Aanstaande zondag 27 juli zal tijdens het Milan Festival in het Zuiderpark een preview van het Haags Zwingfestival worden gehouden. De preview wordt verzorgd door Frans de Leef en Henk Anijs, de grondleggers van het ‘zwingen’ in Den Haag. De zanger en pianist, die elke maand een Zwingcafé houden in Theater de Regentes aan de Weimarstraat, staan zondag om 18.00 uur op het hoofdpodium. Behalve klassiekers uit de Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis zal tijdens deze preview ook hindoestaans meezingrepertoire worden gezongen.

Haags Zwingfestival
Als ‘tegenprestatie’ van de preview op Milan zal de hindoestaanse zanger Berry Damrie optreden op het Zwingfestival, dat op zondag 24 augustus van 13.00 tot 17.00 uur plaatsvindt in het Openluchttheater Zuiderpark.

De vijfde editie van het Haags Zwingfestival heeft met artiesten als Imca Marina en Dorine Bijl een aantal absolute toppers in huis. Het traditionele Zwingcafé en de verrassende bijdragen van een gospelkoor, nieuw talent, bands en het hindoestaanse gastoptreden maken het feest compleet. Al deze artiesten willen maar één ding: dat het publiek enthousiast meedoet en er een feest van maakt. Want meezingen, dat is waar het bij het Haags Zwingfestival allemaal om draait. Vier uur lang, tekstboek op schoot, soms ingetogen, dan weer uitbundig. Het Haags Zwingfestival wordt ook dit jaar gepresenteerd door wethouder Rabin Baldewsingh (Burgerschap) en popjournalist Gerard van den IJssel.

Nieuw talent
Het Haags Zwingfestival wordt georganiseerd door de R.G. Ruijs Stichting en Openluchttheater Zuiderpark. De R.G. Ruijs Stichting zet zich in voor talentontwikkeling en heeft een aantal opmerkelijke nieuwe talenten geboekt voor het festival. Zo zal het 15-jarige talent Jordy van Loon optreden. Deze jonge zanger werd bekend toen hij op TV door Paul de Leeuw letterlijk achter het behang werd geplakt, terwijl hij vol overgave ‘Het dorp’ van Wim Sonneveld zong. De nieuwe Haagse zangeres Samantha Steenwijk bracht in 2006 haar debuutsingle ‘Eiland in de zon’ uit en werd al eens door Wolter Kroes op het podium gevraagd om een duet te zingen. De Haagse zanger Jeffry Bonnet heeft zich gespecialiseerd in perfecte vertolkingen van het repertoire van Jacques Brel.

Bekende namen
Bekende namen op het Haags Zwingfestival zijn die van Imca Marina (‘Viva España’) en Dorine Bijl (X-Factor). Imca Marina werd in april benoemd tot Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau en treedt voor het eerst sinds lange tijd weer op in Den Haag. Zangeres Dorine Bijl bracht eerder dit jaar de CD ‘Oud en Wijs Genoeg’ uit.

Live bands
In de programmering van het Haags Zwingfestival staan dit jaar twee livebands: De Regâhs en Hollands Glorie. De Regâhs kregen landelijke de aandacht met hun CD ‘Den Haag Olé’ waarop plathaagse flamencoliedjes staan. De groep trad in juni op tijdens Parkpop. Het Haagse gezelschap Hollands Glorie is een van de weinige livebands met een repertoire van smartlappen en meezingers van vroeger en nu.

Zwingcafé
Het Haags Zwingfestival begint traditioneel met een Zwingcafé met Frans de Leef en pianist Henk Anijs. Mensen in het publiek die tijdens deze zangsessie vocaal opvallen, kunnen meedoen aan de Ooievaarsworkshop en mogen dan later tijdens het festival zelf optreden op het grote podium.

Gospelkoor
Het koor Rejoice Ministry zal een verrassend optreden geven tijdens het Haags Zwingfestival. Dit gospelkoor bestaat uit ongeveer twintig Arubaanse studenten uit Den Haag, Rotterdam, Arnhem, Utrecht en Almere. De jongeren krijgen in het koor niet alleen de mogelijkheid om hun zang en muzikale talent verder te ontwikkelen, maar daarnaast biedt Rejoice de jongeren ook de kans om hun organisatorische talenten te ontplooien.

Tijdschema

13.00 Zwingcafé (Frans de Leef en Henk Anijs)
13.50 De Regahs (plathaagse flamencogroep)
14.10 Gospelkoor Rejoice Ministry (gospel)
14.25 Samantha Steenwijk (levenslied)
14.45 Jordy van Loon (levenslied)
15.00 Zwingcafé (deelnemers Ooievaarspasworkshop)
15.15 Berry Damrie (gastoptreden Milan Festival)
15.30 Hollands Glorie (liveband)
16.00 Dorine Bijl (bekend van X-Factor)
16.15 Jeffry Bonnet (zingt Jacques Brel)
16.30 Imca Marina (levenslied)

MEER INFORMATIE OP WWW.STICHTINGRUIJS.NL

Zondag 24 augustus - 13.00 tot 17.00 uur
Openluchttheater Zuiderpark
Entree: 5,00 euro

Ook dit jaar is dit door de R.G. Ruijs Stichting en Openluchttheater Zuiderpark georganiseerde evenement weer gratis toegankelijk voor houders van een Ooievaars-, HOF- of Florence Servicepas én voor lezers van De Posthoorn (zie de bon in de krant in de weken voorafgaand aan het evenement).

Het Haags Zwingfestival wordt mogelijk gemaakt door de Gemeente Den Haag en Fonds 1818.
Het optreden van Imca Marina wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door Lumenz Talentontwikkeling.

This weekend, El Original Banda El Limon (not to be confused with the much better La Arrolladora Banda El Limon) will be here in Omaha at the Casa Del Sol.  I've heard rumors that girls can pick up free tickets at certain locations around town.  I informed Diana (my BFF) of this and she's on the hunt.  'Cuz if I get free tickets, Jose HAS to take me!  :)

Our mutual friend is getting married next month.  I'm happy for her.  Not thrilled with her choice of viejo, but I'm not the one marrying him!   I'll just keep my opinions to myself and my blog.  :)

Anyone here use Redbox?  The DVD vending machine?  Around here, the HyVees have done away with movie rental departments, and have put up these RedBox machine's instead.  Movies are $1 an evening.  After 25 days, if you haven't returned the movie, its now yours.  I was very impressed with the selection!!  Lots of Dora and Diego, which is uber important for the Chavelas!! 

Hasta luego...

If there's two things I love it is synthesizers and the french. I'm an unapologetic francophile (as George Michael Bluth says, I like the way they think). Thankfully for me the french also love synthesizers. A couple of days ago a friend of mine passed along a compilation to me knowing that these two fact about myself. BIPPP (French Synthwave 1979-85 is pretty much what the title implies, French synth-based new-wave from the alotted tme period. The great thing about French music is that it somehow has the ability to walk the fine line between lecherous and beautiful. Recent acts like Sebastien Tellier and TTC, as well as non-french groups like Hot Chip, Midnight Juggernauts and Chromatics, owe a great deal to these folks. So let us take a look at a few of the key tracks and where some of the sounds on this record have landed today.

The songs on this comp run the gamut of what kinda of music can be produced on synths. Some of it is spunkier, like most of the whole new wave crowd, but a lot of it is pretty french, by which I mean moody and wistful sounding. What really pleases me on this album is that they weren't making any bones about the whole synthesizer thing. A great deal of early synth music was based around the idea that realistic sounding instruments can be produced out of this all-in-one piano keyboard. Frankly, that just isn't the fun thing about the instrument. The joy of the synthesizer is that it can make a great deal of noise that really sounds unlike any other instrument. At that early stage, a lot of professional musicians were totally worried about losing their jobs to theses damn things. As an even more recent example, WIRE's drummer even fired himself from the band in 1990, believing drum machines had made him obsolete. (He came back eventually) Once people embraced the full capabilities of the instrument and realised that it wasn't necessarily in competition with them everyone got back into their normal grooves.

Kraftwerk are credited for really pioneering entirely electronic music, a fact I wouldn't disagree with. On the other hand, one band makes a novelty not a movement. It takes a lot of people and bands to really flesh out an idea. This compilation presents a great document of what was happening on the french side of things. It wasn't all Germans.

First up are just a couple songs to get you started. "Polaroid-Roman-Photo" by Ruth is easily one of my favorites on this thing. I love the interplay between the cold synths and the horns that build throughout the song. Also on deck is "Partie 1" by TGV, a more new-wave style workout.

[audio http://stopandstart.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/10-polaroid-roman-photo.mp3]

Ruth- Polaroid-Roman-Photo

[audio http://stopandstart.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/06-partie-1.mp3]

TGV -Partie 1

Next up is "Touch Pas Mon Sexe" by Comix, a busy synth-punk song which has some totally fantastic tones in it. Recently Busy P sampled this for his single "Rainbow Man" which take the first three seconds of the original and masterfully drives things home.

[audio http://stopandstart.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/05-touche-pas-mon-sexe.mp3]

Comix - Touche Pas Mon Sexe

[audio http://stopandstart.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/01-rainbow-man.mp3]

Busy P- Rainbow Man

Finally, a song by Deux called "Game and Performance," a moody call-and-response number between a male and female singer sung in heavily accented English. I'm following this with "Hands in the Dark" by Chromatics which comes from the "After Dark" comp put out by the label Italians Do It Better. As the label's name implies, the bands on it are heavily influenced by the oft-blogged about Italo-Disco genre, but the the dark beats and late 70's feel show a lot of influence from this scene.

[audio http://stopandstart.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/09-game-and-performance.mp3]

Deux - Game and Performance

[audio http://stopandstart.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/handsinthedark.mp3]

Chromatics- Hands In the Dark

I really do love synths...a lot.

Love,

John

Includes:
- Boys Boys Boys
- Love Games
-Dirty Ice cream
-Wunderful
-Beautful Dirty Rich
- Disco Heaven
- Again, Again, Again
-Rock show

PREVIEW: love games on my muxtape

Designed by yours truly, (*blushing*) and looking very sweet indeed.... SoReal Cru's new Web Site has officially launched and is continually updated with more information about their performances. Check it out if you want to see more pics, vids, and vids off the set of MTV! And don't forget to leave your mark, sign the guestbook! (Yes, they have a guestbook---bringin it back.)

And alot of fans have been asking, "When can I get my shirt?"
The buzz on the sale of the SoReal T-shirts is that they are beginning to sell them on their MySpace page, so check that out first. But they will soon start selling them on their web site as well, so keep checking back.

You just have to check out their last performance because they tore it up!

Artist: Booty Luv
Album: Boogie 2nite
Genre: house, dance, female vocalists, electronic, pop
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample:
Comments: Bloody fucking amazing, that's what. Booty Luv is an English dance group formed in June 2006 via the Hed Kandi label. It is fronted by two R&B vocalists, Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd, both of whom were in the original line-up of the successful hip hop band Big Brovaz.[1] Their debut album peaked at #11 in the UK Album Chart and has so far spawned four big hits in their native UK.

Artist: Shy'm
Album: Mes Fantaisies
Genre: french, rnb, female vocalists, pop, francais
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample:

YouTube - Shy'm - Oublie moi

Comments: If you like Nadiya, check her out. French dance pop at its best.

Artist: Tami Chynn
Album: Out Of Many..One
Genre: dancehall, female vocalists, reggae, world
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample: myspace.com
Comments: At first glance it's clear to see that Tami Chynn is indeed one of a kind - a pop princess who emerged from one of the grittiest, male dominated music scenes - Jamaica's dancehall. Her newest single is with Akon.

Artist: Tata Young
Album: Temperature Rising
Genre: pop, thai, thai pop, female vocalist, asian
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample: myspace.com
Comments: Tata is Thailand's own pop sensation =) Check her out. You might have seen her in Bollywood doing 'dhoom.'

Artist: Vitaa
Album: A Fleur De Toi
Genre: french, rnb, female vocalists, french rnb, pop
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample:
Comments: Vitaa is a French R&B singer-songwriter.

Artist: Darin
Album: The Anthem
Genre: Dance, pop, r&b
Link to album: divshare.com
Sample:

YouTube - Darin - Insanity Video

Comments: More Darin for you =) Rawr.

Download Ministry Of Sound - Club Files Vol.4 (part 1)

Download Ministry Of Sound - Club Files Vol.4 (part 2)

Download Ministry Of Sound - Club Files Vol.4 (part 3)

The reason for my lack of blogging is that I had a visitor this past weekend and was out actually living my life. Exciting, right? (I was extremely proud of myself for not looking at the blog for a full three days...normally I can't last three minutes). My friend Katie was visiting from Maine, so we were running around doing lots of fun things. Most notably, we attended the Mile High Music Festival, which was absolutely amazing but also absolutely exhausting. Sitting out for hours in 95 degree heat is not exactly relaxing.

The first day of the concert, Kelsey, my sister Maddy, Katie, and I came -- we thought -- well-prepared, with snacks, flasks hidden under our dresses, and plenty of water. We didn't consider the fact that water warms up pretty quickly when it has no ice in it, and so by about 2:00 p.m., our water was a few degrees away from boiling. From 3:00 to 4:00, I actually thought I might die. I was sort of limping from stage to stage, clutching my throat, and begging every beer man I saw for some of the ice that was keeping the beers cold. ("Please sir! Can I have some ice?!")

Though my martyrdom was reaching epic proportions, I was aware that I wasn't the only one at the concert who was dying of heat. It was very entertaining to see people fighting for the tiniest amounts of shade in the strangest of places: under a large pole, behind a row of porta-potties, beside a trash can, etc. People were getting desperate, man.

Luckily, things cooled off by about 5:00, and then everyone stepped away from the porta-potties, regained their senses, and focused on the music. It was about this time that we were upgraded to VIP tickets, which means we got free beer and wine, free food, a nice cool tent to sit in, and shuttle rides from stage to stage. Baaaaaller. Then we got to see Spoon, which got us all going (read: dancing like crazy, unashamed hippies). It was Michael Franti and Spearhead, however, that made the weekend for me.

Now, I'm not a huge Michael Franti fan. It's not that I don't like him; I just don't know a lot of his stuff. But Katie, being the best fake hippie among us, wanted us all to go, and we obliged. His show was awesome. He had that intangible thing that only a few artists have that makes a concert truly kickass, whether or not you know the music. He had everyone in the crowd dancing like maniacs, and he was clearly having a great time, which makes a huge difference. After his performance, we were all blissfully happy and more or less remained that way for the rest of the weekend.

I won't go through every single performance we saw over the course of the weekend (that could take a while), but let's talk about John Mayer for a second.

The entire festival was extremely well-organized, and as part of that, all of the artists were very punctual. They started and ended exactly when they were supposed to, every time. So we're all lounging around waiting for John Mayer to come on at 6:00 on Sunday, and at 5:30 people start cheering. We stand up and see that some dude has taken the stage and has begun to sing "Start Me Up." We were confused. Our conversation went a little something like this:

"Wait, that can't be John Mayer."

"Yeah, why would he start so early?"

"And why would he be wearing a tank top?"

"And why would he open with a cover?"

"And since when is his entire left arm tattooed?"

"It must just be some random filler guy that they put onstage to kill time."

"It really sounds like John Mayer, though."

"Oh my god, is he wearing CAPRIS?"

The stranger onstage was, indeed, John Mayer, and he was, indeed, wearing a tank top, manpris, and black tennis shoes. Ouch. Other than the frightening wardrobe choice (where's the womanly influence, Jen?), he was looking pretty good. Especially when he took his shirt off for the last song (sure, it was a little unnecessary, but who am I to complain?):

John, have you been working out?

Anyway...the concert was fabulous and you should all come next year. We'll have a special SWTCTW section, with lots of ice and Coors Light.

Before I wrap this up, I have to recognize the two MVP's of the concert. First, Mr. Michael Franti for reasons stated above:

Okay one more of him, courtesy of Katie, just because these are cool photos:

The second MVP award goes to Dave Matthews' drummer, Carter Beauford, for being the jolliest human I have ever seen:

Carter, I dig you.

[Posted by Mallory]

THE TEACHERS WON!!!! YAY!!!!

Chemical Bros., "Midnight Madness"

Credit: Kanye

The fantastic summer weather brings loads of activities and events taking place outdoors. I've been checking out the BBC Proms for ideas to entertain the whole family. With 76 proms taking place between now and September, the best one is the "Last Night" in Hyde Park. There's loads of free shows and activities provided for the kids during the daytime then, take a picnic and prom along in the evening!  Also, in SW London we're lucky enough to live amongst our historical palaces, providing summer tours and events. The Oxford Shakespeare Company are performing at several of the palaces. Experience tudor costumes, entertainment, dancing and food.

Alternatively, Too cool for Skool suggests you get a group of your mates down to your local park and create your own cool dance routine. Then, when the heat of the day dies down,why don't you do a funky show for your friends and family. Don't forget your wicked costumes, make up etc etc. You could even make yourself some pocket money and charge £1.00 for every ticket sold!

"Step Up 2, The Streets" is now out on DVD (PG) so get your copy! I look forward to seeing all your new dances in September. If this all seems too much like hard work, pour yourself a cold drink. Dancing in your Sun lounger is under-rated! Enjoy your summer break.

Author: Livia Maciejowska. Artistic Director

I'm holding a GIRLICIOUS dance workshop this Saturday July 26th.

It’s summer! And it’s time to let your hair down.

The class will start with a bit of my fun and original Body Conditioning By Dancers class for free.

If you, or any of your girlfriends are looking for a way to stay fit this summer and bring out the sexy moves in you, then you WON'T want to miss this event.

Spread the word!

-Eva

Y este otro de musica electronica de un grupo llamado Justice (a la Daft Punk) anda bien chido el arte.

waiting for another boring night to pass.

I remember when i was in elementary school and i wrote an essay about "what i want to be when i grow up". And i wrote i want to be a dancer. Even though i didn't become a dancer. But the passion remains through out the years of growing up.

I had some lame dance class in high school, it was under curriculum, something i had to take. It was a mixture of ballroom dancing and line dance. I remember doing the tango with my female partner cause we're both late comers to class. So we paired up and since she was taller than me, she had to be the guy. That was my first experience dancing with someone. Was not how exactly how i would picture it, but still it was an experience.

At that time, hip hop was really "in" and was the cool thing to do. If you can't dance, you would seem very uncool. And you know teenagers, they can be so cruel. Like every other teenager i watch lot's of MTV, VH1 etc try to pick up some moves. Luckily i am not too bad. I had some music in my bone.

<--- My hangout place was at Soho, Broadway and i always see people coming down from this building, seems like a dance class. One day i checked it out. It was a hip hop class. It was only 10 bucks for 1 and half hrs. So i decided to try it out. I think i was in the wrong class, everyone was so advance. Doing the Janet Jackson thing. All in sequence, everyone knows the steps and they're really fast learner. Or maybe they been dancing for awhile. Can't follow at all, after that i think so much for dancing class. The dance studio is beside Urban Outfitters, the building i was talking about. On the side there's a flight of stairs. It's on the 3rd floor, and before u start to dance you are getting your warm up on the stairs.

Moving along... like any other teenager, i bought a fake ID and check out some clubs. Unfortunately i only got to go to Limelight. Which was a broken down church that turn into a club. It was located in a former church on Sixth Avenue Manhattan and east of Chelsea. It was close down in 1996 due to some drug dealer and  killing at the club. After some years pass, now it's re-open into Avalon. Needless to say i got in and saw some amazing dancers in the club. They have 2 rooms, main room was the techno room and the 2nd room was hip hop. And you can smell massive dope in the corners. They also have cage dancers. Maybe it was a little too much for a 17 yr old, but it was a unforgettable experience. And that made me even want to know more about dancing.

My passion for dancing grew even more everyday. I started dancing at home with my friends. My friends and i use to hang in my house and dance or try to make up routines or steps. Occasionally some people in the neighborhood will have house parties and people would dance and show off their steps. It was pretty awesome.

One of my favourite movie " Save The Last Dance" Something people  can relate to. It's not just about dancing, it's also about multi racial people hanging out, getting together etc.

Can't believe i've written so much. So much for now. I've things i forgot to do, better do it now.

Till next time....

his name's will.  he's 21, supple, and potentially straight.

either way, he belongs hanging in a museum somewhere.

..or handcuffed to my bedpost.  RAWR

Allow me to regale you, assisted by the historical record of their Wikipedia page, with a tale of Black Kids rise to blogosphere superstars and sudden collapse to Pitchfork punching bags.

It all started (according to Wikipedia) when Black Kids performed at the Athens Popfest in Athens Georgia way back in August of 2007 (a whole year ago!). Around the same time, the group released their EP, Wizard of Ahhhs! for free on their Myspace page. That double whammy earned Black Kids an avalanche of praise from the likes of Vice, NME, The Village Voice and The Guardian, not to mention a whopping 8.4 out of 10 from Pitchfork. Yes, these youngsters were definitely artists to watch in 2008. In fact, Rolling Stone named them "Artists to Watch in 2008."

Fast forward to yesterday, when their year-long party came to a screeching halt. Black Kids' debut album, Partie Traumatic was finally released via Almost Gold records in the UK and Columbia here in the 'States (the apostrophe is for "United"). Pitchfork celebrated by posting their review of the record, which consists of a photo of two sad lookin' pugs saying, "Sorry :-/," and a score of 3.3. Granted, this is less harsh than the time Pitchfork reviewed a new Jet album by simply posting a video of a chimp drinking its own urine, but despite the cuteness of the sad pugs, it's equally damning. User reviews from sites like Amazon reveal fans lamenting everything from the higher production values to the short run time of the record. Yes, it seems the tide may have turned for this potential next-big-thing, and one can only wonder if they will ever find their way back into the good graces of music bloggers and trendspotters everywhere. One wonders less about whether any of these songs will wind up in car commercials (Answer: They will!).

Of course, the ultimate question is: "Does this album really suck that hard?" And the answer, in the opinion of this card-carrying member of the blogosphere, is: "Not really, no." I mean, really, did these people listen to Wizard of Ahhhs? It wasn't that deep. Perhaps the lo-fi production tricked people into thinking Black Kids were saying more than they really were, but it's basically a glorified twee record with dancing shoes on. The only thing that's changed between that EP and this album is the run time (now ya get 10 songs!). It's still the same formula of dumb-cute lyrics, shameless pop melodies and danceable (but not too danceable!) beats. It is, technically, a shallow album, but it really doesn't set out to change the world, and as far as I can tell, neither did their first EP. So, while these guys adjust to their indefinite indie-verse exile, I'll be jamming out to "I Wanna Be Your Limousine."

-Jackie Cous