Archive: August 2009 (91-100 of 139)

Aug 14 2009 02:16 PM ET

Joe Henry, 'Channel': A Music Mix exclusive stream

by
Categories: An EW Exclusive!, EW Recommends

Joe-Henry-musician_l-1It stopped being reasonable to describe singer-songwriter Joe Henry as “alt-country” at some point during the second Clinton administration. And his new album Blood From Stars, due out August 18, shows he has no intention of turning back the clock.

There are moments when Henry’s weathered tones veer close to Tom Waits territory, and the album features regular Waits collaborator Marc Ribot on guitar and coronet (as well as Henry’s own son, Levon, on sax.) But Blood From Stars is every bit as hard to pigeonhole as you might expect from a CD which was inspired in part by both his recent production work with New Orleans blues-funk legend Allen Toussaint and Henry’s fondness for the poets Allen Ginsburg and e.e. cummings.

The result is an atmospheric set packed with beautiful, but unsettling, laments like “Progress of Love” and “Channel.” We were lucky enough to grab the latter track as an exclusive download for your terpsichoreal enjoyment.

Enjoy!


More from EW’s Music Mix:
Best cover songs: What’s your favorite?
The Les Paul guitar’s greatest hits
Glenn Beck: You’ll never guess who his favorite band is
Paramore, “Ignorance”: See the new video here
Radiohead track(?) “These Are My Twisted Words” mysterously leaks: Hear it here

Aug 14 2009 10:00 AM ET

Mika's 'Blue Eyes': Get your exclusive Music Mix stream here!

by
Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Downloads and Streams, Mika

Oh, Mika! He is so cheerful. What a pleasant way to warm up for the weekend, Mixers  – here’s your exclusive stream of “Blue Eyes,” a song from the flamboyant Lebanese piano man’s upcoming second album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. It already appeared on this summer’s Songs for Sorrow EP, but we didn’t think you’d mind another listen, especially since the festive clickity-clackity backbeat and lyrics about perking the hell up are such the opposite of sad. This + the already-EW-Must-List-approved “We Are Golden” = one fall album we can’t wait to get our hands on.

What do you think? Does Mika make you smile, too?


More from EW’s Music Mix:
Best cover songs: What’s your favorite?
The Les Paul guitar’s greatest hits
Glenn Beck: You’ll never guess who his favorite band is
Paramore, “Ignorance”: See the new video here
Radiohead track(?) “These Are My Twisted Words” mysterously leaks: Hear it here

Aug 14 2009 09:01 AM ET

Guilty Pleasures tournament bracket: Follow all the match-ups here!

by
Categories: Guilty Pleasures, Let's Argue!
click to enlarge

(click to enlarge)

Above, please find the official bracket for EW.com’s Music Mix Search for the Greatest Guilty Pleasure Act of All Time Tournament Poll Challenge Thing. Hundreds of you wrote in to share your picks, and through a completely not-scientific compilation process, we’ve come up with 32 contestants and seeded them according to strength, popularity, and general guilt. We’re pitting them head to head until we reach a thunderdome of epically cheesy proportions, and walk away with a winner, so check out the match-ups, print out the bracket so you can play at home, and leave your comments after the beep.

NOTE: The role of Savage Garden will be played by Poison for the remainder of this competition. Savage Garden were forced to drop out due to an unfortunate combination of astute reader response pointing out that somehow we totally forgot to put any hair metal on the list — a truly egregious oversight we hope has now been sufficiently remedied — and because certain proprietors of the Guilty Pleasures game could not come up with anything interesting to write about Savage Garden. The Music Mix regrets any confusion.

Round One
Nickelback (1) vs. Phish (16)
Britney Spears (1) vs. Pussycat Dolls (16)
ABBA (2) vs. Hootie & the Blowfish (15)
Barry Manilow (2) vs. Matchbox Twenty (15)
Journey (3) vs. Fall Out Boy (14)
Spice Girls (3) vs. Rihanna (14)
Ace of Base (4) vs. Stone Temple Pilots (13)
Backstreet Boys (4) vs. Duran Duran (13)
Meat Loaf (5) vs. Garth Brooks (12)
Celine Dion (5) vs. Will Smith (12)
George Michael/Wham (6) vs. Phil Collins/Genesis (11)
Hall & Oates (6) vs. Poison (11)
Neil Diamond (7) vs. John Denver (10)
Styx (7) vs. Air Supply (10)
Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana (8) vs. Lady Gaga (9)
Ashlee Simpson (8) vs. Mariah Carey (9)

Aug 13 2009 09:41 PM ET

Sonic Youth to perform on 'Gossip Girl': a Music Mix exclusive!

by
Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Sonic Youth, Television

Sonic-Youth-2009_lOne of New York’s greatest bands is about to appear on New York’s hottest show: EW has confirmed that Sonic Youth will perform an acoustic version of their 1986 single “Starpower” on the fifth episode of Gossip Girl this fall.

“Sonic Youth is one of my favorite bands,” says GG showrunner Stephanie Savage, “and last year when I was doing my regular Gossip Girl google search, it came up in some blog about a Sonic Youth show that Thurston [Moore] was playing ‘Psychic Hearts’ and Gossip Girl was playing on a screen in the background. And I was like, ‘Whaaaat? Oh my God. I hope they’re not making fun of us! I hope it was a cool, edgy homage!’ And it turned out that it was — tongue in cheek for sure, but definitely with love, and that they were fans of the show.” (Perhaps worth mentioning: Moore and his bandmate and wife, Kim Gordon, have a 15-year-old daughter.)

Last year, Moore and Be Your Own Pet’s Jemina Pearl cut a cover of the Ramones’ “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” for use during Jenny Humphrey’s guerrilla fashion show, and Savage says the conversation continued from there. “We have a very special event coming in Episode 5 that we’re filming right now,” she says, “and they seemed the ideal musical guest for it.” But in fine GG fashion, Savage is mum about the exact circumstances of the festivities involved. “It’s a big event that involves [engaged adults] Rufus and Lily. Just draw your own conclusions,” she laughs.

What do you think, Mixers? Does the appearance of a seminal counter-culture band on a populist show like GG inspire OMG!s, WTF?s, or TSO!s? (The latter stands for “They Sold Out,” to be said in an exhausted tone of voice, forgetting that the chance for a whole new audience to hear the awesomeness of Sonic Youth is, well, totes awes.) Is this cooler than last season’s No Doubt appearance? And even though Savage says, “I can kind of die now. I don’t really have anywhere to go from here,” who would you like to see guest-perform next?

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Best cover songs: What’s your favorite?
The Les Paul guitar’s greatest hits
Glenn Beck: You’ll never guess who his favorite band is
Paramore, “Ignorance”: See the new video here
Radiohead track(?) “These Are My Twisted Words” mysterously leaks: Hear it here

Aug 13 2009 04:30 PM ET

Best cover songs: What's your favorite?

by
Categories: Beastie Boys, Covers, Jay-Z, Let's Argue!

Since the No. 1 album in the country right now is a cover album — Sugarland’s Live on the Inside DVD includes a bonus CD of them taking on Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, R.E.M., and Beyonce — we thought it was a particularly opportune time to re-ask a perennial question: What’s your favorite cover song?

I’ve got a new one of late: Jay-Z taking on the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” while subbing in for them at this year’s All Points West music festival. It was a classy move, and it’s a fierce rendition:

A quick staff poll turned up some other classic suggestions, like the White Stripes’ “Jolene,” Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah,” Johnny Cash’s take on “Hurt,” and the we’re-secretly-15-years-old duo of Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” and the Ataris’ “Boys of Summer.” (Love that Black Flag shout-out.) But we sit around and listen to ourselves talk all day. We want your picks, Mixers! Give us enough good ones, and maybe we’ll make us a playlist! It worked for the heartbreaking songs, didn’t it?

More from EW’s Music Mix:
The Les Paul guitar’s greatest hits
Glenn Beck: You’ll never guess who his favorite band is
Paramore, “Ignorance”: See the new video here
Radiohead track(?) “These Are My Twisted Words” mysterously leaks: Hear it here
Led Zeppelin record a new song? No. But close!

Aug 13 2009 04:09 PM ET

Black Eyed Peas: biggest pop artists ever?

by
Categories: Black Eyed Peas, Charts, Let's Argue!

According to a press release today, the Black Eyed Peas are on the cusp of breaking the all-time record for the longest successive stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Thanks to the overlapping runs of  “Boom Boom Pow” (12 weeks at no. 1) and “I’ve Gotta Feeling,” (still holding the spot at seven weeks) they’ve already matched Usher’s record of 19 weeks (he did it with “Yeah” and “Burn”), and bypassed the 17-week record Boyz II Men have held since 1994 (it is hard to say goodbye to yesterday, isn’t it, Boyz?).

There are, of course, a thousand ways to slice the Billboard pie — most number-one albums, most number-one songs, longest chart runs, cumulative weeks on the Hot 100, etc. — but either way you cut it, the Peas can now claim a big ole piece.

Do you think they’ve earned the superlative, Music Mixers? Where do they stand for you amidst contemporary Hot 100 hoggers like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift — and among classic chart busters like (sacrilege? Perhaps! But we have to ask) the Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah, and Madonna?

Will history judge them they same way it does now-defunct multi-platinum acts like the Boyz, the Carpenters and the Bee Gees? Tell us below.

More from EW’s Music Mix:
MTV’s famous TRL studio in Times Square: R.I.P.?
New Michael Jackson album due
Led Zeppelin record a new song? No. But close!
Guest blogger: ‘Bandslam’ star Scott Porter on his favorite live performances

Aug 13 2009 02:41 PM ET

The Les Paul guitar's greatest hits. Turn it up!

by
Categories: In Memoriam, Led Zeppelin, Les Paul, Things We Love

Guitarist and inventor Les Paul, who has died at the age of 94, once said of the birth of rock’n'roll that, “Suddenly it was recognized power was a very important part of music.” Paul himself helped give bands that power with his “Les Paul” guitar, which he originally designed for the Gibson music company in the early ’50s.

For more than half a century now fretmasters of all musical stripes have made good use of Paul’s invention, from jazzer Al Di Meola to reggae icon Bob Marley. But it had the greatest, and loudest, effect on hard rock. Put a Les Paul guitar in the hands of a rock guitarist and it seems he virtually can’t help but grind out a classic riff or memorable solo. As Guns N’ Roses guitarist and Les Paul devotee Slash told EW a couple of years ago, ”It’s a shame so many kids don’t know about Les. He’s this amazing guitar player with a brilliant mind who pioneered a lot of the electronic wizardry and gadgets, like reverb and delay, that guitarists still use.”

While “kids” (of all ages) may not be all that familiar with Paul, they certainly know the music his instruments created. Below you can find just some of the most famous rock standards to benefit from the late guitar (and guitar-making) wizard — one right here, and five more after the jump. Take a couple of minutes to play a song in honor of the great man. And crank it up. That’s what he would have wanted.

READ FULL STORY »

Aug 13 2009 12:48 PM ET

Les Paul dies at 94

by
Categories: In Memoriam, Les Paul

Les Paul has died at 94, according to a press release. The electric guitar innovator succumbed to complications from pneumonia at a White Plains, N.Y., hospital today.

Born in Wisconsin, Paul gained some success as a country and jazz guitarist before he began experimenting with the instrument itself in the 1930s. By 1939, he had managed to create something known as “The Log” — a wood-based contraption, primitive by today’s standards, that was nonetheless a major step forward in electric guitar technology.

Paul’s recording career flourished as the 1940s went on, when he backed stars like Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters on a number of hit singles, while releasing his own music. Along the way, he essentially invented modern multi-track recording with 1947′s “Lover (When You’re Near Me),” for which he dubbed over a tape of his own guitar-playing eight times — an unheard-of technique at the time that rapidly become standard throughout the industry.

Paul kept on researching electric guitar design, and in the early 1950s Gibson Guitar introduced the Gibson Les Paul model, based in part on his ideas. Soon it became a key artifact of the rock & roll revolution, wielded by countless axe men in the rising genre: Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and many more all used the Gibson Les Paul to craft some of their most memorable riffs.

Paul continued performing and tinkering in the decades that followed. As recently as 2005, he won two Grammy Awards for his Les Paul & Friends album. “It’s a shame so many kids don’t know about Les,” Slash told EW that year. “It’s hard to keep up with him. He’s 90 years old and he’s out there playing every week!”

More on Les Paul:
Slash sizes up the legendary musician
Les Paul: The Living Legend of the Electric Guitar review
The Legend and the Legacy review

Photo Credit: Andrea Renault/Globe Photos

Aug 13 2009 12:44 PM ET

Glenn Beck: You'll never guess who his favorite band is

by
Categories: Muse, Things That Make Us Uncomfortable, What the...?

You probably know Glenn Beck as, for better or worse, one of the nation’s most popular right-wing commentators. But were you aware that he’s also a total alt-rock fan? Via Stereogum, we learn that the Fox News host played “Uprising,” the current single from the pretty solid British band Muse, on his radio show last Friday. Beck’s website even refers to “Uprising” as “a new, powerful song from one of his favorite bands.” Who knew!

And so Beck joins Twilight author Stephenie Meyer in the apparently crowded ranks of famous Muse heads. I guess this revelation means I should revise my longstanding personal opinion of this guy: While I’ve always thought of him as a hate-spewing loser, now I’ll have to consider him a hate-spewing loser who has decent-ish taste in music.

Check out “Uprising” below, and let us know: Are you surprised to learn how much Glenn Beck loves Muse? What do you think it is about Muse’s music that makes so many celebs dig them?

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Paramore, “Ignorance”: See the new video here
Radiohead track(?) “These Are My Twisted Words” mysterously leaks: Hear it here
Led Zeppelin record a new song? No. But close!
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Yay or nay?

Aug 13 2009 11:07 AM ET

Paramore, 'Ignorance': see the new video here

by
Categories: Paramore, Video Gaga

Who locked Paramore in the basement? And why couldn’t they spring for at least one measly light sconce from Ikea? Jeez.

The video for “Ignorance,” the first single off the upcoming third studio album Brand News Eyes ( due September 29) from the  Tennessee pop-punkers/ beloved Twilight bait, premiered on MTV officially this morning, but you an also watch it below in all its band-in-a-box, bare-bulb glory:

What do you think, Para-fans, are you feeling the song’s message (supposedly about the group’s own in-fighting) translated in the video here? Did you see them on tour with No Doubt this summer, and will you be catching any of their just-announced headlining fall dates?

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP