Blogging Outside Lands, Day 1: Radiohead, Beck

As the sun--or actually the snowy-white perpetual corrupt cover--begins to fade, turning this parky afternoon into an regular chillier evening, the fantasy of this joint as a pleasant outing filled with quiet and gentle folk, the sort of people wHO like zilch more than sitting on blankets in meadows and sipping Napa Valley's finest wines (which there's deal of opportunity to do here), crumbles and blows away like so much dust.

The after-work crowd has arrived, and they ar thirsty, and they want to dance.

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I know this because they've bumped into me about 300 times, and every one of them seems to be holding a beer. Also: they're wearing ugly hats that tend to advertize mediocre products, and they're wearing them all crooked-like. And yes, I am Grandpa Simpson.

A highly amped crowd greets long-haired freaky hippie person Beck [ ] Hansen, who--despite being badly in need of a haircut--swiftly launches volley after volley of his most well identifiable hits in rapid-fire fashion, which gets the crowd rush way forwards to the front of tight and narrow Lindley Meadow. There might be 20,000 people but right hither, right in front of this one stage. The stampede watch is in full effect.

Beck, perhaps sensing catastrophe, throws out a bunch of his lesser-known songs. Most of the party crowd up front reverses sign and heads to the beer stands. Once well-nigh of these people ar gone, Beck launches into an world-shattering "Where It's At." Score!

Up next on the bad stage, it's a bronx cheer, it's a plane... it's the Thom Yorke Superfriends Party! Early technical glitches plague Radiohead [ ]'s first gear handful of songs (including a mates minutes of total silence, which prompts Yorke to wonder wHO spilled their beer on the office cord), but the residue of the set is sensational.

It would be easy to call for Radiohead for granted at this point. They are sort of everywhere, in a psychic sense, and they belong utterly to this generation. They are our Beatles. Twenty old age from at present you will realize this and it will make you slap your read/write head that you didn't pay better attention when you had the chance.

Friday nox in San Francisco, with the gorgeous strains of "Airbag" rising up to meet the mysterious fog blowing in from the ocean, up and over the tremendous stage, and into the first night concert ever held in Golden Gate Park, they were only magic, like something that doesn't fully belong to this planet.

Yes, they're that good.

�

More info

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Late-Night Follies

   
Artist: Late-Night Follies

   Genre(s): 
Other
   

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Discography:


   
 Self Titled

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 4

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Tiles

   
Artist: Tiles

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   Rock: Hard-Rock
   

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Discography:


   
 Window Dressing

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 11


   
 Presents of Mind

   Year: 1999   
Tracks: 10

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Tiles is a hellenic hard rock/progressive sway band very reminiscent of Rush. Tiles was formed in 1993 featuring Paul Rarick on vocals, Chris Herin on lead guitar, Jeff Whittle on bass and Mark Evans on drums. After much success on their local Detroit music scene, Tiles' self-titled debut was released in 1994. Buoyed by success in Japan and Europe, Tiles' second record album, Fence in the Clear was released in 1997 with new drummer Pat Deleon. This second record album was produced by longtime Rush producer Terry Brown and showed Tiles development their single style into an first-class nineties progressive hard rock sound. Third album Presents of Mind appeared in 1999.

Mica Paris on her love of Nina Simone

How do you sum up Nina Simone? Someone whose talents have spread so far and wide, and who has touched and inspired so many people. I was seven when my father introduced me to her music and I'll never forget it. He put on I Got Life and the passion in her voice just grabbed me. It was one of those moments that you can pick out in your path as a singer.

Simone has always fascinated me. She was born into a large family, and her musical gifts were recognised at an early age. She had aspirations to be a classical pianist, and studied at Juilliard before finding her voice singing and playing in bars to fund her studies. The most important thing about being a great singer is having your signature sound, and Nina sure had hers.

Many of the songs she's best known for were very simple compositionally and pretty easy to sing along to, but - and it is a big but - when Nina sang, the raw emotion she injected into each word pierced the depths of the listener's soul. That's not something just anyone can do. Her vocal style was so rich and deep, she would almost speak when she sang, like she was having a conversation with you, or preaching a sermon. Even on record, Simone managed to convey this feeling of intimacy. Her concerts, meanwhile, were an amazing experience. The respect the audience would afford her was so moving. The minute she hit the stage there was absolute quiet, not a sound. She always had a very serious look on her face when she performed. Music was not a joke for this incredible singer, it was her life, and that's something I hold in very high regard.

Music aside, few people are aware of her massive contribution to the civil rights movement. Simone was passionate and angry about the injustices she endured as a black woman in the US, and what she had to face, particularly in the 1950s and 60s, made her music that much more poignant. The song Mississippi Goddam was her response to the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that left four young black girls dead. She spoke and sung at rallies, and her songs have become anthems for the movement. Every artist wants to be remembered, but not many make a real difference. Nina did.

And, of course, her music has been hugely influential. Countless musicians have been moved by her, and not just jazz or soul singers. Even now, decades after these songs were released, her music is relevant to modern audiences - the dance acts Kruder & Dorfmeister and St Germain have reworked Little Girl Blue and I'm Feeling Good.

Her last album, 1993's A Single Woman, was as powerful as anything she had put out in her earlier career, and showed that she still had that indefinable something that everyone wants and only a few have. She's such an inspiration to me. Her voice, style, charisma and sheer unabashed talent have stood the test of time, and I admire that so much. When I hear the words, "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me", I'm still feeling good over 40 years after Nina Simone sang it.

· Nina Simone's A Single Woman, her last studio album, is rereleased this week on Warner Jazz. Mica Paris performs at IndigO2, London, on June 29. Box office: 0844 844 0002


See Also

• Odonnell Will Wait For Marriage
• Alien Project
• Lil Wayne cracks 1 million
• Donna Summer, Crayons

Willy Porter

   
Artist: Willy Porter

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   

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Discography:


   
 High Wire Live

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 10

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How does a young viola player become a folk-rock guitarist? Perhaps Leo Kottke is to blame. At least in Willy Porter's case he is. Upon listening Kottke's 6 & 12 String Guitar, everything changed for a young Porter. He put depressed his curtain call and grabbed a blame. The catch one's breath is history and motionless in the making. Hailing from Wisconsin, the multiple WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) award achiever honed his performance chops in the cafés and clubs about Madison. He besides sabbatum on the concert committee in college where he met another guitar caption world Health Organization would influence him greatly, the later Michael Hedges. A vocalizer, songster, teller, entertainer, and extraordinary guitarist, Porter defies labels and decompression sickness genres. He moves between slide blues, acoustic tribe, grooving stone, and soulful pop with free grace and counterbalance. They all aggregate to create the singularity that is his sound.


Existence the innovator that he is, Porter released Trees Have Souls on his own in 1990, followed by Dog-eared Dream in 1994. With consistent touring and the help of Adult Alternative Radio, he built a national undermentioned and a modest hit with "Furious Words." This success light-emitting diode to a trade with Private Music, world Health Organization re-released Dog-eared Dream in 1995, and opening slots for the Cranberries, Rickie Lee Jones, Vonda Shepard, and Tori Amos, world Health Organization handpicked Porter from a heap of contenders. However, all of the newfound famous person took its bell. And as frequently happens with autonomous hard drink, Porter became disillusioned with the major-label scene and spent several years unsnarling himself from that web. After determination a modern home at Six Degrees Records, Porter returned in 1999 with Falling Forward, a fine case of his ever-deepening strength as an artist and songster. He followed with a self-titled album in 2002, featuring guests Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Seal), Charlie Drayton (Keith Richards, B52's, Don Henley), and Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull).

Remember Shakti

   
Artist: Remember Shakti

   Genre(s): 
Ethnic
   

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Discography:


   
 Saturday Night In Bombay

   Year: 2001   
Tracks: 4


   
 The Believer

   Year:    
Tracks: 6

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Rihanna spices up indie boys

GOOD on MAROON 5 for tripling their record sales for their next single
release.

Ok, not quite... but teaming up with hot property RIHANNA is a smart
move.

The pop rockers joined forces with the R'n'B singer to film a video for a
remake of If I Never See Your Face Again - originally the lead track on the
band's last album It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

The jazzed up version will appear on reissues of both artists' albums.

Rihanna said: "This is the only collaboration on my re-release, because I
always wanted to work with Maroon 5. They're one of my favourite bands. When
they called me to do this record with them, I was so honoured.

"It's really intense because you have to work with each other so much.
It's new for me, but I'm enjoying it."

Frontman ADAM LEVINE said: "The only other collaboration I had
done before was with KANYE (WEST) and it was the same way. It
sounds cheesy, but if the magic is there, if the chemistry is there, you
don't even have to think about it."

Adam added: "I don't do a lot of videos where I have so much chemistry
with the other artist."
CHRIS BROWN had better watch out.