MUSIC
Back to 1997 EDUCATIONAL LINKS... by Nanis
http://www.gnn.com/gnn/wic/music.26.html
Yes, Elvis is alive and living in cyberspace. This shrine,
created by schoolgirl Andrea Berman to 'honour Elvis and his
cultural and musical legacy', is a must for fans. Visitors can
tour Graceland, starting outside those famous gates. Listen to
sound clips from classics like Love Me Tender, Heartbreak Hotel
and Hound Dog.
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http://www.windham.com
Windham Hill is a Los Angeles-based, independent record
company and if you're into any of its artists - such as the Jazz
Passengers and the Steve Morse Band - you'll love this site. For
each artist, there's tour information, a biography and a
discography; and for each release, there's a song list, album
notes, reviews and a sound clip. If you visit the Listening Room
you can download video samples as well as music. Theres also an
Interact section where you can chat with others about all things
musical.
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http://www.war-of-the-worlds.com/
Just when you thought the quadruple concept album was dead
and buried along comes the Web site of this hangover from the
seventies. Julie Covington, Justin Hayward and other deadbeats
were involved in this awful enterprise and it's here again in all
its glory with complete spoken text and lyrics of the album,
sound samples and clips of music. The whole thing is designed to
publicise the newly released CD. Quick, run for the hills before
it's too late.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/volume/home.html
Logical sideways move for Volume, the monthly multimedia
music-paper-CD-and-CD-Rom-type-book-affair, which is most
remembered for always having a fish on the cover. This includes
bits and pieces from back and current issues, further
explorations into its unhealthy obsession with techno and trance,
and more references to songs from those indie bands that go in
the charts at No. 38 and then drop straight back out again. One
major omission is the lack of sound files, making a mockery of
the title and spirit of the magazine. Highlights include spoof
pop news in Graham and Arthur's Newsround (Graham and Arthur are
Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, the two young rogues
responsible for Father Ted, Paris and the episode of Coogan's Run
that featured Mike Crystal). Hurrah!
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http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/4210/
They want you, they want you, they want you as a new
recruit"" - the Indian, the cowboy, the biker, the cop
and the soldier are here in all their macho glory. With 20
million singles and 28 million albums sold worldwide the Village
People are no laughing matter. This site has the obligatory
discography, lyrics, and history plus individual biographies of
the members of the band - none of whom have gone on to great
things I'm afraid. Not badly designed, this is a genuinely
enthusiastic site.
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http://www.clubuk.co.uk/agency/
A comprehensive listing of DJs covering just about
everything, from house and garage, through trip hop, hip hop and
onto indie and retro. There are a few links to the club scene
around the UK which have great pics of the venues but where the
punters have sadly packed up and gone home for an early night and
a hot milky drink.
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http://www.muohio.edu/~carmance/sp/
The other Seattle band, the 'Kins have managed to move from
US college and Reading crowds to Top 10 success with their recent
album and singles. This fan site holds everything you need to
know about the band, their records and tour dates. Following the
recent death of a fan at a gig in Dublin, the site also hosts the
Stop Moshing pages which highlight the dangers that fans may
encounter at gigs. The Pumpkins' Web site also includes images
from their recent appearance on The Simpsons.
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http://www.rwcc.com
Of course we don't hate Rick Wakeman, the wacky white-haired
ex-Yes man, is now a true English eccentric and, after several
appearances on Danny Baker, a noted after-dinner speaker as well.
Having perpetrated some perfectly awful electric piano in his
early years, Rick has matured into an engagingly oafish raconteur
and celebrity showbiz monster and it's this cheeky sense of
silliness and mischief that infects his own personal Web pages. A
dash through his discography, live appearances and assorted
merchandise is complemented with a warmly written biography which
manages to mention, alongside his important life moments, playing
golf with Tarby and being a judge on Masterchef. Fans may find
the small ads of interest and for the rest of us it's still good
fun.
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http://web2.airmail.net/jkinney
The page for those who seek the wailing of washed-out rock
stars. This is an excellent celebration of Stevie Nicks. For most
people Fleetwood Mac are an 'Albatross' but this site turns
expectations on their head. It's all here; Stevie's songs,
concert photos, set lists, press, chat and a mailing list.
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http://www.netchart.co.uk/
Caffeine-fuelled pages for the Pepsi Network Chart Show (bit
show to change the logo, what?) in which the Top Ten is the only
section done on sales. They make the rest up! Apart from the
chart, there's some crap clip art of a ghetto blaster and that
lardy loud-mouthed DJ, Dr Fox, gets a look-in. So what if it's
the most listened to show on the radio? It's rubbish! Well, this
site is, anyway.
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http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lyrics/
Karaoke without the kitsch music? That round in Pop Quiz
where contestants have to guess the song from a few words read
out in the wrong rhythm? Just two fantastic games you can use the
Lyrics Page to play! If you want to find out what Elvis mumbled
in the third verse of Heartbreak Hotel or how many times Abba say
ñah-haî in Voulez Vous then this simple-to-use, search and
destroy database picks out the lyric or performer you're looking
for and presents you with the searched on song's words. Bonus
result if it includes chord changes.
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http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~pzurich/zztop.html
An exhaustive look at the tres hombres from Texas with a full
catalogue listing. There's nothing special about the design, it
seems all the energy has been directed to straight rockin'
information. The biogs are short and funny and the tone of the
site as a whole is in keeping with the persona the guys put
across in their work. Of late, the band has moved away from the
cartoon characters of 'Gimme All Your Lovin' and 'Legs' back
towards their blues roots, though, given a recent performance on
later with Jools Holland, the volume pedal is still definitely
stuck at 11. Much like the footie sites on page 68, this has been
crafted out of a passion for a subject rather than an exercise in
good Web design . Lots of wimmin, whiskey and whining guitar
licks, if you like that sort of thing!
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http://orion.zianet.com/files/users/jjohnson/
Fannish weighty tome for troubled Hollywood film star, torch
singer and tragic gay icon. Packed to the rafters with catalogues
of films, LPs, magazine articles and sundry MGM memorabilia, Jim
Johnson's fawning hagiography pays scant attention to the more
salacious aspects of Judy's life Ü five husbands, mental
breakdowns and a speed freak to boot Ü but instead trades lists,
links and knowledge like a game of top trumps. It's like saying
Somewhere over the Rainbow is just a cute film about a girl and
her dog. Lacks opinion and personality, which is shameful given
that its inspiration is a woman with so much of both, but Garland
fans will love it!
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http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mwheeler/high_llamas.shtml
Anything about The High Llamas calls for big-time touting.
Names like Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach and John Barry often
appear in the same sentence and the band's main man,
ex-Microdisney mister, Sean O'Hagan is always described as a real
cleverclogs. Been playing too much with his Camberwell mates i.e.
Stereolab, eh? Anyhow, Mike Wheeler's semi-offical site is hardly
a revelation, but it's all you really need. Some introductory
wav. files for beginners, the usual words and pictures, an
article from Mojo etc. The message board doesn't get above the
level of album reviews and the links page doesn't lower itself to
larks about real Llamas. Shame. It's all a bit like Hawaii, the
last album Ü everso nice, but not enough.
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http://flatearth.tdolby.com/
Little hint in the address here, this is barmy conceptual
epicentre of hyperactive pop head honcho, Thomas Dolby. Perhaps
you could never stomach his wacky specs, wild Magnus Pike arm
waggling or mad scientist screechy mumblings, but that's no
reason not to visit his excellent Web site. Aside from snippets
of the hits (including She Blinded Me Wth Science and I Scare
Myself), there's an index of lyrics, a press archive and a spooky
video section. Uploading your own electro-nonsense is definitely
'on' although some of the formats (MPEG/CD for instance) are not
exactly commonplace. The Test Lab is an extraordinarily useful
little page that allows you to test whether PC, Mac or Unix, you
have the appropriate helper application to play a particular
file. If you don't the 'help' button takes you straight to Mr
Dolby's download room so you can get it straight away. Hit me
with technology.
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http://www.artofsilence.co.uk
The Art of Silence is the brainchild of JJ Jeczalik, founder
member of the Art of Noise. JJ's site pushes back the boundaries,
at least as far as sampling is concerned. In the spirit of the
Art of Noise, the Web site includes a number of samples for
visitors to download. JJ is also keen to receive mixes and will
post the best (or should that be the worst) onto the site.
However, the site is spoilt by poor navigation and page layout.
Pages which cry out to be viewed in one piece require the use of
the scroll bar. It just goes to prove that even without frames
you can still produce a site which looks messy and unattractive.
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http://www.moose.co.uk/pub/userfiles/tonyjudge/home.htm
Those who recall the likes of Wreckless Eric, Lene Lovich,
Jona Lewie and a young man called Elvis will love this homage to
the mighty Stiff Records. Still in its early days, the site
contains a full discography from the first single (Nick Lowe)
through the full catalogue. Just remember Ü if it ain't a STIFF
it ain't worth a F*$£!
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http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/%7Erjh/stereolab/index.html
Boffo duophonic ultra-high frequency fun with super electric
sooper groop, Stereolab. Longstanding lo-fi convert Robin has
drawn pie charts and graphs of fans' fave tracks and LPs, and
added a link to ñthe amorphous body study center art school
seshî by Charles Long and the band. Along with the usual
discography, song words, pix, personal tributes and Lab reports,
there's a 1991 Quicktime clip of a Rough Trade live performance
and a spot of French Disko from Channel 4's The Word. Absolute
top emperor tomato ketchup.
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http://www.users.interport.net/~joholmes/index.html
Move over Mike Flowers Pops, this is the real thang... Space
Age Bachelor Pad music is to the cocktail nation what Waikiki is
to Hawaii! A firey brew of Martini madness and swingin' singles
Ü the lush strings of Mantovani, the Polynesian sway of Martin
Denny, the tinkly bossa of Ferrante and Teicher and loungecore
lizard Lenny Dee. This stack of back catalogue, reissues and your
Uncle Lou's record collection is shot through with the percussive
exotica of a bar after hours Ü discographies, clubs and
magazines plus stylish society discussion. All it lacks is the
English contingent. Calling Karminsky, calling Count Indigo. Dig
this!
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http://leeds.soundcity.co.uk/soundcity/main.html
All the information you'll need on Sound City's annual knees
up, coming live and direct this year from lovely Leeds. As well
as the venues and line-ups (Manics, Cast, Orbital, The Wannadies,
Whipping Boy) there's also a list of industry seminars, including
one on the Internet and the music business. Paul Saunders, one of
the creators of Virgin's Raft site, will also be in attendance.
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http://users.aimnet.com/~mladonn/
Saddo seditionary indulgence for punks that never died! Give
the reunion tour a miss, stick on God save the Queen and smash
your way through this tribute Ü anarcho nonsense of the nth
degree. Despite some song lyrics and a few old snaps of Sid
bleeding on stage and Johnny Rotten looking... well, rotten, this
doesn't really live the Pistols' legacy. The ordered structure of
the pages seems at odds with the band's rebellious ethos. They
may not have minded the bollocks, but expect a great deal
here.
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http://www.rise.co.uk/pulp/
Pure 70s suburban kitsch and Saturday Night Fever trash
aesthetic put Pulp's official arsing around on the Internet in a
different class. Band member profiles, past press coverage and
exclusive interviews look as though they were pulled straight
from the pages of Jackie, whilst mini skits from recent videos
mean the mighty Jarv performs much snaked-hipped, skinny-arsed
finger twitching in the privacy of your own desktop. Forsaking
the airbrushed gloss of glam pop photography, the band has opted
for seedy send-in snaps from sweaty faced pubescent post-gig
fans. Is this you? An appropriately awkward, messy bit in an
otherwise flashy, fun-filled official package.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/pastel/
PastelBlue's a CD and video store that wants your business,
and is willing to bribe you with muso and vid charts, search
facilities, links to a currency calculator, LaserDisc lists, and
the very cool Internet Movie Database. I know they're trying to
appeal to yer lugholes, but the site designer should go to the
imagination storeƒ apart from some blinky text, it's words
words words. And no sounds either. Shame.
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http://www.osmond.net
Lots of little Osmonds everywhere, said 70's tribute band
Denim and the Net has now been occupied by everyone's favourite
Mormon family. This is the official site put together by Big Alan
Osmond (apparently called Big Al by the family as 'he is the
tallest') and in my short time on this site I learned a lot.
Marie Osmond is still unmarried and has her own range of dolls,
Donny is appearing in Joseph in Boston, Branson Missouri is the
family's second home and site of the Osmond Family Theatre which
currently has the family in the Hot Country Revue on Ice - I kid
you not! All the references to The Family are a bit scary and
Mansonesque and there's definitely something spooky about the
whole thing. Maybe it's just me.
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http://www.orchestranet.co.uk
A Web site about orchestras might not immediately appeal, but
you should take a look at this site to see how you make a
potential dry subject fun. The main reason for this is that the
authors of this site don't take themselves, or their subject, too
seriously. You can vote in the OrchestraNET Classical Music
Survey, play Name That Tune and even write a review for the site.
There is also information about almost every orchestra in the
country, along with contact details, plus links to their Web
sites, where relevant.
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http://www.elmail.co.uk/music/motown
You won't find the Manic Street Preachers' first single here
at the home page of Detroit's Motown Records. What you will find
are clips and news from a selection of new, former and faithful
artists all with that unique Mo'town soun'.
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http://www.fanemporium.com/michael.html
The Man, The Music, The Magic...and The Mullet. Michael's Web
site, like his music, is a great disappointment. His Boltness is
strictly business when it comes to selling membership for the fan
club - $28.00 gets you two 8x10-inch mono photos, a colour one,
biography, badge and membership card. Discounts on merchandise,
specially reserved concert seats and a Michael Bolton bumper
sticker can all be had with the Michael Bolton Gold Card.
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http://www.rise.co.uk/menswear/
Plenty of sucked-in cheekbones, skinny-hipped swagger, tight
under the arms suit-wearing and badly dyed hair. Best bit is daft
poseur polaroids of pretend celebrity mates (you don't have to
make it up, y'know) in Simon Snaps Stars. Worse bits are the
boring, yawny biogs, fill-out form for the fan club and lack of
anything much else. Geek glam indie stardust style over paucity
of worthwhile content. Sounds familiar!
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http://www.lso.co.uk
If the Jilly Copper book didn't put you off for life and the
spirit of the Last Night of the Proms is still firing your
patriotic spirit then this one's for you. A monthly updated site
of news, concert information and historical background of the
LSO, it is well annotated, easy to use and well presented.
Bookings via email are promised in the near future dragging the
gentile world of classical music in the 21st Century. Ludwig van
lives. And he's going multimedia.
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http://194.128.198.201/maiden/
Officially sanctioned satanic pop ritual from long-time metal
merchants, The Maiden (Nobody calls 'em that Ü Ed). Following
the departure of comedy novelist, Bruce Dickinson, the band are
reincarnated with recent recruit, Blaze Bayley, formerly rebel
frontman with ferocious foaming Brit rockers, Wolfsbane. Tired
tour info, album details, fan club minutes and kosher merchandise
will satisfy fans but few others. Who rhymes 'daughter' with
'slaughter' these days anyway?
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http://www.mindspring.com/~neppie/deb/
Not without irony this deliciously daffy Debbie Gibson
tribute is excellently put together nevertheless. There are all
sorts of simpering snippets and samples of songs and spontaneous
radio singalongs, TV appearances in QuickTime as well as
autographed albums, fan snaps and letters from the lovely lady
herself. Even if you can't name one of her hits, or you're
actually thinking about Tiffany instead. Debbie has a quote for
all her online debheads, ""I've learned to have a sense
of humour about myself. Lord knows everyone else
does!"" Never a truer word.
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http://www.mistral.co.uk/lars/eternal.html
You can forgive these three saucy songstrels anything, even
that poncy power ballad that was all Whitney-ed up for their
assault on the American chart. I Am Blessed is not how the rest
of us felt girls, with the exception, perhaps, of one Lars
Janssen whose labours have made this unofficial homage to Eternal
a very popular place for fans to hang out. Sadly lacking in sound
files, it has plenty of all the other usual stuff Ü biogs,
discography, pictures, lyrics, tour dates and press coverage.
Just one point of information, however, when Louise left the
band, Lars made the difficult decision to really let her go
alone, coverage was halted at the cursory three line biog and the
site became a Louise-free zone. Never liked her anyway.
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http://www.led-zeppelin.com/emagic.html
Still the essential Led Zeppelin site, Electric Magic has
risen from a Canadian-based magazine of the same name and has
just been revamped with a shiny new address. This site is a real
labour of love and anyone with even a passing interest in the
band will spend hours here. A full discography with complete
lyrics, a photo archive and lots of top inline movies if you view
the site with IE3. A great site suddenly got better - a case of
the site doesn't remain the same !
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http://www.eccosys.com/ELEBUGI/index.html/
Just a quick mention for a Japanese hip hop mag, which can be
read in either English or Japanese. It's got some quite good
graphics and The Verdict, Sound Sauce and Rotation are full of
reviews, samples and a hip hop chart. Best of all, though, if
you're off to Japan, you'll find a list of shops, clubs and kinda
hip hop stomping grounds where you can check out the phattest
soundz.
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http://www.Dischord.co.uk/Dischord/
Discord adds a distinctly British flavour to the growing
ranks of music and lifestyle mags 'n' zines on the Internet,
publishing articles on anything from easy listening and angsty
lads' thirtysomething literature to house music's debt to black,
gay disco and Japan's hardcore anime. Its posse of established
pedigree writers Ü Jay Strongman, David Lubich Ü have something
of a reputation as regulars on the UK music and club scene. The
writing is of a high standard and text is prioritised, but its
overall tone Ü purposely one presumes from the title Ü strikes
a rather jarring note. Dischord seems to be the mouthpiece for a
bunch of aggrieved hacks using it to voice their gripes against
the mainstream media and established music press. While they may
have a point, they come across as angry old men. These purely
parochial grievances over who or what is not getting published
these days are rather wearing and, in an otherwise great mag,
rather out of place.
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http://www.io.com/~hfa/BluesProject/BLUES.HTM
What is it? A long wait... followed by some screechy
soul-searching, blusey wailing, gutsy geetar lurching and the
best howlin' fun you ever had Ü kinda! Dave's Blues loads a 195k
chunk of Shockwave into your browser and a cartoon tableau of
your average beer commercial blues imagery appears. Only it's
really cool, a bit like Raymond Briggs' couple in When The Wind
Blows. The old guy starts strumming and after a while you feel
like playing along. Try clicking on the stuff lying around and
make like John Lee Hooker.
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http://www.clysmic.com/faq/index.html
Quite simply an archive of all Ms Baby Doll's sulky Internet
postings collated in the alt.fan.courtney-love FAQ. No longer
heralded as Hole's indie-rock heroine but as a misunderstood
harpy monster. We waver between the two.
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http://www.pi.net/~msching/home.html
Rather irresistibly this site has been set up by The Cliff
Richard Club Movement, which may say less about Cliff's music and
more about his anal-retentive happy clappy bowels. At the risk of
offending almost everyone, this site is awful simply because it
is about Sir Cliff. Although apparently he is a star (forgetting
for a moment he lacks a little of its quality) because Amber M.
Beattle and Pam Gallan have chosen an insignificant stellar
twinkle in the constellation of Cygnus and named it 'The Sir
Cliff'. Heathcliff information, including stamps to be issued and
a scanned in ticket is all here in full.
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http://www.maxis.co.uk/chimera
Home to a minor league London-based independent record label
and consequently the bizarrely surreal musical stable of Vylinda
and the band Shag, Chimera's dark and moody prescence is a fine
example of small is good Ü pity the music is...er...not to
Internet's taste.
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http://www.vmg.co.uk/chemicalbros
Kings of the breakbeat and bass superheroes, the Chemical
Brothers have been making an almighty racket for the last couple
of years with some blinding singles and a top-notch album. This
site features a few amusing stories about the boys and an
excellent Chemical Brothers ride that requires you to download
yet another plug-in. The site also has some loops of tracks to
download. If you haven't heard of them, you're obviously so badly
out of touch that you'd consider buying the latest Boyzone album.
Have a look at this site though - there's still stuff to enjoy
even if it's not your idea of great music.
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http://casbah.dmn.com
When Casbah claims it ñwill help you locate music on the
Internetî they're only telling mini-porkies. Okay, it's a
resource site with links to artists, groups and new releases,
garnished with some muso industry gossip, a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of
Fame and online search facilities from Mozart to Blur. But
where's the actual music, eh? The mapping's iffy too and lots of
material is totally redundant. Still, you're only a click away
from the Sandbox, with some interactive fun stuff, or you could
join the Caravan. This promises to let you ñfollow your favorite
bands on tourî but turns out to be a music groupie sit-com soap
about Electronic Spanking of War Babies. Oh them!
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http://www.algonet.se/~frank/bucks.htm
There's probably someone somewhere out there who is desperate
to get their hands on the Bucks Fizz Flexipop live medley of
Pinball Wizard/Hot Stuf/Do You Think I'm Sexy/Knock On
Wood/Rockin' All Over The World. This guy's got it. And come off
it, they were great, weren't they? You know you want to visit
this page, if only to remind yourself just how ugly Mike Nolan
was (before the accident...sorry!) or the name of the girl who
took Jay's place when she quit the group. Even now you're
probably humming The Land of Make Believe. This is a well put
together, seemingly without irony, tribute to an 80s pop
sensation. It's good but it's very information-led and needs a
bit more opinion, like ñThey were good...No, honestly they
wereî.
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http://www.breaks.com/
Oh my gosh, an original and essential selection of label
profiles, reviews of tunes and bedroom breakbeat opportunities
for those into hardcore, jungle, hardstep and darkside. Beginners
may want to take The Journey Inta Da Jungle to fully comprehend
when and how this chopped up drum-and-base style came about
because Breaks takes its genre pedigree very seriously, and with
its mix of news, articles and mailing list comment it
convincingly locates the junglist community on music's highly
intelligent and creative cutting edge. For those who know,
rinsin' it all the way.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/bjornagain/
[bjorn.pcx] Bjorn Volvo-us, Frida Longstokin, Agnetha
Falstart and Benny Anderwear welcome you to their Abba
lookey-likey site. The site contains the full list of tour dates
- they're on the road right now you'll be glad to hear - along
with a smattering of photos of the band and a full discography.
Makes you long for the days of side-burns, naff dancing and stack
heeled boots - I feel a dancing queen moment coming over me right
now.
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http://www.1212.com/
Searching for a bagpipes player or someone to pitch in with
the 'doo wops'? 1.2.1.2. is a directory of music industry
professionals, from songwriters to roadies, session singers to
entertainment lawyers. PAs, lighting rigs, recording studios and
equipment hire are all listed across the UK and Europe. Obviously
a pretty specialised service. Testing, testing, 1.2...
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http://www.fender.com/
Fancy yourself as Richie Sambora? Then you should definitely
plug into the electrifying fun of FenderWorld. A huge list of
every Fender product ever, company milestones and corporate
history (uh-huh), all axe questions answered, celebrity
stratocaster owners speak out (yeah, that means Sheryl Crow).
Rockin' in a kind of American white trash way. Cool!
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http://pastperfect.com
Past Perfect is a mail order company specialising in the
digitally remastered sounds of the 20s, 30s and 40s. The site is
far more than a Web warehouse for old 78 records, it's a
perfectly constructed, beautifully crafted store with full track
listings, sleeve notes and sleeve art from its current tape and
CD catalogue. This includes jazz classics, songs from the
musicals, orchestral dance tunes, operatic pieces and big band
sounds Ü Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, George
and Ira Gershwin, Fred Astaire, George Formby, Beniamano Gigli
and Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. The competition to win
some quality product asks you to identify little snatches of
tunes. A toe-tapping experience whether you buy or not.
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http://ns.ph.liv.ac.uk:80/~mbs/felt/
Quite possibly the best moment in an unscreened pilot pop
show recorded years back by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer is when
they get Lawrence, the very skinny monosyllabic lead singer of a
band called Denim, and plonk him on a set of weighing scales. How
we laughed! This is an anecdote audacious in its irrelevance,
although presumably Martin Smith, the bloke who put these pages
together, would appreciate it. He's followed Lawrence's career
from the band Felt through to Denim with a fannish earnestness
that means he has dilligently included a complete discography,
along with pictures and current tour date news. Alas, little
evidence of a lively mind at work and the dry genius of
Lawrence's lyrics is not reflected here.
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http://atlantic-records.com/
A halfway decent collection of Atlantic-signed bands and
their home pages Ü Tori Amos, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jimmy
Page and Julianna Hatfield amongst them. Every artist on the
label is also entered into the Tour Database, making it possible
to check on a gig anywhere in the world. Particularly cool is the
gallery which, though unavoidedly slow to download, comprises
still and moving images by artist Ari Marcopoulos.These include
odd phrases and fine black and white photographs and is rather a
bizarre piece for a record company to exhibit. Of course this is
good Ü it's had heaps of money thrown at it Üæbut it'll be
even better once they've got their back catalogue sorted out.
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http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/fy60/tap1.htm
At the time of writing, (i) this fanzine had not been updated
for two whole months and (ii) using my browser the background was
more legible than the text. These two crucial things aside, This
Almighty Pop deserves a special mention as an example of
do-it-yourselfness and as champion of the twee indie pop scene,
last big in the late 80s. Reports from an ex-Go Between, missives
from Sarah Records, a few bars from The Byrds' Tambourine Man Ü
this is all we need. Nostalgic for post-punk, pre-riot grrl days,
this is sweet little site Ü all power to the jangly pop
kids.
Top of Page |
http://www.billboard-online.com/
Known internationally for publishing the American pop charts,
Billboard is in fact America's weekly music and record industry
trade paper and magazine. Rather than post the Top 40 each week,
Billboard Online prefers to showcase its album charts, presumably
because these are the ones that really deliver sales. As a site
it offers informative entertainment news on a daily basis,
articles from the magazine and an 'ask the expert' forum that
deals with music marketing and promotion. For the full run of
chart archives and statistics, Billboard Online has its own
library of information but it's unlikely that anyone other than
industry big shots will fork out the cost of installing the $39
special software and pay the extra $1.59 per minute to access
these services. Pah!
Top of Page |
http://www.io.org/~buff/sinatra.html
A complete essential for swingin' lovers of Frank Sinatra,
this hits all the right 'hup hup' notes and joins in with the
high kicks. It's a great site for fans of Ol' Blue Eyes, not
because it has a good biog and comprehensive discography (that's
standard by now) but because of all the extras and loving
details: the best records to start your Frank collection with;
original press from Frank's mobster exploits in the 50s; Bono's
tribute from the Grammys; a Playboy interview from 1963; notes on
the cool crooner's vocal range; and how Frank makes his favourite
spaghetti sauce. Listen, it's Frank's planet...and there's no
denying that.
Top of Page |
http://www.obsolete.com/flyers/
Kind of like the flyer-bedecked front window of some scarily
stush record shop, this site posts clubs' details using their
flyers as illustrations. Tops for techno but a little light on
the other stuff, it's currently loaded towards London listings
but includes some excellent reviews of heavy rotation tunes.
Top of Page |
http://www.musicians-net.co.uk.
Predominantly of interest to geetar players and music
producers, this is the umbrella site for the publications The
Mix, Recording, Keyboard Review, Bassist, Rhythm, Guitarist and
Guitar Techniques. It looks really good and if you've read the
magazines offline and know what you're looking for, it's probably
quite good fun. Otherwise, it'll take a while to find items on
your favourite guitar solos. Teen music mag Hip Hop Connection is
also available, but looks a little out of place here.
Top of Page |
http://east.isx.com/~schnitzi/elvis.html
From spiky wordsmith and new wave angry young man to a more
mellow, aging crooner of breathtaking eclecticism, Declan McManus
has always inspired as much respect as he has devotion. This is a
seriously superb collection of Costello discographies, FAQs,
lyrics and upcoming events that'll make any Elvis fan get happy.
Mark Schnitzius, who maintains the site, helps move things along
by encouraging people to chat on IRC, add to the site and
participate in his polls . No surprise on the favourite album
front Ü Imperial Bedroom wins by a mile. An excellent site.
Top of Page |
http://www.marshallphoto.com/
Jim Marshall is the man who officially photographed Woodstock
(the first time around) and was backstage at the Beatles' last
show. View his images of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim
Morrison, The Who and any number of the jazz greats and you begin
to wonder how come he's still around. Apparently Dennis Hopper
based the character he plays in Apocalyse Now on this man. Hey,
rock 'n' roll.
Top of Page |
http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~ryburnp/discoweb.html
Download that disco ball and get on down. This site will have
you snappin' your fingers and twitching your hips to its Saturday
Night Fever selection of 70s stompers and anthemic soul grooves.
As well as a list of 101 hits, it has links to Doug's Disco
Jukebox, an article on the International Leisure Suit Convention
and alt.culture.us.1970s. Burn baby burn, disco inferno!
Top of Page |
http://www.pollstar.com/
Want to know who's playing King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on
Wednesday? Or when you can next catch the 'Swear? Pollstar's
database of concert schedules is searchable by artist, city and
even venue, and seems to work worldwide.
Top of Page |
http://www.ari.net/se/se/se_start.html
Fed up with the music press? With reviewers who get it wrong?
This site takes a sample of your favourite listening (your five
fave LPs) and a day later sends you an email of other stuff you
might like. Internet tried it and it worked, with one
exception...Robert Palmer no way!
Top of Page |
http://www.wfu.edu/~david/rem/
David Woodward is devoted to REM and, as you'd expect, he has
written up a discography, a list of tour dates and a bit about
some box set! Mostly this is worth seeing because the information
looks good. It's on a blazing orange background and is lovingly
laid out. It is also the place to learn the chords for Orange
Crush.
Top of Page |
http://www.worldserver.pipex.com/nc/Jazz/
Jazz Services is a UK organisation which subsidises touring
for musicians and bands and, essentially, this site explains
that. There's a limited amount of advice and information for
performers here, but it's not that they don't have a wealth of
knowledge, it's just that not much of it appears here.
Top of Page |
http://www.netpoint.be/abc/music/nyman
An appropriately serious and well crafted set of pages on the
master of the modern film score.
Top of Page |
http://nwlink.com/~timelvis/
A mansion-sized tribute to theme park Elvis, including a host
of impersonators like Zucchini Elvis and Budgie Elvis. Tim
(Elvis), the site's creator, also posts some of the best and most
bizarre bits from newsgroups about the King and, lastly, he
includes links to just about every place where there's a whole
lotta shakin' goin' on.
Top of Page |
http://www-cecs.evansville.edu/~jw2/index3.html
OK, so calling it Jamie's Crackhouse, it's not big and it's
not clever, but the hard work and skills that turned these hip
hop pages into something pretty passable make up for it to some
extent. Trying to broaden out a bit, Jamie's had it with the East
Coast v West Coast thing. Check 'What's Phat?', the samples from
Raekwon, Outcast and Redman, as well as a complete page of props
to Biggie Smalls.
Top of Page |
http://www.acpub.duke.edu/~eja/pfunk.html
Welcome to the Mothership connection - a discography, set of
images and FAQ about the completely whacked out music combos of
one Mr George Clinton. Given it's almost impossible these days to
hear a hip hop tune that hasn't ripped off or been influenced by
Clinton, it's a shame this page doesn't make the most of that and
instead retreats into a collector's completism. Make my funk a
P-Funk anyway.
Top of Page |
http://www.mw3.com/
Set aside a couple of days to sift through all the
information in MW3. As well as housing band home pages, record
labels, ezines, a club date database, even where to get hold of
print music, there's a load of industry stuff on agents,
production companies, publishing and studios. Manufacturers and
retailers of music software and equipment even get a section all
on their own. However, because taste in music is pretty much a
subjective thing, it's a case of wasting several hours before
finding something you're really into. There is a jungle section!
Top of Page |
http://www.rise.co.uk/orbital/
Orbital's progressively-rendered, opening graphic changes its
message as you gaze. The site also claims to be the first
commercial site using CD link (see feature p.24). Top techie
implementation aside, its clean graphics show characteristic
stadium techno taste. Orbital fans will not be disappointed by
some of the exclusives or the Quicktime video of the band's
computerised 3D model stage design (yawn).
Top of Page |
http://www.easynet.co.uk/goodvibe/greens.htm
A chance to mail-order some records from one of the best
big-name reggae labels in Britain. This is basically in catalogue
format, and includes all your favourites, from Mad Cobra, Mega
Banton and Snagga Puss to Beenie Man, Marcia Griffiths and Bounty
Killer. Rewind Selector.
Top of Page |
http://www.dotmusic.com
It's all very well having a 'dotmusic: music to the power of
the dot,' but has nobody told them that if you pronounce the name
of this site 'properly' it reads 'dot dotmusic'. Well really.
Anyways, music industry trade mag Music Week and sister dance
specialist Record Mirror are here in abbreviated form. The
Official UK Charts go up each week on Monday at 6pm, but that's
24 hours after you'd heard Mark Goodier counting down the top
forty on Radio 1. Lame.
Top of Page |
http://underground.net/Rocktropolis/
Sweaty rock'n'roll concept site, with all the dubious charm
of Sunset Strip. Take your pick from the Main Stage, the Tribal
Basement or the Hemisphere Lounge, and sample some pop-star
lifestyle or rather a dodgy mix of iffy bands. Catering for high
or low bandwidth surfing babes, the killer graphics still take
some time to load. Still, hang out in the chat room, check the
talking comic or CU-SeeMe doing something totally cool (not!).
How about more music, less gimmicks? Just a suggestion.
Top of Page |
http://www.cerbernet.com/
Cerberus is the much-hyped, much-hailed future of music
retail. A digital jukebox which, with the appropriate freely
available software and the payment of a small fee, will download
music to your hard disc, it's like having a record store at home.
Still in its early days, so check which tracks are still up on
the site for free. It'll probably be a long while before we all
get top-quality speakers connected to our computers, and are
prepared to sacrifice the freedom of playing our tapes and cds
round a friend's house, on the walkman or in the car.
Top of Page |
http://www.gold.net/users/ex14
For those in search of a bluesy riff or a thrashy chord, this
site is dedicated to the geetar. Ocasionally precious, but more
often rather predictable, this article- and tuition-based site is
for slightly more sophisticated Bert Weedon fanatics, as well as
expert, angst-ridden players and their axes.
Top of Page |
http://www.pbs.port.ac.uk/~sis5425
Run by Bugsy at Portsmouth University, this is a good home
page for the hairy trio from the Midlands, who have won over many
new fans on this summer's festival circuit. Not bad for a band
whose slogan is 'Let's all walk down that hill and shag all the
cows,' it says here.
Top of Page |
http://www.vmg.co.uk/fsol/
A whole host of hidden surreal surprises lurk behind the
spacey pictures in FSOL's site. Ansaphone messages, sequenced
sounds, jellyfish in Quicktime etc. Absolute heaven for ambient
types but not as cutting edge as Future fans might expect. Seek
and ye shall find.
Top of Page |
http://www.centrum.is/bjork
Promises big time sensuality, delivers delicious snippets of
ice-girl warbling and pretty oops-it's-that-pixie-word-again vids
and pics.
Top of Page |
http://www.nando.net/BeastieBoys/
Predictably huge amounts of X-Large attitude abound since
Mike D, Adrock and MCA have been hip to the hyperreal for a long
time. Check ya head with their entire back catalogue and download
their appearances with Fab 5 Freddy and from Saturday Night Live.
More than the usual quota of pics and info on Beastie enterprise
and, finally, top marks for reproducing the first issue of their
cult mag, Grand Royal. It's highly collectible, out of print and
found in full here.
Top of Page |
http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/J'sJoint
Space Cowboy, Jason Kaye from Jamiroquai has invited everyone
round his gaff and throwing the best interactive house party in
cyberspace is a rather more ambitious project than the usual
popstar page. Hit singles, album tracks and videos can be
accessed by playing records, listening to the radio and watching
tv. There are also a couple of treats for lucky sods with
Director 4. The Jungle MOO convenes in the back garden, a
digitally constructed environment to talk, skin up, just mess
around. Being a gob-on-a-stick has often backfired when, in the
past, J has talked about environmental issues on the pages of
Smash Hits. Updates on road protest and crusading for his pet
causes has finally found a home.
Top of Page |
http://www.vmg.co.uk/massive/index.html
This Bristol-based band's site on Virgin's Raft is one of the
most entertaining sites from a UK band so far. Large graphics may
exclude those with slower links but there is some pretty
impressive stuff here. The site also features QuickTime
animations, lots of sound clips and Windows and Mac screen savers
to download.
Top of Page |
http://www.hyperlink.com/orb/
From their adventures beyond the Ultraworld to the new LP,
ORBVS TERRARVM, everybody's favourite technoheads remain the
ultimate in dubby ambient cool. As an official record company
thing it's not really up to scratch, but start out here and look
for other links.
Top of Page |
http://lipstat.alcd.soton.ac.uk/~prbt/index.html
This totally tip-top unofficial home page has just about
everything for girls and boys who love pseudo-cockernee
mod/casuals, Blur.
Top of Page |
http://www.godiscs.co.uk/godiscs/welcome.html
Biogs, release news and tour dates from all Go! Discs
artists, including The Beautiful South, The Frank & Walters,
Portishead and the god-like Paul Weller. The Portishead material
is excruciating to download but includes video clips and stills
of To Kill A Dead Man and the stuff they projected onto the
building belonging to MI6.
Top of Page |
http://www.classicalmus.com
Biographies, histories, synopses and discographies, audio
clips and secure CD ordering from loads of classical music
labels. This site caters for everyone from the casual Classic FM
listener to the obsessed opera queen.
Top of Page |
http://www.mtv.com/
For all the legal pomp and wind with ex-VJ Adam Curry, MTV's
eventual debut is a disgrace.
Top of Page |
http://www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/hifi.html
Your hi-fi faintly distorts doesn't it? If the news, reviews
and trade show reports housed on this site aren't enough to
convince you that your hi-fi's crap, link to another site and
find out that no matter how much you've spent, you're still
insulting your ears.
Top of Page |
http://american.recordings.com/wwwofmusic/ubl.html
Search for, or add, your favourite pop ensemble's Internet
presences. It's massive.
Top of Page |
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/usr/mk42/tyranny/warnspo.html
The Spo-Its are a sexploitation musical outfit from Columbus,
Ohio. They appear to place a far higher emphasis on the visual
aspect of their performances, than on the fidelity of their
recordings.
Top of Page |
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~tzoq/Residents/
Finding online information about the world's finest and
weirdest neo-classical group is almost as hard as figuring out
its members. The Residents have performed anonymously, masked by
their giant eyeball heads, since the early 70s, so efficient at
concealing their identities that even their most avid fans remain
in the dark. This site is maintained by one such devotee, and
although it is the most dedicated tribute to the Residents on the
Web to date, there are no actual sound samples, no movie clips
and, of course, no pictures of their faces. If you've never been
experienced, you'll just have to go out and buy the records
yourself.
Top of Page |
http://www.vmg.co.uk
You'd never know it unless you were told, but this is Virgin
Records' home page. As such you will find multimedia tidbits from
several featured artists, such as Verve, Massive, Boy George and
Whale, as well as new talents on the Hut label. It's
groundbreaking in several ways with its product Ü rather than
brand Ü focused marketing, borderless images, multi-storyboarded
unsignposted trips, coloured text and musical screen savers. It's
a site for sore eyes.
Top of Page |
http://www.siberia.is/badtaste/badhome.htm
Iceland's Bad Taste Records, founded and managed by the
Sugarcubes, whose lead singer Bjork has recently risen to iconic
mainstream acceptance, has been making a valiant effort to bring
the country's underground talent to the world's attention.
Despite this, most of the samples to download here are from
groups you're unlikely to ever hear anywhere else. Cast aside
your preconceptions, take the time to browse and you'll be
rewarded by fresh blasts of arctic artistry.
Top of Page |
http://www.geffen.com/
This halfway-house of yesteryear's grunge fad gives you a
taste of such artists as the Courtney Love's band, Hole.
Unfortunately, neither the page nor the music is as fascinating
as her antics. You'll also find the Stone Roses, Nirvana, Sonic
Youth and Mudhoney washed up amongst the driftwood.
Top of Page |
http://vivarin.pc.cc.cmu.edu/lyrics.html
Read song lyrics from just about every pop group ever, from
A-Ha to 999. The range will astound you.
Top of Page |
http://tito.hyperlink.com/mm/
MusicLink offer a UK-based, site-building service to bands
and music companies looking to publish on the Internet. The Orb
and Penguin Cafe Orchestra are early starters.
Top of Page |
http://www.nets.com/dcd
If you haven't been exposed to the hauntingly beautiful music
of the UK gothic group Dead Can Dance, here's your chance. There
is a 15-second cut from every song in the band's eight-album
history, as well as the usual biographies and tour details.
Top of Page |
http://sun1.bham.ac.uk/cca93054/beatles/index.html
This is another fun page from the house that brought you
Megadeth. It's not the usual clips, discography and tour
dates-type service. Instead, you can send Beatles postcards,
Telnet into a Beatle chat session, read about the new Live at the
BBC release, hear various vocal samples, enter sweepstakes and
indulge in a host of other Beatles trivia. As with the Megadeth
server, it's well designed, looks great and you don't have to be
a fan to enjoy the site.
Top of Page |
http://newton.Space.NET/yello/
This is not just another music site: you can feel the
presence of the eccentric Dieter Meier and Boris Blank lurking in
the background. There's a full discography, and while you can't
yet download any songs, you can download a few of the raw samples
which Yello used to create their last single, and a segment of
their recent Zebra video.
Top of Page |
http://www.wimsey.com/nettwerk/
Home to such progressive fringe artists as Single Gun Theory,
Severed Heads, MC 900 ft Jesus, Sarah Mclachlan, Consolidated and
the Falling Joys. Not all artists have the own page yet, but
watch this site as Nettwork often finds a sound several years
before the mainstream.
Top of Page |
http://bird.taponline.com/~smishra/
If you want to volunteer to take over or help with this site
you'll be greeted with open arms. That's if you're into the likes
of EinstÄrzende Neubauten, Negativland, Skinny Puppy, Cabaret
Voltaire and Ministry.
Top of Page |
http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/people/rjh/stereolab
Discography, samples, news, interviews, reviews, pictures,
T-shirts and tour dates from the UK's finest 'groop to play
space-age batchelor music'.
Top of Page |
http://www.music.indiana.edu/misc/music_resources.html
You'll be overwhelmed by the quantity of music-related sites
featured here. They're split into academic, non-academic,
user-maintained, geographically local sites and artist-specific
sites. These are further split into WWW, Gopher, Telnet and FTP
divisions.
Top of Page |
http://www.eia.brad.ac.uk:80/kylie/
Provocative lyrics, sexy soundbites, explicit track listings,
x-rated videos, lurid scans and access to every Kylie-porn
resource thinkable. This one's in the adult section due to Ms
Minogue's calculated raunchiness.
Top of Page |
http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/j_peel/
See them here two years before they chart in the UK and 15
years before Rolling Stone catches on.
Top of Page |
http://www.maires.co.uk:80/nw2n/
Great noise orientated independent showings from the likes of
Bumgravy, Headbutt, Free Kitten, Guv'ner and Huggy Bear.
Top of Page |
http://www.elmail.co.uk/music/
This database features news on the UK music scene and
showcases such talents as the Stone Roses, Human League, PWEI,
Terrorvision, Blur, Eternal, Positiva and Kickin' Records. It's
expanding rapidly and should develop into a great site.
Top of Page |
http://www.southern.com/RA/
Ra calls itself an authorised E-zine of E-zines. It's trying
to attract as many artists, bands and labels as possible in the
ambient/experimental/trance/techno world and bring them together
as individual sites. All sorts of new and eclectic stuff is
likely to emerge in the near future.
Top of Page |
http://hyperreal.com/
Techno/ambient/rave archives featuring reviews, lists,
publications, drug discussions, tools and shareware, sound
samples, DJ sets, FAQs and links to other sites.
Top of Page |
http://www.ozonline.com.au/TotalNode/AIMC/surf.html
This is a huge collection of less mainstream international
music links and a separate section of Australian Independent
pages. The Ausmusic page features previews of emerging talent and
radio schedules of off-beat stations.
Top of Page |
http://www.cityscape.co.uk/users/ac46/indbuzz.htm
This attractively presented site features all album covers,
most lyrics, and far too few track cuts. Although it's still
under construction, it's getting plenty of attention. You can
even send fan email to Pete.Shelley@cityscape.co.uk
Top of Page |
http://cybersight.com/cgi-bin/cs/nnnn/Music
This page allows you to hyperlink to a music page and then
return and rate it with either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.
There's about a hundred listed, including the Buzzcocks, Bjork,
Ministry, the Orb, Sisters of Mercy, Morrissey and many more.
Top of Page |
http://www.halcyon.com/rem/index.html
If you think REM are dull, this collection of FAQs, lyrics,
guitar chords, photos, articles and links to other archives is
unlikely to change your mind. File next to Renee & Renato and
REO Speedwagon.
Top of Page |
http://www.cs.umu.se/tsdf/kraftwerk
Demos, live out-takes, interviews, lyrics, and the
discography of the German techno pioneers Kraftwerk can all be
found here. There's also a selection of clones and other
synthetic groups.
Top of Page |
http://iuma.southern.com
It's a good idea to choose the dull textual mode wherever
possible on this graphically intensive site. Indexing is not as
efficient as it first appears and you will be lucky to find much
that's familiar. What you will discover is a treasury of audio
clips by new talent. This site is the European mirror and should
eventually develop a more local flavour.
Top of Page |
http://www.oulu.fi/music.html
This rich seam includes a comprehensive catalogue to all
kinds of music information on the Internet, a MIDI home page, an
online version of the All Music Guidebook, and homes pages for
artists, from Tori Amos to Frank Zappa.
Top of Page |
http://www.subpop.com
Mail order and archives from the cheery Seattle home of the
sadly defunct Nirvana, Mudhoney and their ilk.
Top of Page |
http://www.stones.com
Set up to promote the Stones' recent Voodoo Lounge album and
tour, this features tour dates, text and video interviews with
the Stones. This was the site of the autumn 1994 live Internet
concert broadcast which, although not a critical success, was a
brave and pioneering foray into what may one day be mainstream.
The video clips are a great idea, but in the time it takes to
deliver the Quicktime movies down even a fast modem connection
you could form your own R&B band.
Top of Page |
http://www.mcs.com/~bliss/starchild/home.html
A surprisingly business-like board covering the entire
constellation of indie music. Some of the featured artists offer
downloadable self-running promo kits for you to sample.
Top of Page |
http://www.bazaar.com
A US music and entertainment service that acrimoniously grew
out of MTV (MTV sued to get the exclusive use of the domain name
mtv.com, the previous name for the Metaverse Service). There's a
range of sections of information about concert tours, new
releases, videos, and unsigned bands promoting themselves. This
service has become more commercial recently, with reader offers
and shopping being added to the mix.
Top of Page |
http://www.atom.co.jp
The exploding, yet unfamiliar Asian pop scene may not be the
next big thing, but it may just be the next big thing after that.
Watch this spot.
Top of Page |
http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~ta/mtv/main.html
A parody of Music Television (MTV) and Adam Curry's
Metaverse. It can, however, be hard to get on to.
Top of Page |