Universal Music has released 40: THE BEST OF – 1979-2019, a new compilation album that covers all 40 years of legendary band Simple Minds recording career.

It captures their early experimentation, cross over chart successes, right up to their new imperial phase represented by songs from 2015’s Big Music and last year’s Walk Between Worlds, which was their highest chart success in over 20 years, charting at number 4 in the UK.

Formed in the seventies, and named after a lyric – ‘so simple minded’ – from David Bowie’s seminal 1975 single ‘The Jean Genie’, Simple Minds have become one of the most successful bands ever to come from the UK, selling over 60 million records worldwide, having number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic, and number one albums the world over, including five UK number one albums: Sparkle In The Rain (1984), Once Upon A Time (1985) and Street Fighting Years as well as the concert recording Live In The City Of Light (1987), and the compilation Glittering Prize 81 / 92.

Compiled in conjunction with the band, 40: THE BEST OF presents the very best of Simple Minds extensive catalogue. It is a comprehensive overview of 40 years of one of Britain’s most successful bands, taking in the innovative sheen of ‘Promised You A Miracle’ and ‘Glittering Prize’, the anthemic sweep of ‘Waterfront’ and ‘Sanctify Yourself’, the firebrand strand of Belfast Child and Mandela Day, the colossus that is ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ and ‘Alive & Kicking’, and bringing things right up to date with the inclusion of a new track: a cover of King Creosote’s 2014 Song, ‘For One Night Only.’

‘For One Night Only’ captures Simple Minds unique talent of taking an already fantastic song – as they did with their cover of ‘The Call’s Let the Day Begin’ on 2015’s Big Music album – and injecting its sentiment with added urgency. The result is a clarion call to their fans the world over, which is sure to become a momentous live moment on their 2020 world tour.
The collection is a reminder of one of the most musically diverse and adventurous careers ever in British music, which saw Simple Minds record some of the most beguiling and inventive music of the post-punk period. On songs such as 1979’s ‘Chelsea Girls’ (from the band’s debut album, Life In A Day), and ‘I travel’, ‘Celebrate’ (1980’s Empires and Dance), ‘Love Song’, ‘The American’ (Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call), Simple Minds set the standard for the British alternative scene. 

From 1982 onwards, the band produced some of their most inspiring and wide appealing work. Beginning with their 1982 classic album New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), with several songs from the album included here, follow up album Sparkle In The Rain (Up On The Catwalk and Speed Your Love to Me), and culminating in two UK number one albums and a number one single: 1985’s Once Upon a Time (represented here by the aforementioned ‘Don’t You Forget About Me,’ ‘Alive and Kicking’ and ‘Sanctify Yourself’) and 1989’s ‘Street Fighting Years,’ and the single ‘Belfast Child.’

Into the nineties Simple Minds continued to release albums and create gems, many of which have grown in stature amongst fans and become staples of their live set. Included here from the period are ‘Let There Be Love,’ ‘See The Lights,’ ‘She’s a River’ and ‘War Babies.’

Over the past 10 years Simple Minds has rekindled the magic that made them a vital artistic force in their early days, found themselves referenced by younger artists and playing to tens of thousands of people every year, all over the world. They have been the recipient of the Q Awards Lifetime Achievement and received universal critical acclaim for their recent albums. 2015’s Big Music was described by MOJO magazine as “their best album in 30 years”, and last year’s Walk Between Worlds was acclaimed across the board and became their most successful album in over two decades, culminating in their largest US tour to date. Two songs are included from each of those albums: ‘Honest Town’ and ‘Blindfolded (Big Music)’, and ‘Sense of Discovery’ and ‘Magic (Walk Between Worlds).’

40: THE BEST OF will be available on a 2-LP Vinyl Edition, single CD and a 40-track digital format. It was remastered at the world-famous Abbey Road studios and has spectacular new art designed by long-time collaborator Stuart Crouch, featuring iconic symbols by Malcolm Garrett which represent the 40 years.

The post 40 Years of Simple Minds appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In 1999, singer and songwriter Hinewehi Mohi stood in front of 70,000 people at a sold-out Rugby World Cup quarter final in Twickenham and sang the words: “E Ihowā Atua…” All she had wanted to do when she chose to sing the national anthem in Te Reo Māori instead of English was share her language with the world.

Back home in New Zealand, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative and Mohi was forced to defend herself, and Te Reo Māori, in the media. This proved to be a turning point, sparking a national conversation about cultural identity and the first language of Aotearoa New Zealand. Today, New Zealanders all over the country proudly sing the national anthem in both English and Te Reo Māori.

20 years on, she has decided to mark that anniversary not by remembering the controversy, but by celebrating how far we’ve come.

“At that time, talkback radio was the mouthpiece of the people, and there was a very loud voice saying ‘it’s not important to us, it doesn’t represent us’.”

“It was a difficult time, but I thought, rather than not talking about it – because it is important to talk about painful things sometimes – I would try to find a way to make the anniversary significant and use it as a platform to promote Te Reo Māori. Because it’s not about me. 20 years on we’re in a much better position because many, many hundreds of people have made a contribution to that shift in people’s thinking. Now we have queues of people trying to get into Māori language classes.”

Hinewehi Mohi

The result – 11 of New Zealand’s best loved artists performing their hit songs in Te Reo Māori, as well as an acknowledgement of the events 20 years ago through a vibrant rendition of the National Anthem ‘Aotearoa / God Defend New Zealand’ by the renowned Hātea Kapa Haka.

“It was initially meant to be a bilingual album, but the artists said to me ‘I want to do it all in Māori’. Only one is a fluent speaker, so for most of them this was their first real opportunity to sing in Māori. The artists have been brave and inspirational through the recording process which has ultimately been extremely challenging for the majority of them having little or no Māori language skills,” said Mohi. “It is testimony to how important they each view Te Reo Māori as the cornerstone of our culture. This music will help us all to feel like we can participate and celebrate in the uniqueness of our national identity.”

“These tracks are well known to people, so they can connect the English words they know to the Māori translation and feel like they’re accessing Te Reo Māori through something familiar.”

Recorded over 10 weeks in 2019, Mohi worked directly with artists in the studio to guide their intonation and understanding of the new Māori lyrics, with translations assisted by Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, one of our greatest living Māori orators and language proponents. Mohi asked Sir Tīmoti because she knew his involvement would elevate the mana of the project and give the artists confidence in the words they were singing.

Bic Runga described the experience as “something I’ve always wanted to try but I was at a loss to know where to start. Having Hinewehi Mohi guide me through this process so generously has been really wonderful. I had to record the vocal well over 50 times to get it even close to right, but to finally sing in my own native tongue has been a really moving experience. The Māori language sings so beautifully, it’s warm and percussive, and to have Sway translated by none other than Sir Timoti Karetu has been a huge honour. I’ve always written love songs, and somehow always felt a part of the tradition of the Māori love song, but without my language. So this is a little homecoming for ‘Sway’ of sorts, it’s been a really meaningful project to me.”

Even the original album artwork by rising artist Kauri Hawkins reinforces the message of empowering New Zealanders to learn and speak Te Reo Māori. The design represents the ‘manu’ or songbird and how we can use music to tell our stories and to share Te Reo Māori. The manu figure can also be seen as a face and its reference to our ‘native tongue’.

The theme for Māori Language Week this year is Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori, ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong’. Mohi acknowledges that each step we take, whether in learning or in embracing music in Te Reo Māori, makes the language stronger.

“Music knows no bounds, so it’s the perfect platform to express our unique heritage language and culture, within Aotearoa, and to the world.

“And it is something as New Zealanders, we can all be proud of, share and celebrate.”

Pre-order and more info can be found HERE.

The post WAIATA / ANTHEMS OUT SEPTEMBER appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The rising trio Brohug are back, this time championing up and coming producers ANIMATE, Krooner, Relique & One Day One Coke featuring Blak Trash and Rollerz for Brohouse Vol. 3.

A four track masterpiece, ANIMATE leads the compilation with ILL, a fusion of hurtling synth breakdowns that take centre stage amongst a killer bassline and urban vocal. Next up Krooner shares the recipe for an intricate bass house production in Seth, whilst The Peak from Relique & One Day One Coke Ft Black Trash plunges into dark, club ready territories with glitchy melodies and energetic percussion. Rollerz draws the compilation to an astounding close with Sit, taking a slightly different direction with an authentic retro feel whilst punchy house sounds protrude throughout.

Known for pushing boundaries and placing their own unique mark on the dance scene Brohug enjoy mixing up genres from all around the world. Now they enlist DJs with the same authentic musicality for their esteemed compilation. True DJ elitists, Brohug broke through with 2017 release Ambush amassing over 800K streams whilst this year saw them collaborate with Kaskade for Fun and Tchami for My Place. Continuing to lead electronic music with their own original sound and turning the heads of heavy-weight DJs Diplo, DJ Snake and Oliver Heldens – expect big things to come from the trio this summer.

Check out (above) Brohouse Vol 3 from Various Artists, which is out now on Brohouse Records.

The post BROHUG ENLIST DYNAMIC PRODUCERS appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

This April (2018) sees new releases of the David Bowie albums, ALADDIN SANE and CHANGESTWOBOWIE.

To celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the ALADDIN SANE album; there will be a special limited edition silver vinyl version released. This will only be available to ‘bricks and mortar’ retail stores and not through on-line stores.

The strictly limited one run only silver vinyl edition of ALADDIN SANE will contain Ken Scott’s approved 2013 remaster and will be released on 20th April, 2018, 45 years to the day since the original release date for the album. Previously thought to have been issued on 13th April, 1973, new evidence has come to light that proves the release date was officially the 20th, but being Good Friday in the UK the album was ‘made available’ on the 19th.

Also being released is the follow up to David’s hugely successful compilation CHANGESONEBOWIE, not officially been available since the late 1980’s. Featuring iconic cover photography by Greg Gorman, CHANGESTWOBOWIE was first released in 1981 and was only briefly available on CD in 1985.

Drawing on material spanning from HUNKY DORY (1971) to SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) (1980) CHANGESTWOBOWIE achieved gold status in the U.K. album chart in 1982.

It will be reissued on the 13th April, 2018 with all tracks remastered on CD in a digipak sleeve, high-resolution and standard digital for streaming and download, as well as a 180 gram vinyl edition available randomly on its initial limited manufacturing run in black and blue vinyl before reverting solely to black vinyl. Finally, 192/24 and 96/26 high-resolution digital versions of CHANGESONEBOWIE will be released for streaming and download on April 13th, 2018 too.

Long live Bowie <3

The post 45th ANNIVERSARY RELEASE OF BOWIE’S ALADDIN SANE ON VINYL appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

As one of the most successful composers of the modern era, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s repertoire includes some of the world’s most celebrated musicals; Sunset Boulevard, Cats, Aspects Of Love, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Starlight Express, The Phantom of The Opera, School of Rock and Love Never Dies – to name but a few.

Last year, Lloyd Webber became the only person to equal the record set in 1953 by Rodgers and Hammerstein with four shows running on Broadway concurrently. Two of his shows are currently running in both Broadway and the West End: School Of Rock and The Phantom Of The Opera, with more returning to the UK this year.

In celebration of his 70th birthday this March, ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: THE PLATINUM COLLECTION will be available March 16th, 2018 through UMC / Polydor.

The collection is personally curated and overseen by Lloyd Webber to include classics from his earliest work starting with 1968’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through his most recent School of Rock.

Of the new album, Lloyd Webber says, ”I owe everyone involved in putting this compilation together a huge thank you.  A vast amount of thought has evidently gone into selecting tracks from my almost fifty-year-old career.   This compilation brings back a heap of memories – it has made this ancient composer very happy.  I particularly love the new tracks and of course I love the orchestral suites.   There’s nothing a composer likes more than hearing their melodies played by a cracking orchestra.”

Newly recorded songs from superstar artists Nicole Scherzinger (“Memory”, Cats), Gregory Porter (“Light at the End of the Tunnel”, Starlight Express) and Lana Del Rey (“You Must Be Love”, Evita) add to the collection of his cherished works from the past five decades.

Of Lloyd Webber, Lana Del Rey says, “Andrew Lloyd Webber has been one of my primary inspirations in music, so to do a cover of one of his songs is a dream.” Gregory Porter also expresses his admiration, “Andrew is an icon of not only musical theatre, but he’s an icon of music, our culture, and of our human experience.”

The Cats classic “Memory” by Nicole Scherzinger is available now as an instant grat track. Scherzinger says, “Andrew’s music absolutely influenced me as an artist. I grew up listening to his music. I grew up listening to Jesus Chris Superstar, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, you just know it’s his music when you hear the arrangements, when you hear the strings, the orchestra, the synths.”

The set also contains recordings by world-class performers such as Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Michael Ball, and released for the first time, Beyonce singing “Learn To Be Lonely” from the 2005 Academy Awards with Lloyd Webber accompanying on piano.

The fourth disc encompasses a mix of overtures and showstoppers from Lloyd Webber’s key works, as well as newly created orchestral suites. The five new orchestral suites have been specially prepared from existing recordings to give a précis to Lloyd Webber’s dearest shows, emphasising the grand orchestral aspects of his work. All CDs were mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

UNMASKED: THE PLATINUM COLLECTION is available as 2 CD and 4 CD editions. The 4-disc version contains an exclusive 40-page book with a personally penned introduction from Lloyd Webber and more in-depth notes on each track, written by respected theatre critic and Lloyd Webber biographer Michael Coveney, together with personally written tributes from Barbara Streisand and Glenn Close among others.

As the most successful composer of musicals in history, Lloyd Webber’s productions have sold more than 330 million tickets worldwide. The Phantom of the Opera is the second longest-running show in West End history. Catsand The Phantom of the Opera are two of Broadway’s four highest grossing shows. In addition to his worldwide sales and audiences, Lloyd Webber has been recognised by critics and peers with numerous accolades and awards including seven Oliviers, seven Tonys, three Grammys, one Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Also in celebration of his 70th birthday, Lloyd Webber’s new autobiography UNMASKED, will be released on March 6th, 2018 by Harper Collins.

Written entirely in his own words, Lloyd Webber recounts his fascinating life and remarkable career. A natural storyteller, with his signature humour and self-deprecating tone, Lloyd Webber shares the details of his early personal and professional years, including his early artistic influences. He takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance, which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him.

The post THE ULTIMATE HITS COLLECTION FROM THE LORD OF MUSICALS appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The post The ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Track List Has Been Revealed! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection is now available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Bringing players to the streets and rooftops of Florence, Venice, Rome, and Constantinople,Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection brings to life the unique story of Ezio Auditore da Firenze. This collection includes the thrilling single-player campaigns and single-player add-ons for Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed Revelations, with enhanced graphics on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Also included with the single-player content are the short films Assassin’s Creed Lineage and Assassin’s Creed Embers, which delve into the background of the dashing yet dangerous Ezio.

Set during the Renaissance era, Ezio’s journey begins when his family is struck with tragedy, propelling him into a lifelong quest to avenge his loved ones. Through the three-part saga of Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection, players will witness Ezio evolve from an impetuous young man full of vengeance to a mature and Master Assassin, mentoring new recruits with his wit and wisdom.

Produced by Virtuos, a worldwide leader in videogame content production, in collaboration with Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection brings enhanced graphics that includes 1080p resolution, and improved textures, lighting and visual effects. Taking advantage of the current console generation, post-processes as godrays, anti-aliasing, depth of field and motion blur have been implemented for an even more immersive gaming experience inviting to discover or re-discover Ezio’s adventures.

Gilles Langourieux, CEO of Virtuos, said: “We pride ourselves in delivering best-in-class design and development, and today’s launch is a reflection of our capabilities. We can’t wait to hear about players’ feedback.”

Assassin’s Creed is an action-adventure series set in fully realized open worlds throughout notable times in history such as the Third Crusade, the Golden Age of Pirates and the Industrial Revolution. Initially launched in 2007, Assassin’s Creed games have sold more than 100 million units worldwide, and the franchise is now established as one of the best-selling series ever. Recognized for having some of the richest, most engrossing storytelling in the industry, throughout the years, Assassin’s Creed has succeeded to position as a true entertainment license, transcending video games to offer new and immersive experiences on comic books, mobile games, and novels and even movie with the worldwide release of the feature film “Assassin’s Creed” which opens in theaters on December 21st, 2016.

The post Ezio Returns to PlayStation 4 & Xbox One! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.