Music

Conditions release new album

Written by Matt Liasse | | mliasse@toledofreepress.com

Brandon Roundtree had Fisher-Price instruments when he was little. His mother, Julia Barden, knew very early that he was interested in music.

“Brandon has always been a pensive, introverted child,” Barden said.

Roundtree’s band Conditions has released a new album, “Full of War,” made with producer Brandon Paddock; it is available on iTunes.

Roundtree said the album touches on a wide spectrum of things, tied together by “duality and paradox.”

“That’s why I called it ‘Full of War’ when it came time to name the album,” Roundtree said. “I’m touching on two different sides in every song.”

Brandon Roundtree, second from left, and Conditions; the band took its name from a quote from Juliette Nadia Boulanger.

The band name was inspired by a quote from French composer Juliette Nadia Boulanger, who said, “The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion.”

“When we started this band, basically we saw dishonesty and a huge absence of depth in the music that we were playing,” Roundtree said. “When it came time to name Conditions, we wanted a quote that would tie up our mission statement with what we wanted to do with the band.”

Roundtree said the best art stands for something and Conditions stands for being a band with depth instead of singing about “momentary things.”

He said listeners should have a “musical opinion.”

“I think that people should be very careful in a way,” he said. “I see too often today all these kids attaching to music basically because they like the way it looks or they are being force fed it.

“I don’t want to throw anyone under a bus, but someone like Ke$ha, for example, that’s completely manufactured in the studio and forced and pushed then musically shoved down people’s throats,” Roundtree said. “I think people these days feel out of touch if they don’t choose to like the stuff.”

Roundtree urged people to go with their own tastes, not to like music only because it is popular.

He cited Foo Fighters as a band they look up to, saying they are “in awe of their longevity” and the way they stay true to their original sound.

Roundtree does vocals and writes the lyrics for Conditions. The band also consists of Alex Howard on guitar and vocals, Corey Thomas on bass and Ryan Tinsley on drums. The band has toured the U.S. and Europe with Paramore and New Found Glory, according to a news release.

Barden said music runs in the family.

“There is an inherent need for it,” Barden said. “We don’t use music as an escape, we use music to survive. We breathe music. We need it as much as we need water.”

Barden moved to Toledo three years ago while Roundtree lives in Virginia. The band stays at her Toledo house when they pass by on the road. She had a hard time describing how proud she is of her son.

“How do I convey such deep parental pride and indescribable acceptance of his talents?” Barden asked.

She said the fact that he chooses to write about tough subject matter is what makes her the proudest.

“It is the pride I feel, as a fellow writer, in his ability to convey such poignant life experience in a musical way so that people relate,” she said. “It is not just his vocal ability because that comes and goes, if you will. Your words go on forever. My son has decided to be an artistic poet for his generation,” Barden said.

Roundtree said there is no tour planned, but he hopes to make it to Toledo by the fall.

“Toledo is always on the map,” he said.

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84th Academy Awards

The Gold Knight: Oscars soundtrack available on iTunes

Written by James A. Molnar | The Gold Knight | jmolnar@toledofreepress.com

There may not have been performances of the two Original Song Oscar contenders on Sunday at the 84th Academy Awards, but there sure was music.

And fans of that music can now buy all or part of those songs on iTunes, thanks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the music directors for the 2012 Oscars, Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams.

The compilation is called “The 84th Academy Awards — Celebrate the Music” (preview the music below).

The cover for the Oscars soundtrack.

Songs include Zimmer’s “Celebrate the Oscars” theme and Esperanza Spalding’s  breathtaking version of “What a Wonderful World” (with the purchase of the full album). Spalding sang the song during the 84th Academy Awards’ “In Memoriam” segment, along with the Southern California Children’s Chorus, conducted by Carol Aspling.

Musicians on the soundtrack include percussionist/drummer/composer Sheila E.; Grammy-winning double bass player/singer Spalding; guitarist/composer Stephane Wrembel (“Midnight in Paris”); three-time Oscar-winning composer Giorgio Moroder; two-time Oscar winning composer/musician A.R. Rahman; violin/cello virtuosi Ann Marie Calhoun and Martin Tillman; Dutch hit remixer/composer/electronic musician Junkie XL; and multiple Grammy-winning British musician/producer Peter Asher.

Each artist created their own piece of music inspired by or derived from Zimmer’s basic thematic framework.

Find the songs here (and below):

Toledo Free Press Lead Designer and Film Editor James A. Molnar blogs about all things Oscar at TheGoldKnight.com.

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Media Watch

Baumhower: Hot and hip gift ideas

Written by Jeremy Baumhower | | jbaumhower@toledofreepress.com

As self-proclaimed media expert for Toledo Free Press, I am here to help those who suffer from a common ailment — Bad Gift Giving-itis. You know who you are. You gave the gift of Big Mouth Billy Bass in 1998. In 2006 you decided to get everyone Zune MP3 players instead of iPods. Your fall-back gifts are robes and/or slipper socks.

Here is a gift guide to help you transform from “Thank you, Aunt Helen” — horribly moaned like Ben Stein from “Ferris Bueller,” to “Holy sh*t, Aunt Helen!” In fact, if you buy any of the below listed items, please sign the gift tag, To: Bobby. From: Holy sh*t, Aunt Helen!

Roku

The absolute home run for anybody who has wireless Internet at home is a Roku.  The Roku may be the greatest invention since the iPhone.  Roku is a small black box that streams HD content straight from the Internet to your TV.  Roku features “channels” from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, UFC, MLB, NHL and YouTube. The Roku is  replacing cable boxes across the country — prices start at $59. The new Roku 2 even features games like Angry Birds with a remote control that is motion activated.  You can buy it at Roku.com, Best Buy and Target.

‘Sister Wives’

Give the craziest show that proves the power of reality TV: give “Sister Wives” seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. “Sister Wives” follows the Brown family, led by a man who is married to three wives and fathered 13 kids then decides to add an additional bride, who has three kids herself. If you have not figured out the math, the Browns are polygamists who live in Utah and are all under one roof.

Now, before you cast the first stone, as we all want to, watch three episodes with a semi-open mind and this family will steal your heart. No matter what religion you belong to, a man bold enough to try to keep four women happy is TV gold.

Bonus: If you give the gift of Roku, then you give the gift of “Sister Wives” as Netflix streams the show.

‘Watch the Throne’

“I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died, real ni**as just multiply” might be the best lyric from 2011 and if you roll up next to my black Town and Country minivan, with standard wheels and an English D on the back, you may just hear Jay-Z say it.

As a 36-year-old white father of four, I can unequivocally say that Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch the Throne” is the best album of the year. The better part is that I am not usually a Hip-Hop fan — I love The Beatles, Elvis Costello and Pearl Jam. “Watch the Thone” from top to bottom is one of the most important rap albums in history, with an unflinching look at real problems in today’s society.  The album comes in clean and explicit versions and will make an incredible gift for any music lover.  Other great music ideas would be Adele’s “21,” Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday,” Ben Folds’ “The Best Imitation of Myself” and Eddie Vedder’s “Ukulele Songs.”

Bonus: If you are giving a gift to someone you can’t stand, might I suggest “Lulu” by Lou Reed and Metallica, the worst album in the history of rock music. Don’t believe me? Listen to the 90-second preview of each song on iTunes and try to figure out if Lou and the boys were ever in the same room together. Double this gift up with a “Kidz Bop” CD for their kids and you will win the War of Xmas 2011.

I Am T-Pain Microphone

If you need another special “payback” type gift, which any parent understands, I fully endorse the “I Am T-Pain Microphone,” which will Auto-Tune any child’s voice to sound just like the rapper T-Pain … SHAWTYYYYY.

Not only is it the most obnoxious thing I have seen since the Big Mouth Billy Bass, it’s super loud, the audio is very good and it plugs into any USB port to get new “updated” music.

The “I Am T-Pain Microphone” is sure to need plenty of batteries, as they tend to come up missing — wink, wink, parents — so make sure to buy extra batteries and hand them to that special child with

clear instructions — “hide these batteries ASAP from mom and dad and remember … nothing says ‘Good Morning!’ at 6 a.m. better than you Auto-Tuned over some T-Pain beats!”

You’re welcome.

Jeremy Baumhower is a self-proclaimed media expert who writes and produces for morning radio shows across the country. For more self-admired brilliance, please follow him on twitter @jeremytheproduc.

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Music

The Faux Paus emerge from ‘Basement’

Written by Jeff McGinnis | | jmcginnis@toledofreepress.com

It’s an exciting time for Toledo folk-rock band The Faux Paus. Not only have the three members been touring extensively outside their home area, they have a new EP, “Basement,” comprised of high-quality recordings of three original songs.

The group recorded the tracks —“A Village,” “Camper” and “Dustin Hoffman” — with a producer in Detroit during the past few months, and now the CD will be available for purchase at Allied Record Exchange.

“Those three songs are done and mixed and mastered, and we’re getting professional CD packaging and stuff like that, and really going all out for this,” said Hannah Fritch, vocalist, guitar player and keyboardist.

In addition, “Basement” will be available on iTunes, marking the first time the group’s music can be downloaded there.

The Faux Paus, from left, Amanda Thompson, Carrie Theuring and Hannah Fritch outside Downtown Latte.

To celebrate, The Faux Paus will perform at a CD release party Nov. 25 at The Ottawa Tavern, sharing the bill with fellow local favorites the Dirty Damn Band and Lightning Love.

“We’re really excited, because Adam Sattler from the OT has been trying to get these three bands together for a long time,” Fritch said. “And we finally are playing together.”

Vocalist/guitar player Amanda Thompson added, “This is the first show where all three bands are female-led bands that we’ve played at. So, it’s kinda cool, and these are two bands that we’ve seen, we’ve heard a lot about, but we’ve never played a show with either of them.”

The show will be the latest in a string of performances for the Paus, who have also been touring extensively the past few months.

“We’ve gone out for three-to-five day runs. We just were in Youngstown a couple weeks ago, a couple weeks before that we were playing festivals in D.C. and Atlantic City and Philadelphia. We’ve been keeping busy on the road,” Thompson said.

But for now, the EP is the band’s primary focus. Fritch said it’s interesting how, as a band like theirs evolves, recording music becomes as much a snapshot of who the group used to be as who it is now.

“I think those three songs really do get across a big part of what our sound is, or who we are as songwriters. But at the same time, it’s kinda funny because it was several months ago that we recorded it, and even longer before that that we even wrote these songs and kinda perfected them.

“And so now that it’s time to release those three songs, I feel like we’ve evolved slightly more and we’ve taken a kind of darker sound that isn’t really so much reflected in that EP,” Fritch said.

“I take that as a good sign that we’re still growing,” Thompson added.

Thompson said producing something that looks and feels professional is an effort to give back to the people who have supported the group as it’s grown.

“Just to give our fans something that looks nice,” she said. “Pretty much anyone who comes to our shows, it’s like they only have heard us live, for the most part.

“We don’t have a lot of recordings — we have some old recordings that we did a year ago. But for the most part, a lot of the people who come out to see us have only seen us live, they don’t have any recordings. So it’s just gonna be nice to give them something that looks nice, it sounds good and is kinda reflective of how we want to treat our fans,” Thompson said.

The band said the album is being sold at Allied on a “pay what you want” basis.

“You know, give us $1, give us $2, give us $5. Because we want people to have this. We do have to make our money back. But at the same time, if we only can make a buck on you, that’s cool,” Fritch said.

The band will continue to work primarily on recording in the months to come.

“We’re setting up a lot of the recording stuff in our apartment and trying to really perfect that, just to have more, because we really have come a long way,” Fritch said. “So we’re gonna be focusing on recording for a little while; I think that’s the most important thing.”

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In Concert

The Undeserving excited for album release

Written by Mike Bauman | | mbauman@toledofreepress.com

When The Undeserving releases “Almost Alive” on Sept. 6, it will be the culmination of a journey that began nearly seven years ago for the Fremont-based band.

“We’ve always been pretty confident we could have some sort of career,” The Undeserving bassist and background vocalist Jimmie Getty told Toledo Free Press Star. A 2007 graduate of Clyde High School, Getty joined the group in 2005. “We’ve always believed in the music, and our goal has always been just to write the best songs that we could and to play as much as we could. It actually feels more tangible now than it ever has before, now that we have this record coming out.”

Comprised of Getty, Brennan Willis (lead guitar, background vocals) and brothers Clay (lead vocals, piano, acoustic guitar) and Kyle Kirchenbauer (drums, background vocals),The Undeserving started getting attention from multiple record labels in early 2005 with its song, “There For You.” After putting a small team together, the band did two years of showcasing from 2006 to 2008, playing in markets like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago before landing a joint record deal with Warner Bros. Records and Cause for Alarm Records through Kevin Law in the summer of 2008.

The Undeserving

The Undeserving completed what was to be its major label debut in May 2009. The album was recorded in Nashville, Tenn., with producer Allen Salmon, mixed at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City by Michael Brauer (who worked with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney) and mastered by Ted Jensen. However, the investor for Cause for Alarm Records pulled out that same year, and The Undeserving got absorbed by Warner Bros. Records completely.

As the label went through multiple personnel changes, The Undeserving was worried about what would happen next.

“We were kind of nervous that we made this record that had been mixed by Michael Brauer and mastered by Ted Jensen, and something we were really proud of and had worked on for a long time — we were afraid no one was ever going to hear it,” Getty said.

Through the support of Lori Feldman, who is the senior vice president of brand partnerships and music licensing at Warner Bros. Records, The Undeserving was able to get its music out to millions last year when “Something To Hope For” was used in a promo for Season 9 of “American Idol.” In addition, the band’s music has been featured on the TV shows “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” “The Biggest Loser,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “So You Think You Can Dance?” and CNN’s Haiti Relief public service announcement, among others.

“She was really passionate about the music and pitching it around everywhere she could,” Getty said of Feldman. “We owe a lot of gratitude to her. She’s responsible for all the syncs and stuff, and it was really just because she was passionate about the music and wanted to see it do well.”

While The Undeserving is no longer with Warner Bros. Records, the label has since signed the record back to the band and allowed it to release “Almost Alive” independently.

“It’s kind of cool to be back in the driver’s seat, and we can release it on our own,” Getty said. “We’re doing everything ourselves now.”

Getty said the plan after the album’s release is to continue touring and promote the album.

“Our main goal is basically just to keep going,” he said. “If we can support ourselves and keep doing it and be able to give back to our families some, that would be incredible.”

Pre-orders for “Almost Alive” are available on the group’s website at theundeserving.com, and the album will also be available through online retailers like iTunes and Amazon on the official release date. The band will host a release show for “Almost Alive” at Grace Community Church in Fremont on Sept. 6, as well as an additional show at the Maumee Indoor Theatre on Oct. 14. Admission for the show in Fremont is $12, while the show in Maumee is $10. The price for each event includes a copy of “Almost Alive” and kids 12 and younger get in free at both shows.

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Lighting the Fuse

Candle in the wine

Written by Michael Miller | Editor in Chief | mmiller@toledofreepress.com

New music is one of life’s great pleasures; falling in love with a new sound or voice is like walking into a pocket of warm air in a frigid room.

Every week, the online music service iTunes offers free songs for listeners to download. These “Single of the Week” or “Discovery Download” choices tend to be from new bands trying to break through, giving music fans a risk-free taste of new sounds.

According to my iTunes info, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007, I downloaded the free track “You Know I’m No Good” by singer Amy Winehouse. While many free iTunes tracks are as disposable as a candy wrapper, the Winehouse track announced itself with authority from the first beat and demanded multiple plays.

The song begins with a light, scratchy hip-hop drumbeat, which is soon accompanied by a rubbery, insistent bass line. At the 14-second mark, an otherworldly, confident female voice begins its sermon.

“Meet you downstairs in the bar and hurt,

Your rolled-up sleeves and your skull T-shirt,

You say, ‘What did you do with him today?’

And sniffed me out like I was Tanqueray.”

The voice, jazzy and funky enough to be black but too self-aware and lacking in melisma to be anything but British, eased through the opening lines like a powerful swimmer taking her time, gliding through calm waters. The way she clipped through the first few words, then, slurred “with” into four syllables, showed immense command of her voice. The carnal contempt she layered onto “sniffed me out like I was Tanqueray” was simultaneously alluring and jarring. Within that opening verse, Winehouse name-checked Roger Moore, chastised her man for doubting her fidelity, then admonished, “I cheated myself/Like I knew I would/I told you I was trouble/You know that I’m no good.”

Winehouse sang those last three words with the unretractable conviction of the Bad Girl, and I was hooked.

The track is unbelievably sexy and sordid in its details of infidelity (she admits to thinking of one man while “in the final throes” with another and a cheating episode is revealed when her boyfriend, who is watching her bathe, notices a new carpet burn on her body).

Here was a frank and brutal female sexuality missing from the female stars of the time, the growling but nonthreatening Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Fergie and Kelly Clarkson. Winehouse played user and used, player and victim, with such organic clarity that she made those singers’ best shots at sexy sound like Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music.”

A series of mouse clicks later, and Winehouse’s two albums, 2003’s “Frank” and 2006’s “Back to Black” were safely nestled on my PC. Diving into “Back to Black” first, I settled in and started the track “Rehab,” hoping the album could keep the promise made by “You Know I’m No Good.”

I couldn’t believe the music the tiny computer speakers tried to reveal. “Rehab” was as politically incorrect as anything Prince ever wrote, as funky as any girl group single, as vocally confident as Chrissie Hynde at her best and as defiant as early Madonna.

Based on the next two hours of listening and repeat listening, I decided that Amy Winehouse was uniquely talented, bold as love and possibly crazy. Her blunt-force street-level writing about sexual politics and drug and alcohol addiction collided with a soul music sensitivity that namedropped Ray Charles, Donny Hathaway, Erykah Badu and sampled Marvin Gaye.

Any time Winehouse released a remix, B-side or soundtrack cut, I loyally added it to the iTunes playlist, and for most of 2007, “Frank” and “Back to Black” remained in my mobile music library. I foisted her songs onto fellow music lovers with the fervor of a true convert. As her music demanded, Winehouse became a star. “Rehab” became a Top 10 song; “Back to Black” topped the charts; Prince and Jay-Z proclaimed themselves fans; and with the videos, live performances and Grammy success (“Rehab” won Record and Song of the Year, though “Back to Black” inexplicably lost Album of the Year to a Herbie Hancock album of Joni Mitchell songs), she dominated music news.

A July 2007 cover story in Rolling Stone offered a prophetic glimpse into Winehouse’s troubles with drugs, alcohol and relationships. As the next year or two rushed by and the triumphs of “Back to Black” faded into pop culture history, Winehouse’s fame changed from being about her music to being about her issues with addiction and tabloid-fodder behavior. I went from looking forward to her next album to tuning her out as her exploits showed she seemed unable to conquer her many demons.

Now, if I am in Toledo, Ohio, and I was fully aware that Amy Winehouse’s London days and nights were being eaten away by addiction, surely the people close to her knew she was in trouble. With all the family, friends, professional contacts and fellow artists, it’s hard to accept that no one could help her — even if she did not want the help.

As the July 23 news of her death at age 27 spread, the fans mourned and the cynical maintained they weren’t surprised; they had seen this one coming. I saw the words “addict” and “junkie” as often as I saw the word “artist” used to describe her.

As the pile of memorial items grew outside her home, many people left bottles of alcohol among the flowers and drawings and stuffed animals. In 1997, I lived in Washington, D.C., and daily walked by the  mountain of items left outside the British Embassy when Princess Diana died. But no one tossed paparazzi cameras and steering wheels on her memorial. It struck me as more mocking than mournful to leave alcohol on the site of an acknowledged addict’s memorial.

There is nothing romantic about it when a talent as great as Amy Winehouse is beaten by addiction. Her beautiful eyes and face, the throat that issued her aching voice, that famous beehive hairdo, all were reduced to ashes in a London crematorium July 26.

The first time I heard “Rehab,” I imagined that Winehouse could mock the process through her art because she had transcended addiction and earned the right to celebrate.

Hearing the song today, there is no defiance, no celebration. It’s the wail of a spirit that knows it will be a ghost in death, cheated of the chance to be an angel in life.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

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Music

Wideband Network catches iTunes’ attention

Written by Amy Biolchini | | ABiolchini@toledofreepress.com

In the past seven years, the electronic pop duo Wideband Network has met in person twice.

With three albums and five singles, Casey Clark of Toledo and Caesar Filori of Seattle, Wash., have their creative process down to a musical “Mad Libs” collaborative system. Tracks are created as Clark and Filori send bits and pieces of their recordings via MP3 files back and forth online.

“I’ll send him an idea. He’ll come up with his concept of the music and his interpretation of what I give him. I’ll send him vocals, he’ll send me his interpretation again,” Clark said, explaining how he works with Filori.

“I’ve got hundreds of hundreds of demos I’ve sent him,” said Clark. “They’ve got to really strike both of us on an emotional level for us to really dig in and make an investment in those songs.”

The rerelease of Wideband Network’s third album, “Oxygen and Atmosphere,” as a special edition in July garnered the duo a spot on the “New & Noteworthy” section of iTunes’ Dance page, landing at No. 34 out of the top 200 artists.

“I’m excited. I’m really excited,” Clark said with a wide smile. “We were up there with some of the big names in electronic.”

Wideband Network

Clark and Filori met in 2003 on a fan website for one of their mutual influences, BT, an internationally acclaimed recording artist and producer for stars like Sting, Britney Spears and Madonna. After Filori posted a song remix he had done, Clark checked it out and was “blown away.”

Although initial progress was slowed by dial-up Internet connections, they began sharing files and came up with their first song, “World of the Living.” Clark said although he gets tired of listening to the same songs on the radio every day, he uses bits and pieces as inspiration for demos he sends to Filori.

“A lot of songs are drawn from the influences of other artists that we’ve been brought up with over the years and then twisted and turned and made into our own sound,” Clark said.

“If you take Michael Jackson, Savage Garden and BT, put them in a blender, mix it up and sprinkle some Madonna on top, you’ve got yourself a Wideband Network smoothie,” Clark said.

Clark manages many of Wideband Network’s operations, from the album artwork and the website to making the music videos. Sharing and tweaking tracks to a synchronous groove, songs take from two weeks to a month to create. It’s almost impossible for Clark and Filori to work together in the same room; Clark said they tried once but it “didn’t feel right.” The duo thrives on doing their work individually, in their own space on their own time outside of their day jobs.

“This year is very interesting because Caesar just got married and just had a baby, so our whole dynamic has completely changed,” Clark said.

Wideband Network released its first two albums, “Universe” and “Ten Thousand Seconds” under Utah-based label A Different Drum and its third album, “Oxygen and Atmosphere” with New York-based label System Recordings.

Forgoing its label affiliations, Wideband Network’s next move stays true to its digital heritage. The band plans to release and sell their new music as extended plays (EPs) in groups of four to five songs on its website so it is distributed directly to its fans, Clark said.

“We’re going to go the other route and see what we can do,” Clark said. “It’s very easy for independent artists to use different sites online.”

Wideband Network earns $0.16 off each $0.99 song sold on iTunes since it doesn’t have a manager to pay, Clark said. Online exposure and music sharing has fueled the majority of its album sales, since Wideband Network doesn’t tour or play live.

“I’m probably more famous outside of Toledo than I am in Toledo,” Clark said.

Clark is opening a recording studio on the fifth floor of the Secor Building on Jefferson Street at the end of August, where he hopes to help solo artists and local bands take their production to the next level.

“People ask me, ‘Why aren’t you in California? Why aren’t you in New York?’” Clark said. “I’ve been doing more work from Toledo than I would probably be able to do from these other places that have a lot of really talented people.”

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