Earth day

As long as they’re willing to brave the 6am queues, no music fan is ignored in this year’s Record Store Day release list. Novelty singles your bag? Shaggy’s Oh Carolina gets a 25th anniversary release on green vinyl, no less. Grateful Dead completism your affliction? There are releases with Bob Dylan and a Fillmore West live set – but which one to choose! Consider it an expensive mystery to crack. Genuine curios? Bobbie Gentry’s Live at the BBC gets its first official release, as does a slightly tweaked version of the early Joy Division incarnation Warsaw’s self-titled debut. Browse the list in full below and prepare to indulge in your poison of choice on 21 April when Record Store Day 2018 takes place in more than 240 shops nationwide. Abba: Summer Night City (7-in single) AC/DC: Back in Black (cassette album) Adam Sandler: They’re All Gonna Laugh at You (2 x 140g LP) Air: Sexy Boy (12-in picture disc) Alarm, The: Where the Two Rivers Meet … [Read more...] about Record Store Day 2018: the exclusive releases in full

The tiny probe riding on the back of a comet 300 million miles from Earth is battling for its life. The Philae lander attempted to drill into the surface of comet 67/P, but its battery was on its way out. The drill is at full stretch despite the risk of toppling over the unstable washing machine sized probe. Scientists hope the samples from the drill - which has it extended to its maximum nine inches - can be analysed and transmitted back to Earth. If the battery dies the results may not make it back. Stephan Ulamec, Philae lander manager, said: “This would be fantastic but it is not secured - maybe the battery will be empty before we get contact again.” Because the lander has come to rest next to a cliff solar panels that power it are only getting 90 minutes of light a day rather than the six hours it needs to be fully operational. “We plan to rotate the lander a little bit so that at the position where we have now this one panel that gets sun, we’ll have a … [Read more...] about Rosetta mission: Tiny probe ”fighting for its life” as scientists hope samples can be beamed back to earth

Ten years ago, British saxophone legend Courtney Pine painted a sobering picture of life as a modern British jazz musician in an interview with the Guardian. For all the study involved in becoming one, most jazz musicians had no hope of making a living, unless they were one of the clean-cut vocalists content to ring-a-ding-ding their way through the great American songbook to the delight of Michael Parkinson: you could fully expect your weekends to be spent not exploring the outer limits of improvisation, but playing in a wedding band to make ends meet. “An incredible sale in this day and age is 3,000 copies,” he lamented. Here was evidence of how modern jazz lurks on the very fringes of mainstream public consciousness. You could fill a book with ways jazz has influenced rock and pop – from post-punk’s skronk to the samples of hip-hop and trip-hop – but apart from the aforementioned ring-a-ding-dingers, no serious jazz musician has really crossed over to … [Read more...] about Kamasi Washington: Heaven and Earth review – passionate sounds of the gathering storm

THE year 2019 is poised to the second-warmest year on Earth amid fears of an impending climate change catastrophe.   According to a new report this year found land and sea temperatures were nearly at the highest since records began in 1880.  A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded: “The year-to-date temperature for 2019 was also the second warmest on record for the January–October period.  “Based on current anomalies and historical global annual temperature readings, it appears that it is virtually certain that 2019 will be a top 10 year, consistent with a strong propensity since 1988 for recent years to be initially ranked as a top 10 year.” There is a 99.9 percent chance 2019 will be in the top 10 and top five warmest years on record.According to both NOAA as well as NASA, 2016 was the hottest year on record. The NOAA noted the average global land and ocean surface temperature last month was 1.76 … [Read more...] about HOT HOT HOT 2019 tipped to be Earth’s second hottest year of all time, say US weather officials

THE year 2019 is poised to the second-warmest year on Earth amid fears of an impending climate change catastrophe.   According to a new report this year found land and sea temperatures were nearly at the highest since records began in 1880.  A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded: “The year-to-date temperature for 2019 was also the second warmest on record for the January–October period.  “Based on current anomalies and historical global annual temperature readings, it appears that it is virtually certain that 2019 will be a top 10 year, consistent with a strong propensity since 1988 for recent years to be initially ranked as a top 10 year.” There is a 99.9 percent chance 2019 will be in the top 10 and top five warmest years on record.According to both NOAA as well as NASA, 2016 was the hottest year on record. The NOAA noted the average global land and ocean surface temperature last month was 1.76 … [Read more...] about 2019 tipped to be Earth’s second hottest year of all time, say US weather officials