Archive: November 2009 (61-70 of 119)

Nov 13 2009 02:13 PM ET

Swedish dance-rockers kent: we don't know who they are, but we like their taste in music

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Categories: EW Recommends, Indie Rock, Music, New Stuff, Things That Are European

Sweden’s massively popular alternative rock group kent is guesting on Sirius XM’s Nordic Rox radio show this weekend. What? You haven’t heard of the one-and-only kent?! Actually, us neither. But the solid DJ playlist they came up with for their radio guest spot got us interested enough to look them up.

Turns out they’ve been around since the ’90s, doing the whole Pavement/The Bends-era Radiohead thing. Lately, however, they’ve moved toward a dark dance-pop sound, which you can hear on “Töntarna,” the first single from their new album, Röd:

Their growing affection for indie electro-pop is clear from their DJ set list, which balances the likes of MGMT, Friendly Fires, Phoenix and the Faint with the abrasive electro noise of MSTRKRFT and French future-glitch of Parisian Busy P.

Kent’s interview/in-studio performance/DJ guest set will air on Sunday, November 15 at 8pm ET and will be rebroadcast on Wednesday, November 18 at 11pm ET on SIRIUS channel 18 and XM channel 45.

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Solange covers the Dirty Projectors, delivers a little bit of awesome
‘American Dad’ to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers on live albums, vampires, and Sinatra: A Music Mix Q&A
Exclusive Monsters of Folk video: ‘The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me’
Yeasayer’s ‘Ambling Alp’: A psych-pop bubble bath

Nov 13 2009 10:42 AM ET

New Lady Gaga-Beyonce duet 'Video Phone': Stream it here

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Categories: Beyonce, Divas!, Lady Gaga, New Stuff

Diva twin powers, activate! Form of… remix. You knew it was coming, dear readers. And now the collaboration between Lady Gaga and Beyonce has arrived.

It’s not a massive twist on Sasha Fierce‘s original “Video Phone”; mostly just the Lady throwing down an extra verse to justify her video appearance. In other words, time to get leotarded, Gagoncé (Beyogga?). Listen below:

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
‘Glee: The Music, Vol. 2′ track listing revealed!
Solange covers the Dirty Projectors, delivers a little bit of awesome
Timbaland on Miley Cyrus: She’s the next Justin Timberlake
Britney to Satan (via Twitter): Just kidding!
Taylor Swift at the CMA’s: Entertainer of the Year, yes — Female Vocalist, no?

Nov 12 2009 06:20 PM ET

'Glee: The Music, Vol. 2' track listing revealed!

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Categories: Glee, John Lennon, Kelly Clarkson, Lily Allen, New Stuff, Soundtracks, Things That Are Awesome

Glee-soundtrack-2_lThis week, the first Glee soundtrack debuted at #4 on the charts with a strong 113,000 copies sold—an especially impressive performance given that all of the songs had already been available digitally.

Now, Columbia Records has announced a release date (Dec. 8th) and a full track listing for Glee: The Music, Vol. 2, which will feature the songs performed for the rest of the first 13 episodes. Amongst the stars to be covered? Kelly Clarkson, Lily Allen, Cyndi Lauper, the Rolling Stones(!) and John Lennon.  See below, Gleeks!

  1. “Proud  Mary
  2. “Endless  Love”
  3. “I’ll Stand  By You”
  4. “Don’t Stand  So Close To Me / Young Girl”
  5. “Crush”
  6. “(You’re)  Having My Baby”
  7. “Lean On  Me”
  8. “Don’t Make  Me Over”
  9. “Imagine”
  10. “True  Colors”
  11. “Jump”
  12. “Smile”  (cover of Lily Allen)
  13. “Smile”  (cover of Charlie Chaplin)
  14. “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”
  15. “Don’t Rain  On My Parade”
  16. “You Can’t  Always Get What You Want”
  17. “My Life  Would Suck Without You”

Personally, I cannot wait for “True Colors” and “My Life Would Suck Without You!” And co-creator Brad Falchuk says that the cast performance of “Imagine,” which is a collaboration with a deaf choir, is truly something special. “I’m warning you to prepare for that,” says Falchuk. “There’s been no one who’s watched that number and not cried. It’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen.”

What do you think of this line-up, Music Mix-ers (and Gleeks)? Is there another blockbuster hit like “Don’t Stop Believin’” in this mix?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Solange covers the Dirty Projectors, delivers a little bit of awesome
Timbaland on Miley Cyrus: She’s the next Justin Timberlake
Britney to Satan (via Twitter): Just kidding!
Taylor Swift at the CMA’s: Entertainer of the Year, yes — Female Vocalist, no?

Nov 12 2009 05:22 PM ET

Solange covers the Dirty Projectors, delivers a little bit of awesome

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Categories: Covers, Indie Rock, New Stuff, R&B, Things That Are Odd, Things That Are Sexy, Things We Love

God bless Solange. When life handed her lemons—in the form of a world-dominating, longest-shadow-casting super-diva sister— she went ahead and made herself a lemon drink, dammit. She built herself a sandcastle disco in the sky; she brought B and the Jigga Man to a Grizzly Bear show; she covered her some Bjork.

Now, she’s taken on agit-pop experimentalists the Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness Is the Move”; in her hands, it’s less a Prince-ly harpsichord freakout than a sultry, slow-grind soul jam. Listen below (via Pitchfork):

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Timbaland on Miley Cyrus: She’s the next Justin Timberlake
‘American Dad’ to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers on live albums, vampires, and Sinatra: A Music Mix Q&A
Exclusive Monsters of Folk video: ‘The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me’
‘Say Anything’ turns 20: Cameron Crowe tells the story behind ‘In Your Eyes’

Nov 12 2009 05:16 PM ET

Timbaland on Miley Cyrus: She's the next Justin Timberlake

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Categories: Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Nelly Furtado, New Stuff, Timbaland

timbaland_lMega-producer Timbaland will release Shock Value II, the anticipated sequel to his 2007 album, on Dec. 8th, and he’s assembled another impressive roster of guest-stars, including Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus. EW recently spoke with the producer, who had nothing but praise for the young Disney star and predicts she’ll grow into an adult superstar. “Man, she’s gonna be like Justin [Timberlake],” says Timbaland. “She comes from that same musical background, where she’s just got it. Her voice is just there. The best way to put it is she’s special. When I worked with her, I was very impressed. I was like, ‘Whoa.’”

While Timberlake and Timbaland do collaborate on Shock Value II, don’t expect a follow-up to FutureSex/LoveSounds anytime soon. Says Timbaland, “I can’t really speak on [Justin's] behalf, but we’re not really in that frame of mind right now. I’ll be honest with you, that’s the album that I’m scared if I can top it.”

Check out the Shock Value II‘s first single, “Morning After Dark”, featuring Nelly Furtado and SoShy, below.

Do you think Miley is the next Justin, Music Mix-ers? What do you think of Timbaland’s new single? Will you buy Shock Value II?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
‘American Dad’ to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!
Aerosmith drama: Steven Tyler impersonator on who should replace Tyler if he quits (which he hasn’t)
Carrie Underwood tops the albums chart
The 2009 Country Music Awards: We’re live-blogging it!

Nov 12 2009 02:40 PM ET

Britney to Satan (via Twitter): Just kidding!

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Categories: Britney Spears, Whoopsies!

Britney and Beelzebub, sittin’ in a tree, T-W-E-E-T-I-N-G? Fine, word police, that’s one too many letters. But no—though she may believe in certain sexual combinations not implicitly approved by the Christian Coalition, la Brit is not, despite recent updates on her Twitter page, an actual minion of Satan.

She is, however, an unusually frequent victim of devilishly tech-savvy computer goblins; this is at least the third successful hacking of her official account in the past year, following last January’s unprompted gyno update (“Hi Yall! Brit Brit here, just wanted to update you all on the size of my vagina. Its about 4 feet wide with razor sharp teeth”) and a less hilarious incident in June announcing the pop star’s death.

Seriously, Britney is Down Under right now, but not that far, y’all; what’s a girl to do? As of now, her page has removed the offending tweets and posted the following message: “Britney’s twitter account was just hacked. The situation has been resolved and we apologize for any offense the hacker’s messages caused.”

But who do you think is responsible, dear readers? Some unknowable, nefarious internet overlords? Or perhaps the tragically de-Twerted Miley Cyrus?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Taylor Swift at the CMA’s: Entertainer of the Year, yes—Female Vocalist, no?
Justin Bieber on ‘True Jackson, VP’: Watch an exclusive clip
The 2009 Country Music Awards: We’re liveblogging it!
Wyclef Jean on his new album, the future of the Fugees, and being confused with will.i.am
Carrie Underwood tops the album chart
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers on live albums, vampires, and Sinatra: A Music Mix Q&A

Nov 12 2009 01:53 PM ET

Taylor Swift at the CMA's: Entertainer of the Year, yes -- Female Vocalist, no?

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Categories: About Last Night, Awards Shows, Country, Y'all!, Let's Argue!, Taylor Swift

Between her SNL hosting triumph and last night’s total domination at the CMA Awards, Taylor Swift is undoubtedly having the week of her young life. And it’s hard to argue with her Entertainer of the Year prize; Brad Paisley, three-years-running champ Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and George Strait are all superstars of the genre (albeit some of different generations), but none matched the Pennsylvania-bred teen for sheer media domination in 2009. And isn’t what most of these things are meant to recognize, really?

Perhaps more questionable, though, is her statuette for Female Vocalist—won over the likes of Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, and Carrie Underwood. Or as my co-worker Ken Tucker lays it out: Songwriter yes; singer, no. (Though a special dispensation may be made for Best Shakira Yodel by a Not-Shakira On a Network Program).

Watch her CMA performance of “Forever and Always” below, and make your own judgments:

Clearly, she’s nervous here, and perhaps less stair-mastering and hair-whipping would have helped the cause. But is Swift really the vocal powerhouse this award was meant for, or just an industry wunderkind getting the full season sweep from voters desperate to hitch themselves to her runaway pop-crossover success?

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
The 2009 Country Music Awards: We’re liveblogging it!’
‘American Dad’ to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!
Carrie Underwood tops the album chart
Sugarland on their next album, upcoming tour, and their pitch for the ‘Twilight:Eclipse’ sountrack

Nov 12 2009 10:09 AM ET

Joni Mitchell, James Taylor help birth Greenpeace: An EW exclusive stream from a rare 1970 concert

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Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Charity, EW Recommends, Music, Things That Are Canadian

A re-mastered concert featuring folk legends James Taylor and Joni Mitchell is now available for the first time. Amchitka: the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace captures Mitchell and Taylor and in all their youthful, creative glory. And—holy  patchouli!—they duet on a version of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” I’m quivering in my Birkenstocks!

In all seriousness, though, this is a welcome double-disc dosage of seminal folk-rock from now-classic stars trying to make a political difference during their musical prime. The event’s aim was to raise money to send activists to stop U.S. nuclear tests near the Alaskan island of Amchitka, and it was also Greenpeace’s first campaign.

Phil Ochs—a protest singer whom the FBI once had a nearly-500-page file on—began the set with the type of tunes occasionally referred to as “finger-pointing songs.” Ochs soon passed the baton to James Taylor, just 22 at the time and fresh off the success of his Sweet Baby James album.

The real star of this live set, though, is Joni Mitchell, who was nine months shy of releasing Blue, one of the most acclaimed albums of the rock era. The best moments here are her previews of that material: It’s a thrill to hear her say, “This is a new song” and then launch into a classic like “My Old Man.” Get a taste of this seminal performance after the jump.

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Nov 11 2009 04:07 PM ET

'American Dad' to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!

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Categories: My Morning Jacket, Television, Things That Are Odd

My Morning Jacket will appear as themselves on a November 22nd episode of American Dad, and bring with them songs like “I’m Amazed,” “Steam Engine,” and “Remnants.” The episode will be titled “My Morning Straightjacket,” and guest-star Zach Galifianakis as an MMJ superfan. And if the picture on the left is any indication, the episode will also totally be on drugs.

Somehow not surprisingly, this peculiar creative marriage is the result of the life-changing 4-hour show the Jackets played in the pouring rain at Bonnaroo ’08: American Dad co-creator Mike Barker was at that show (along with yours truly), and if he manages to somehow capture the manic energy of Galifianakis prancing around the stage in a Lil’ Orphan Annie dress while MMJ covers Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home,” he may have just penned the best episode of any television show, live or animated, in the history of the medium.

According to bassist Tom “Two-Tone Tommy” Blankenship, the band and Barker were drawn together by “mutual love and respect for one another. We’re all fans,” he says. MMJ got the chance to sit in on an American Dad table read several years back, and while in Los Angeles to play the Greek Theater and tape The Tonight Show last summer, they went in and did the voiceovers for their episode. “It was pretty wild,” Blankenship says. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be an animator, and then I thought it would be cool to do funny voices in a cartoon. But the actual work itself is not what I would have expected. It’s crazy trying to put forth emotion, get the cadence right, and do it really quickly but not too fast… there’s definitely an art to it.”

Meanwhile, although the Jackets are off exploring various side projects at the moment — Jim James with Monsters of Folk, Patrick Hallahan drumming for Dan Auerbach, Carl Broemel working on solo material — Blankenship says they’ll be getting together for a week or two in January, and then maybe again in March to plot the followup to 2008′s stupendous Evil Urges. “I think we’re just going to spend most of next year writing and recording,” he says. As for other TV shows Blankenship would like to be a part of? “If we could go back in time and do the Muppet Show, that would be awesome. Or I would totally do Sesame Street.”

What do you think of this unlikely combination, Mixers? Who’s gonna be tuning in?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Exclusive Monsters of Folk video: ‘The Sandman, the Brakeman, and Me’
Carrie Underwood tops the album chart
Sugarland on their next album, upcoming tour, and their pitch for the ‘Twilight:Eclipse’ sountrack
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers on live albums, vampires, and Sinatra: A Music Mix Q&A

Photo Credit: Fox

Nov 11 2009 03:21 PM ET

Aerosmith drama: Steven Tyler impersonator on who should replace Tyler if he quits (which he hasn't)

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Categories: Aerosmith

Looks like all that talk of Steven Tyler quitting Aerosmith was a little premature. Take it from the man himself last night: “I am not leaving Aerosmith!” Fans, you can exhale now.

But yesterday, when you were still holding your breath, I spoke with a guy who knows a thing or two about subbing for Tyler: Chris Vandahl, lead singer for tribute act Aeromyth. That’s him on the right in the photo accompanying this post — hard to tell who’s who, isn’t it? Vandahl gamely agreed to grade a few potential replacements for Tyler. Even though the entire premise of our interview is now obsolete, this thought experiment was too much fun not to share. Read on after the jump, then let us know in the comments whether you agree with Vandahl’s grades for these hypothetical new Aerosmith singers.

READ FULL STORY »

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