NEW GOLD DREAMS - Oblique

Oblique begans its musical journey in mid-2003 with their debut release Acapulco (Greenland Productions). Reminiscences of the eighties and influences of the electro sounds imposed in Europe make up this album with which they start to get known in the underground circuits in the country.
After editing This is my... remixes (Greenland Productions), their first single remixed by Dj Coco & Bombjack, OBK or Spunky among others, the band decide to expose their second LP Wonderful Opulence (Greenland Productions), a more elaborate album with darker influences with which they even cross borders being played on MTV Italy and having very good reviews from specialized English websites like The Pansentient League or League-online or Belgian websites like Side Line, for example.


After traveling half of Spain with more than 50 concerts and performing at such prestigious festivals like FIB 2009, Eólica, Heineken Greenspace Valencia, Musiclip, Sonoric or T'ho Porto (Portugal), Oblique returns with Acapulco [Special Edition] (Greenland Productions), an EP that covers songs of their first album and that it has a great reception in digital sales from United Kingdom.


The influences of the band pass by groups such as:
Client, Ladytron, OMD, The Human League, Hot Chip, Cut Copy, White Lies, etc.


Already in 2009, Oblique records Without Making Noise (Greenland Productions) leaping into their sound to more personal formats where electronic dance and dark atmospheres are strongly present.
Without Making Noise opens to Oblique new ways like signing with EMI Publishing, including songs in films such as Sexy Killer (Miguel Marti) or the awarded Bon Appétit (David Pinillos) or being appointed by the specialized media (Mondo Sonoro, Go, Rock Deluxe...).


The Cathedral has been the last EP of the band and it has been released in digital format in late 2009. It consists of five personal and almost acoustic versions of tracks from previous albums.


Currently, Oblique is in the process of creating what will be his new album and video clip.


Awards received by Oblique:


- Prize for the best electronic band Pop-Eye Awards.
- Prize for the best electronic band Metro Journal.
- Prize for the best electronic band Heineken Kulture Movement.
- Audience Award for best video clip "My Medicine" Medina del Campo Film Festival.
- Audience Award for best video clip "My Medicine" Musiclip International Festival.
- Electronically Yours (UK) choose "All We Want" as the best electronic song in the TOP 20 2008.
- MTV 2010 Best Bet.

VIDEOKILLER - "Always the Sun" by The Stranglers

NEWS WAVE - RIP Greg Ham (Men at Work)

By Kristen Gelineau, The Associated Press
SYDNEY -- Greg Ham, a musician with the iconic Australian band Men at Work, was found dead in his Melbourne home on Thursday, Australian reports said.
Victoria state police confirmed that the deceased was the 58-year-old resident of the house but did not identify him by name, in keeping with local practice. Ham was 58 and neighbors said he was the lone occupant of the house.
Two concerned friends who had not heard from Ham in some time found the body after going to check on him, police said, declining to release any details on how Ham died or if the circumstances were suspicious.
"There are a number of unexplained aspects to it which has caused our attendance here today, and we're assisting the local detectives to determine what has occurred," Detective Senior Sergeant Shane O'Connell told reporters.
Newspapers including The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Ham had died.
Men at Work frontman Colin Hay issued a statement expressing a deep love for his longtime friend, whom he met in 1972 when they were seniors in high school. Hay recalled decades of shared experiences with Ham — from appearing on "Saturday Night Live," to flying through dust storms over the Grand Canyon, to getting lost in the rural Australian countryside.
"We played in a band and conquered the world together," Hay said. "I love him very much. He's a beautiful man. The saxophone solo on 'Who Can It Be Now' was the rehearsal take. We kept it, that was the one. He's here forever."
Ham was perhaps best known for playing the famous flute riff in the band's smash 1980s hit. But the beloved tune came under intense scrutiny in recent years after the band was accused of stealing the catchy riff from the children's campfire song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree." The publisher of "Kookaburra" sued Men at Work, and in 2010 a judge ruled the band had copied the melody. The group was ordered to hand over a portion of its royalties.
Ham later said the controversy had left him devastated, and he worried it would tarnish his legacy.
"It has destroyed so much of my song," he told Melbourne's The Age newspaper after the court ruling. "It will be the way the song is remembered, and I hate that. I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered — for copying something."
On Thursday, neighbor John Nassar praised Ham, whom he had known for about 30 years.
"He was a lovely human being, never judgmental about anyone," Nassar told reporters. "He was a very friendly human being."
Ham also played the saxophone and keyboards, and more recently worked as a guitar teacher.
"Down Under" and the album it was on, "Business As Usual," topped the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. The song remains an unofficial anthem for Australia and was ranked fourth in a 2001 music industry survey of the best Australian songs. Men at Work won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Australian rock historian Glenn Baker, who was Australian editor of Billboard magazine when Men At Work was at its peak touring the world, recalled Ham as bursting with energy during the band's glory days.
"When they came back (from tour), it was generally Greg who I would interview because he'd tell the best stories and he was effervescent, energetic, good fun, good-humored and good-natured," Baker said. "He was having a great time."

-- Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

OFF THE RECORDS - Il "brillante" ritorno degli Ultravox!

(AGI) - Roma, 18 apr. - Emi e' orgogliosa di annunciare il grande ritorno degli Ultravox con il loro primo album di studio, "Brilliant", dopo 28 anni con la storica formazione che include Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Chris Cross, Warren Cann. La stessa con cui pubblicarono "Lament" nel 1984. A seguito del successo del tour "Return To Eden" con cui nel 2009 la line-up classica della band si e' ripresentata dopo 25 anni sulle scene, Midge Ure e soci si sono ritrovati in studio e hanno registrato una serie di brani inediti, dodici canzoni in tutto, che fanno parte appunto dell'album "Brilliant" in uscita il 29 maggio, che sara' seguito poi da un fitto tour inglese nei mesi di settembre e ottobre. Drammatico, passionale ed epico sia nei testi che nei suoni, "Brilliant" non solo e' una testimonianza concreta di quanto grande sia questa band, ma rappresenta un ulteriore valore aggiunto per uno straordinario catalogo di musica che oggi suona piu' attuale e influente che mai. Emersi dalla scena punk, new wave ed elettronica dei tardi anni 70, gli Ultravox si sono inventati una forma straordinaria di musica rock elettronica dalla potenza unica che consegno' alla storia degli anni Ottanta grandissimi canzoni quali 'Hymn', 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes', 'The Voice', 'Reap The Wild Wind', 'Love's Great Adventure', 'We Came To Dance', 'One Small Day' e naturalmente l'atmosferica e intramontabile 'Vienna'. "Brilliant" porta gli Ultravox ad ampliare il loro modello classico ricordandoci la loro forza come compositori di altissimo livello. Tutti i dettagli sul nuovo album verranno rivelati presto assieme alle date del tour che la band intraprendera' entro la fine dell'anno.

VIDEOKILLER - "Guilty" by Classic Nouveaux