Woo hoo!! Yayy me! :D

Just read Rihanna won Video of the Year for Umbrella at the MTV Video Awards in Las Vegas. She also won Monster Single of the Year. Is that a category or a journalist's opinion? I wouldn't know. I haven't heard it! lol!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44106000/jpg/_44106490_rihannaperformsap416.jpg

Must confess, I have heard a clip. It was on the evening news during the summer, when the UK was experiencing severe floods. They did a video montage of the worst areas, using the song for audio. That's how I know about the "la-la-la" bit.

It's very strange that I haven't heard…

It is very evident Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, Luke Temple, has worked hard, raising his game as it were, for his second album, Snowbeast. Where his debut, Hold A Match For A Gasoline World was suffused with sweet melancholic alt-country tones, his distinctive, almost plaintive, voice holding the listener's attention throughout, Snowbeast is a showcase of how far he has progressed since.

http://www.mille-feuille.fr/Images/Artistes/1149757043.jpg

Snowbeast begins with one of the highlights of the album, Saturday People. The alt-country tones are still there, though now they are absorbed into a musical tour de force that would undoubtedly please Sufjan Stevens.…

She tantalised us with nicely paced leaks all over the net all year until finally this week, M.I.A.'s new album, Kala, was released.

I, for one, couldn't bear the excitement, I loved all the the tracks I'd heard so far. I'll walk you through them:

First, back in February, we were given Birdflu. The video on YouTube was a bit pixel-y, but still great fun. I love the little boy at the front of the crowd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kq16GAuNcg

Straight away, M.I.A. set the tone - this wasn't going to be a polished, heavily produced album. This was street.…

It all began with Wack Wack. Where to put this so I can hear it again and again, as often as I wanted??

Thinking cap went on… had a brainwave… build that playlist thingy that's been staring me in the face tantalisingly for ages!

Wack Wack went straight in.

But I need a shedload of tracks to make it work. Now what? :s

Thinking cap went on… had a brainwave… go through Top Tracks, pick a few, and at the same time, play my Top-Rated track in my iTunes. And try and keep up! All before dinner and tonight's…

As if we didn't already know, here's the proof:

what i've done
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/WID.gif

Faint
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/Faint.gif

Somewhere I Belong
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/SIB.gif

crawling
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/Crawling.gif

numb
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/Numb.gif

lying from you
http://www.hometracked.com/wp-content/uploads/LinkinPark/LFY.gif

It's too funny not to point and laugh at!!

Each image above shows the audio level in (roughly) the first 90 seconds of a Linkin Park song. The tempo has been adjusted for a few tracks for better visual alignment.

What this goes to prove is just how generic and formulaic Linkin Park are… or a lot of music from a lot of genres, come to think of it.

Listen to enough mainstream…

Going off the beaten track. Down dark alleys with just a torch and my fingers crossed, hoping I'll be ok. Being brave and trying anyway.

Trying to find out about music that the press doesn't cover, that there is no convenient MySpace page for let alone a next-to-useless artist's own website, is already proving frustrating and I've only just started. Sometimes, there's a reason why there are so few listeners, and it ain't nothing to do with quality! } I

I don't mind being challenged, that's fine, I expect that. I do mind being insulted. You can't make any old…

I hope I've got this right. I'll find out soon enough, I suppose.

Anyway, this is the first time a mix using digital media was as close as compiling a mixtape, and almost as fast. Well, almost. Took twice as long, but we're still talking an afternoon and an evening, on and off. (A mixtape only used to take me an evening, after dinner)

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
Ievan Polkka
Follow Me Back To Louisville
Geno
Ever Fallen In Love
Depth Charge Ethel
Tarantula
so into you
Lazy Eye (Adam Freeland Mix)
Melody Day
Caring Is Creepy
Keep The Car Running…

For a long time, I thought there ought to be a better way of accessing old journals.

It's nice the three most recent are on the main page, but older journals, heavy with connections and YouTube videos, are buried and harder to access. Click on 'Journals' and you're taken to a page where the main entries are listed one on top of the other. It means it takes a little time for all that information to load, and frustrating if you're in a hurry.

So, I had a bright idea yesterday…

I created a new folder in Bookmarks (I use…

Prince - Planet Earth : got it!! Got a cup of earl grey tea, been listening to Parade and purple rain today. I'm ready.

First track - Planet Earth - Very rock-y. Veers cheekily over to Earth, Wind & Fire and references Could It Be Magic about half way through. I like the beginning. The first thing you hear is just piano, a one-hand simple melody (or so it sounds to me).

It's encouraging. His standards are as high as his earlier masterpieces. Compares well so far. Not just saying that because I'm fan, I can be very critical when…

Sign o' the times arrived today as part of my annual big, fat Amazon order. This was the first compact disc I ever bought, the year it was released *gulp*… and it wasn't even for me, it was a present. If I am not mistaken, it cost me £16, which was a heck of a lot of money in 1987.

I haven't listened to Sign O' The Times for absolutely years. At least ten, possibly fifteen. I am so pleased now to add it to my library. Quite rightly, it is considered his masterpiece. With the advent of his new…