Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Words cannot express the absolute shock, beauty and simplicity of this video to M.I.A’s new track BORN FREE. Directed by the ‘dangerously insane person’ (as one person has called him on the Vimeo message trail) Romain Gavras, this video needs watching. It will shock and you will be left stunned. All that aside, the message it portrays of ‘difference’ is stark.
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
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Friday, April 23rd, 2010
Find out more about the latest Audi R8 Spyder advert and what went into making “Beauty and the Beasts” by watching the ‘making of’ film with some of the most beautiful cars.
It even features in the Iron Man 2 film….
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Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Guru Dies After Long Battle With Cancer, Offers Final Letter To Fans & Supporters.
After a nearly two-month hospitalization, legendary rapper Guru (best known as the frontman for Gangstarr) died Monday morning (April 19), after a long battle with cancer, reports DJPremierBlog.com.
He was just 43 years old.
Solar, Guru’s business partner and sidekick in recent years, told the Yo!Raps (who’s PR company had been coordinating press for Guru since his hospitalization) that the 43-year-old rapper had been suffering from a “malicious illness for over a year and after numerous special treatments under the supervision of medical specialists failed”.
He had tried to keep the cancer diagnosis private, but in early March, news leaked that Guru had been admitted to the hospital, suffered a heart attack, and was recovering from a mystery illness. Previous reports said he suffered from Anoxia, effects from a lengthy history of asthma and lung problems, but these new findings reveal a much worst condition.
“The world has lost one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all-time — my loyal best friend, partner, and brother, Guru,” Solar said in a statement. “Guru has been battling cancer for well over a year and has lost his battle! This is a matter that Guru wanted private until he could beat it, but tragically, this did not happen. The cancer took him. Now the world has lost a great man and a true genius.
“For the fans that reached out with love and support, I can’t tell you how much that meant to Guru and myself. Guru prepared this letter (read below) while he was in the hospital for the fans,” the producer continued. “I hope now that Guru has moved on to a better place.”
According to Yo! Raps, Guru penned this letter to fans, explaining his illness while in the hospital with terminal cancer. Read it below in its entirety:
I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world. I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options. I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.
My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself. He has been with me by my side on my many hospital stays, operations, doctors visits and stayed with me at my home and cared for me when I could not care for myself. Solar and his family is my family and I love them dearly and I expect my family, friends, and fans to respect that, regardless to anybody’s feelings on the matter. It is my wish that counts. This being said I am survived by the love of my life, my sun KC, who I trust will be looked after by Solar and his family as their own. Any awards or tributes should be accepted, organized approved by Solar on behalf myself and my son until he is of age to except on his own.
I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ. As the sole founder of GangStarr, I am very proud of what GangStarr has meant to the music world and fans. I equally am proud of my Jazzmatazzseries and as the father of Hip-Hop/Jazz. I am most proud of my leadership and pioneering efforts on Jazzmatazz 4 for reinvigorating the Hip-Hop/Jazz genre in a time when music quality has reached an all time low. Solar and I have toured in places that I have never been before with GangStarr or Jazzmatatazz and we gained a reputation for being the best on the planet at Hip-Hop/Jazz, as well as the biggest and most influential Hip-Hop/Jazz record with Jazzmatazz 4 of the decade to now. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time. And we as a team were not afraid to push the envelope. To me this is what true artists do! As men of honor we stood tall in the face of small mindedness, greed, and ignorance. As we fought for music and integrity at the cost of not earning millions and for this I will always be happy and proud, and would like to thank the million fans who have seen us perform over the years from all over the world. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.
Guru (real name: Keith Elam) rose to fame in the 80s as the frontman to the legendary rap duo, Gangstarr, also consisting of DJ Premier. The group released the classic single, “Words I Manifest,” which was followed by their critically acclaimed debut, No More Mr. Nice Guy, in 1989. The group went on to release six official albums through 2003, before they split and went their separate ways.
Guru went on to found 7 Grand Records, partnering with producer Solar, and embarked on a solo career.
Since falling ill, there’s been a lot of controversy over news of his hospitalization. Family members of Guru publicly claimed that Solar had taken over control of the rapper’s decision making and had even barred them from visiting. The only official statements being released from the veteran rapper were relayed through his longtime partner Solar, which raised eyebrows from former Guru collaborators and friends. Solar, however, publicly denied claims of any malicious intentions and was only following the rapper’s instructions.
Unfortunately, Guru never got well enough to clear things up himself.
On Monday (April 19) when Guru passed away, so did a piece of hip-hop. He’ll forever go down in history as one of the best MCs to ever do it. Rest in peace GURU!
Article by Allen Starbury at Ballerstatus.com
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Thursday, April 15th, 2010
If you fancy helping out a local UK charity, then how about this one…….
If you want the registration form for this email the organisers here who will happily get the registration form to you.
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Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Twitter is killing music moguls. Check out Maggie Shiels report here.
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Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
KALA PHOOL and SHAANTI are partnering to cook something special for October 2010.
FILTER FESTIVAL is a stunning new concept celebrating contemporary Asian and Urban music and arts and will be based at The Hockley in Birmingham. Excited?……then watch this space for future updates.
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Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
This is a short film that was directed by the French animation collective H5, François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.
In this film there are two pieces of licensed music, in the beginning and in the end. All the other music and sound design are original. The opening track (Dean Martin “Good Morning Life”) and closing track (The Ink Spots “I don’t want to send the world on fire”) songs are licensed pre-existing tracks. All original music and sound design is by, Human.
LOVE THIS.
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Monday, April 12th, 2010
The MI21 events at the Southbank Centre and Birmingham Town Hall this past weekend went really well. We wanted to extend our thanks to both sets of tech support, venues, programmers, hosts (Nirm in London and Bobby Friction in Birmingham) and most of all, the audiences who came along.
Thank you.
We’ll keep you posted on future MI21 shows just as they come on line so stay tuned and stay in touch.
Indy & the MI21 team.
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
MI21 hits the Alchemy Festival at the Southbank Centre tomorrow. For full details check out our EVENTS page. MI21 is part of the RAJ:RELOAD programme.
Also check out some snippets of footage to wet your appetite…..njoy.
Alchemy Festival: Bandish Projekt & Nathan Flutebox Lee exclusive rehearsals.
Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R.Rahman interview as part of Alchemy Festival.
Hope you can make tomorrows show. If not you have another opportunity this weekend to see MI21 at Birmingham Town Hall as part of their Mother India Weekender. All info on our EVENTS page.
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
Njoy 
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Thursday, April 8th, 2010
We got a busy weekend ahead of us with MI21 heading to take part in the Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival on SAT 10 APRIL. Then on to Birmingham Town Hall’s Mother India weekender on SUN 11 APRIL. You can find all the details under our EVENTS page so look forward to seeing you there.
Nice
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Thursday, April 8th, 2010
If you love the art of Henna, check out this audio slideshow from the BBC.
Sudan is famous for its elaborate weddings – and women like to decorate their hands and feet with henna for the festivities.
Henna artist Sanna Awad Abdullah, who works at Diva Beauty Salon in Khartoum, tells the BBC about the importance of henna in Sudanese culture.
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Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
‘Slumdog Millionaire was a starting point for my career’.
The Indian composer and songwriter AR Rahman talks about his varied career including Slumdog Millionaire and his show at the Alchemy Festival.
Check out his full interview here.
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Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Up and coming, cutting-edge, British-Asian clarinettist and composer, Arun is known for his dangerously cool fusions of jazz and Asian influences. The band rocked the Southbank at their debut gig at the London Jazz Festival in November 2007 and has since lit up the British jazz scene with intense and cathartic performances at clubs, festivals and melas in London and around the country.
Playing original music of South Asian origin with a contemporary jazz attitude, rocking urban beats and the passion of punk. The sweet and timeless melodies give birth to soaring improvisations and raag explorations, driven by a heady mix of dub-reggae bass, tabla trickery and ferocious drum explosions.
Check out his myspace here.
Beat The Commuter Blues in Birmingham
Postpone the Friday-night commute and take 10 minutes out to soak away the stresses of the week with some live jazz at Birmingham Symphony Hall. The “Rush Hour Blues” takes place every Friday evening from 5.30, in the Symphony Hall Foyer Bars, with a different group mixing familiar jazz standards and bluesy riffs for the post-work crowd. Admission is free and there is no seating, so you can stay for as long (or short) as you like.
Friday 9th April
Symphony Hall Foyer
5.30pm – 7.00pm
£ FREE
Symphony Hall
Broad Street
Birmingham
UK
B1 2EA
Rush Hour Blues is a partnership event produced by Birmingham Jazz and THSH.
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Friday, April 2nd, 2010
NOW WAVE, OH PRODUCTIONS & THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT PRESENT 1 OF ONLY 3 LIVE PERFORMANCES BY:
CHRIS CUNNINGHAM & FRIENDS LIVE.
IN A VERY RARE LIVE APPEARANCE, AWARD WINNING VIDEO ARIST CHRIS CUNNINGHAM HEADS UP A DRAMATIC AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE WITH SOME VERY SPECIAL GUESTS.
MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE
THURSDAY 22 APRIL 2010
DOORS 7:30pm
TICKETS ON SALE NOW PROCEED £22.50
THIS SPECIAL LIVE SHOW SEES CHRIS CUNNINGHAM COMBINE HIS OWN AND REMIXED MUSIC WITH BRAND NEW AND UNRELEASED VIDEOS TO CREATE A HUGELY ANTICIPATED MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE.
COMBINING GLOBAL COMMERCIAL SUCCESS WITH CULT STATUS AND REGARDED AS THE MOST HIGHLY RESPECTED ARTIST IN HIS FIELD, CUNNINGHAM IS FAMED FOR HIS ICONIC VIDEOS FOR ARTIST RANGING FROM APHEX TWIN AND SQUAREPUSHER TO MADONNA AND BJORK. HIS GRAMMY-NOMIATED VIDEO FOR BJORK’S ‘ALL IS FULL OF LOVE’ CAN STILL BE SEEN IN NEW YORK’S MUSEUM OF MODERN ART.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.
0844 277 4321
0161 832 1111
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Thursday, April 1st, 2010
My time in Australia has finally come to an end (for now) and im just hours away from heading to the warmer climes of Singapore. Im looking forward to meeting all the venues and festivals out there – ill try and keep you posted as much as possible on that short leg of my journey.
THanks again to everyone in Australia who has made my trip so memorable and worthwhile. I’ll be back 
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Thursday, April 1st, 2010
If you know a billionaire steel magnate (Mr Lakshmi Mittal) who has £19.1million sitting in his back pocket for you to spend on making some shitty sculpture, and you had a ‘arty’ mate, then that mate would be Anish Kapoor!
The 115m tall piece, named the ArcelorMittal Orbit, will be placed in the Olympic Park and will be 22m higher than New York’s Statue of Liberty.
Now, im the first one to appreciate public art, but when i see how brazen Kapoor is in his waste of money in creating things that have absolutely no relation to the public they sit within – it makes me mad! There is alot of poverty in the arts due to the Olympics savaging the arts kitty, yet we as the public, are forced into ‘going along’ with the crap that is being churned out! It drives me mad! I know this will be billed as a completely privately funded project, but when its forced on the community what exactly was the conversation between funder, artist, community for the legacy and its use? We will literally be lumped with this whether we like it or not!
Rant over – make up your own mind if you feel this hunk of metal is for you.
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