You'd probably know this piece of piano better with Roisin Murphy's sultry voice on top of it, off the Handsome Boy Modelling School track, but this is a pretty insane cook-up of Galt McDermot's piano loop.

Oh internets...

Without further ado, I present to thee, my year of music 2009. Every track is there for a reason, and all 325 minutes and 26 seconds count.

It's a top 71 list of stuff that rocked my socks in 2009. Warning: people might sing in a language you don't understand, or not sing at all. Some tracks might also be more than 40 years old, and use whiskers.

Just saying.

Bono wrote an op-ed in NYT on the 2nd of January, 2010.

It's modern times, and as he wrote in his op-ed exactly a year ago, Frank Sinatra told him that [...] being modern’s not about the future, it’s about the present.

So when you in your list item entitled "Intellectual Property Developers" urge, what seems to be, lawmakers to regulate global piracy, you are not living like Frank Sinatra told you to, if you want to be modern.

Many will expect to get it free.

Even though I think you already know (I mean, seriously, you can't be that gullible), I'll try to be really helpful and try to explain why this might be. Many will expect to get it for free, because it's cheaper, easier, and infinitely more convenient for many, to download it illegally, than it is to get it, and pay for it, legally. I can already download an entire season of 24, maybe not in 24 seconds, but possible in 2.5hrs (btw, that's beautfully written, the "24", and 24 seconds. Man, that's deep, really illustrates time-space compression). Buying means I have to leave the house, or purchase it online, and wait for it to get delivered to me. Boring.

I don't get this, isn't this basic economics? The transaction costs associated with purchasing a legal version are now so much higher than downloading it illegally. Bono, this will not change. You refer to China as a good example of how to track content. Hello? China? Great example for... police state? A place where the state hires people to write pro-governmental propaganda on public forums? A place where journalists are arrested and sentenced for speaking their minds about the government? Bono, take a step to the side, I believe you are standing on your balls. Just saying.

Thing is, I wouldn't mind paying for it, if I could get it conveniently, and instantly. I would imagine many people share this view. But instead of making that option available, the industry insists on being backwards and incompetent by incriminating anybody who would like to own their content quickly and easily. Normally, when there's a high demand for something, eventually somebody will say "hey, I bet we could make money from this". Unfortunately, nobody has figured this out in the industry yet, and what you should be doing with your influence is to set an example, and urge the industry to get their head out of their derrieres, and realize that disruptive technologies disrupt business models. Their business model is currently non-functional in the longer term, but instead of realizing that, and trying to mitigate it, and listen to their consumers, they are behaving like the newspapers, and you, asking for the government to regulate it.

Get a helmet Bono, and tighten it real carefully, because I'm afraid this ride only just started.

I recently had a very lively discussion with a couple of friends about how we would like our films delivered in the future. A subscription service for, say, Universal Films catalogue. Imagine that. Everything they ever made, streaming, to your device of choice, at any time of the day. How much would you be willing to pay pr. month/year/day/movie for having this available?

Am I being completely naive, thinking that there's actually quite a large amount of people who would be interested in paying such a subscription? Considering the hype surrounding Spotify in 2009, I would imagine a similar service for movies would be equally hyped. Tie it up with some nice IMDB data, possible their recommendation engine, and you'd be gunning for a pretty sweet deal I think. Would advertisers like it though?

What makes this clip worth it all is at 0:17, where Stevie removes the tube from his mouth to smile at how funky that shit he's playing is.

First things first. Watch this.

I know what you are thinking right now:

If I could be just half as cool as drummer James Gadson on that first pan of the camera, life would be all sunshine.

Right?

Bill Withers first album featured the fine group of gentlemen you see in this clip (James Gadson on drums, Benorce Blackmon on guitar, and bassist Melvin Dunlap). They were also part of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, whose fine contribution to music made it possible for NWA to sample their track "Express Yourself" for their hit track in 1988 with the same name.

Bill made history with this track landing him a grammy award for best rhythm and blues song in 1972, and in 1974 he was part of the delegation of afro-american musicians who went to Zaire (now DR Congo), as part of the music festival accompanying the fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali — The Rumble in The Jungle.

Also. Orange turtleneck. Bill, you fashion icon you!

Ikscheltaschel. Of course, their videos are just as weird as themselves.

Go trainers, role playing, and sweat bands!

Instantly made me think of this.

I was in Brazil recently. It was good, and I fell in love. No wonder this country produced all these beautiful kinds of music. I got high on the intake of pão de queijo, açai-drinks, and meat fests. Good lord what goodness. A dangerous mix, but good.

Spent some time in Rio de Janeiro, the most violent city in the world, with 5000 murders committed just last year. You'd think that spending a week in a city like that would confront you with some of that ugliness seeping through the cracks somewhere. But for 168 hours I didn't see any of this ugliness. Mind you, I didn't look for it either. Reading this article in the Guardian upon returning makes you feel like YADT (Yet Another Dumb Tourist), who only helps maintain a status quo of the social situation. FYI, I did not purchase any illicit favors, or get high on South American drugs, but that doesn't make you feel any less of a tourist ass.

Also spend time not in Rio de Janeiro. Equally "espectacular", but that's another post. Pictures in abundance