The Cure are releasing an incredible deluxe version of Disintegration on June 8th, and fans who consider this their finest album will no doubt be pleased with it. A web site dedicated to the album is up and features a ton of instrumental demos and live songs from the album. Disintegration might actually be the first tape I bought - it may have been a Christmas gift, and it was also the Christmas I got my first stereo. I remember hours and hours of going to bed with headphones on playing that tape over and over. I don’t know why I find it strange these days to look back and think of a 6th grade kid obsessing over music at all, but I just didn’t know that many kids who were into anything like I was listening to at the time, like The Smiths, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, etc. In a pre-Internet world, I have to say it’s awesome to think any of that stuff was even accessible to me. Again, thanks to my sister and neighbors!

The Cure have had far more influence on my songwriting and guitar playing than anyone else as well. When I got my first guitar in 1992, after slowly getting the hang of it, the only thing that came natural to my ears were minor notes and depressing chord structures. Anyone who I’ve played or written music with over the years will tell you what a struggle it often is for me to write anything upbeat or cheerful. Thankfully, I’ve come around here and there, but I gladly go back to the late 80’s and the influence The Cure had on me as the reason why my guitar style is what it is.

If you are a huge Cure fan, I highly suggest heading over to the Disintegration web site and checking it out. The music section is a must and the Prayers For Rain Instrumental Home Demo is absolutely chilling. The full three-disc set will be released on June 8 in the US for $40, or $20 for digital download. There’s also a double-disc vinyl of the original album for $25. Full track listing after the jump.

Disc 1: Disintegration

1. “Plainsong”
2. “Pictures Of You”
3. “Closedown”
4. “Lovesong”
5. “Last Dance”
6. “Lullaby”
7. “Fascination Street”
8. “Prayers For Rain”
9. “The Same Deep Water As You”
10. “Disintegration”
11. “Homesick”
12. “Untitled”

Disc 2: Rarities (1988-1989)

1. “Prayers For Rain” rs Home Demo (instrumental) 04/88
2. “Pictures Of You” rs Home Demo (instrumental) 04/88
3. “Fascination Street” rs Home Demo (instrumental) 04/88
4. “Homesick” band Rehearsal (instrumental) 06/88
5. “Fear Of Ghosts” band Rehearsal (instrumental) 06/88
6. “Noheart” band Rehearsal (instrumental) 06/88*
7. “Esten” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88*
8. “Closedown” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88
9. “Lovesong” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88
10. “2late (alt Version)” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88
11. “The Same Deep Water As You” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88
12. “Disintegration” band Demo (instrumental) 09/88
13. “Untitled (alt Version)” studio Rough (instrumental) 11/88
14. “Babble (alt Version)” studio Rough (instrumental) 11/88
15. “Plainsong” studio Rough (guide Vocal) 11/88
16. “Last Dance” studio Rough (guide Vocal) 11/88
17. “Lullaby” studio Rough (guide Vocal) 11/88
18. “Out Of Mind” studio Rough (guide Vocal) 11/88
19. “Delirious Night” rough Mix (vocal) 12/88*
20. “Pirate Ships” (rs Solo) Rough Mix (vocal) 12/89*

All previously unreleased versions
(*Previously unreleased song)

Disc 3: Entreat Plus

1. “Plainsong”*
2. “Pictures Of You”
3. “Closedown”
4. “Lovesong”*
5. “Last Dance”
6. “Lullaby”*
7. “Fascination Street”
8. “Prayers For Rain”
9. “The Same Deep Water As You”*
10. “Disintegration”
11. “Homesick”
12. “Untitled”

Recorded live at Wembley Arena 1989
(*Previously unreleased performance)

DSC_0291, originally uploaded by mg33_chicago.

I took this photo of the Aqua condo building in downtown Chicago on a particularly foggy Saturday morning in April.

http://deartroy.com/blog/

TheLandBetweenHereAndMountains.Blogspot.com

As I’ve been learning more about photography since buying a Nikon D90 last October, I’ve found that I gravitate more towards the saturated, older film camera images both in terms of what I like looking at and how I like to edit my own photos after taking them. Of course I laugh at the fact that I’m using a pretty sophisticated, modern digital camera to take great vivid photos and then manipulate them to look old, but there’s something much more alive about these kinds of photos. They just have more of a personality to them than sharp, vivid photos.

The Commonwealth, from International Designers Network Volume 16, Number 6

Wilson Commercial (Spec)

As part of the planning process for the development of a new banknote series, a competition for the artistic design of the new banknote series was launched at the beginning of 2005. Twelve artists were invited to present their designs for all six denominations on the theme “Switzerland open to the world”. The jury met in November 2005 to evaluate the submissions and to decide on the winning designs. These were presented at a news conference in Berne on 23 November 2005. You can view them by clicking on the names of the individual designers.

Here are a few examples of the winning entries:

Some of then are very strange, such as this entry that looks like it was made with Microsoft Paint.

All results can be found here.

From the BBC web site:
In the late Seventies small pockets of electronic artists such as The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle were inspired by Kraftwerk and J G Ballard to dream of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.

Gary Numan’s 1979 appearance on Top Of The Pops heralded the invention of synthpop, which would provide the soundtrack as Britain entered a new, ruthless era in the Eighties.

Depeche Mode, four lads from Basildon, came to embody the new sound, while post-punk bands such as Ultravox, Soft Cell, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Yazoo took the synth from the pages of the NME and onto the front cover of Smash Hits.

By 1983 the Pet Shop Boys and New Order were pointing to where the future of electronic music lay – in dance.

Contributors to Synth Britannia include Philip Oakey, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Gary Numan and Neil Tennant.

For more information visit the BBC web site here.

I’ve been really happy using the D90 so far and obviously I’m in love with this new versatility. So far I’ve got a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 lens, and a Nikon 50mm F1.8. I’ve only had a few days and evenings to get around town and put it to use, but it’s great getting out and taking advantage of the lakefront, the great fall colors, the free Lincoln Park Zoo, and the downtown Chicago architecture. I’m definitely going to need a longer zoom at some point, though the 17mm wide angle of the Tamron is something I’m really enjoying. I’m looking forward to winter, lots of snow, and Lake Michigan freezing for some great landscape shots.

I’ve put up a gallery of some of the photos I liked most from the past two weeks. I’ll be adding to this here and there over the next few weeks.

Click here for photo gallery.

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