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Michael Watt (philanthropist)
Michael Heseltine Watt (born 16 December 1940) is a New Zealand entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor. He is one of five New Zealanders who were featured in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List 2009. He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community in the 2005 New Year Honours. Early life Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, he was expelled from Christ's College, Christchurch, in 1955 and spent the next 10 years working in various blue-collar industries (including oil drilling, construction, and rigging) around the world, as well as numerous hotels and jazz clubs in the United States. Oil industry In the 1960s Watt worked as an explosives expert for oil exploration crews in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. In the late 1960s/early 1970s he worked for the National Supply Company oilfield division of Armco Steel, out of Houston, TX, and Louisiana on the early development of sub-sea wellheads and blow-out preventers. Dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Laurance
Bill Laurance (born 2 April 1981) is an English composer, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Laurance is a member of jazz fusion and funk band Snarky Puppy, as well as founder and CEO of London-based record label Flint Music. Biography Bill Laurance was born on 2 April 1981 and raised in North London, England. As a child he attended William Tyndale primary school, during which he began learning piano and playing with his school band. At age 9 Laurance performed on organ during a school trip to London's renowned live-music venue Union Chapel, a locale he would later again perform at as an adult during the recording of his fourth studio album ''Live at Union Chapel''. Having been trained on ragtime and swing, Laurance first began playing jazz at the age of 14 when he became the resident performer for a small restaurant in the Soho district on the West End of London. As an adult Laurance attended and graduated from the University of Leeds, studying classical music, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
These New Puritans
These New Puritans are an English music group/band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, producer, artwork). Multi-instrumentalist Thomas Hein was an active member of TNP between 2006 and 2016; keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson was active between 2006 and 2010. They have recorded four studio albums: '' Beat Pyramid'' (2008), '' Hidden'' (2010), '' Field of Reeds'' (2013) and '' Inside the Rose'' (2019). Their music has been described as "blurring the distinction between rock, classical, electronic and experimental" and as "strikingly modern yet simultaneously timeless." History Formation and early years The Barnett brothers grew up in the Essex town of Southend-on-Sea. Their father was a builder and their mother was an art teacher. George and Jack made music together as children with "karaoke microphones, old bongos and guitar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drenge (band)
Drenge are an English three-piece rock band made up of Eoin Loveless, on guitar and vocals, his younger brother Rory, on drums, and Rob Graham on bass. The brothers grew up in Castleton, Derbyshire, where they formed the band in 2010, relocating to Sheffield in 2014. The band take their name from something "that would sound like a noise that we would be playing on stage". Their name also translates into "Boys" in Danish. They have released three albums, ''Drenge'' (2013), ''Undertow'' (2015), and ''Strange Creatures'' (2019). Background In January 2013, Drenge, who had a small following at the time, were picked up by national media when ''The Guardian''s Paul Lester featured them in his "New band of the week" column. The band rose to further prominence seven months later following the resignation of Labour MP Tom Watson from the Shadow Cabinet in July 2013. Watson wrote in his resignation letter on his blog: "be that great Labour leader that you can be, but try to have a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cloud Control
Cloud Control was an Australian alternative rock band, originating from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. The band was signed to the Australian record label Ivy League Records, on which they released their first album, '' Bliss Release''. They were also signed to Infectious Music in the UK and Europe, Humming Records in Germany, and to Votiv in North America. The band supported a number of local and international acts, including Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Supergrass, The Magic Numbers, Yves Klein Blue, The Temper Trap, Last Dinosaurs, Local Natives and Weezer. The band were nominated for awards in Australia, including two ARIA Awards. The band won the Australian Music Prize on 3 March 2011 for ''Bliss Release''. History Growing up in the Blue Mountains, the four members of Cloud Control met at the rehearsals for ''The Pirates of Penzance''. They entered their first "Battle of the Bands", which they subsequently won. They recorded and released their debut EP, ''Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Natives
Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matt Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass). Their debut album, ''Gorilla Manor'', was first released in the UK in November 2009, and later released in the US on February 16, 2010. The album received mostly positive reviews and debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at No. 3 in the New Artist Chart. Their second album, ''Hummingbird'', was released in January 2013. Their third album, '' Sunlit Youth'', was released in September 2016. Their fourth album, '' Violet Street'', was released April 2019. History 2005–2011: Formation and ''Gorilla Manor'' The band came together in Orange County, where Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, and Taylor Rice attended Tesoro High School. One year after graduating college at UCLA, they were joined by bassist Andy Hamm and drummer Matt Frazier. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Fiasco
General Fiasco are an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. Since their formation in 2006, they have toured with Little Comets, Fighting With Wire, The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, Jet and Kids in Glass Houses. They released their debut album ''Buildings'' on 22 March 2010 on Infectious Records and released their second album '' Unfaithfully Yours'' on 30 July 2012 on Dirty Hit. History Touring and recording (2007–2010) In 2007, Owen Strathern and Stephen Leacock had been playing with The Tides and had already released an album due much critical acclaim. Leacock and Strathern hadn't enjoyed the music being played in the band and so the pair decided to form General Fiasco as an outlet for the pop rock they had desired to write. Owen's brother was brought in to play guitar alongside Leacock, with Shane Davey on the drums. Davey later moved to America and Leacock filled in as a temporary drummer but was not replaced since. The band h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Awesome Wave
''An Awesome Wave'' is the debut album by English indie rock band alt-J, released on 25 May 2012 through Infectious. The album includes the singles "Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure", " Breezeblocks" and "Tessellate". It peaked at number thirteen on the UK Albums Chart, and also charted in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. ''An Awesome Wave'' won the 2012 British Barclaycard Mercury Prize, and in 2013 was named Album of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards. The title is a reference to a quote from the 2000 American-Canadian film ''American Psycho''. Artwork The album artwork for ''An Awesome Wave'' is a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh and India. The image in each of the three layers was acquired by the European Space Agency's Envisat Earth-observing satellite, taken separately on 20 January 24 February and 31 March 2009. The overlaid image, titled ''Ganges' Dazzling Delta'', exposes a multitude of colours arising from the variations in backgrou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barclaycard Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards. The prize was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications, a brand owned by Cable & Wireless, from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics (1998 to 2001), Panasonic (2002 and 2003), Nationwide Building Society (2004 to 2008) and Barclaycard (2009–14). The 2015 prize was sponsored by the BBC, while in 2016 it was announced that a three-year deal had been struck with Hyundai to sponsor the event. Any album released by a British or Irish artist, or by a band where over 50% of the members are British or Irish, may be submitted for consideration by their record label. Twelve submitted albums are s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alt-J
Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwilym Sainsbury (guitar/bass). Their debut album ''An Awesome Wave'' was released in May 2012 in Europe, and in September 2012 in the United States, and won the 2012 British Mercury Prize. Sainsbury left the band in early 2014. Their second album, ''This Is All Yours'', was released on 22 September 2014 and went straight to number one in the United Kingdom.Listing for Alt-J at the Official Charts Company (UK), (retrieved 29 May 2015). In February 2022 the band released their fourth studio album '' The Dream ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infectious Records
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection. Infections can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, most prominently bacteria and viruses. Hosts can fight infections using their immune system. Mammalian hosts react to infections with an innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an adaptive response. Specific medications used to treat infections include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antihelminthics. Infectious diseases resulted in 9.2 million deaths in 2013 (about 17% of all deaths). The branch of medicine that focuses on infections is referred to as infectious disease. Types Infections are caused by infectious agents (pathogens) including: * Bacteria (e.g. ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
