The Rihanna piano based ballad off the latest album “Stay”, simulates longing with the best of them and the Calvin Harris track won’t be released as a single Stateside because Tinie Tempeh can’t seem to crossover the Atlantic.
Shower The People – James Taylor – Though a hit in 1976, it’s second life as an anthem is precisely what Taylor does best: he allows time to catch up with his songs and change in a song from a mid tempo guitar based pop song to a feel good singalong – Grade: B
Look at it this way: if Mitt had won I prolly wouldn’t have just been killed in taxes, on the other hand, it is worth a coupla grand a year to have a Prez who has not only heard of Biggie Smalls but can quote him… if you don’t know now you know
The gossip mongers have stated that Beiber agreed to have ‘nothing off limits’ for his skits. That includes his recent pot smoking adventures. My question is will it also include the cut4beiber campaign?
Who would have thought that there was so much deep philosophical reasoning behind this simple alteration of an old picture? Yeah, it’s pretty deep and I needed his input. And what about the choice of ‘Heroes’?
Morrissey is the same way, he lacks any sense of proportion and everything is on this one huge level of fury: the Queen’s corgi is pregnant, the UK in Baghdad, they cancelled Emerald farm –all well over the top…
Beginning today, unsigned musicians are invited to enter the Play Crossroads contest for free at www.playcrossroads.com by completing a short informational profile and uploading one MP3.
If ‘Ready to Go’ is all bells-chiming and dreamy vocals with some epic bombast à la Arcade Fire that may make you want to run up a mountain, ‘Silver Lining’ is an infectious sunny poppy tune that could you make kiss everybody
The payout will go to settle debts Clinton accumulated between 2005 and 2008. Hendricks & Lewis successfully sued in 2010 for the money and George had managed to pay back $340,000 but that wasn’t enough so a federal judge ordered the songs to be turned over.
Yo La Tengo are gonna be roaring back with Fade when it is released later this year and the first song off the album is guitar hydraulics as folk rock and very near perfect. Fantasia ain’t bad either. The Owens album is gonna be really really big.
Released six months ago in Europe and headed late on the hels of the excellent “Vegas Girl”, this is Pharrel’s attempt to find a new Justin Bieber up to discovering Conor on Youtube. And it is not unsuccesful electronic pop music either, though the definition of nondescript. A handful of tracks, “Animal” and the hyper ballad “Glass Girl” among them, should get the job done. And the album is abpout as interesting as this review: Grade: B-
I’ll Go Home With Bobby Jean – Gene Kelly And John Gustafson – And Van Johnson, ripping up this Lerner And Lowe classic to the morning of a marriage (conceptually not a million miles away from “girls come and kiss me, tell me you’ll miss me”) from “Brigadoon”. A Vincent Minnelli disaster of epic proportions that survives as both gilded and bright and shallow and dark. The song is a blast – Grade: A-
In a ridiciously smart and cutting edge evening of music, a handful of top acts wowed an audience, mostly there to see a rapturously received funk old time Shuggie Otis. If they’d arrived on time they would have also caught Kosher Rock, Interdisciplinary Indie rock, over the edge UK soul and a leader of rap
a sweet and beautiful melody and this flute/melodica musical interlude that seemed to be escaped from some 70s movie soundtrack… And there is a lot of this in the album, a lot of melancholia and old-fashioned use of flute and saxophone
At a time when every thought on the shooting has turned political, it is amazing that these bands and these PR companies can come together and say “we are here for you, and so are these hundreds of other music lovers”.
I swear I am starting to think he is my long lost brother. As cynical and opinionated as I am only worse (as if possible) because he can go on forever with his logic (which I tend to agree with) and really rip it up.
Frank Ocean got lucky: the right sound, the right publicity, the right album. And more power to him. But that doesn’t make Channel Orange much more than a pretty good album.
According to the New York Times, Led Zeppelin is in negotiations for the right to stream ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and probably all the rest of their catalog.
“I am very sad to announce that Wilko has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas. He has chosen not to receive any chemotherapy”
To hear “Limelight” done in such a matter makes me not only want to throw the disc but throw the baby out with the bath water. Is someone enjoying this? Perhaps this is a joke-that must be it.
If you haven’t see the man on stage do treat yourself to the fine tuned sound merchant, he is so supremely confident and such a charmer on stage it is a consistent shock he is at the Iridium and not at Carnegie Hall.
Winner – David Bowie – In a move that took the world by surprise, David Bowie released a new single from an upcoming album and reclaimed his position as, at the very least, one of the greatest self promoters of all time! The song itself is depressing Bowie schtick with a powerful ending and after a little hastle with the UK charts it will be entering em at #1… unless britney beats him.
Intro – The XX – Made them stars and it is easy to see why, there is a sort of pragmatic darkness to their music, like it only lifts its head above water to nod it from time to time and still there is a still loveliness to it. Like staring at the dead sea in a sun so light it is blinding you – Grade: B+
Over the past 4 months My Chemical Romance has been steadily releasing a series of singles that, combined, make up what is essentially the band’s fifth studio album which they’ve titled Conventional Weapons.
It’s more pop than punk, it’s girlie pop à la Dum Dum Girls with a bright twist, and there is a certain subjacent punky savor below the sweet harmonies, I know, I have seen Bleached live twice
The songs lyrics are so vague that you can interpret it a thousand ways. Is it the end of our innocence or the future of brightness and hope? It the proverbial half full and half empty glass “your lorry loads pumpin petrol gas’ can’t get more Brit speak than that can you?
Despite the brains behind “Mama Mia” being involved., “Viva Forever” doesn’t seem to have worked (I would really love to see it) and is playing to empty houses while the Daily Star claim it is gonna go belly up any time now
No more prevaricating, the bet is Solange brings it on this high profile concert and later this you when the True EP becomes an album, my bet is it will be revealed as better than the shrugs I’ve been giving it.
She is a Vegas Goddess with a huge gay following. She’s basically the patron saint of gay men. Sure theres Brittany and Madonna but Cher is second only to Liza Minelli as the drag queens super hero.
I don’t know why Bad Religion is doing this, as they are usually playing large venues and headlining festivals, but if you are a fan it is an unique occasion to see the iconic punk band in an intimate venue
Five absolute must see concerts and only one me? It happens from time to time, you just get completely killed with choices and start getting out maps and timetables to see how many you can make. I think I can make two, so here are my choices for the person on the move.
Perhaps the real answer to the question of distribution, as shown by the effect of Amazons sales on the charts, is killing the price of a digital album from $12.99 to $6.99, or even an even five bucks across the board. If streaming is really encroaching on the business, perhaps that will keep em at bay, raise profiles, sales, and ticket sales.
I keep claiming Will hasn’t had a solo hit but he was behind Usher’s “OMG” and this is indeed, his third hit. Let’s say he hasn’t had a hit in awhile. Neither has Britney who just quit X Factor and probablky still doesn’t need the money.
This Is The Army, Mr. Jones – Irving Berlin – Once the US joined WW2, Irving Berlin got to work and maybe no better than he did here: it is indeed, a sort of a dream of war, a sort of changing of life priorities: “This is the army, Mr. Brown, you and your baby went to town, she had you worried butthis is war and she won’t worry you any more”. Sorta death as final solution – Grade: A+
Yorke’s lamenting falsetto, warm-going-desperate background wordless vocal chorus, the song builds a very familiar ambiance à la Radiohead, but without any crescendo or catharsis, just staying afloat with a melancholic vibe stuck between electronics and acoustic guitars… It’s not bad
Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys pushed a new rock/rap fusion into the marketplace and while punk rock and new wave had been put to bed, a new batch of college radio acts
It is pure hubris to ignore your greatest achievements because you don’t wanna be an oldies act. Nobody is saying give up on his current music to tour for three months as the Jam. He is a prolific songwriter, write some new songs, I hear no great difference between his solo work and and the Jam
Here is the fun thing, as much as I want to smash this kids piece of crap car to smithereens with a bat is as much as I admire the kids music. Without his ghetto swag I would never have discovered Don Omar
All there is on Lodger is “Boys Keep Swinging” and that is no “Always Crashing In The Same Car” now is it? Don’t let time rob you of your Bowie… when I get a minute I will review em all for you and you can judge for yourself. His best song in the past 30 years was a cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso”!
Shears should really know the difference between one and the other, as a very public homosexual surely he has a duty to be more foresighted and calm. Banks is having her record contract threatened because of this nonsense. It is an embarrassment and an insult to homosexuals to fiund hatred where it most certainly isn’t.
Because in Europe there is a “Use it or lose it law” that states if you own recorded music and haven’t released it within 50 years, you never will release it and so it becomes public property.
They were preparing themselves to shoot a video for the pop rock band Hanson inside the club, and the tall guy were telling them to dance, even ‘get sweaty’, and then relax, but of course, he told them they could not take any pictures once inside. He added ‘I know you are excited to see them, they are going to play real music’
So it is with heavy heart that I offer up Ted Nugent’s letter, originally posted in the Washington Post as an open letter to the Vice President. The asshole actually makes sense and although I do hope he crawls under a rock and goes silent forever.
When it comes to Metlife, it is pretty obviously that NJ sons E Street Band are playing the Giants to Bon Jovi’s Jets, BUT, as Herman Edwards almost put it: you play the Stadium concert to see who wins. My bet? Bon Jovi take Bruce down
God’s Great Dance Floor – Chris Tomlin – The difference between Christian and Gospel Contemporary is that Christian tends to be facsimiles of AOR and Gospel remains Gospel… with exceptions. While I was hoping for dance, this track has a God given lick and a smart smart lyric building nicely to a cathartic ending ) – Grade: A-
VersaEmerge’s sound has always been to me a hauntingly grungy rock that is fantastic mood music. “Burn” however is a clear step away from their previous music, but it is a step in a great direction.
“Pitch Perfect” is fun, just light enough, and always building to find musical scenes where the bands mash up current hits and perform them a capella.
Generally their functions take place in the UK including a massive fest held in August at the anniversary of Joes birth. This isn’t a bull organization, more than three quarters of every buck you toss in go directly to its programs
So while I wouldn’t drop Maroon 5 (playing February 16th as well ) for Yo La Tengo… for Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE, there is zero option. I might be able to dash to MSG and catch the last hour of Adam Levine but no, Lulu must be seen. The only question is why BB Kings? why not Radio City?
it appears to be a cross between the Blair Witch Project and X Files. Pretty sassy stuff with a flashlight and a camera. But adding Caves voice it just seems right. As campy as The Munsters, but with less humor.
