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Welcome to my World »
Robbie Williams & George Michael: The re-appraisal

Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 12.27pm on 11 March 10
Artrockers,
I am smoking a fag! A big, fat, menthol jobbie. I am doing this at home, not my 'workplace' as such, so don't go calling the cops. I'm allowed, for the time being at least, to smoke in my own home. And as the smoke goes down I say: 'Ooooh, that's lovely!' And as I finish it the stub joins many brothers in my overflowing ashtray. Bliss in the morning. Most of my smoking takes place pre-lunch, I don't know why but the nicotine has less appeal as the day wears on. Where am I going with this? Absolutely nowhere. But I have a funny idea that, in this world of shocks, many people are more shocked by the advocacy of smoking than they are by the advocacy of , for instance, War. Which brings me to Robbie Williams. The 'fat dancer' has been banging the drum for marijuana apparently:

"Weed, it's such a lovely drug. It is such a lovely drug. But it doesn't mix well with me - at all,'' he said. ''It doesn't take much to trigger - I mean, I'll get psychosis from having this cup of tea! Seriously. The caffeine in that's enough. Yeah. A cup of tea will make me feel like s***.''But it's just a shame about weed, because I did love it.'' A statement that has forced me to re-appraise Mr Williams, just as I had to take another look at George Michael, who also likes the odd bifter: "There's not another drug in life that I'm glad I took but grass." Of course Mr Williams apparently believes in UFOs and little green men, while Mr Michael likes to drive his car into things, all of which may not be the greatest advert for the drug, but somehow it makes them more human, more real, more like me.
GamesRocker Plus »
F1 2010 heralds a new generation of high definition FORMULA ONE games

Filed in GamesRocker Plus by John Constantine at 14.08pm on 10 March 10

A new generation of FORMULA ONE games will come to high definition consoles and PC later this year as Codemasters® today announced that F1 2010 will be released this September for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC Games For Windows®.

As the official game of the 2010 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, F1 2010 will include all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the coming season. F1 2010 will feature the return of seven times FORMULA 1 Drivers’ World Champion Michael Schumacher, the introduction of several new teams, and the brand new Korean International Circuit that will host the 2010 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX.

The September launch will see F1 2010 become the first official FORMULA ONE game to appear for Xbox 360 and marks the return of FORMULA ONE to PC after an eight year absence. The arrival of the HD editions of FORMULA ONE follows Codemasters’ extremely successful launch of F1 2009 for Wii and PSP, which became a top five best seller throughout the past holiday period.

In F1 2010 gamers will take on the full, expanded grid in a variety of game modes including GRAND PRIX, Championship, Time Trial and an extensive, innovative Career mode. F1 2010 will also feature a highly advanced damage model, fully dynamic weather system and extensive competitive multiplayer options.

In production at Codemasters Studios Birmingham, F1 2010 is being developed using the EGO Game Technology Platform, Codemasters’ proprietary tech that powered the critically acclaimed, million-plus selling Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and Race Driver: GRID. The award-winning technology has been further developed to accurately recreate the unique aerodynamics and handling of 200MPH+ FORMULA ONE cars. The tech combined with Codemasters’ unprecedented access to FORMULA ONE teams and drivers will ensure that F1 2010 delivers the most authentic FORMULA ONE racing experience yet. F1 2010 will be released September 2010 for Xbox 360, PlayStation
Art Hip Rocker Hop »
Live the phrase “Sky’s The Limit”

Filed in Art Hip Rocker Hop by Tego at 11.36am on 09 March 10

13 years ago today, Christopher Wallace was gunned down in L.A. Aged just 24 hip-hop lost its most charismatic and naturally gifted talent. One yet to be replaced. Jay-Z is Jay-Z, he had to fight against not having a great voice, he had to fight against not wanting to be a star, he had to fight against a general lack of interest in his early years. He fought through those struggles to become the greatest of all time, but on the flip-side of the coin is Biggie Smalls, the only man who could ever be mentioned in the same breath as him. School friends, the two appeared on each other's albums and were even rumoured to have formed a super-group prior to Biggie's death. Wallace had a perfect voice, he was born to be a star and everywhere he went, he gained fans. A true behemoth, one unlikely to be repeated.

Biggie Smalls had the greatest voice of any rapper ever, he was totally uninhibited musically, applying melodies well outside his vocal range to charming and beautiful aplomb, his wheezy flow oozed character and soul. BIG didn't lack in any performance aspect, truly the only rapper of all time to have been blessed in that respect. His feud with Tupac is more legend than fact at this point, but what must be considered is that when the two were at the height of their powers, they were in their early 20s, changing popular culture and music history effortlessly with pure energy. An incredible thought when you take into account the quality and quantity of work they left behind.

There are still some who are yet to discover the genius and beauty of Biggie Smalls' two albums and I implore those people to do so today. Forget the books, the documentaries, the movies, the cheap laminated posters in the market. 'Ready To Die' and 'Life After Death' are masterpieces and the message behind the words of Christopher Wallace have the power to inspire and amuse to this day.

Sewing Tigers in my shirt and Alligators. You wanna see the inside? Huh! I'll see you later.

Live the phrase "Sky's The Limit" Rest In Peace Biggie Smalls.
Welcome to my World »
6 Music and Lou Reed

Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 11.03am on 04 March 10
Artrockers,
Let's get 6 Music out of the way first. As far back as 2002 I raved about 6 music in this very mailout, I exhorted you all to rush out and buy DABs so you could all enjoy this wonderful thing. By 2008 the romance was over. What were the factors that made this one time champion of 6 Music lose interest? Mainly it was the playlist, an old fashioned concept possibly suited to Radios 2 and 1 but totally out of place on a radio station catering for well informed music fans and total anathema to the 'new John Peels'. Can you imagine Peel sticking to a playlist? Isn't that what made his show so great? But it was the playlist that made day-time 6 music nigh on unlistenable, that and the 'personality' DJs. I've spent hours reading articles and subsequent comments about the closure, and one thing shines through, the praise is poured on the evening and weekend output, particularly Freak Zone, but there's very little defence of daytime. And they're right, Freakzone is possibly the best music programme anywhere right now - the problem is that ALL of 6 music could be as good as this if they a) dump the playlist b) get rid of the Celeb / Comedian presenters and employ presenters who actually have as much knowledge of the subject as the well informed listenership. Oh, and the other mistake they made was to lose my 7" Vinyl Chart from Marc Riley's show, it was all downhill from there!

Now then, the new issue of Artrocker Magazine is in the shops, you can see the cover somewhere around here. It's full of stuff, as you might imagine, the details of which can be found by giving it a little click.
As you'll see we have Lou Reed exclusive interview, talking about Metal Machine Music, he's over with his trio in April, don't miss it: *Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio plays the Cambridge Junction (April 17), Oxford O2 Academy (April 18) and London Royal Festival Hall’s Ether Festival (April 19). Reed will re-issue a newly re-mastered edition of the 1975 “Metal Machine Music” album on Monday April 19th. Further info: loureed.com
Welcome to my World »
Questions…

Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 13.15pm on 01 March 10
ARTROCKERS,
Some questions for you;
Is it possible to be a cat person and a dog person at the same time?
Do The Tories have ANY policies? If so, will they ever tell us what they are?
Does Paul Weller put on his accent?
Is SxSW the power it once was?
If my company makes a multi-billion pound loss can I expect a bonus?
Am I alone in finding Lady Gaga as vacuous as the scene she comes from?
What's with all the vampires?
Have the global warming lobby given up and gone home?
Has illegal downloading lost it's appeal?
Are we still multi-cultural or has the concept gone out of fashion?
Will the BBC spend millions of our money this summer broadcasting a handful of artists from Glastonbury and ignoring the rest of the festival (film, theatre, comedy etc) like last year?
Did Paul Morley expose himself as a middle aged git in his recent UK Hip Hop feature?
Do people really snort coke that's cut with dog worming tablets?
Easter - when is it again?