Massive Attack

Misschien voor de liefhebber?

Inderdaad, er staan een paar goeie nummers op 100th window, maar een klapper als mezzanine is het niet. Ik verwacht veel van het album wat begin volgend jaar uitkomt.

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 18:28 schreef rheingold het volgende:
tip: koop 100th window op vinyl.

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(no protection vind ik niks, is een ronduit slechte remix door mad professor

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[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door haaahaha op 19-02-2003 19:35]

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 19:28 schreef Freak187 het volgende:
Ik had nog niks van Massive Attack gehoord (misschien wel goed, want ik hoorde iemand zeggen dat je de andere albums maar moet vergeten

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 19:36 schreef rheingold het volgende:

[..]

platenboef, den haag, korte houtstraat.

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11 Promo's, niet duur, voor wie hem nog niet heeft

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Op zaterdag 22 februari 2003 20:44 schreef el_bario het volgende:

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Ook met poster. 3 platen allemaal op 45 rpm. dus beter geluid dan de CD als je een goeie platenspeler hebt. (Heb nu naast de promo, de CD en de 12" van 100th window ook de DVD single van "special cases" en alles voor nop *maar weer eens gaat e-bayen* )

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[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door haaahaha op 27-02-2003 22:06]

UK 1
France 1
Ireland 1
Finland 1
Belgium 2
Italy 2
Denmark 2
Japan 4
Austria 4
Australia 4
Norway 4
Holland 9

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Ever since Blue Lines and the accompanying classic Unfinished Sympathy provided the dance and pop scene of highly needed fresh blood in 91, dozens of acts have been hyped as the New Massive Attack, simply because they were also blending soundscapes and electronic beats with intriguing guest vocals. Massive Attack in the mean time seem to have become a genre of their own. Protection, Mezzanine and now again 100th Window prove that originals rule: Massive Attack never repeat themselves, and whilst other, lesser gods are copying their treasures, the Wild Bunch from Bristol is light years ahead of them.
But this was not achieved without any damage: the band is wearing many scars that remind of the ego clashes, musical differences and drug abuse. Twelve years after their first rehearsals, Tricky and Mushroom once key members have left the group whilst Daddy G is temporarily out of action for having become a father and due to some arguments with 3D, a.k.a. Dee, a.k.a. Robert Del Naja, who in turn has strengthened his control over the band.

Humo: I see that you have become a trademark yourself: that tattoo on your left arm is the Massive Attack logo is it not?
RDN: Yes, its the flame from the Blue Lines cover. I also have another big tattoo of a magnificent beetle on my back, like the one on the Mezzanine cover.
Humo: There were 4 years between Bleu Lines and Protection and now another 4 years between Mezzanine and 100th Window. Are you guys lazy? Indecisive? Do you smoke too much pot? Or does it take you that long to get to cruising speed?

RDN: All of the above, I fear. I would love to make two records per year, but then they wouldnt be as good as they are now. It especially takes us a long time to shed our skins before we can lose our previous identities. As a matter of fact we already started on the next album immediately after the last world tour, but all the tracks just turned out to be carbon copies of our previous work. Even now we are working on new tracks and I notice that they too sound like 100th window part two and that is not what we want.
We also produce a lot of music which never gets published: for each track that ever appeared on a CD we have three others in the vaults plus some alternative versions on top. We create a lot of tracks of which eventually we say: Mmm, not bad, but it doesnt sound quite like us. Its all in the detail. I also put a lot of time and energy in the visual aspects: CD artwork, videos, image loops to use in live performances. And of course the last couple of years we lost a considerable amount of time as a result of misunderstandings, side-tracks, and some personal crap.

Humo: Are you going to make a kind of shadow album to 100th window, like you did with No Protection for Protection? Or will those other tracks only be released post mortem?
RDN: Thats not impossible; the way things look now; who knows me might not get them on CD until after the 2006 nuclear war. Ill have to ask George Bush.

Humo: Together with Daman Albarn of Blur, you have founded an activist group of musicians that oppose the planned war against Iraq. If you dont mind my saying so, pop-history is filled with musicians whose music got worse as they started to invest more and more time and energy in political activities.
RDN: But if we do nothing, there might not be any more music at all in the not too distant future. Do you think the war is going to happen?

Humo: It seems to me airplanes would be safer if the ground technicians were forced to go along on every flight. Its the same with Earth, Bush and Hussein and Bin Laden have to live on this same planet, so if they blow the whole place to bits they commit suicide.
RDN: Thats a very nice theory, but Osama Bin Laden already stated it: We have one major advantage; you westerners are attached to life, whereas we embrace death, because we have nothing to lose. That is spooky, but also very true. I dont like fanatic Muslims, but I equally do not like the fact that the word terrorist is used so lightly. We people from the western world have colonized and exploited the world for centuries, from the crusades up until today. The British and the Belgians have plundered their colonies and oppressed their peoples, and thats an understatement. Of course now everyone says: Its not my fault that 100 years ago a fellow countryman of mine raped a black woman or exploited an Indian I was not even born yet! But the oppressed have better memories than the oppressors. Todays terrorists all have grandparents that were abused by our grandparents. Our forefathers have made enemies in just about every continent. That bomb had to blow up sooner or later. And when these people finally start to strike back, we all call them terrorists without any distinction.
And the oppression is still going on now, only it has become more civilized and subtle: nowadays its the western multinationals that exploit and under-pay cheap labour forces in other continents.
What I mean to say is: I don want to choose sides between the imperialists and the terrorists, but all this hatred does have its origins somewhere; it is just too simple to dismiss Osama & Co as dangerous lunatics. As long as it was only us that had the atom bomb, no-one had any kind of problem with that, but now that all of a sudden third world countries like Pakistan have got it, were all outraged. And as long as Saddam was buying our weapons so that our shares kept rising, he was ok, but now hes threatening to use them on us, he is the Satan. Well, things just arent that simple. Id still rather live in the USA than in Iraq, but not all Americans are saints; and not all Iraqi are devils.
Humo: Dont you find it a little odd that a peace-warrior like yourself has such and aggressive band name?
RDN: Its rather funny yes, and perhaps a bit unfortunate as well. But Massive Attack is based on a groovy warehouse party in Bristol we were crazy about at the time.

Humo (after many vain attempts to try and bring the conversation back to the music): Your music is often described as ominous and depressing, but I personally always found it to be very positive and full of life, and sexy too; I remember a couple of my old girlfriends mainly because we made love so much to the tones of Protection and Blue Lines.
RDN: You are in good company: Madonna also told me she had fucked on the tones of Blue Lines. But hey man, I get sick when I read yet another review talking about the dark sounds of Massive Attack. I hate that word dark' as if we were satanists or something. OK weve made a couple of tracks that are tense, and mysterious and melancholic, but thats it. Were positive people.
Whenever I hear our music on TV, its always as background to the news, or to documentaries about rape, serials killers or incest. And also to reality shows or dramas set in hospitals if I see another one of those Im going to throw my beer at the television! On our website we sometimes get messages from people who are listening to Massive Attack in countries like Zambia or Senegal or Guatemala. I prefer that a lot. A friend of mine told me he saw a little boy in a village in Pakistan last year, which kept on playing a cassette with some of our songs over and over on an old, half wrecked cassette deck. Ive spoken myself to a paratrooper who served in the gulf war and had put our Safe from Harm on repeat inside his tank for weeks on end. And different movie directors have told me they play Massive Attack on the set to prepare their actors for intense scenes. That I find awesome.

Humo: for the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge you have collaborated with David Bowie. How was that?
RDN: Electronic. Weve spoken twice on the phone, and the rest of the communication was done by e-mail: smooth and efficient, without any animosity or discussion, quite contrary to what I am used to with Massive Attack. But in the end, I was still not satisfied with the result, although I admire Bowie endlessly. For the soundtrack of Batman forever I delivered a similar mistake. Never again.

Humo: For a band that can so perfectly set an atmosphere, it is really astonishing you have never yet made a full soundtrack.
RDN: We get a lot of offers, but usually it doesnt work out. Weve had meetings with David Pincher, director of Fight Club, who thought we were so cinematic. The makers of Matrix Reloaded first absolutely wanted us to do the whole soundtrack, but in the end the producers decided to use only techno.
This week we have a meeting with David Aronovsky (Requiem for a Dream), but were leaving for a year long tour in a few weeks; so we wont have the time. And in between we are indeed going to work on the sister-album of 100th Window, with remixes, interludes and alternative versions. I already feel the itch to get cracking at some of the tracks, to fuckem up a little. That is also what we will be doing live, remixing the tracks live and not reproducing the CD versions of the tracks note for note.

Humo: Massive Attack live is a high-tech happening, with samplers, preprogrammed bits, live instruments, vocalists, rappers and video projections. Has anybody ever pushed the wrong button during a concert, which made you suddenly think: Where the hell is that sound coming from all of a sudden?
RDN: We just hired a new keyboard player for the duration of the whole tour, and Im gonna instruct him to push the wrong button every once in a while, that keeps us alert. He is also going to compile a sound library, so that live we can fit in different sounds than the known samples from the CDs. I am also carrying a recorder at all times when Im traveling to record strange noises.
Humo: There are sounds on 100th Window that I really cannot place, very whining and mysterious. Which instrument is that?
RDN: Thats not an instrument, that is my voice. The bassline of Butterfly Caught for instance is my voice, but slowed down and worked upon. Nearly all the electronic sounding layers of that track are manipulated vocals.
Humo: That beautiful violin in Butterfly Caught, that is real I hope?
RDN: Yes. For a number of songs on Mezzanine we first had string arrangements, but they didnt work. What I like about the violin in Butterfly Caught is that it is so non-definable; it sounds both oriental and western at the same time, as though it originated in Istanbul, when the Bosporus was still the limit between East and West. Originally, we wanted to go to India or Morocco and record local musicians there, but I was afraid that it would then immediately sound too ethnic there are too many Western records nowadays where you hear samples of third world musicians. The violinist is an Englishman who has studied Indian music, and economy from my hero Noam Chomsky. It was a gigantic work for him to transform the dozens of samples I had prepared into an arrangement for a 50 men string orchestra.

Humo: Back in the days with Tricky, Massive Attacks studio recording sessions were explosive situations, and with Mushroom too the story has it you have had harsh arguments. But can you tell us what is in your opinion a perfect day for Massive Attack in the studio; one of those days where all the pieces seem to fall together?
RDN: (is silent for a long while) Well, I guess that silence says it all doesnt it? (laughs) Early last year, when we recorded Future Proof, was quite a good time. The Christmas period had been pretty depressing, and then Daddy G suddenly stopped showing up. After the New Year I then started writing songs with Neil Davidge (producer). I had a couple of ideas for a track. Angelo contributed a bit of guitar. I added some more morsecode, bleeps and a beat from another track, called Aftersun. The next day I found another couple of clicks that fitted perfectly with the rest. I already had the lyrics about dysfunctional relationships. And that jigsaw puzzle became Future Proof. In two days time! I really couldnt believe what was happening. I am very proud of Massive Attack and what weve accomplished, but it has only been very rarely a pleasure.

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From the Irish Independent web site:

Sinead stands by tour with Massive Attack
Sunday March 2nd 2003

SINEAD O'CONNOR has no plans to cancel her tour with the Massive Attack star who was arrested last week as part of an investigation into child internet porn. Millionaire musician 3D was released without charge and it is understood he may have been targeted by mistake.

His band's latest album, 100th Window, features guest appearances from Sinead O'Connor, as well as Blur frontman Damon Albarn. The Irish singer will continue with her intensive schedule of gigs on the Massive Attack tour which begins next month.

Those who know O'Connor well say she is standing by 3D a close personal friend because she believes he has done nothing wrong. One theory is that the Massive Attack singer visited a harmless site owned by a company which also hosts porn elsewhere online and this connection wrong-footed investigators. Music industry sources are predicting police may issue an apology to 3D tomorrow.

Following the star's arrest last week, New Zealand authorities banned him from entering the country. But after no charges were pressed, the New Zealand consulate in England withdrew the ban and issued an apology.

3D told the Sunday Independent: "I have never looked at child pornography in my life. I am fully co-operating with the police and I would ask everyone not to judge me prematurely. I have total faith in the justice system. I abhor child pornography and child abuse in all forms."

The Massive Attack singer is no stranger to controversy. He grabbed headlines after a colourfully-worded criticism of the Duchess of York when she presented him with a 1998 MTV music award. "Someone's having a f***ing laugh. F*** you very much," 3D said. He later asked reporters: "What the f*** has she got to do with music for a start?"

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Oeh, een lezer!!

Ik heb er zin in!!!!

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Massive Attack Member Cleared Of Child Porn Charges

Internet child pornography charges against Massive Attack's frontman Robert Del Naja (a.k.a. 3D) have been dropped because of insufficient evidence, British police said in a statement.

Del Naja was arrested February 25 as part of Operation Ore, the Internet sting in England that nabbed the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend and over 1,500 others who used credit cards to pay for access to child pornography sites (see "Pete Townshend Arrested In Child Porn Investigation").

Shortly after he was arrested, the artist issued the statement, "I have never looked at child pornography in my life. I am fully cooperating with the police and I would ask everyone not to judge me prematurely."

During the investigation, detectives seized computer equipment and a quantity of suspected drugs from Del Naja's home in Avon and Somerset, England, police said. His computer gear has been returned, but he remains on police bail for allegations of possession of a controlled drug, according to the statement.

Before being fingered in the porn probe, De Naja and Blur vocalist Damon Albarn teamed up to publicly protest the military campaign in Iraq (see "U.K. Artists Sign Petition Opposing Invasion Of Iraq").

Massive Attack's latest album 100th Window was released February 11. The group is currently in Japan, and will begin a European tour April 8. The tour will run through July 24.

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Mooizo