Gottfried Tollmann and Ralf Hildenbeutel & other: July 2008

Jay-Z to cover The Prodigy, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury

Jay-Z played his final gig before his headline appearance at Glastonbury this weekend (June 28), performing at the Hove festival in Arendal, Norway last night (June 23).

Taking the main stage in front of 18,000 fans at 10.15pm (CET), the rapper played an hour-and-a-half set, which included covers of Rihanna's 'Umbrella', The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up', Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' and Estelle's 'American Boy', giving some big hints about possible numbers he will perform at Glastonbury.

Dressed all in black, with dark sunglasses and sporting two medallions Jay-Z arrived on the island of Tromoy, where the festival takes place, via speedboat before being dropped off backstage in a BMW marshalled by two security quad bikes visible on the stage's video screens as the set commenced.

With a entourage of 36 people joining him at the bash, the Brooklyn-based rapper was joined onstage by a ten-piece band, including a full brass section and two percussionists all dressed smartly in white shirts and black waistcoats. He began with 'Say Hello' after shouting, "The Roc boy is in the building tonight."

His set included many huge crowd favourites drawn from his fourteen year career including '99 Problems', 'It's A Hard Knock Life', 'Big Pimpin', 'Song Cry', 'Girls Girls Girls', and 'Encore'.

Despite Jay-Z's love of collaborations, rapper Memphis Bleek was the only vocalist who assisted Jay-Z onstage, joining him for three songs.

There were loud boos from the crowd mid-set as the stage visuals froze with a picture of American president George W Bush shortly followed by loud cheers as image of Presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared on the large video backdrop.

The backdrop also displayed images of the fallout of Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, and clips from a variety of Jay-Z videos.

Speaking from the stage Jay-Z said: "I appreciate the love tonight Hove, it's a beautiful feeling � lets do one more, I owe you guys," before concluding his set with the Linkin Park-remixed version of 'Encore'.

To read more about about Hove festival including appearances from Black Kids, Les Savy Fav and The Cool Kids head to NME's festival blog at our dedicated festivals page.

Jun 29, 2008 at National Bowl, Milton Keynes -
Jul 3, 2008 at Hyde Park, London -
Jul 15, 2008 at BIC, Bournemouth -
More Jay-Z tickets

Diciplines De L'ame Reiki 1 Marc Durst

Artist: Diciplines De L'ame Reiki 1 Marc Durst

   Genre(s):
New Age

Discography:

Musique Du Coeur Pour Le Reiki

Year: 1999
Tracks: 1

Arctic Monkeys To Begin Work On Third Album This Month

Arctic Monkeys are to begin work on their third album this month, according to the band's guitarist Jamie Cook.

“We are gonna make a start... (we'll) get back in his (Alex Turner) room in Sheffield and start writing some tunes," he told the BBC.

Both of the band's first albums topped the charts in the UK and enjoyed almost universal critical acclaim.

But Cook admitted that he wasn't sure what direction the band will head on album number three.

“I don't know yet, we could go any way. I'm excited yeah... End of last year when we had been touring for a long time, we just needed a bit of a rest.

“But I think as a band we are just eager to get back in and really... I don't know what," he explained.

As previously reported on Gigwise, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner will head out on his first UK tour with side-project The Last Shadow Puppets in the Autumn.

For more information about the band's shows, click here.

See Also

Bryan Adams squeezes in more acoustic shows

Bryan Adams [ tickets ] has mixed a handful of solo-acoustic performances in with his summer co-headlining dates with Foreigner and Rod Stewart.The veteran Canadian rocker, who's been touring the world to support his new album, "11," is set to launch his next US run July 15 in Augusta, ME. The outing's first half covers the East Coast and South with Foreigner, and then Adams will hook up with Stewart for shows stretching from California to Ohio. Along the way, he will veer off for solo-acoustic performances in Wilmington, DE; Charleston, SC; St. Louis, MO; New Orleans; Milwaukee; and Pittsburgh. Details are listed below.The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter's new record, which was released exclusively through Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the US last month, shot to No. 1 in Canada and entered Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart at No. 7. The appropriately titled set is Adams' 11th album of original music and features 11 songs that he recorded in hotel rooms and backstage areas of concert venues across Europe over the last two years. A couple of those tunes, including adult-contemporary hit "I Thought I'd Seen Everything," are streaming at his MySpace page.In May, Adams completed a string of solo-acoustic shows across the US to preview material from the acoustic-based "11" and put a new spin on some of his classics."I think for a lot of people that haven't heard me do [an acoustic show] before, it will be intriguing because to play a song like 'Cuts Like a Knife' on acoustic guitar is quite a different thing than hearing it with a full band," Adams explained during a May press teleconference. "I believe that that will give some insight into the songwriting and it shows that some of the new songs blend in. It's like one solid body of work."Adams' previous studio album, "Room Service," was released in the US in 2005 and marked his first set of new music in almost seven years, with the exception of the 2002 Grammy-winning film soundtrack for "Spirit," which Adams composed and performed in English and French. The Canadian Music Hall of Famer also continues to make a name for himself as a photographer and philanthropist. His latest photo exhibition, "Hear the World," (recently shown in Berlin) features portraits of celebrities and benefits the hearing impaired. Adams also recently shot the 2008 ad campaign for Guess, all the proceeds from which will be donated to his namesake charitable foundation, according to a press release.

Don't be afraid of sex film, star says

Sex And The City star Chris Noth has jetted into Sydney, urging men not to be afraid of the movie.

Noth - who plays the elusive love interest of the movie's main star - is in Australia to launch a new phone for LG.

He may have missed the film's Sydney premiere but said he hoped men would go to see it.

"I'm hoping that men don't feel too afraid to go to it," Noth told a press conference at the State Theatre in Sydney.

"I feel like once the women see it the men won't want to go."

Noth, who plays Mr Big in the film, said he wanted to get the message across that the movie was also about "friendship and forgiveness".

"It was a great experience," he said.

"It's great to see that people have connected to it."

Sex And The City is already an international success, shooting to No. 1 in Australia after taking after more than $17.5 million in ticket sales.

Noth later joined stars including former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins, Australia's next top model judges Jonathan Pease and Charlotte Dawson as well as MTV's Ruby Rose and Pease's girlfriend April Rose-Pengilly at the official launch party.

See Also

Bonnie Bianco

Artist: Bonnie Bianco

   Genre(s):
Soundtrack

Discography:

Cinderella

Year: 1992
Tracks: 10

LiveDaily Song of the Day: The Poison Arrows - "Casual Wave"

Today's Song of the Day is by The Poison Arrows [ tickets ]. The group's featured cut is "Casual Wave," the title track from their forthcoming August EP.

Glass art is attracting more collectors and they're paying more

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Artist William Carlson dips the large steel ladle into the blazing furnace and fills it with liquid glass. With sweat pouring down his face, he quickly moves to a graphite mould he has made and pours in the seething yellow-coloured liquid.

He is making glass wall tiles with an imprint of fibre knots in them that he will remove with tweezers. This will leave a fossil of the knot. The tiles will then be hung together in a grid format. Carlson says he is trying to start a discourse about language with the way he lays out the fibre.

Glass art is attracting more admirers and collectors today and gaining more attention as a fine art, as artists explore more with the medium. Meanwhile, prices for pieces are on the rise.

"It's a maturation of the field. More and more we are seeing people interested," said Michael Heller, vice president of the Heller Gallery in New York, where glass art is sold. "More and more collectors have also started to realize the value of work that has integrity."

The artistic content of glass art has developed over the last decade or so, artists say.

"It's kind of coming of age where craft is no longer the title of the work. Craft is the means to an end. . . . It really is the strength of the concept and power of the image," says Carlson, who also teaches at the University of Miami in Coral Gables.

Fran Kaufman, director of the contemporary art fair palmbeach3, says the reason glass art is on the rise is because many collectors aren't purchasing just one type of art anymore but varying the kinds of art they collect. Prices are also getting higher, which is enticing people to buy it.

"Prices getting higher, that is appealing to collectors. People are looking beyond the more traditional glass pieces. . . . Collections are not so specific anymore," Kaufman says. "I think the experimentation has grown more."

Mark Lyman, director of the two annual shows called SOFA, which take place in New York and Chicago, says that 10 to 15 years ago an expensive glass piece would cost between $50,000 to $100,000. Now, such works can reach anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million.

"It's a very active market for them," Lyman says of the glass pieces. "It's really come along. . . . We're seeing a lot of growth and strength."

In an effort to expand public awareness, collectors Sheldon and Myrna Palley of Miami donated about 100 pieces that they have been amassing since the 1970s to the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum. The exhibit opened last month.

They say they have about 200 more works at home. The collection at the museum includes a piece by William Morris that looks like a prehistoric artifact with cave paintings on it. Next to it, attached to a metal stand, is a glass shaped to resemble a horn. It was created in 1992. Christina Bothwell's glass yellow baby with ceramic head and extremities also sits on one of the shelves.

Myrna Palley says they scour fairs and work with well-known glass art dealers to decide what they will buy.

"When you go to a cafeteria and there's all this food, how do you know what to pick?" Myrna Palley says of her experience buying glass art. "It just calls me."

Sheldon Palley says the feeling of power in Tom Patti's small glass objects really pull him to them.

"It's very architectural. They are like huge buildings, even though they are small," he says.

Patti, whose studio is in Fitchburg, Mass., says he also sees an increased interest in glass art.

"I think the interest in glass is continuously growing, getting larger," Patti says. "It's been accumulating. It's just something that if the art form is strong, it inherently progresses in many avenues. . . . The museums are not just collecting it, they are seeing it as an applied art form that can be incorporated as part of the building itself."

Some artists credit Seattle-based Dale Chihuly for getting their art more publicity. His colourful glass works have reached audiences across the United States and throughout the world.

Studio glass was introduced into college programs in the 1960s and then increasingly explored by students. It really started being considered art after 1960 when artists began to work in their own studios and not in factories. Around the same time, a non-industrial glass furnace was created, which opened up opportunities for creative use, artist Carlson says.

Now, a common recipe for the material is sand or silica mixed with sodium carbonate, lime, magnesium carbonate and any additives that may change the colour.

Wisconsin-based artist Beth Lipman, who creates glass still lifes inspired by Dutch, German and Italian paintings of the 1600s, says she feels a definite shift in the way her art is perceived.

"I think people are kind of hungry for more of a dialogue," Lipman says. "There is this overall shift of looking at the capitalist community that we're living in and being mindful about what you are using your money for."