§ May 17th, 2012 § Filed under Computer Weekly Comments Off
Armin van Buuren
Event on 2012-05-22 21:00:00
Armin van Buuren
Armin van Buuren is once more lord of the Trance and the king of the dance floor, taking the No. 1 spot in the DJ Mag Top 100 for the third year running. Being the official World's Most Popular DJ is just one of his many achievements, but the driving force behind his success is an overriding passion for dance music. Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, the Netherlands on December 25, 1976. He finished high school in 1995, and left for college to study law. While studying law, his interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he temporarily put his law degree on hold, however, he did complete his law degree in 2004 via Oxford University. The final year of his course was inevitably stretched as he juggled his studies with his increasingly hectic schedule; his rise to fame included lots of productions and remixes, as well as playing out to packed clubs every weekend. It took him three years to graduate, but his determination made him succeed. Armin indulged his passion for music from a young age. He spent all the money he earned on records. When he was 10, his mother won a computer, gaining Armin's interest. "So as a little nerdy kid I was writing my own basic programs, and learnt about the technology from there." He progressed from making low profile mix tapes for friends to higher profile mixes when he discovered experimenting with different sequences on his computer through his uncle. "I was so stunned by what I saw him doing on the computer, that I got addicted to creating music right there and then! "I loved Dance music immediately – this great rebellious sound that was so different". Armin cites electronic pioneer Jean Michel Jarre as a major influence, as well as Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, who later mentored him in his mixing and producing. His "Universal Religion" series has been going strong ever since the first edition in 2004. Every edition is a live recording, straight from the epicenter of Dance in summer: Club Amnesia in Ibiza. Every summer, Armin holds residency in this renowned club on the party isle. As the club fills with Dance lovers from all over the world, a special, atmosphere takes over, these special moments of pure Trance bliss, Armin captures onto his "Universal Religion" albums. Latest "Universal Religion 4" is filled with exclusive tracks and remixes, in a tight mix, live recorded at the sacred club. Armin has always had his own studio and worked alone in the beginning of his career. Since the release of his third studio album "Imagine" in 2008 he has been working with Benno de Goeij of Rank1 on all his productions and remixes. Since 1995, he has released many tracks on different labels with increasing success. His first big success was "Blue Fear" at the age of 19. This 'Euro Trance blueprint' made it into the UK Chart. "Communication" was released on the same label, and had a huge impact on Ibiza in the summer of 1999. After being signed to AM PM Records, it busted into the UK Singles Chart at #18 in 2000. Early 1999 Armin started the Armind label together with United Recordings. First release, "Gig One" was well received. Follow up "Touch Me", under the alias Rising Star, was signed to Ministry of Sound UK, while "Free" was signed to R&S Records. Under the Gaia monniker he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers. Teaming up with Tiësto, two new projects saw life; under the guise Major League "Wonder Where You Are?" was released on Black Hole Recordings while "Eternity" was released via Armind under the alias Alibi. "Eternity" gained worldwide club and chart success and was signed to Paul van Dyk's Vandit Records. Another major collaboration, this time with Ferry Corsten, resulted in the classic and very successful Trancer "Exhale". In 2000, Armin started his own Armin van Buuren compilation series. He managed to find a balance between Progressive, Techno and Trance. First "A State of Trance" compilation, released in 2000, it sold more than 10,000 copies and contains his infamous remix of Moogwai's, "Viola". The "A State Of Trance" compilations have won many awards and continue to lead the Trance fans in the right direction with a fresh and exclusive selection of the hottest tracks. Second compilation "Basic Instinct" saw its release early 2001. Third compilation "In Motion" was released August 2001 with 4th comp "Transparence", hitting the streets in 2002. In 2003 the "76" compilation saw light with Ultra Records releasing in USA and Canada. 1 BIOGRAPHY (continued) In 2008 his artist album titled 'Imagine' entered the Dutch Album Top 100 Chart at no. 1; the first time a Dance producer accomplished such a feat in the history of Dutch music. The first single taken from the album, "Going Wrong", debuted on his A State Of Trance radio show. The single sees the collaboration of Armin van Buuren with hot German producer Shah and singer Chris Jones. 'Imagine' debuted at #4 on the US Billboard's Top Electronic Albums Chart. Video of second single "In and Out of Love", featuring Sharon den Adel from world renowned Goth rockers Within Temptation, achieved more than 35 million views on YouTube. The album also spawned two more singles, "Unforgivable" featuring Jaren, and "Fine Without You", a collaboration with Jennifer Rene. On the remix front While the remix offers flood in, Armin only takes on tracks that he really loves. He has remixed the theme for the cult TV series 24 as well as tracks for the likes of Motorcycle, The Killers, BT and Moogwai, amongst others. He uses exactly the same criteria for his compilations, meaning that every release from Armin on his long-running Armind label is a bona fide stormer. Armin Only An all-night dance event featuring a nine hour set by the man himself . The event consists of various genres of Dance music (but most predominantly Trance), light, laser and firework shows and supporting acts of singers/vocalists. Sold-out Armin Only shows in 2005 and 2006 created eager anticipation of the third edition, which kicked off in Utrecht The Netherlands in 2008; over 16,000 fans attended and were enthralled by Armin's set. The theme of the night was 'Imagine', described by Armin as "the celebration of our sensations both in life and in club land." Fans all around the world needed not to despair as Armin took the event to Romania, Poland, Belgium, Australia and USA. On New Year's Eve 2008 Armin managed to draw 45,000 fans to the event at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Promotion of his album "Imagine" has been a prominent concept with the 2008 Armin Only Tour and as such applying the 5 concepts of Imagination (Vision, Scent, Touch, Sound, Emotion) to his sets. The next Armin Only events are in the works for 2010 and 2011. A State Of Trance radio show In March 2001, he started his own radio show on ID&T Radio. In this weekly two-hour show, entitled 'A State of Trance', he plays the latest popular Trance tracks. His show and the artists he features are popularized by publishing the artists and track titles on his website. This radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally. When ID&T Radio changed genres in 2004, van Buuren left and took A State of Trance with him. It is now a weekly feature on appr. 40 worldwide FM radio stations. A complete list of stations that broadcast A State of Trance can be found at the ASOT section of Armin's website. Internationally, the show attracts more than 26 million listeners a week, making it the most popular radio show in the world. In 2008 the 400th edition was celebrated on a large scale, listeners and fans were able to experience the show for 72 hours, live from 3 different countries. The first broadcast was aired from Club Butan in Wuppertal Germany on Thursday April 16th, the second on Friday April 17th from Club Air in Birmingham, U.K., and the third and last one was closed down in style on Saturday April 18th in the massive Maas Silo in Rotterdam. Armin personally appeared at all locations. Armada Music Amsterdam based Armada Music was founded in June 2003 by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis. "Armada" was formed by utilizing the first two letters in each of the founding members' names. The highly successful label currently has 19 different sub-labels (including Armind) representing many different types of electronic music. 2 BIOGRAPHY (continued) New Media On the road biography 'Armin Only' Dutch author Coen Bom, has followed Armin around the world for over a year. Focusing on a very important year in Armin's musical career, the one in which he's crowned to 'Number 1 DJ of the World'. Coen gives you a full report of Armin's many gigs, backstage adventures and journeys across the globe. With exclusive interviews, photo's and much more. Awards & Accolades With a hectic schedule packed to the rafters with headline slots at major clubs and festivals across the globe this is a man truly at the top of his game. His productions have all made a huge impact and quickly gain worldwide acclaim. He is a dedicated Trance lover, but isn't imprisoned by a single genre, saying "What makes Trance work so well is that it doesn't stick to one style, and can incorporate electro, minimal, whatever it likes." The main ingredient to Armin's life will always be music. "This is just what I really want," he says. "It's not just love for music, it's my passion. It goes beyond liking, and beyond a hobby, it's about a way of living. Music is essential to my life". November 2009 arminvanbuuren.com astateoftrance.com youtube.com/arminvanbuuren In October 2009, Armin had the premiere of launching the first full music DVD as an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The complete DVD of Armin's 'Armin Only' concert in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, is now available as app. After downloading the app, users can see the full live registration on their iPhone or iPod Touch. New media is something that surely gets Armin's attention. Armin's YouTube channel, as part of the Armada Music channel, is one of the most viewed channels on the net. In fact, the Armada Music channel is the most viewed music channel in the world. The music video for Armin's "In & Out of Love" has received more than 35 million views, and is therefore the most viewed music video of all time within all categories, on the Dutch YouTube. On Armin's YouTube, his fans can find the official music videos, exclusive interviews, specials, previews and party reports. In 2009, Foreign Media Games announced the production of 'In The Mix': Featuring Armin van Buuren, a music game being produced in collaboration with Armada Music. The title is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010. In 2007 Armin was voted the world's #1 in DJ Mag's prestigious Top 100 Poll. He was voted #1 again in 2008 and 2009. In January 2008, he was given the 'Buma Cultuur Pop Award', the most prestigious Dutch music award followed by being voted 'Best Trance Artist' in the Beatport Music Awards. His A State Of Trance radio show won the 'Best Mix Radio Show' award at the IDMA in Miami in 2006 and 2007, and another 4 Awards at the 2008 edition. He was voted 'Best European DJ' at the 2009 IDMA in Miami, voted 'Best Global DJ' at the 2010 IDMA in Miami, voted 'Most Popular International DJ' in Australia's 2009 Sony In The Mix DJ Poll, voted No. 1 in the 2009 Tranceaddict DJ poll, voted 'Best Trance DJ' and 'Best International DJ' in DJ Awards 2009 poll. In March 2010 he received the 'Gouden Harp', the most prestigious music award in The Netherlands. 3
at Royale Nightclub
279 Tremont St
Boston, United States
Jon McLaughlin
Event on 2012-05-23 19:00:00
Speaking from his home in the Midwest on a beautiful spring day, singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin would strike you as a pretty relaxed guy. As he recounts his numerous accomplishments without any bravado, it would be understandable for McLaughlin to feel like he could coast a little as he prepares to release his third album, Promising Promises (Razor & Tie). Case in point: An aptitude for piano discovered as a child, submersion in all school related music programs, college to continue his study of music, cultivating a big online following in the early days of social media, scoring a label deal at age 21, inking big song placements on television and movies, a performance at the Academy Awards, selling 170k albums, debuting at #1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart – pretty heady stuff for a guy from Indiana who just wanted to be able to play like Billy Joel someday.
Along with his older sister and brother, Jon McLaughlin began piano lessons at a very young age presenting an ability his parents hoped to foster. He loved playing the piano, and creating his own sounds, but lessons was another thing. “I took lessons every Thursday and I’d come home complaining to my mom. My dad traveled during the week for work, and when he’d call on Thursday nights, I’d inevitably give him the same grief I gave my mom. To their credit, they never forced the lessons; they allowed me to talk it through and somehow, at the end of every conversation, I’d say, “I think I am going to keep going.” They had infinite patience with me.”
He continued with piano until a rollerblading accident resulted in Jon breaking both his wrists at the age of 15. While slightly self-conscious walking around high school with casts on his arms, Jon still felt a sense of relief that the lessons stopped Taking time off helped Jon realize his enthusiasm for creating his own music wasn’t going to dim. He continued on to Indiana’s Anderson University where he studied music. He also started posting songs he wrote on a then-little known website called MySpace. He noticed that the “plays” for his music grew daily – he was cultivating a fan base. “I began playing live shows on weekends with my band, which I loved doing. One day I was in the computer lab and got a MySpace message from someone at an independent label telling me they liked my stuff. I literally couldn’t believe it. By the end of my senior year in college I was corresponding with several major label A&R people, making plans to play some shows in New York City.”
That’s exactly what Jon did, lunching with label execs during the day and playing showcases at night. His short stay in New York turned in to a two-week jaunt until Jon signed with Island Def Jam Records. In short order, Jon was sent to both Los Angeles and Nashville for some co-writing sessions “No disrespect to the people I worked with, because they are phenomenal songwriters, but it was hard for me. It felt forced, and I was used to writing in my dorm room where I was never looking at clock, worried about writing a radio hit or appealing to the masses..”
Jon released his 2007 debut album, Indiana on Island, followed by his sophomore effort, OK Now in 2008. Both were successful, with Jon sharing the stage with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, Duffy, One Republic, Johnny Lang, Paolo Nutini, and Matt Wertz among many others. The albums yielded placements on Scrubs and movies like Georgia Rule and Bridge to Terabithia. In the meantime, Jon’s manager got a call about an Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz song for an upcoming Disney film called Enchanted starring Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams. Immediately interested, Jon flew to Long Island to record the track. A week later, the film’s producers asked Jon, by then newly married, if he’d like to perform the song in the film. He and his wife flew back to New York, where he spent a week filming the pivotal ballroom scene in Brooklyn. A year and a half later, the film was released to outstanding reviews and Jon was later asked to perform “So Close” at the Academy Awards in 2008.
As Jon began work on his third album, he realized things were changing at his label. “There were a lot of people there I loved, but it started to not feel like my home anymore. I’d been encouraged to co-write on my first two albums, with half the songs being written with other people. I also had to use musicians the producers had wanted, not my band mates, who I’ve literally known, and been playing with, since high school and college.” The recording of this album was different: “I took a long time to write Promising Promises. I knew how I wanted to record these songs, so I got more involved with producing and engineering.” McLaughlin not only wrote all the songs on the album but he also produced it. He understood this was not the album his major label wanted him to make. While Jon accepted their decision, he was not going to change the musical course that finally felt so right to him.
The result is his most authentic album yet. Promising Promises reflects Jon’s confidence and maturity as a songwriter. Releasing the record on independent label Razor & Tie is also an inspired choice for Jon, who says, “It’s so refreshing to find a group of people who have so much experience in the music business and are still so passionate about music. I feel like I’ve found the right fit with Razor & Tie and I could not be more excited about working with them.”
The thirteen piano driven pop tracks include first single “Summer is Over” featuring old friend Sara Bareilles, “We toured together, and get along really great. I had not originally planned “Summer” to be a duet. When I re-listened to it, I realized that’s what it needed to be, and thankfully Sara was available. It is a break up song, a situation that actually happened to a friend. He moved towns for a girl, and then it just didn’t work out in the end. I thought this story was very realistic because it was down to logistics, not feelings. At the end of the summer, reality sets in and he realizes he has a life in another place. Sara brings the other side, the other emotion. It’s perfect with her on it.”
Other stand-out tracks include “Promising Promises,” which, ironically, is the first song Jon wrote for the album while still recording for Island. “The music I was writing wasn’t connecting for them, but it was for me. I wrote this song out of a real frustration with the situation. My minute long piano solo was a defiant act; I wanted to say, “Hey! I play piano!!!” This song was very therapeutic for me to write and perform. Funny enough, my former label loved the song.”
“Maybe It’s Over” featuring Xenia Martinez, a Season One finalist from “The Voice,” is a soaring inspirational track with an amazing harmonica break about someone who dreams of becoming a successful musician but can never catch a break despite his talent. “If Only I,” a song about unrequited love, is delivered both poignantly and passionately. It’s Jon’s favorite song on the album, too. “If I had to pick one track, this would be it. Some songs I am proud of because of lyrics, or because of the music, but I am so proud of this song on all accounts. I love the music, the melody, where it goes and the lyrics.”
Promising Promises, out on Razor & Tie on May 22nd, is the record Jon’s always wanted to make. “The number one thing I love about working with Razor & Tie is everyone who works there is passionate about music. They give me freedom and don’t follow a ‘rulebook.’ They work on things because they love the music, and they want to support my vision.”
Also exciting for Jon will be getting out on the road and playing for his fans, who remain a very strong and supportive presences since his early days on MySpace. Jon is hopeful that the audience who stuck with him will be rewarded for their patience. “So much excites me about Promising Promises. Just knowing that when people listen to this record they will be hearing exactly what I wanted it to sound like makes me happy. That wasn’t always the case for me. The first time my band and I played a show where people actually showed up because they wanted to be there was unforgettable to me. The music was catching on and I could hear people singing the songs with me. I looked out in the crowd and could see them feeling the music. What I really want is to be able to keep experiencing that.”
at Anthology
1337 India Street
San Diego, United States
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§ May 12th, 2012 § Filed under Computer Weekly Comments Off
Maintaining Your Computers Performance Removing Spyware
Article by Tim Montey
It’s 9:00 on a Sunday evening and the phone rings. It is my Dad telling me that his computer is running slow, giving unusual error messages, takes forever to start up or something along those lines. He needs it working tomorrow when the stock market opens.
Three years ago I gave my 80 year old Dad a rebuilt computer of mine so he could check his stock prices without calling his broker all day long. He can get on the internet, read the news, go to Yahoo finance and check stock prices and look at a few other pages that I have saved in his Favorites. That is pretty much it. If anything out of the ordinary happens, he calls me. Other than the time a cricket got into his computer, all that the computer has ever needed is to have a good electronic scrubbing.
I highly suggest that everyone stick to a regularly scheduled maintenance program for their computer. How frequently this needs to be done is dependent on how much you use the internet – the source of all of the spyware, viruses, browser hijackers, cookies, temporary internet files and other malware that can affect your computer’s performance. I maintain my work computer weekly, but this may not be necessary if you do not spend forty plus hours a week on your computer. My second computer that is not used but a few hours a week is only maintained monthly at best.
Here is a list of the things that I do to keep my computers running at peek performance:
1. Always keep your antivirus program up to date and scheduled to run daily at a time when your computer is on, but not in use. I have been using the AVG free version for many years and highly recommend it.
2. Run the free Adaware from Lavasoft weekly. It is a spyware removal program, with paid upgrades available. Adaware removes spyware, dialers, Trojans, browser hijackers and much more. It is best to remove it all regularly since even the less harmful stuff slows your computer down and wastes space. The free version of Adaware will remove most spyware and does not take very long to run, so I run it first.
3. Run Spybot. Spybot is another free spyware removal program. It will often pick up a few more nasties that Adaware missed. This program takes a bit longer to run than Adaware but is worth it.
4. Clean out junk files (temporary internet files, cookies), remove invalid registry entries, another check for spyware, defragment your hard drive and RAM and optimize your startup menu. I use a program called System Mechanic by Iolo Technologies. I bought this program for around $ 25 not long after Windows XP was released in 2001 (it now sells for under $ 40 at most computer stores). I still use this product regularly. It performs these tasks quickly and is very user friendly. This product is a must have and a bargain in my opinion. I am sure System Mechanic has made many advances in the last seven years, but my old version still works very nicely for me (until the custom computer shop I use quits selling computers loaded with XP!).
This may sound like a lot of work to do on a weekly basis, but is well worth it. I do this on Sunday evenings when I am usually lounging around the house watching TV. I set a program to run, check back in a while when it is done and then start the next one. This way, it is not that much of an inconvenience.
See ya. Gotta run over to Dad’s now to clean up his computer…….
Tim Montey is a database admin in the pharmaceutical industry and maintains niche directory websites on the side. His latest project is a niche directory of computer stores and computer shops across the US.
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