Something that we feel strongly about at EQ is real music art.  In the day and age where we purchase music almost entirely over the web and recycle our old CDs on eBay for some quick cash, sometimes the artwork, concept and credits get entirely lost in cyberspace.

Unless it's a major label release, we rarely get PDF CD booklets in iTunes anymore and that's really sad because we are loosing sight of some of the brilliant art that makes up the overall embodiment of the album as a whole.  It's this art that ties the album together.  The celebration of art in music seems to be get pushed by the wayside in exchange for simple little mp3s that rest ever so silently on our hard drives and on our mp3 players.

EQ Music Blog is firmly committed to the promotion of digital music art and that's why we have chosen respected digital music artist Jam Sutton to take over the design of the blog this week.  Jam's music artwork is stunningly detailed and exceedingly exciting.  His eye for colour and emotion are almost storylike, whilst still remaing cutting edge and utterly uber cool – beyond it's time.

I caught up with Jam Sutton to talk about digital art and how he is pioneering the return of real art in music.  We hope you appreciate his work as much as we do.  He truly is a visual superstar.

Hello Jam – how are you today sir? So tell me, what inspires you most when it comes to music art?
Hello! I’m great thank you! The music inspires me; when starting on an artist’s campaign I have to be moved and inspired to do the project justice. I would say I prefer campaign artwork that takes risks, something other than a standard portrait of a musician. Music moves you, it makes you feel an emotion, it should be exactly the same with the artwork, the artwork should make you feel something, and it should capture the artist in a way that’s faithful to the music.

I first took notice of your work on the current Frankmusik campaign – what was it like to work on those amazing images. They really blew my mind.
Thank you! It was a great project to work on; the whole campaign was actually two separate photoshoots with Frankmusik. The first shoot was to establish the visual concept and the second photoshoot in London was for the actual album cover. I worked closely with long term collaborator Martin Kierzenbaum (Cherry Cherry Boom Boom) and Frankmusik to establish the ‘Blade Runner’ Los Angeles aesthetic & direction. I was staying with my friend Natalia Kills in LA when I first met Frankmusik. He was riding his BMX down Melrose Ave & we bumped into him. Natalia & Frankmusik took me around downtown LA to photograph various elements at night which eventually made up the final artwork compositions. Frankmusik is a talented guy, he played me some early demos he was working on in his LA studio, which eventually made up his new album ‘Do It In The A.M’.

My favorite image of yours is Natalia Kills throwing an axe through a mirror – how did you create that one?
I’ve worked with Natalia for many years and this was one of my favourite shoots with her. We wanted to do something that was a bit unsafe, something that provoked. I wanted to create an image that honoured her single ‘Mirrors,’ portraying a psychological fight with the reflection in the mirror, the vanity and insecurity of self-image. The image was shot in 2 parts, the confrontational Kills staring at her reflection, and the psychotic Kills smashing through the mirror. I wanted to push Natalia to use her acting capabilities.

When did you know that music art was going to be your life? When did you know that this is what you wanted to do in life?
I’ve known all my life that I wanted to create. I wanted to be an Italian Renaissance painter, but obviously I missed out on this part of history. Photography became my replacement obsession. My painting background comes through in my work, which is not strictly photography. I guess it’s more of a fusion of photography and digital painting. Music is also a big part of my life and I have an attraction to the flashing lights of celebrity pop culture. There is something disturbing and tragic that hides beneath the polished surface of ‘celebrity’. So I guess things just fell into place and the direction of my life came together. I’m trying to bring the art back into music artwork.

What has been your favorite music art campaign to work on?
Each campaign stands out in different ways to me, but a really exciting moment was working with N.E.R.D. & Pharrell Williams. I’ve been a huge fan of theirs for so long, so this photoshoot was a dream job. I’ve always had ideas of what I would do if I was given the chance to shoot Pharrell & N.E.R.D., so when the opportunity came I was honoured to be a part of their project. Pharrell is a really great guy and receiving praise from someone you admire so much is one of the greatest compliments.

What's the hardest part of being a digital artist?
Knowing when a piece of work is finished. I’m OCD to detail; I can spend a whole week just tweaking sections of an image, to the point of near insanity. There comes a point where you just have to let things go, and this point only reveals itself when I’m 100% satisfied with the image. It can be a long process.

Anything you would like to share with our EQ readers who may be discovering your amazing art for the first time?
Thank you for taking a look! If you like what you see, stay tuned to my website & twitter. I’m launching a new project soon; a luxury clothing brand which I’ve been working on for the past year. I’m creating exclusive photographic artwork prints onto t-shrirts featuring musical friends & icons of our time. A walking art exhibition if you like. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for many years, and I’m really excited that it’s finally coming together. Thank you for supporting my work, I will leave you with a statement everyone should live by. “Do what you love. Love what you do.”

www.jamsutton.com

www.twitter.com/jamsutton

The post EQ Interview With Artist Jam Sutton appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

by Raj Rudolph

Patrick Wolf's new EP entitled “Brumalia” is out now and features six brand new glorious tracks.  The video for "Together" is something quite special too that we've been luxuriating in over at EQHQ for quite some time.  We thinks you'll enjoy it too if you haven't seen it yet -it's rather pleasing to say the least. 

Patrick was kind enough to share with us some commentary on each of the new tracks below and we hope you enjoy this bit of "behind the lyrics" – it's totally warmed me up and lifted my spirits on this rather gloomy and wintery Tuesday.

Bitten: This is a song I’ve been writing the lyrics for a few years now. It’s about addiction to love, sex and drugs. I was inspired to finally finish it this Autumn by someone I knew who sadly passed away this year due to many years of addiction. I call the character “Lucy”, after the character in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. It’s the sequel to the story of my song “Bluebells” which was also about a “Lucy”. This is the first recording I’ve played theremin on since I played with a band called Minty when I was 13. The musical saw trio (that sounds like a choir of angels) was played by David Coulter, who has been a huge musical inspiration to me over the last two albums. He also plays the musical saw on Jerusalem later on in the EP. I wanted to go hard with my beats again after trying to show restraint on “Lupercalia”. I wanted it to sound like someone trying to hammer and pick their way through a black night in the mountains. My Argentinian friend Sol does the spoken word introduction “Nunca se Olvida ,Que Siempre Viva” which roughly translates as ”never forgotten, always alive” or can also mean when not in Argentina “never forget you are alive!”

Together: This is a song from my fifth album “Lupercalia”, and is the reason for the making of this e.p. The lyric “London bridge, the rain, at last back in these arms again” made me want to tell an inner city winter months story record. It feels amazing to also finally make a music video for this song, I saved it from The Bachelor album as I wanted it to have its own space and time as a song. It’s really been the big number of my festival sets during this Summer. I feel like the song is definitely already public property! I wrote it on the London tube on the way to Heathrow to catch a plane over to Berlin to work on some production with Alec Empire. I’m really proud of Alec’s synth programming on this song, it was produced in his hellish vortex studio on his amazing old Russian synthesizers and beats made Atari computer.

Time of Year: I’ve wanted to write a Christmas single for years and everything but the lyrics for this song were finished at the same time of the recording of “Lupercalia”. It then took time and observation to realise I wanted the song to be set between Christmas and New Year, about that need for love, comfort and to share love, then thinking of all the families sending their love to family members overseas in wars. I always feel at this time we long to be closer to those we love, no matter how far apart, alive or dead those people may be. My favourite line is “what frankincense or myrhh do they seek, for to send our soldiers to those burning sands? How many crosses more must we stigmata our soil with, until we reveal the blood on our hands?” It feels good to be asking questions again as a writer. I would guess this is the last big orchestral pop production song I think I will do for a while, its been amazing working with such huge string, woodwind and brass sections In huge studios like air over the last few years. After this EP I’m already hungry to change everything up again, draw a line under the last 10 years of work and start some reinvention.

Jerusalem: I have somehow always associated this song with Christmas and wanted to choose a hymn for this e.p that didn’t mention the “C” word. William Blake wrote the words for this song while living in Vauxhall, I always think of this song as Blake staring over Vauxhall pleasure gardens and trying to dream up some kind of paradise. Last Christmas my friends and I went to horsemeat disco during a London blizzard and were snowed in and the club just kept going as none of the doors would open. I sang this song to myself as we all finally waded through the snow and ice home through the pleasure gardens, thinking of Blake. Patti Smith is a huge fan of Blake too, thus the EP artwork being dedicated to her.

Nemoralia: I began making this in August this year from my home studio in Southwark, during the nights of the riots and looting in London. Recording noises of the fires from the unfolding live footage and sampling artillery noises from the war coverage on the news. I guess its less of a traditional song and more of a little personal poem to remember the strange panic of those few days while living in central London. The title translates as “The Festival of Torches” that used to happen around the same days of the riots in August. It definitely marks the end of my obsession with ancient Roman festival names! The saxophone solo at the end is definitely a big tribute to X Ray Spex and in honour of one of my all time teenage idols, Poly Styerene, Rip!

Pelicans: I spent some time just before “Lupercalia” came out this year on an amazing no destination road trip drifting around the Florida coast, visiting swamps and researching where the pirates first landed in St. Augustine. I wasn’t planning to write any songs, but while going through my ipad on a long drive I found an unfinished programming session I started out of samples of woodwind improvisations by my father when I was 18. I finished it by a swamp, sampling the noises from the reeds and the engine noises on my ipad and then recorded piano and vocals back in London. There were so many pelicans everywhere when I finally reached an out of season Daytona Beach, and the whole place felt like some amazing ghost town at that time of year. I guess the song is a thank you to those days in Daytona. Getting lost on the road at night, karaoke + gin at the Silverline and those amazing Pelicans for making me feel human and alive again after spending two years locked away in studios making “Lupercalia”. “Let this be the shortest day now of my year” inspired me to call the e.p Brumalia as that was the festival of marking the shortest day of the year. My best friend John Jenkinson, who recently directed a video for me for “Armistice” has been making a feature film called Pelicans over the last couple of years and I will be re recording this song with an orchestra for the closing titles.

Trust: Trust has always been one of my favourite songs, but always felt too private to play to anyone. I guess it boils down to being afraid of intimacy or privacy with someone and finding the strength to trust someone after having your heart messed about with in other relationships. It’s almost a word for word entry from my private diaries. The harps on this song were played by the amazing singer and songwriter, Serafina Steer. I dusted down my accordion too for this song, I wanted it to have the old romantic feel of one of the old French chanson by Charles Trenet. I really love singing the German word Vertrauen in this song too. It’s gorgeous to pronounce and sing.

The post Patrick Wolf Talks About Each Track From Brand New EP “Brumalia” appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

It's Eric Saade week here on EQ and we're celebrating the release of his spectacular new electo-pop album "Saade Vol 2"!

Just this morning, Eric released the behind-the-scenes footage for his new music video to "Hotter Than Fire" that drops on December 7th.  The footage is in Swedish, but I think you'll like what you see – there's even a sneak peek of the video at the very end.  By the looks of things, this music video is most certainly Eric's most ambitious to date.

If you're a hardcore Eric Saade fan, you'll be pleased to know that we have 5x signed copies of "Saade Vol 2" to give away to EQ members! 

All you have to do is send us an email on IHeartEric@electroqueer.com with the words "I Heart Eric Saade" in the Subject line with a few words about why you love the music of Eric Saade.  You need to be a member of the EQ mailing list to be eligible as well, so make sure you sign up to our list under the Subscribe section at the top right of the blog if you're not already a member.

If you missed our interview with Eric Saade – make sure to catch up on that right here!

The post Go Behind The Scenes For “Hotter Than Fire” With Eric Saade. Win A Signed Copy Of “Saade Vol 2” appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

Are you more of an mp3 type of person?  Have you wondered why you’re hanging on to those old music discs that seem to be taking up so much space? If you are one of these people, there is a popular trend could actually pay off for you, and it’s selling your old CDs for instant cash.

The process of selling your old CDs is a lot like reselling old books to a bookstore or donating old clothes, and it is a great way to pass on something that you have thoroughly enjoyed to another person. There are a few differences between reselling CDs and other belongings, but once you have done it once or twice, you’ll feel like a pro.

When you decide to sell your CDs, the first thing you should do is bring all your discs together and examine them to make sure they are in good condition. Most buyers will only accept CDs with minimal scratches, if any, and they all prefer for them to be in a case that looks like new. If you haven’t kept your CD cases in good condition, you can easily remedy this by popping out the artwork and placing it in new cases, which are inexpensive to purchase.

There are several ways to sell your CDs, either online or in person. The most traditional way to get a little cash for your old music is to take it to a nearby music store and ask if they will buy them second-hand. This is usually the quickest way to get your money. However, if you want to have a little bargaining power, you can also sell them via an online auction on a Web site like Ebay. This usually requires more effort, though, because you have to check in regularly to see what prices are offered for the CDs, package them and pay for postage to send them to the winners of the auction.

Selling CDs will rarely earn you more than a few pounds per disc, but there are ways to maximise your profits. Since you won’t earn very much from each individual disc, it is a good idea to wait until you have at least five to ten discs to go through the process of trying to sell them. Don’t spend money on selling them if you don’t have to. For example, swap cases from newer discs that you plan to keep with the ones that intend to sell instead of buying empty cases. Also, if you don’t want to pay for postage, you should try a music buying service like musicMagpie that will provide a courier service to come get your CDs or pay for the postage to send them in.

Once you have successfully sold your first batch of CDs, you might also want to consider selling your other entertainment collections to make money. Most times, the same services that buy CDs will also be willing to pay you for DVDs and video games, so long as you package them and present them in the same way.

The post No More CDs? Make Money With Your Old Discs appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

Eric Saade is certainly one of pop's most exciting commodities at the moment.  A Swedish superstar and overnight European treasure after his showstopping performance at Eurovision, the world's stage is set for Eric Saade to be an international pop phenomenon.

Eric's second album "Saade Vol 1" is quite easily one of this year's best pop collections and on Wednesday, November 30th the world will get to experience "Saade Vol 2" which features a second collection of tracks that ignite the dancefloor and the European pop charts.  His latest single "Hotter Than Fire" with the uber cool Dev is already one of the most talked about pop tracks right now.

In this EQ Music interview with Eric Saade, we talk about what it's like to release two albums in one year, his love affair with Robyn, collaborating with Dev, his timeless devotion to his fans and just why he likes singing "sexy" songs.  Eric is this week's EQ Cover Boy and the whole week will be devoted to Eric Saade and his uplifiting, feel-good, pop stomping electronic tunes.  Hope you enjoy!

The post EQ Interview With Eric Saade appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

by Raj Rudolph

For the past few weeks, I’ve been immensely enjoying re-living my 80s wonder years via the incredible  greatest hits collection of “Wham: The Final” which will be re-released on CD and DVD by Sony Music very soon. 

“Wham: The Final” is the duo’s most definitive collection of hits and highlights the days when pop music was fun, light-hearted, cool and sexy through pop rompers like “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”, “Freedom”, “Club Tropicana” and “I’m Your Man“.  These were songs that defined my youth and are the sole reason I wear a CHOOSE LIFE t-shirt all the time.  I recently wore my infamous CHOOSE LIFE t-shirt to a music interview and one of the publicists FREAKED OUT when he saw me wearing it…turns out, he was one of Wham’s managers back in the day and couldn’t believe that the t-shirts were making a comeback in fashion!

Anywho – if you are one of our younger readers and need to get a gift for mom or dad, rest assured a physical CD or DVD of “Wham: The Final” will make a most excellent stocking stuffer complete with iconic holiday song “Last Christmas”.  Or, if you’re one of grown-up readers, well I highly suggest you add this album download to your music collection.  If there ever was one greatest hits album that I would own, it would for damn sure be “Wham: The Final”. 

The post EQ Nu-Retro Rewind: The Final by Wham! Re-Release OUT Now! Re-Live Their Greatest Hits! appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

A note from Raj Rudolph

That’s right EQs, we’ve been wanting to launch a teen site for awhile now which focuses more on quick and snappy content for our younger readers, so well, we just did it and it’s live – go check it out!

How is this all changing?  Well www.electroqueer.com now points to our Tumblr site which will feature more popular mainstream musicians written from a young gay perspective and operated by our very own Javi Lopez. 

If you were a fan of Smash Hits, BOP or XY magazines back in the day (I know, some of you may be going WHAT?!), our aim is to bring some of that nostalgic fun teen content into the here and now with the newly relaunched Electroqueer.  Javi is obsessed with Tumblr, so were sure you’ll love what he’s got brewing up!

Is EQ Music Blog changing?  No way!  www.EQmusicblog.com will remain the same with more focus on editorial content and new artist discovery for our more grown-up readers.  We know you like EQ for what it is already, so we are simply just creating another hangout for the younger readers who are embracing the quick pace of Tumblr to share content with each other.  If you have a Tumblr, make sure to follow and reblog our posts – we are really looking forward to mixing it up with the Tumblr community!

And that’s it really – we hope you enjoy the new www.electroqueer.com and well, if teen music content really isn’t your cup o tea – not to fret, you can just continue reading EQ right here.  Or if you like all sorts of music (and really, we know you do because you read EQ) then well – enjoy the newly relaunched Electroqueer!

The post EQ Launches New Teen Site – Electroqueer.com appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

by Jordan Meehan

Attention Internet! The music video of the decade has finally arrived and is brought to us by none other than one of my favorite bands of all time, Duran Duran. Their video for their current single Girl Panic! from their new album “All You Need is Now” impacted cyberspace early last week and really shows the band returning to their roots.

Duran Duran may have been around since the 80s, but with this video, directed by the incredible Jonas Åkerlund, they prove that they’ve definitely still got it. Reminiscent of past videos such as Notorious, Girls on Film, and Rio, the video for Girl Panic! (which is by far the best song on their incredible new album) contains an unreal amount of models in the highest fashion and more champagne than the average person knows what to do with. Starring Naomi Campell, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen and Yasmin Le Bon as the members of Duran Duran, this video takes you through a day in the life of an incredible rock band. Easily one of the greatest, if not the greatest, music videos I have ever seen.

The post EQTV – Watch “Girl Panic!” by Duran Duran appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

By Mandy Rogers

Be prepared to be swept away into a night time liaison via verse and song from Bombs and Bottles, the brainchild of Brooklyn boy Harrison Zafrin.  

As Harrison releases the “Tonight” EP, sophistication is the name of game here, as you will find out. The Bombs and Bottles production gives out a sultry electronic performance, that will at first, playfully kiss your ears with sexy temptation, progressing through to a sensual full body massage from a smoothly stroked range of electronic aspects in – house, club and dubstep.  

Conceptually detailing the first flush of a romantic encounter through first glance, the hook-up and the done deed is nothing new of course, whereas Craig David sealed his amour in “7 Days”  Bombs and Bottles is on the fast track doing it in a matter of hours – leaving us listeners swooning in lustful admiration of his saucily candid yet ear perfected electro pop into the bargain.

The post EQ Discovery: Download “Tonight” EP by Bombs and Bottles appeared first on EQ Music Blog.

These days, it is actually becoming somewhat rare to find televisions in stores that are not of the flat screen variety. Indeed, whether you shop through electronics stores online, head to Marks & Spencer to check out the television section, or go to any other type of tv store, you will probably notice that the selection is almost exclusively made up of sleek new plasma and LCD TVs.

The simple reason for this is that the picture if far better on these televisions than on anything that came before them, meaning that people simply prefer to watch their programs on newer televisions. In fact, even music fans have found things to love about these newer TVs, as it can be simply spectacular to watch the newest music videos and concert recordings on a crystal clear, high quality screen. So, with this in mind, here are a few words on some exciting new music.

• Blink-182 just released its first album in nearly a decade, entitled Neighborhoods. The album is a bit different from the late 90’s, early 2000’s Blink-182 that we all remember, and shows some level of maturation (primarily in subject matter). However, there are still elements of classic Blink, and the album has mostly been met with rave reviews from fans. The band is currently on tour, meaning that it’s a good idea to be on the lookout for new videos and concert coverage.

• The Red Hot Chili Peppers also released a new album recently, the first since the smash hit double album Stadium Arcadium. The new album, entitled "I’m With You", brings us much of the same old sound from the Chili Peppers, which, due to the band’s unique style and musical approach, is just fine with most fans.

• Perhaps the biggest hit of recently released album is "Watch The Throne", the rap compilation effort from superstars Kanye West and Jay-Z. As predicted by just about everyone in the business, this album was an immediate hit, and has since gained plenty of radio and video play. If you are a fan of either artist, this is well worth checking out.

• Another big album of this year, which is actually scheduled to come out later this month, is Coldplay’s "Mylo Xyloto". Fans of the band were recently excited by the short EP released over the summer, and have since been enjoying the radio hit “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.” As is the case every time Coldplay releases a new album, this one is sure to lead to plenty of hot videos and sold out concerts to keep an eye on.

The post Guest Editorial: Sleek TVs Essential For Music Lovers appeared first on EQ Music Blog.