Bocelli to accompany him. “I told everyone about him. I said to PolyGram, ‘You must sign this guy,’” he recalls. “I couldn’t get anyone interested in him, so I asked my manager to help.” Bocelli is now a multi-platinum artist and one of the world’s most popular singers. Zucchero didn’t think twice, therefore, about reproducing the track for Zucchero & Co. to feature both tenors.
“A Wonderful World“ (featuring Eric Clapton), “Blue” (a song co- written by U2 front man Bono and sang with Sheryl Crow), “Pure Love” (with Dolores O’Riordan), “Muoio Per Te” (with Sting), “Like The Sun – From Out of Nowhere” (with Macy Gray and Je Beck), “Cosi Celeste” (with Algerian artist Cheb Mami, who gained fame when Sting featured him on “Desert Rose”), “Baila Morena” (with Mexican pop-rockers Maná), and a popular 1980s pop tune by The Korgis, “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime,” (with Vanessa Carlton) round out this eclectic and exciting disc. Each tune on Zucchero & Co. o ers a di erent facet of the superstar’s long and interesting musical journey, and the caliber of each artist is testament to how widely regarded and admired he is worldwide.
Perhaps most indicative of Zucchero’s not-so-underground “cult” status among music lovers is an anecdote in an article written last year in London’s Sunday Express. Sting invited Zucchero to a house party where the star-studded guest list included Peter Gabriel, Tom Hanks, and Dustin Ho man. Upon meeting the vocalist, Ho man, it is reported in the article, fell to his knees, commenced singing one of Zucchero’s songs in Italian, and finished by exclaiming, “Zucchero, you are God!” before confessing he owned all of his recordings!
Zucchero Teams with Sheryl Crow, Sting, Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, and more for July 12 CD Release
Website: http://www.zucchero.it
For more details: 235 Park Ave South 5the Floor
New York, NY
10003

Source: Free-press-release.com

Thorgerson: Bury the Hatchet is “Affirmative Statement about Paranoia”

June 7, 2005  |  Comments Off on Thorgerson: Bury the Hatchet is “Affirmative Statement about Paranoia”  |  by Zombieguide Archives  |  The Cranberries

The Chicago Tribune has posted a new interview with Storm Thorgerson, the designer of The Cranberries’ Bury the Hatchet and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee album covers, not to mention a whole catalog of iconic rock covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Audioslave, The Mars Volta, etc.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Cranberries: “Bury the Hatchet” (1999)

“The band, especially the singer [Dolores O’Riordan], was interested in the desire to bury the hatchet. The cover is a diptych. It’s an affirmative statement about paranoia, and the want to stand up against nameless authority — the capitalistic rich, parents, police. But the all-seeing eye of consciousness is threatening the man, and pursues him everywhere. He can’t get away, and the eye pushes him into the corner of the picture. On the back, he’s standing and shouting at the eye to go away.”

Facts: While shooting in Monument Valley, Thorgerson nearly got busted by the Navajo police, who initially thought he was being disrespectful but later asked for his e-mail address.

Essay on “Dreams” to be Published in Beautiful Day: 40 Years of Irish Rock

June 2, 2005  |  Comments Off on Essay on “Dreams” to be Published in Beautiful Day: 40 Years of Irish Rock  |  by Zombieguide Archives  |  The Cranberries

An essay on The Cranberries’ “Dreams” will be among 41 essays on Irish music published in Beautiful Day: 40 Years of Irish Rock when it goes to press later this year.

Beautiful Day, published by Cork University Press, will cover the dynamic changes in Irish music from 1964 to 2004. Each year will have a feature song and 1200-word essay on that song. The Cranberries’ “Dreams” will be the highlighted song for the year 1992. Each essay will include photos from the featured artist.

Preliminary information for the book says, “This book will place representative material by a variety of artists – including U2, The Corrs, Thin Lizzy, Van Morrison, and Sinéad O’Connor – in their musical, cultural and historical contexts, while also introducing a range of less well known, but no less interesting, Irish popular musicians from the 1960s down to the present. Although the style is accessible, the research is thorough, and is intended to challenge many received ideas relating to the development of Ireland during this key stage of its political and cultural history. The overall intention is to combine written text with photographs to produce an attractive book that is evocative, informative, and controversial, and that has widespread, cross-demographic appeal.” The book will also include essays on Snow Patrol, My Bloody Valentine, and The Frames.

The book is being penned by two lecturers in Irish studies, Sean Campbell from Anglia Polytechnic University and Gerry Smyth from Liverpool John Moores University.

The book’s publishers are in negotiations with Apple to include an iTunes voucher to download the songs featured in the book. For now, the book hasits own iMix in case you want to hear a sampling of the tracks early.

Beautiful Day: 40 Years of Irish Rock will be published on September 1, 2005, by Cork University Press. Zombieguide will try to have a review of the book once it’s published. You can pre-order the book for €20 (€5 less than the cover price) from the Beautiful Day site.

Source: Beautiful Day site

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