Why the Japanese Hate the iPhone

Wired.com has a story about the iPhone's poor performance in Japan (Nokia has already left the market):

Apple's iPhone has wowed most of the globe — but not Japan, where the handset is selling so poorly it's being offered for free.

What's wrong with the iPhone, from a Japanese perspective? Almost everything: the high monthly data plans that go with it, its paucity of features, the low-quality camera, the unfashionable design and the fact that it's not Japanese.

(...)

Cellphones are also more of a fashion accessory in Japan than in the United States, according to Daiji Hirata, chief financial officer of News2u Corporation and creator of Japan's first wireless LAN.

So that would suggest that in Japan, carrying around an iPhone — an outdated handset compared to Japanese cellphones — could make you look pretty lame.

Take for example Nobi Hayashi, a journalist and author of Steve Jobs: The Greatest Creative Director. His cellular weapon of choice when he spoke to Wired.com June 2008? A Panasonic P905i, a fancy cellphone that doubles as a 3-inch TV. It also features 3-G, GPS, a 5.1-megapixel camera and motion sensors for Wii-style games.

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YouTube just published the new Depeche Mode music video "Wrong" in High Definition format http://ping.fm/ZWjj9

Tom Burr @ Stuart Shave

VIBSKOV & EMENIUS, THE FRINGE PROJECTS 1-10 AT ZEEUWS MUSEUM, NETHERLANDS

EMI Music debuts first iTunes Pass with Depeche Mode

US fans to have access to new and exclusive singles, remixes, video and other content over coming weeks

Includes Depeche Mode's upcoming 12th studio album, "Sounds of the Universe" plus additional exclusive content released on iTunes

NEW YORK - February 24, 2009 - EMI Music today announced the debut of the first iTunes Pass with groundbreaking electro legends Depeche Mode. With iTunes Pass, music fans can get new and exclusive singles, remixes, video and other content from their favorite artists over a set period of time, delivered to their libraries as soon as they're available.

The first iTunes Pass debuts today in conjunction with Depeche Mode's forthcoming 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, to be released on April 21 in the US. Fans who sign up starting today get the alternative/dance pioneers' new single, Wrong, as well as the Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix of the new track Oh Well. They will also receive the new album on its street date plus great music and video exclusives before and after the album's release over the next fifteen weeks. The Depeche Mode iTunes Pass can be purchased starting today for $18.99.

"As we work to better understand music consumers and help create stronger connections between fans and artists, we are pleased to work with Apple and Depeche Mode to kick off iTunes Pass," said Ronn Werre, president, Music Services for EMI Music. "We think it's a great new platform that will change the way artists engage with their audiences and also a powerful new way for us to build value for our artists' music. And with iTunes Pass, Depeche Mode are once again demonstrating that they are true trailblazers and innovators when it comes to creating amazing music and connecting with their fans."

"iTunes Pass is a great way for artists to give exclusive music and video, on their own schedule, directly to their fans." said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services. "iTunes customers are going to love getting additional content directly from their favorite artists right when they make it available."

"The relationship between Depeche Mode and their fans has always been our top priority," said the band's manager, Jonathan Kessler. "We are thrilled to be the first to participate with Apple in giving fans the kind of deep musical experience they expect from Depeche Mode."

Today also marks the launch of the worldwide iTunes album pre-order for Sounds of the Universe.

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Mad Men TV Show Title Sequence

Blasting the new Depeche Mode record extremely loud in my Mustang is giving me a lot of trouble: speeding ticket, yellow lights, bad parking

Just bought the new Chris Isaak album, Mr. Lucky, (out today) on iTunes USA. $14 deducted on my scratch card account released 18 cool tracks

Chris Isaak Drawings

Trailer for "The Chris Isaak Hour"

Trailer for "The Chris Isaak Hour"! Premieres 2/26!

Chris Isaak "Mr. Lucky" (Deluxe Version)

Sean Penn Wins Oscar for "Milk" Acceptance Speech

One of my all-time favourite composers is the über-melancholic Grazyna Bacewicz from Poland. Listen to her music on Danish Radio P2 tonight!

Elton John pre-OSCAR party

Sean & Petra

Live blogged for more than 3 hours from Berlin last night. The session is only available on the password protected www.bongorama.dk site :-/

Depeche Mode new album cover revealed

New album artwork:



A new Depeche Mode album is always a big deal to fans of the iconic electro-pop band, but one version of the April 21 release couldn't get much bigger.

In addition to being released as a standard 13-track CD, a special-edition CD/DVD, a double vinyl set and a download, Sounds of the Universe will be available as a deluxe box set with three CDs, a DVD and extras including enamel badges, a poster, art cards and two 84-page books of lyrics and photos.

Among the box set's bonus tracks are original tunes, Universe remixes and demos, and alternate tracks from Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion, Music for the Masses and Playing the Angel, as well as 1998 single Only When I Lose Myself. The DVD holds the full album plus four songs captured live in the studio, the new Wrong video and three films.

New single artwork:


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Dave Gahan "Hold On" (Acoustic Performance)

Depeche Mode "Wrong" (Live @ Echo 2009)

Martin Gore sings "What A Wonderful World" in the studio

Looking forward to the world premiere of the new Depeche Mode single "Wrong" live @ 'Der Echo 2009' (Deutscher Musikpreis) in Berlin tonight

I really, really, really want this t-shirt

Japan's New Breed of Web-Savvy Homeless

In that age-old contest, that heroic battle of champions to decide which country has the world’s premier internet cafés, none can truly compete with Japan and its facilities. In Nippon, the web-browsing establishments are composed of personal rooms, each furnished with a computer, a TV, and a reclining chair. Snacks are sold at the checkout counter, and no matter how shitty the place is, they always have a free-soft-drinks corner. That’s right—free soda! Some of them even have showers, and all of them have well-stocked manga libraries. Most are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if you get sleepy while you’re doing your important internet stuff, you simply push back your reclining chair until it becomes a sort of a bed and then drift away. Before you know it, hey, that legendary Land-of-the-Rising-Sun sun is actually rising (although you won’t be seeing it from the dim confines of your drywall and plaster cave). But whatever, because you just had comfortable lodging in mega-expensive Japan for the bargain price of ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 ($10 to $15) a night. Look at that price and then reflect upon the rapidly growing number of Japanese people out of work and without a home, and you can likely guess the result: Japan’s newest breed of homeless.
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Christian Lemmerz @ Bruun Rasmussen

Copenhagen is buzzin' tonight: Bjarke Ingels @ DAC, Olafur Eliasson @ Andersens, Nicolai Howalt @ Asbaek, 'Ocho' @ We Love Asbaek, etc. etc.

Mirrored Ping Pong Table is Great for Swinging Bachelors and Flashy Drug Dealers

Nothing says "I know how to party" like a ping pong table completely covered in mirrors. After all, you can't do lines off a regular ping pong table, right?

The table, titled "Reflection" (Oh, now I get it) is an art piece by Rirkrit Tiravanija, and it's on display at NYEHaus on Gramercy Park in NYC until February 22nd, if you want to try to talk them into letting you play a quick game on it.

[ via gizmodo ]

Nuff respekk: Andreas Brixen.

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Davis Guggenheim's "It Might Get Loud"

Der Echo 2009 - Deutscher Musikpreis

In a world exclusive TV premiere, the legendary British band DEPECHE MODE will be introducing "Wrong", the debut single from the forthcoming "Sounds Of The Universe", at the 2009 Echo Awards in Berlin, Germany.

"Since the 80's Depeche Mode have been setting trends and creative courses in pop music, and seemingly effortlessly, but always with great sincerity, spanning the past and the future of pop music." explains Prof. Dieter Gorny, Chairman of Deutsche Phono-Akademie, the cultural institute of Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V.. "It is a big honour for us that the band is presenting their first song of their highly anticipated new album world exclusively at the Echo Award Show." The Award show, produced by MME, will be hosted by Barbara Schöneberger and Oliver Pocher.

German national public TV station Das Erste (ARD) will broadcast the ECHO 2009 on the 21st February from 8:15 pm.

Other artists appearing at the award show will Amy McDonald, Katy Perry and U2.

Tickets for the show are available now, and can be purchased online via www.eventim.de.

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The 50 greatest Liverpool players: 38 Jan Molby

38 Jan Molby

1984-96 292 appearances

BMI? Bacon, mayonnaise and ice cream would be good if you're planning a Jan Molby training regime. 38 was his waist size for the duration of his time at Liverpool. Yes, the man was hefty by footballers' standards but, on the pitch, it was his skills that carried real weight. A standard-bearer for us, er, chunkier gentlemen. His goal in the League Cup match against Manchester United at Anfield in an untelevised match in 1985 has become the stuff of legend. Molby has a video of it but has been unforthcoming in producing it. He picked the ball up near the dugout and burst past three opponents before shooting from outside the box. Gary Bailey said it was the hardest shot he ever faced. I had a copy of it - acquired from a mole inside Old Trafford; yes, United were taping games back then - but lent it to a fellow drunk in 1989 and never saw it again. The Holy Grail of Liverpool goals and I was dumb enough to lose it. I could destroy the myth and say that Molby never levelled Norman Whiteside with a brilliantly brutal but fair tackle. That he never danced around three defenders - they backed away like Brazilians with Barnes. That the shot was only half as hard as a Jimmy Case special. But I won't. It was better than you even imagine it. In fact, as Shankly might have said, it was the greatest event in the history of time.

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Throbbing Gristle live in Copenhagen

Flavorwire Exclusive: Dub Legend Lee “Scratch” Perry Sets the Record (Kind of) Straight

Not only is Lee “Scratch” Perry one of dub’s most important and influential icons, but he’s also a prolific producer. On his work with Bob Marley and the Clash (to say nothing of his own albums), he’s consistently shown a flair for devilishly off-kilter atmospheres. As the Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz once said, “One thing the Beastie Boys do when we’re finishing tracks is make sure that there’s a Lee Perry part: some weird detail that’s not supposed to be there, but somehow makes sense.”

Perry’s latest album, Repentance, is no exception — it’s rife with the kind of unearthly sounds that have made him a dub mainstay. Chris Kompanek of Flavorwire sister pub Earplug rang Perry up in Zurich to talk about the new record, his appendage-obsessed alter-ego, Pipecock Jackson, the future of dub, and how he feels about spazz-rocker and recent collaborator Andrew W.K. allegedly releasing tracks behind his back. Find the interview here.

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HuskMitNavn @ LaViolaBank Gallery

London Twestival 2009

The Michael Jackson Auction

Brian Eno talks about Civil Liberties, the Convention, and as always, the Future

Redescovering "Ein Deutsches Album" (1980) and "Deutsches Album" (1982), German language versions of "Peter Gabriel III"/"Peter Gabriel IV".

Joaquin Phoenix Interview on Letterman

P.J. O’Rourke About The Financial Crisis: "Adam Smith gets the last laugh"

FT.COM: The free market is dead. It was killed by the Bolshevik Revolution, fascist dirigisme, Keynesianism, the Great Depression, the second world war economic controls, the Labour party victory of 1945, Keynesianism again, the Arab oil embargo, Anthony Giddens’s “third way” and the current financial crisis. The free market has died at least 10 times in the past century. And whenever the market expires people want to know what Adam Smith would say. It is a moment of, “Hello, God, how’s my atheism going?”

Adam Smith would be laughing too hard to say anything. Smith spotted the precise cause of our economic calamity not just before it happened but 232 years before – probably a record for going short.“

A dwelling-house, as such, contributes nothing to the revenue of its inhabitant,” Smith said in The Wealth of Nations. “If it is lett [sic] to a tenant for rent, as the house itself can produce nothing, the tenant must always pay the rent out of some other revenue.” Therefore Smith concluded that, although a house can make money for its owner if it is rented, “the revenue of the whole body of the people can never be in the smallest degree increased by it”.

Photo: James Kegley.

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Working from the Berlin (West) office this week. Charging the creative batteries. Expecting to bump into movie stars around Potsdamer Platz.

Venezia Lido Airport

Why ThinkPads are more cool than MacBooks...

Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique (20th Anniversary)"

Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique 24 bit digitally re-mastered for the 1st time, overseen personally by the band to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release.

The original vinyl artwork has been faithfully restored in this 8 panel eco-friendly limited edition CD with fold-out poster.

Also available digitally and as 180 gram 1 LP vinyl set

All configurations include a free digital download for a track-by-track commentary by the band discussing each song over the music — Paul’s Boutique “The Director’s Cut” bonus audio

The original release is certified double platinum by the RIAA, and has been consistently named by numerous publications such as Time, Rolling Stone, Spin, Q, and The Source, as one of the greatest albums of all time.

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Lukas Foss Obituary in The New York Times

Lukas Foss, a prolific and versatile composer who was also a respected pianist and conductor, died at his home in Manhattan on Sunday. He was 86, and also had a home in Bridgehampton, N.Y. His wife, Cornelia, announced his death.

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Lukas Foss, composer and conductor, dies in NYC

NEW YORK – Lukas Foss, a composer known for exploring a number of musical styles, has died in New York. He was 86.

His wife, Cornelia Foss, says the composer died Sunday at their Manhattan home.

Foss was known for working in different musical styles, often combining past and present techniques.

Foss also was a conductor. He worked with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony.

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Yximalloo

Tokyo Pinsalocks

Formed in Tokyo at the turn of the millennium, Tokyo Pinsalocks are an all-girl three-piece electronic rock band with their ears cocked towards the future. Shunning guitars and instead embracing colourful keyboard, distorted heavy bass grooves and tight drumming, theirs is a new, danceable, exciting sound. They fuse fresh rhythms with the psychedelic vocal stylings of singer/keyboardist Naoko, mashed through vocal filters to create a retro-futuristic new-wave meltdown that is guaranteed to get you moving.

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Mika Ninagawa's Sakura

Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue Certified 4x Platinum

Miles Davis Properties, LLC and Columbia/Legacy recently celebrated the R.I.A.A. certification 4X platinum of landmark jazz album KIND OF BLUE , and the release of the 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition – KIND OF BLUE – with a cocktail party at the Beekman Hotel Penthouse (Top of the Tower), that was attended by key Davis alums Jimmy Cobb, Lenny White, Wallace Roney and producer George Avakian among others.

The event also paid special tribute to legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb, the last surviving member from the KIND OF BLUE sessions, with the presentation of a custom made snare drum by Innovation Drum commemorating the 50th Anniversary of KIND OF BLUE.

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Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition

“Beyond jazz, Kind of Blue’s long-term influence has been enormous. Beginning with the Byrds, the Doors, Carlos Santana, and the Allman Brothers, most rock improvisation has been modal. What Davis did in 1959 (and what Coltrane did subsequently, by introducing non-Western scales) helped set the stage for minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. And if a certain horn riff on recent hits by Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera strikes you as familiar, that’s because their producer Mark Ronson borrowed it from James Brown’s 1967 hit ‘Cold Sweat’ – a riff that the tune’s composer, Pee Wee Ellis, freely admits to lifting from ‘So What’.”
– from the liner notes written by Francis Davis

Read the full Press release on milesdavis.com here.

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