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Archive: November 2009 (81-90 of 119)

Nov 10 2009 10:00 AM ET

The Killers' Brandon Flowers on live albums, vampires, and Sinatra: A Music Mix Q&A

Categories: Q&A, The Killers, Vampires 'n Things

The Killers are technically in between albums, but they’re tiding hungry fans over with a New Moon tune and a live CD/DVD that hits stores today. The Music Mix reached frontman Brandon Flowers at home in Las Vegas to chat about all this and more a few days before the band launched an overseas tour. Read on for our Q&A.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Live From the Royal Albert Hall is your first live album. What made you want to do it now?
BRANDON FLOWERS: It felt like a good time to do it, I guess. Sometimes I worry that we didn’t do it earlier. We’ll never capture what it was like when we first started playing. We might have been a little green, but we’ll never have that again. So I guess now is a better time than never.

Is there footage of those old shows off in a vault somewhere that you could try to release?
Over in the U.K., the BBC, they’re masters of filming live bands for festivals. So there’s quite a bit of that stuff from our early days, I think, but never a full show. Anyhow, we’re really happy with how this turned out. I think for our first live DVD, it’s pretty solid.

READ FULL STORY »

Nov 10 2009 03:31 AM ET

Monday CMA rehearsal Not-Quite-Liveblog: Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, and more!

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Awards Shows, Country, Y'all!, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland

Pull up your britches, Mixers: The full breakdown from day two of CMA rehearsals is finally here for your enjoyment. (Read yesterday’s report here!) There was a long, empty break in the middle of my day due to closed rehearsals from Taylor Swift and Brooks & Dunn, but we’ve got your Lady Antebellum, your Kenny Chesney, your Sugarland, your Jason Aldean, and your Darius Rucker. Plus, just enough preview scoop to keep you kids interested, but prevent the show’s producers from hanging me by my ankles off the Nashville Visitor Center. Yay!

10:05 a.m. Two men talking in Sommet Center hallway. One with ponytail says to one without: “She will never set foot on another awards show stage without him next to her.” I have no idea what they are talking about, but in my mind, “she” is T-Swizzle, and “him” is a giant abominable snowman wearing a tiny, tiny cowboy hat.

10:07 The Lady Antebellum set is gorgeous: video screens with shadowy branches and winter street scenes, white Christmas lights strung everywhere. It looks like sadness and longing, which I guess is what “Need You Now” — the song they’re performing — is all about. Well. Sadness, longing, and booty calls.

READ FULL STORY »

Nov 9 2009 03:11 PM ET

Taylor Swift 'blown away' by Butch Walker cover of 'You Belong with Me'

by Adam Markovitz

Categories: Covers, New Stuff, Taylor Swift

“This weekend rules,” Taylor Swift gushed in a tweet last night. It’s probably not too much of a jump to assume she’s referring partly to her bravura double-duty hosting gig on SNL, but the declaration was actually prompted by another bit of good news: Swift’s mega-hit single “You Belong With Me” got lovingly covered by musician Butch Walker. And apparently Swift was happy with the result: “I’m losing my MIND listening to it! Blown away.”

You might not recognize Walker’s name, but you definitely know his music. A part-time solo artist (and former member of ’90s one-hitters Marvelous 3), the Georgia native has become a go-to writer/producer for acts like Avril Lavigne (“When You’re Gone”), Pink (“Bad Influence,” “Long Way to Happy”), and Weezer (“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”), among others. (Sad side note: The master tapes for every one of his recordings went up in flames two years ago when the house that Walker rented from Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea burned down in the Malibu wildfires.)

For his take (or as he dubs it, “a little late-night Tayloring”) on “You Belong With Me,” Walker ditches Swift’s pop-radio sheen for a stripped-down, folksy shuffle and throws in few clever swap-outs for some of the lyrics: “girlfriend” becomes “boyfriend”; “she wears short skirts” becomes “he wears izods”, etc.

Walker also documented the whole process in a video on his official YouTube channel. Check it out below (the real action starts around the three-minute mark), and let us know if you’re as stoked as Swift:

Nov 9 2009 02:40 PM ET

50 Cent's 'Before I Self-Destruct': EW's review

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: 50 Cent, Reviews

50 Cent’s long-awaited Before I Self-Destruct arrived as an exclusive iTunes Music Store offering today in an effort to combat widespread leaks; physical CDs will follow next Monday. Read on for EW’s review.

READ FULL STORY »

Nov 9 2009 01:15 PM ET

Britney Spears lip-synching controversy: (not) shock of the decade?

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Britney Spears, Let's Argue!

By now, the “revelation” of Britney’s lip-synching on her current Circus tour is about as newsy as Jon Gosselin picking himself up a new lil’ silk-screened something at the Ed Hardy mega-mart.

So why has it grabbed so many headlines this past week? The story came to a head in Australia, where Circus‘s 14-date Down Under leg has been met with widespread media derision, calls by politicians for laws forcing prominently placed disclaimers in the case of a lip-synched performance, and even fan walkouts. Word spread that dozens of disgruntled concert-goers—most of whom paid from $97 to $1500 AUS per ticket—left the pop superstar’s Friday-night show in Perth, spurred by Spears’ “crap” performance and repeated miming of lyrics. Watch a clip, below:

“We were led to believe the lip-syncing was necessary because her dancing was so good, so rigorous, she couldn’t possibly sing,” writes entertainment journalist Rebekah Devlin, who gathered the testimonials of disappointed fans. “But her moves were sloppy and stiff, as well as out of time.”

Spears’ Australian promoter vehemently denied the claims, saying,”Britney is aware of all this and she’s extremely upset by it. She’s a human being. I’m embarrassed, with such a big international entourage here with Britney, to be part of the Australian media when I see that kind of totally inaccurate reporting.” And her manager Adam Leber likewise responded with a post on Spears’ Twitter page: “Its unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn’t enjoy the show last night. Fortunately the other 18,272 fans in attendance did. – Adam.”

Even John Mayer, in Australia to promote his new album, joined the fray, tweeting, “If you’re shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you.”

What do you think, Music Mixers—is the expectation of live performance what you pay to see with Britney, or is it the spectacle? Having attended a tour date in New York earlier this year—and watched the clip from the Perth show above—the saddest thing to me is how little Spears herself seems to enjoy being up there; she often looks distracted, overwhelmed, and frankly, like she’d rather be somewhere else. If she doesn’t want to be there, should we?

Nov 9 2009 11:39 AM ET

Jerry Fuchs, drummer with LCD Soundsystem, !!!, Juan McLean, dies after elevator shaft fall

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: In Memoriam, Indie Rock, LCD Soundsystem

Thirty-four-year-old Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs, a beloved fixture of both the New York and Athens, Georgia rock scenes who played with LCD Soundsystem, !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk), Turing Machine, MSTRKRFT, and The Juan MacLean, died Saturday night after attempting to crawl out of a broken elevator shaft at a benefit party in Brooklyn.

Fuchs, who also freelanced here at EW, was a house drummer of sorts for progressive record label DFA, as well as a member of long-running Athens post-rock outfit Maserati (sadly, he had replaced original Maserati drummer Mikel Gius, also the original drummer for !!!, who died in a bike accident in 2005).

On the Juan MacLean website, MacLean wrote: “Jerry was one of my best and most loyal friends. He was hands-down the best drummer I have ever played with or seen for that matter… He was utterly sincere and fiercely loyal.” Watch him perform below:

According to the New York Times, the accident occurred at about 12:30am on November 8, when Fuchs became stuck on a freight elevator between the fourth and fifth floors. When he attempted to jump out of the stalled car, his jacket got caught and threw him back towards the elevator shaft, while another unidentified man in the car with him leaped safely to a fourth-floor hallway.

At a gathering for Fuch’s friends on Sunday night, LCD frontman James Murphy called him “one of the only people we all knew who was literally great at what he did.” And longtime friend Jon Fine noted, “He could play metal, prog rock with multiple time signatures, aggressive indie disco … His passing puts an enormous hold on the Brooklyn music scene. The world of independent music has sustained a really significant loss.”

Nov 8 2009 11:27 PM ET

Sunday CMA rehearsal Not-Quite-Liveblog: Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and more!

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Awards Shows, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Country, Y'all!, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw

From deep inside the ice-cold environs of Nashville’s Sommet Center, it’s the 2009 CMA Awards… and the Music Mix has your ticket to all the hot action!!

Did you like how I did that? “Ice-cold” environs and “hot” action? Yes, that is the kind of quality writing you will come to expect from me as I sit here inside this hockey arena and pirate wi-fi while watching country music’s best and brightest prepare for Wednesday’s show. Things are rolling right along on this first day of rehearsals: When I got here this morning, the white and red boards of the hockey rink were still visible, but they’ve been masked over the course of the afternoon; now the only way you’d know this is the home of the Nashville Predators is the giant saber-toothed tiger head hanging from the ceiling. Out of which, I am told, the Predators skate at the top of every game. Stay classy, Nashvegas!

This is the first of a series of Not Quite Liveblogs (patent pending) that I will be filing over the course of the next three days, bringing you a preview of what to expect from the telecast, and featuring some short interviews with your favorite musicians as they wander by. Today on the program: Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Billy Currington, and your charming hosts, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Plus, scoop on the performances, and an answer to the most anticipated question of the night: How many different dresses will Carrie wear this year? Read on… READ FULL STORY »

Nov 8 2009 02:43 PM ET

Steven Tyler leaving Aerosmith? Who'd be better off?

by Dave Karger

Categories: Aerosmith

Could Aerosmith follow in the footsteps of Journey, Van Halen, and Styx to become the latest American rock band to lose its lead singer? Last Wednesday, Tyler gave an interview to Classic Rock magazine, saying he was pulling out of the group’s upcoming South American tour, deciding to focus on solo projects instead. On Friday, the group’s guitarist, Joe Perry, told the Las Vegas Sun that Tyler had quit returning his phone calls. If Tyler does in fact leave (to develop “Brand Tyler,” as he put it to Classic Rock), the band is said to be considering whether to carry on with a new lead vocalist. It’s a risky move, since Tyler’s voice is certainly one of a kind. But then again, so is Steve Perry’s, and Journey managed to find an uncanny soundalike on YouTube. But which entity is likely to have the more viable post-split career? For the Aerosmith fans out there, would you be more likely to remain a bigger fan of the band (assuming a new singer had the necessary chops), or would you join Team Tyler instead? Or should we all hold out hope that they’ll reconcile? It’s clear that their off-stage strife hasn’t ruined their live shows…yet.

Nov 6 2009 05:25 PM ET

New Grizzly Bear video, 'Ready, Able': Viva la claymation!

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: EW Recommends, Grizzly Bear, Indie Rock, New Stuff, Video Gaga

Psych-pop fabulists (and Music Mix habitués) Grizzly Bear already released one excellent video this year, the (literally) mind-blowing Patrick Daughters production “Two Weeks.”

Their latest, “Ready, Able,” is a phenomenally time-consuming trip in the tradition of the White Stripes Lego-rama “Fell in Love with a Girl”; a hobbit-y, Claymationed forest fantasia that, for pure man-hours alone, deserves to be watched. But also, because it is just very cool:

Nov 6 2009 02:57 PM ET

Danny Gokey debuts new single 'It's Only': What do you think?

by Tim Stack

Categories: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Country, Y'all!, Music, New Stuff

American Idol second runner-up (and wearer of questionable eyeglasses) Danny Gokey debuted his new song, “It’s Only,” on Milwaukee radio station FM 106.1 today. The track, which is the lead single of Gokey’s upcoming RCA Nashville country album, was reportedly written by Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley and produced by Carrie Underwood collaborator Mark Bright. Sounding a little like Five for Fighting (at least in my opinion), “It’s Only” is a big, emotional ballad and definitely the type of tune Gokey fans wanna hear. Personally, I kinda detest the dude and his overly jazzy LensCrafter frames but I’m also a loyal Adam Lambert fan (I’ve had Lambert’s new single, “For Your Entertainment,” on repeat all day today). That being said, I could totally see this song becoming a big country hit for Gokey.