Up from Slavery chronicles over forty years of Washington's life: from slave to schoolmaster to the face of southern race relations. In this text, Washington climbs the social ladder through hard, manual labor, a decent education, and relationships with great people. Throughout the text, he stresses the importance of education for the black population as a reasonable tactic to ease race relations in the South (particularly in the context of Reconstruction). He argues for combining the learning of a trade with more intellectual studies (a combination which is reminiscent of Ruskin's philosophy in Fors Clavigera).
The book is in essence Washington's traditional, non-confrontational message supported by the example of his life.
Source: Wikipedia
Most ethical discussions take for granted the supreme moral value of selfless service. Debate then centers on details: Should we serve an alleged God or substitute “society” for God? How much sacrifice is required? Who’s entitled to benefit from others’ sacrifices?
In this volume’s lead essay, “The Objectivist Ethics,” Ayn Rand challenges that basic assumption by reconsidering ethics from the ground up. Why, she asks, does man need morality in the first place? Her answer to that question culminates in the definition of a new code of morality, based in rational self-interest, aimed at each individual’s life and happiness, and rejecting sacrifice as immoral.
In additional articles, Rand expands her theory and discusses practical questions such as: Do people face intractable conflicts of interest? Isn’t everyone selfish? Doesn’t life require compromise? How do I live in an irrational society? What about the needs of others? What are political rights? What’s the rational function of government? Her fresh, provocative answers cast new light on what it means to be genuinely selfish.
Source: Aynrand.org
Darius Rucker
Southern Style (2015)
Zac Brown Band
JEKYLL + HYDE (2015)
As the frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker was one of the most popular frontmen in mainstream pop/rock during the mid-'90s. The band's debut album, Cracked Rear View, was virtually inescapable in 1995, eventually selling more than 16 million copies and becoming one of the most successful albums of all time. Hootie & the Blowfish couldn't re-create that magic on future albums, though, and the band took a break from the studio after releasing 1998's Musical Chairs. Rucker used his free time to launch a solo career, which allowed the singer to explore his R&B and country influences.
Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, Rucker was exposed to the sounds of Otis Redding, Al Green, and Gladys Knight at an early age. Those R&B icons helped influence Hootie & the Blowfish's recordings, all of which featured Rucker's soulful baritone at the forefront, but it wasn't until his solo career that Rucker truly paid homage to the sounds of his youth. He initially planned to launch his solo career with The Return of Mongo Slade, which was scheduled for a summer 2001 release by Atlantic Records, but contractual changes prevented the album's release. A few months later, Rucker jumped ship for Hidden Beach Recordings, which then acquired the master recordings of his debut from Atlantic.
After making a cameo in the Farrelly brothers' film Shallow Hal, Rucker introduced his mellow, R&B-influenced music with 2002's Back to Then (essentially The Return of Mongo Slade with a different title), which featured collaborations with Jill Scott and Snoop Dogg. Rucker then returned his focus to Hootie & the Blowfish, releasing two albums with the group during the early 2000s before revisiting his solo career. This time, he opted for a country approach, and the twangy Learn to Live found an appropriate home among country music fans, who sent both the album and its flagship single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," to the top of the Billboard country charts. "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright" also peaked at number one, pushing the album to platinum status within a year of its release. Rucker smartly stayed in the country mold for his follow-up album, Charleston, SC 1966, which appeared in fall 2010; it also spawned two number one singles in "Come Back Song" and "This." His third solo album in a country vein, True Believers, followed in early 2013 and it generated a massive hit in the form of "Wagon Wheel," a number one country single that crossed over to 15 on the pop charts on its way to triple-platinum certification. As he prepped a fourth country album, Rucker released the "Homegrown Honey" single in the fall of 2014, along with the seasonal album Home for the Holidays. Southern Style appeared in March 2015.
Source: Billboard.com
Zac Brown is a country singer, songwriter, and bandleader, one of the brightest stars in a generation of performers set on changing the paradigm of the country music business. He's also a record producer, record label head, and philanthropist set on making the world a better place for as many people as possible. With his winning combination of country, bluegrass, reggae, and Caribbean music, he appeals to country fans and jam band hippies, and could well cross over to lovers of world music and pop. He sold over 30,000 copies of the first two self-produced albums he made for his own Southern Ground label, and "Chicken Fried," the Zac Brown Band's first single to get national distribution, went platinum with over a million downloads. His first nationally distributed album, The Foundation, sold 300,000 copies within weeks of its release in late 2008.
Brown was born in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Dahlonega, Georgia, a small town in the north Georgia mountains. He was the 11th child in a family of 12 kids, and grew up in a split family. His father worked for Coca-Cola and ran health clubs, his mom sold insurance, his stepdad was a dentist, and his stepmom was an office manager. Brown's oldest brother was 21 years his senior, so he was exposed to a wide variety of music growing up. His siblings' record collections included country, pop, bluegrass, reggae, folk, and singer/songwriter albums by Cat Stevens, James Taylor, the Eagles, Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. His brother Wynn played bluegrass guitar and banjo, his mother liked old pop singers like Sinatra, and his dad played folk guitar and led the family in campfire singalongs. Brown sang as soon as he could talk, and started classical guitar lessons at age seven, which helped his fingerpicking skills when he switched to bluegrass and country in middle school. Seeing Shawn Mullins at a local coffeehouse made Brown realize he wanted to be a performer. He started playing solo gigs while he was in high school, doing covers of pop and country songs as well as his few original tunes. Attending a summer camp and working with mentally and physically challenged kids made him aware of how lucky he was. He vowed he'd open his own camp someday.
Brown went to college on a vocal scholarship and studied classical voice, but shifted his major several times to biology, then business, and finally psychology. He had a band in college and alternated between band gigs and solo restaurant dates to pay his way through school. His college band, Far from Einstyne, made an eponymous CD to sell at gigs in 1998. When the band fell apart during the recording sessions, Brown and the drummer continued on as a duo. When 9/11 occurred, Brown reevaluated his life. For years he'd been playing solo and full-band gigs at night and going to classes during the day. He decided life was too short to do things he wasn't interested in, and left school to perform full-time.
He toured for a few years in a two-piece -- acoustic guitar and drums -- as Far from Einstyne. In 2002, he put together the first Zac Brown Band, looking for players with a high level of musicianship who wanted to be equal partners in a band with a communal vibe. They played about 200 gigs their first year, a pace the band keeps up to this day. In 2003, he started his own Home Grown label -- today called Southern Ground for legal reasons -- and released Home Grown in 2003 and Live from the Rock Bus Tour in 2005. The albums have moved over 30,000 units, an impressive showing for an unsigned band. Brown runs the label, manages and books the band, and produces its albums with the help of bass player John Hopkins. In 2004, he opened a music club and restaurant with his father to serve gourmet Southern-style food. The Zac Brown Band played weekends and Brown played solo on Tuesday nights, and when he wasn't in the kitchen overseeing the staff, he was on the road with the band doing other gigs.
When a developer bought the restaurant, Brown and the band got a tour bus and hit the road full-time, playing country and rock clubs and folk and jam band festivals. With the personnel settled down to the cohesive unit of bassist Hopkins, fiddler Jimmy De Martini, guitarist/organist Coy Bowles, and drummer Chris Fryar, the band cut The Foundation with producer Keith Stegall in 2006. The songs had been road-tested and were laid down live in the studio with minimal fuss. The album came out first on Southern Ground and was picked up by Live Nation, the giant concert promoter, for their new record label in 2007. When Live Nation folded, Atlantic stepped up and released The Foundation nationally in November of 2008. "Chicken Fried," the first single, was a cross-genre platinum-selling hit. Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Clay Cook joined the band in January of 2009.
With the album doing well, Brown expanded Southern Ground Records and signed the Sonia Leigh Band, fronted by country singer/songwriter Leigh, a cross between Joan Jett and Johnny Cash; Levi Lowrey, an Americana singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; and Nic Cowan, a pop singer/songwriter with a Ben Harper-meets-Chris Robinson vibe. Brown toured with his labelmates in support of The Foundation during 2009, the same year in which the Zac Brown Band cut 20 tunes for their next project, and Brown bought land for his own summer camp, a venture he planned to run in cooperation with Brain Balance, an organization that works with kids with autism and ADD. He also used the recipes he developed at his restaurant for a line of barbecue sauces and other food products. In 2010, Brown and his band were awarded the Grammy for Best New Artist. Also in 2010, the live Pass the Jar, recorded at a performance at Atlanta's Fox Theatre, was released. The studio follow-up to The Foundation, You Get What You Give, which featured new songs that the band honed on the road, appeared later that same year.
The group's third major-label studio album, 2012's Uncaged, the first with new member percussionist Daniel de los Reyes and featuring guest spots from Amos Lee and Trombone Shorty, as well as songs co-written with Jason Mraz and fellow Southern Ground artists Nic Cowan and Sonia Leigh, was conceived and recorded as a whole, not just as a collection of songs. Uncaged performed well, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 on its way to earning a platinum certification; it also generated the Top Ten country hits "Goodbye in Her Eyes," "Sweet Annie," and "Jump Right In." While the Zac Brown Band worked on their fourth album, they released the compilation Greatest Hits So Far... in time for the holiday season of 2014. In early 2015 the band dropped the chart-topping single "Homegrown" in anticipation of the full-length Jekyll + Hyde, released in April of that year.
Source: Billboard.com
Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording. In many interviews, Kruspe says the idea for Emigrate came to him around Rammstein's Mutter era.
On September 5, 2006, members of the Rammstein.de newsletter were sent an invitation to the Emigrate newsletter and given the chance to download the song "Wake Up", a sneak peek of the upcoming album. Three song samples were also posted on Emigrate's website: "My World", "Babe", and "Temptation". Fans voted "Babe" as being their favorite, and newsletter recipients were allowed to download “Babe” in its entirety starting November 29, 2006. On May 21, 2007 the Emigrate Official Website opened and “My World” was made available for download, in its entirety, to newsletter subscribers.
The video for "My World" has been released and can be viewed on the official website. The video was also included on the limited edition release of the album Emigrate. In addition to the video, My World is featured on the soundtrack to the third Resident Evil movie, Resident Evil: Extinction. The soundtracks to the previous two movies contained "Halleluja" and "Mein Teil" from Rammstein, respectively. On July 27, 2007 Richard made an appearance on Bruce Dickinson rock show on BBC. A video for "New York City" has been released. Richard then left the Emigrate project aside due to Rammstein reuniting in the fall of 2007 to work on their new album Liebe ist für alle da which was released in October 2009, and also to take part in the subsequent Rammstein tour.
Joe Letz, who had appeared in the video for "My World", updated the Emigrate Facebook page on June 24, 2011, stating that Richard has been working on a new record.
On December 5, 2012, an announcement posted on the Emigrate Facebook page announced that demos were being recorded and reviewed, and studio time was being set up in January 2013 to begin official recording of an untitled second album.
In January 2013, Kruspe stated via the Emigrate Facebook page that drums were beginning to be mixed for the new record.
In January 2014, Kruspe, on the Emigrate Facebook page, posted that twenty tracks had been recorded for Emigrate and that mixing would be performed in Los Angeles, California, alongside Ben Grosse, with a projected release in the summer of 2014.
On March 7, 2014, Kruspe announced the second album was complete and he is departing back to Berlin.
On July 22nd, 2014, a post was made to Emigrate's official Facebook page with a teaser trailer to Emigrate's new album, titled Silent So Long and an official release date of October 17th, 2014.
On December 9th, 2014, Emigrate's second album titled Silent So Long was released.[
Source: Wikipedia
Hailing from South Africa and comprising members Shaun Morgan (vocals, guitar), Dale Stewart (bass), and John Humphrey (drums), Seether embraces a brand of heavy metal mostly associated with the post-grunge era of alternative music, complete with crunchy distortion and brooding textures.
The band emerged in 1999 as Saron Gas (a name taken from the back of a sound effects CD) and released their debut album, Fragile, the following year on Musketeer Records. In a country whose musical tastes center around pop and indigenous music, Fragile found impressive chart success. Across the Atlantic, the U.S.-based Wind Up Records caught wind of the band's growing popularity and signed the South African bandmates, who changed their name to Seether in light of Saron Gas' similarity to the lethal nerve agent sarin gas.
An EP release and a spot on the Ozzfest tour preceded the unveiling of Seether's full-length debut in the summer of 2002. Issued that August, Disclaimer featured the modern rock single "Fine Again" and led to a year-long tour, during which singer Morgan's relationship with Evanescence siren Amy Lee blossomed. But while the tour ensured increasing commercial status for Seether, it also delayed the band's return to the studio.
In March 2004, a few tracks appeared on the Punisher soundtrack, including a duet version of Disclaimer's "Broken" featuring vocal contributions from Lee. Disclaimer II appeared that June, pairing a handful of new tracks with remixed or re-recorded versions of the previous album's tracks. Seether viewed the album as an opportunity to re-evaluate their debut's release (whose mix was, according to the band, subpar) and gave listeners new content as a holdover until the band's proper follow-up.
The promised sophomore effort, Karma and Effect, was released in May 2005 and entered the Top Ten, while the acoustic CD/DVD package One Cold Night appeared in 2006. Following Morgan's breakup with Amy Lee and a successful stint in rehab, Seether returned in 2007 with Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, introducing the album with the snide and catchy single "Fake It."
In 2009 the band took a break from touring to head into the studio with producer Brendan O'Brien to work on their fifth album. They went back out on the road for another year before eventually releasing Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray in 2011. Isolate and Medicate, the band's sixth studio long-player, followed in 2014.
Source: Billboard.com
Book V: The War of the Ring
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith in the kingdom of Gondor, delivering the news to Denethor, the Lord and Steward of Gondor, that a devastating attack on his city by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor is imminent. Pippin then enters the service of the Steward as repayment of a debt he owes to Boromir, Denethor's dead son and preferred heir. Now clad in the uniform of the tower guard, Pippin watches the fortunes of war unfold, while Denethor descends into madness as the hosts of Mordor press ever closer to Gondor's capital city of Minas Tirith. Faramir, Boromir's younger brother, returns from his campaign with the shattered remnants of his company and is soon ordered to ride out and continue the hopeless defence of Osgiliath against a horde of orcs. Osgiliath is soon overrun and a gravely wounded Faramir is carried back to Denethor. His people seemingly lost and his only remaining son all but dead, Denethor orders a funeral pyre built that is to claim both him and his dying son. Minas Tirith stands encircled and besieged by Sauron's main host, composed of well over 200,000 orcs.
Meanwhile, in Rohan, Théoden and his Rohirrim are recovering from the Battle of the Hornburg, in which they defended Rohan against the forces of Saruman at great cost. Aragorn, having confronted Sauron through the palantír of Isengard, sets out to find the lost army of the undead oathbreakers who dwell in the Paths of the Dead, a mountain hall, cursed because they did not help Isildur during the War of the Last Alliance. Helped by his companions Legolas and Gimli as well as a Company of Rangers from Arnor in the north (the "Grey Company"), he sets out to recruit the Army of the Dead to his cause. As Aragorn departs on his seemingly impossible task, King Théoden musters the Rohirrim (mounted cavalry) to come to the aid of Gondor. Merry, eager to go to war with his allies, is refused by Théoden several times. Finally Dernhelm, one of the Rohirrim, takes Merry up on his horse so that he can accompany the rest of the Rohirrim. Aided by a tribe of Wild Men of the Woods, Théoden's forces travel a long-forgotten forest path to avoid an Orc ambush on the main road and reach Minas Tirith stealthily.
The hosts of Mordor, led by the dreaded Witch-king of Angmar, succeed in breaking through the gates of Minas Tirith, but are in turn crushed by the arriving cavalry of Rohan. The battle is also joined by a "black fleet with black sails". The forces of Mordor initially rejoice at its arrival; and then are horrified to see the banner of the King upon the ships. Aragorn has succeeded in using the Oathbreakers to defeat the Corsairs of Umbar; the men of Gondor who were once slaves on the ships are brought back to fight the host of Mordor. In the following Battle of the Pelennor Fields the Witch-king is slain by Dernhelm, revealed to be Éowyn the niece of King Théoden, with help from Merry. Thus the siege is broken, but at heavy cost: many warriors of Gondor and Rohan fall, among them King Théoden. Denethor attempts to immolate himself and Faramir on his funeral pyre, but Gandalf and Pippin succeed in saving Faramir. Then Denethor reveals that he has used the palantír of Minas Tirith and declares the situation hopeless.
Gandalf realizes that Denethor—in his desperation—looked into the stone several times. Unlike Saruman, Denethor was too noble of purpose and great of will to submit to the will of Sauron, but the Dark Lord duped the Steward into despairing of the situation. In addition, Denethor revealed that he would not accept Aragorn as the new king and then burns himself on the pyre. Faramir, though, is brought to the Houses of Healing where he is subsequently healed by Aragorn. Aragorn also heals Merry and Éowyn, who were hurt by the Witch-king before he fell. Knowing that it is only a matter of time before Sauron rebuilds his forces for another attack, Gandalf and Aragorn decide to draw out the hosts of Mordor with an assault on the Black Gate, providing a distraction so that Frodo and Sam may have a chance of reaching Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, unseen by the Eye of Sauron.
Gandalf and Aragorn lead an army to the Black Gate of Mordor and lay siege to Sauron's army. A messenger from The Black Gate called "The Mouth of Sauron" shows the Captains Frodo's mithril shirt, elven cloak, and barrow blade and then demands their surrender and obeisance to Sauron as conditions for Frodo's release. However, Gandalf perceives that the emissary is lying, seizes the items, and rejects the terms. The battle begins and Pippin kills a Troll, which then falls onto him, and he loses consciousness just as the Great Eagles arrive.
Book VI: The Return of the King
Bearing the One Ring in Frodo's place, Sam rescues his master from torture and death by Orcs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Frodo and Sam navigate the barren wasteland of Mordor and are overtaken by a company of Orcs but escape and are forced to disguise themselves in Orcish armour. Gandalf's plan to distract Sauron from the Ring is successful: Mordor is almost empty as all the remaining Orcs have been summoned to defend the land against the assault of the army led by Gandalf and Aragorn. After a weary and dangerous journey, Frodo and Sam finally reach their final destination of the Crack of Doom. As Frodo is preparing to throw the Ring into Mount Doom, he succumbs to the Ring's power and claims it as his own. Just then, Gollum, who had been following Frodo and Sam still, attacks Frodo and bites off his finger and the Ring. Gollum gloats over getting his precious back, but he ends up losing his balance and falls to death and takes the Ring with him. The Ring is finally destroyed, freeing Middle-earth from Sauron's power. Mount Doom erupts violently, trapping Frodo and Sam among the lava flows until the Great Eagles rescue them. Upon Sauron's defeat, his armies at the Gate flee. Sauron finally appears as a gigantic shadow trying to reach out for the armies of men, but is now powerless and is blown away by a wind. The men under Sauron's command that surrender are forgiven and allowed to return to their lands in peace. Frodo and Sam are saved from the lava, meet again with the other surviving members of the Fellowship, and then honoured on the Field of Cormallen in Ithilien.
In Minas Tirith, Faramir and Eówyn meet in the Houses of Healing and fall in love with each other. Aragorn comes to Minas Tirith and is crowned King of Gondor outside the walls of the city in a celebration during which Frodo brings Aragorn the ancient crown of Gondor, and Gandalf places the crown on Aragorn. A healed Faramir is appointed Prince of Ithilien, and Beregond—who saved Faramir's life from the madness of Denethor—is named captain of Faramir's guard. Gandalf and Aragorn go off high above the city and find a seedling of the White Tree, which Aragorn then plants in Minas Tirith in place of the dead tree. Soon after, Arwen, daughter of Elrond of Rivendell, as well as Celeborn and Galadriel come to Minas Tirith, and Aragorn marries Arwen. After a series of goodbyes, the Hobbits finally return home to the Shire, only to find that the Shire was in ruins, its inhabitants oppressed by Lotho Sackville-Baggins (usually called "The Chief" or "The Boss") who is in reality controlled by a shadowy figure called "Sharkey". Sharkey has taken complete control of the Shire using corrupt Men, and begins felling trees in a gratuitous programme of industrialization (which actually produces nothing except destruction and misery for the locals).
Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam make plans to set things right once more. They lead an uprising of Hobbits and are victorious at the Battle of Bywater which effectively frees the Shire. At the very doorstep of Bag End, they meet Sharkey, who is revealed to be the fallen wizard Saruman, and his servant Gríma.Saruman abuses Gríma and he then jumps on Saruman's back and cuts his throat. Gríma is himself slain by hobbit archers as he attempts to escape. Saruman's soul is blown away into the east, and his body decays instantly into a skeleton. Over time, the Shire is healed. The many trees that Saruman's men cut down are replanted with Galadriel's gift of dust used to facilitate growth and a small nut that is planted to replace the party tree; buildings are rebuilt and peace is restored. Sam marries Rosie Cotton, with whom he had been entranced for some time. Merry and Pippin lead Buckland and Tuckborough to greater achievements. However, Frodo cannot escape the pain of his wounds, having been stabbed by the Witch-king and poisoned by Shelob in addition to losing a finger. Frodo departs for the Undying Lands in the West with Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and many Elves, including Elrond, and Galadriel. With the departure of Elrond, the Third Age ended. Sam, Merry, and Pippin watch Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo, and the Elves depart and return home. Now heir to all of Frodo's possessions, Sam returns to Bag End, saddened by Frodo's departure. When Sam returns home at the end of the book, he is greeted by Rosie and his daughter, Elanor, and is gratified and happy when he realizes he still has something left to fight for.
Source: Wikipedia
