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Archive: May 2009 (61-70 of 150)

May 18 2009 08:55 PM ET

Paolo Nutini's new track with ?uestLove: an EW exclusive

Paolonutini2_l Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini (his father’s background is Italian, hence the Under the Tuscan Sun name) has earned wide notice in his native Europe — selling two million copies of his 2007 debut These Streets, dueting with Mick Jagger, opening for Led Zeppelin, etc. — but his fame Stateside seems largely tethered to his lippy looks and a non-stop run of TV soundtrack appearances (Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, CSIs Miami and New York, plus various guest spots on the Today Show, Conan, and Leno).

When his new album Sunny Side Up is released next month, there’s one airwave he’ll be undoubtedly be surfing: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. After all, he’s got ?uestlove, legendary drummer of Fallon’s house band the Roots, backing him up on "10/10," a track available only here on the Music Mix. Stream it below, and let us know if you’ll be taking a walk on the Sunny Side come June 2:

May 18 2009 08:22 PM ET

Joe Perry talks Aerosmith tour, 'Guitar Hero', and... mac 'n' cheese!

by Clark Collis

Tagged: Aerosmith, Games

Joeperry_l Aerosmith should be touring this summer in support of a new studio album, their first non-covers collection since 2001′s Just Push Play. But work on the CD was suspended after guitarist Joe Perry underwent surgery on his knee and singer Steven Tyler contracted pneumonia. The rock legends are still hitting the road anyway (with special guests ZZ Top) and EW spoke to Perry about what fans can expect, his (non-)proficiency on Guitar Hero, and the axeman’s side career as a food impresario.

Entertainment Weekly: How’s the knee?
Joe Perry: It’s actually doing pretty good, thanks for asking. I’m doing my bends and dips and bulls— to get it flexible for the stage.

You must be bummed the new album isn’t finished.
I feel like a f—king shoe salesman talking about it because this is about the third time I’ve had to make excuses why the record isn’t out. You line everything up just right: Brendan O’Brien producing, Walmart and Sony screaming for the record, tour coming up, and there’s no record. We’re still in shock that it’s not happening. So I finished my solo record which is going to be coming out probably in the early fall.

Is it any good?
It’s f—ing great. It’s hands and feet better than the last one. And I think the last one was really good.

What have you got planned for the tour?
We’re going to pick an album and do it from front to back. Even though we do bits and pieces from all the albums, to me, there’s kind of a vibe that happens when you hear an album from beginning to end.

Do you know which album you’re going to do?
Yeah, I do. [laughs]

But you’re not going to tell me?
Right.

The folks at Guitar Hero brought out an Aerosmith game last year and there’s also a new GH competition, the winners of which will get to play as your "opening act." Are you any good at Guitar Hero yourself?
Of course not! The first levels being really simple and the controller being somewhat familiar for a guitar player, I can intuitively do it. But as soon as it starts veering off into the more complicated stuff then it really turns into a gamer’s game. And I’m just not a gamer. I gladly let me sons beat me.

What’s happening with your line of Joe Perry hot sauce? That stuff is delicious!
Yeah, I use it. Steven’s addicted to it.

It’s nice that you’re addicted to hot sauce these days rather than anything else.
Well, I didn’t say I wasn’t addicted to other things as well. But hot sauce is a good one. We’re going to relaunch it in a new bottle and we’re putting out another food product. I went around the house to see what the kids were eating the most and my wife said, "That’s easy, macaroni and cheese." So, we’re putting out Rock ‘N’ Roni. There’s going to be four different flavors and it’s all natural and it’s really good.

At this rate, you’ll soon be able to retire from this whole music business nonsense!
Well, I could have retired a long time ago. But that’s not really what I’m cut out for.

addCredit(“Alexis C. Glenn/UPI/Landov”)

May 18 2009 07:20 PM ET

What's your favorite movie-music moment?

by Clark Collis

Tagged: Movie

UK film magazine Empire asked writer-director and former rock scribe Cameron Crowe to make a list of the greatest musical moments in movies. Instead, the Jerry Maguire auteur came back with 36 suggestions. It’s a pretty entertaining selection, and it includes the apocalyptic, Pixies-soundtracked conclusion to Fight Club, which is certainly one of my favorite rock-related scenes. (You can see the clip below, though it’s both foul-mouthed and full of spoilers.)

Meanwhile, his No. 1 choice is a Cat Stevens-assisted sequence from the great Harold and Maude. But there are a number of notable omissions, including the "Tiny Dancer" sequence from Crowe’s own fantastic Almost Famous, and the lack of anything from The Big Lebowski (you could do a Top Ten list which comprised great music moments just from The Big Lebowski. Well, I could.) I’m also 99.9% sure that there’s nothing from The Graduate, although that seems so unlikely that I’m concerned by eyes are deceiving me.

What do you think of Crowe’s list? And what’s your favorite movie-music moment?

May 18 2009 06:48 PM ET

Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas, Ciara at Zootopia: was it worth the ticket price?

by Aly Semigran

Tagged: Concert Reviews

Clarksonciara_l In a bad economy, are pop-radio festivals the way to go? After all, you do get to see six or seven acts in one go — and considering prices for single-act shows lately, $100 might sound like a bargain. But New York metro area top-40 station Z100 held their annual Zootopia festival at New Jersey’s Izod Center this weekend, and besides getting my ear drums blown out, I started to wonder if you really get that much bang for your Benjamins.

I’m sure much of it depends on just who’s on the bill (I’ll admit I was, uh, indifferent to Jesse McCartney), but isn’t the thrill of seeing live music the unpredictability of it all? With pop radio concert shows, everything feels dishearteningly familiar.

The squeaky-clean McCartney opened the evening and had the tween girls in hysterics with songs like "Leavin" and "Beautiful Soul." Soulja Boy followed with a rapid-fire set that included the inescapable hit "Crank That," much shirtlessness (a move Flo Rida also borrowed), and him asking the crowd to take their cell phones out, then walking off the stage without so much as a "Thank you" or a "Goodnight, New Jersey!"

The All-American Rejects stepped in to give rock fans a much-needed break from pop and hip-hop — or so I’d hoped. AAR’s live performance (including some of their best-known hits, from "Move Along" and "Dirty Little Secret" to a Shatner-esque dramatic reading of the recent "Gives You Hell") felt just as over-choreographed as any young pop starlet’s set, and it’s hard to enjoy anything that involves 25 minutes of lead singer Tyson Ritter’s best Aldous Snow imitation.

Ciara came next, and while it’s hard not to be impressed with her dance moves, the vocals are underwhelming in concert (and, let’s face it,"Love Sex Magic" feels slightly less magical and sexy without JustinTimberlake). Kelly Clarkson, on the other hand, sounds near-perfect live. Even after hearing "Since U Been Gone" 500 times, I still get chills when she hits those crazy high notes. Granted, her onstage asides (mostly generic county-fair banter) should be kept to a minimum, but the original American Idol champ was still the highlight of the night.

The Black Eyed Peas landed the coveted last spot in the three-hour show, and while the Peas are a well-oiled machine together, they were no match for Clarkson’s set. It all felt a bit outdated, especially when Fergie started throwing money around (literally) during "My Humps."

So maybe this lineup didn’t quite fit my style (the median age was around 16), and I really got sick of being asked how New Jersey was doing tonight, whether I was having fun yet, and to make some noise. But I can see how if this is your thing, you would get your money’s worth. What do you think Music Mixers? Were you at last night’s Zootopia, too? Are these radio concerts way fun or just way lame? I can’t hear you!

May 18 2009 05:46 PM ET

Eminem on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live': a behind-the-scenes report

by Adam B. Vary

Tagged: Eminem, Hip-Hop/Rap, Television

Psst! Here’s a deep, dark showbiz secret, one I’m sure will shake you to your very foundations and may even rip open a hole in the space-time continuum: Jimmy Kimmel Live isn’t always exactly "live." Last Friday the 15th, I was in the Kimmel Hollywood studio for the double-whammy Eminem/Mike Tyson episode, and I can report that what y’all saw on your TVs during Mr. Marshall Mathers’ sit-down with Jimmy wasn’t exactly what happened in the studio. First of all, the interview happened around 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time, a fair shade before Kimmel‘s scheduled midnight start time.

More important, although you’d never have known it from watching at home, the first minutes of the Eminem interview were among the most painful talk-show celeb Q&As I’ve ever witnessed (they were edited out of the actual broadcast). Watching from the infamous Jimmy Kimmel Live green room — which, with its pool table, multiple couches, free-flowing beer, and catered hors d’oeuvres, is more like a posh frat lounge — I couldn’t help but cringe as Kimmel floundered with his opening questions about Em’s now 13-year-old daughter. Eminem’s mumbled, one-word answers and awkward silences were bad enough; more unnerving still, the rapper looks thinner than I think he’s ever been, which made that famous glare of his feel more haunted than usual.

After what felt like an eternity of Kimmel scrambling to tap dance through Em’s non-answers, the rapper finally warmed up when Kimmel asked him about why he tears into so many celebrities — in part, Mr. Mathers said, it’s simply because their names fit in well with a rhyme, and he joked that he hasn’t attacked Kimmel because the host’s name doesn’t rhyme with much of anything other than, like, thimble. That and the rest of the interview — the parts that actually aired — were actually kind of charming and revealing.

Watch the clip below and let us know what you thought of his appearance.

More on Eminem :
Popwatch’s take on Eminem’s Kimmel appearance
Nick Cannon calls out Eminem for insulting Mariah Carey: Pick a side!
Eminem opens up about his struggle with addiction

May 18 2009 04:00 PM ET

Radiohead bassist confirms they've started recording new album: Meanwhile, a bitter Miley Cyrus tries to pretend she's not excited

by Jeremy Medina

Tagged: Radiohead

Following their stellar performance at the Grammys (and the sweet justice of an Album of the Year nod for In Rainbows), Radiohead has mostly been in the headlines because of alleged "beef" with Disney maven Miley Cyrus. (Which I still find hilarious, bt-dubs. Watch the video below if you somehow missed it.) But no longer! There’s real news to be shared: Bassist Colin Greenwood told British music mag NME that the band has begun recording their eighth studio album, another collaboration with producer Nigel Godrich.

"We’ve just started work [in the studio] last week," he said."It’s really cool and everything is sounding great. It’s early days andit is a bit like having a scrapbook at the moment because everything isup in the air, but it’s good to be back in the studio." There’s no word as of yet as to when fans can expect the band’s "really cool" and "great" new album, but here’s hoping for the end of the year. OK, raise your hands, folks: Who’s excited?

May 18 2009 03:47 PM ET

The best song in the world (or at least a big chunk of it)?

by Leah Greenblatt

Tagged: Things That Are European

Last week, the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest — past winners include ABBA (1974), Celine Dion (1988), and a bunch of other names now entirely eaten by history — unfolded, and with 42 countries participating (welcome back, Slovakia! Sorry about the politics, San Marino!), there’s a pretty massive cross-section of talent. Who do you think took this year’s prize — Ireland? Israel? Poor always-the-bridesmaid Portugal?

In fact, the no. 1 spot went to Norway’s Alexander Rybak and his song "Fairytale," which received 387 points, the highest total score in Eurovision history. Does that, empirically, make "Fairytale" the best song in the world, or at least that large part of it? Is the return of the electric violin to popular music long overdue? Is it OK that Rybak’s knees are that bendy? See below, and make your own judgments, Music Mixers:

May 16 2009 01:37 PM ET

Saturday video roundup: Phoenix, Modest Mouse and Marilyn Manson

by Jeremy Medina

Tagged: Modest Mouse, Music Videos, Phoenix

New videos from Phoenix, Modest Mouse and Marilyn Manson have hit the world wide web, and forgive me for being biased, but one of them is ginormously more awesome than the rest: PHOENIX! Those Frenchies really know how to (alt)rock, and their song "1901" is breezy, infectious and just plain great — easily making it one of our picks for a song of the summer. Just 10 days until the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album releases, kids. I hear it’s pretty swell. Check out their artsy/shadowy performance-based video below.

Phoenix: "1901"

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your tastes), the Marilyn Manson video is not embeddable, so head here to view it in full. I’ve always said Marilyn Manson is a lot like a fine wine, and would only get better with time. Actually, neither I nor anyone else in the history of time has ever said that. Someone needs to tell the dude to grow the hell up. His song is actually titled "Arma-Goddamn-Motherf*****-Geddon." Really? My soul is the corner crying, so thanks for nothing, Marilyn.

Also terrifying, but not in a so-bad-it-makes-your-ears-bleed kind of way, is Modest Mouse’s video for "Satellite Skin." The song isn’t the greatest, but the imaginative video has aliens, bald children in cloaks, and walking animated mailboxes (or are they birdhouses?) Cool stuff! But not as cool as the Phoenix video, or as cool as I’m sure Marilyn Manson thinks he is. Which is your favorite?

Modest Mouse: "Satellite Skin"

May 15 2009 09:59 PM ET

Bruce Springsteen invites 10-year-old girl onstage. They sing. At least two people cry.

by Mandi Bierly

Tagged: Bruce Springsteen, Kids Do the Darndest Things, Things That Are Awesome

Last Friday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA. I was there. The highlight of the night was when Springsteen spotted a young girl in the audience singing along to "Waitin’ on a Sunny Day." He knelt in front of her, then eventually invited her onstage and passed her the mic.

You can see in the video embedded below that the crowd went apes— and that the girl, 10-year-old Elisabeth Ketterman, held it together better than any of us would’ve. (You can’t really hear her voice with all the adults singing around the camera, but it was sweet and on-key.) It was such an uplifting moment, the kind that might still surprise Springsteen after all these years and, as cheesy as it sounds, remind us that the children are our future ~~and that their music taste won’t totally suck~~. My sister and her husband literally cried as we watched from the 200 level. (It was the first evening they weren’t home to put my five-month-old niece to bed, so I forgave them — after I made sure that the two friends with us saw that they were sobbing and mocked them appropriately.)

Elisabeth told the local paper, The Centre Daily Times, that she’d asked her mother before the concert if there was any chance she could get up on stage with Springsteen. (She’s been a fan since she was in the womb, or at least that’s what her sign said when the Boss held it up earlier to the crowd of roughly 20,000.) "And she said, ‘Nah, one in a million,’" Elisabeth said. "And then Idid." Makes you wish you were 10 again, when being a superfan wasn’t a possible precursor to arrest. Anyone have an insanely lucky concert experience like that from their childhood to share?

P.S. I just emailed my sister the link to video and got this response: "Crying again!"

May 15 2009 09:36 PM ET

New Danger Mouse album halted by label

by Leah Greenblatt

Tagged: Misc.

Dangermouse_l What could have been one of the coolest albums of the year — onepacked with guests like the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, the FlamingLips, Iggy Pop, the Pixies' Frank Black, and even filmmaker DavidLynch– will now likely never see the light of day.

Danger Mouse, a.k.a. Brian Burton, the mad mashup genius behind the The Grey Album and currently one-half of Gnarls Barkley, has a new album, but you won't be hearing it. Dark Night of the Soul, his collaboration with gauzy rocker Sparklehorse, was all ready to release this July — and then things with south. When EMI Music reportedlyblocked the release of the album over a contractualdispute, all plans were pulled. In the meantime, Danger Mouse has decided to release the album as a blank disc in protest. (Here are a few more details from the BBC.)

We're not ones to encourage piracy, but rumor is some leaked tracks are already floating out there in the blogosphere. And considering how far the The Grey Album — also against the wishes of EMI — got, Dark may see the light after all; just not legally. Readers, what do you think?

UPDATE: A staffer at NPR just emailed to tell us that the entire album can actually be streamed on their site; right now, it's the only legal way to hear it, and they say there are currently no plans to take it down. Go here to listen.

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The Music Mix Music news, reviews, albums, concerts, and downloads

Archive: May 2009 (61-70 of 150)

Paolo Nutini's new track with ?uestLove: an EW exclusive

Joe Perry talks Aerosmith tour, 'Guitar Hero', and... mac 'n' cheese!

What's your favorite movie-music moment?

Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas, Ciara at Zootopia: was it worth the ticket price?

Eminem on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live': a behind-the-scenes report

Radiohead bassist confirms they've started recording new album: Meanwhile, a bitter Miley Cyrus tries to pretend she's not excited

The best song in the world (or at least a big chunk of it)?

Saturday video roundup: Phoenix, Modest Mouse and Marilyn Manson

Bruce Springsteen invites 10-year-old girl onstage. They sing. At least two people cry.

New Danger Mouse album halted by label

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