Kerplunk by punk rock band Green Day is the second full-length album. It was released on January 17, 1992 on Lookout! Records. Kerplunk! was their last release on an independent label and was also the first album to feature their current band lineup, with Tré Cool on drums. The album went on to become one of the bestselling independent albums ever, selling 10,000 units on the day of its release.  Major labels took notice of Kerplunk!’s phenomenal popularity and many approached the band. Green Day realized that they had outgrown their record distribution capacity with Lookout! and eventually signed with Reprise Records. With Reprise, Green Day would record and release their third album Dookie (1994), which would become a landmark album of the 1990s with over 14 million units sold in the U.S. alone and 39 million units worldwide.In December 2007, Blender magazine ranked Kerplunk! #47 on their list, “The 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Ever”. (more…)

1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is a collection of early recordings by American punk rock band Green Day, released in 1991. Although it is often referred to as the group’s first album, this is not factually correct. Their first album was 39/Smooth, whereas 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours includes that album in its entirety as well as two complete EPs and a track from a previous compilation album.

The album included one cover, “Knowledge“, which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy.

The album was re-released in 2007 with special limited packaging and all new CD-rom features, incl. live performances and pictures.

Track listing

1. “At the Library” by  Billie Joe Armstrong

2. “Don’t Leave Me” by B. J. Armstrong

3. “I Was There” by John Kiffmeyer

4. “Disappearing Boy” by B. J. Armstrong

5. “Green Day” by  B. J. Armstrong

6. “Going to Pasalacqua” by  B. J. Armstrong

7. “16″ by B. J. Armstrong

8. “Road to Acceptance” by B. J. Armstrong

9. “Rest” by B. J. Armstrong

10. “The Judge’s Daughter” by B. J. Armstrong

11. “Paper Lanterns” by B. J. Armstrong

12. “Why Do You Want Him?”  byB. J. Armstrong

13. “409 in Your Coffeemaker” by B. J. Armstrong

14. “Knowledge [A]“ by Jesse Michaels

15. “1,000 Hours” by B. J. Armstrong

16. “Dry Ice” by B. J. Armstrong

17. “Only of You” by B. J. Armstrong

18. “The One I Want” by B. J. Armstrong

19. “I Want to Be Alone” by B. J. Armstrong

Green Day emerged out of the Northern California underground punk scene in the late 80’s. Their first album 1,039 / Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was a compilation of three previous released EP’s. Shortly after the album was released Tre Cool replaced the band’s drummer, John Kiffmeyer, completing the trio that make up the group today. After a second album Kerplunk, released in 1992, the band signed to major record label Reprise.

At first, Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo, California when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and changed their name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was well-received in the punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local independent label, Lookout! Records. 39/Smooth, Green Day’s first album, was released later that year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Kiftmeyer with Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III); Tre Cool became the band’s permanent drummer.

Throughout the early ’90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a cult following, which only gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992’s Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a wave of interest from major record labels; the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie, Green Day’s major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994. Thanks to MTV support for the initial single “Longview,” Dookie became a major hit. The album continued to gain momentum throughout the summer, with the second single “Basket Case” spending five weeks on the top of the American modern rock charts. At the end of the summer, the band stole the show at Wo odstock ‘94, which helped the sales of Dookie increase.

By the time the fourth single “When I Come Around” began its seven-week stay at number one in the modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had sold over five million copies in the US alone; it would eventually top eight million in America, selling over eleven million copies internationally. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. (more…)

(November 10, 2009 – New York, NY) Worldwide pop icon Utada Hikaru, who holds the record for the past decade as the top-selling Japanese-American female pop artist of all-time, has scheduled an 8-city U.S. tour in support of THIS IS THE ONE , her most recent album on Island Records, featuring the Top 5 Billboard Dance track, “Come Back to Me.”

Utada Hikaru born in January 19, 1983. The same birthday is shared by writer/poet Edgar Allan Poe, with whom she fell in love during my junior-high years; Ogai Mori, one of Japan’s literary geniuses; cute Udo Suzuki-san; and even cuter Rika Ishikawa-chan.  Her height about 158cm and hobbies are literature. This is because books are assets to be treasured by her. In terms of her favorite movie star, she like Amadeus, Crash, Munich, Brazil, Tasogare Seibei, Lost Highway, The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather Part II, The Jerk, Orlando, works by Hayao Miyazaki.

In her career life, she actually prefer to be become a writer and  open a small bookshop and become a clerk there and also work part-time at a cafe. However, thing changes after she he made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. The album led to her career overseas.

It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: “There really aren’t any completely Asian people singing right now. For …

THIS IS THE ONE is the latest English-language album for New York-born Utada, the follow-up to Exodus, her Island Records English-language debut (released 2004). It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: “There really aren’t any completely Asian people singing right now. For …

THIS IS THE ONE debuted at #3 on the Oricon Japanese national chart, giving Utada a total of eight consecutive debuts in the top 3!! In support of the release of THIS IS THE ONE last May, Utada made a memorable early-morning interview appearance on New York’s Z-100 with Elvis Duran, setting the scene for jam-packed album signing events at Sephora Stores in New York, Los Angeles and Miami!

26-year old singer-songwriter, arranger, and producer Utada, who writes all her own music, has achieved record-breaking success since her 8-million selling premiere solo album First Love was issued in 1999 – holds the all time record for biggest-selling album ever for a Japanese-American pop artist-male or female.

THIS IS THE ONE extended her run to the U.S., when it debuted here at #20 on the iTunes overall Album chart and #2 on the iTunes Pop Album chart – making Utada the first Japanese-American artist to break the Top 20 Album chart on iTunes.  Utada also claimed her first debut on the R&R Rhythmic chart and her first ever debut on any R&R format chart with her single “Come Back to Me.”

As Island Records celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2009, Utada  fits in perfectly with the label’s long-standing tradition of introducing unique artists with international followings.  Born and raised in Manhattan and educated at Columbia University, the bi-lingual Utada is closely tied to Japan: Her mother, Keiko Fuji, was a successful Japanese enka (ballad) singer, and her father, Utada Teruzane, an accomplished musician who is now his daughter’s manager and co-producer (as ‘Sking U’).  Living between New York and Tokyo, Utada had written and recorded her first song by age 11, and signed a major label deal and released her first Japanese album (as ‘Cubic U’) by the time she’d graduated from junior high.  In the decade to follow,  she became one of the most successful and acclaimed pop singers in Japanese music history.

She may have been the first girl to scream on a track, as Kelis says in her song “Bossy,” but she’s more like the 100th girl this year alone to try on the Euro-dance sound on her latest effort “Acapella.”

The singer — who took a break from music after being dropped by her former record label, having her first child with and divorcing rapper Nas — is reemerging with a new sound, new look, and a new place to call her label home.

She leaked the new single today via her twitter page and followed it up with a message to fans, saying she’s wrote it with “love and life in mind.”

Kelis compares her life to a song being sung in acapella and once love enters it, it’s brimming with pulsating beats and synthesis as illustrated by production by David Guetta. Although the overall sound is nothing new, the sincerity in the lyrics mixed with the danceable beat makes it pretty refreshing.

Kelis’ as-yet-untitled album is, she says, “pretty much done” and will be released in 2010.

However, different story go for her lifestyle. There is some rumors have swirled for nearly a year over the current status of the marriage between one of hip hop’s royal couples, Nas and Kelis. (more…)

Classical music is the mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times.
The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.
European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices, such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music.

(more…)