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Archive: December 2009 (61-70 of 87)

Dec 7 2009 09:35 AM ET

Apple eats Lala: Now what?

The big music-tech news of the weekend was that Apple has purchased Lala.com. Apple, of course, makes your laptop, your portable music device, your phone, and your iTunes Music Store — well, maybe not yours personally, but lots of folks’. Lala is an online music streaming site that lets users listen to any song once for free, then charges 10 cents a pop for the right to stream it endlessly, or a bit more if you want to download an MP3. Even if you’re not a Lala customer, you may be familiar with their streams since they started showing up prominently on Google searches this fall.

So what does this deal mean for you, the consumer? Right now it’s difficult to say. Bloomberg News quotes one expert saying the move “may signal that Apple is more interested in creating a subscription service,” since Lala users’ streaming songs stay on Lala servers instead of their own hard drives. A New York Times story, however, said this deal happened because Lala’s business model wasn’t working out (“a bit too complex for many Web users”), and that Apple was really only buying its talented creative team. We’ll have to wait and see which of those reports, if either, is correct.

In the meantime, speculate away! What do you think Apple wants to do with Lala? Do you use either Lala or iTunes to buy music, or both? Do you think Lala’s model is clever enough to be worth integrating into the iTunes system somehow, or was it so confusing that it makes sense to fold the company into iTunes?

UPDATE: An Apple spokesperson released the following statement when asked about the deal: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans.”

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

Dec 4 2009 07:15 PM ET

mtvU Woodie Awards: College students vote their favorite artists (Kings of Leon! Matt and Kim!) of 2009

by Joseph Brannigan Lynch

Categories: Awards Shows, Death Cab for Cutie, Jack White, MTV, Music, Passion Pit, Pete Wentz

The 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards penetrate dorm-room televisions this Friday night. Now, mtvU is a campus-only cable network, so this awards show is targeted to those seeking higher education: i.e., it is something kids watch before leaving their rooms, finding a party and making some questionable decisions.

So if you wanna know what your missing, here it is: Woodies are golden logs given to musicians based upon student votes from across the country. According to MTV, the Woodies give us the pulse of the trend-setting campus crowd. Some of the featured artists at the ’09 Woodies are indeed of the up-and-coming variety—Passion Pit, Never Shout Never—and some were alt-music standbys present, like Death Cab for Cutie, Jack White and Clipse. But there was one thing I know for certain: You should question the indie cred of any show that provides two separate bottles of hair product on every sink in the bathroom.

All questions of “alternative-ness” aside, however, the performances were top notch. The show’s fantastic kickoff featured moving cameras following the Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim as they biked through the heart of Manhattan (in real time) and into the Roseland Ballroom, where they hopped off their bikes and jumped right into singing their college-radio hit “Lessons Learned” as audiences cheered along.

You might remember that song from its infamous music video—the indie twosome walk through Times Square shedding layers of clothing until they are completely nekkid in front of droves of gawking tourists. But in case you forgot:

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 4 2009 04:17 PM ET

MGMT singer talks Grammy nominations ('I freaked out!'), new album, and more

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Grammys, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, MGMT, Q&A

Guess who else wasn’t expecting Brooklyn psych-pop act MGMT to receive multiple Grammy nominations on Wednesday night? “I was going to watch the nomination-announcement concert thing just for fun,” MGMT singer Andrew VanWyngarden (pictured, left) tells the Music Mix. “It was a complete surprise. I freaked out!” We chatted with VanWyngarden this afternoon about the band’s Grammy prospects, the new album they plan to release in late spring 2010, and working (or not) with the likes of Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Paul McCartney, Brian Eno, and avant-garde German film director Werner Herzog.

EW: In the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category of the Grammys, your song “Kids” is up against artists like the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, and Hall & Oates. Do you think you have a shot at winning?
ANDREW VANWYNGARDEN: My instinct would tell me that Black Eyed Peas will probably sweep everything. Even at the nomination ceremony, every camera shot was Black Eyed Peas; every go-to-commercial music was Black Eyed Peas. They, like, own the Grammys. But maybe some people will want to vote for the underdog or some music that’s a little left of center, as they say. I like how we have a video for “Kids” that’s got these crazy monsters terrorizing a toddler and an animated ending with everything coming out of a woman’s vagina in space. I don’t think the Black Eyed Peas have that going for them.

The other category you’re up for is Best New Artist. You’re probably a little more in touch with the up-and-coming music scene than a lot of Grammy voters—
You’d be surprised.

If you had to pick a Best New Artist, who would it be?
All the bands that I think are “new” aren’t new. It would be cool if a band like Beach House or Grizzly Bear got some recognition. But I don’t know.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 4 2009 03:24 PM ET

'Avatar' theme song: Does Leona Lewis' track sound just a touch too much like 'My Heart Will Go On'?

by Clark Collis

Categories: Leona Lewis, Movies, Soundtracks

I’m old enough to remember a time when James Cameron made Guns N’ Roses-assisted movies about killer cyborgs (see video at bottom). These days he seems to be all about love stories and big ballads. You may recall that, for Titanic, the auteur recruited Celine Dion to sing a little ditty called “My Heart Will Go On.” And now Brit songbird Leona Lewis has provided some similarly big-lunged balladeering for his forthcoming sci fi extravaganza Avatar in the form of “I See You,” which you can hear below.

Actually, to my ears, it sounds at times like Lewis is going to break into “My Heart Will Go On.” Give “I See You” a listen, and see if you agree.

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

Dec 3 2009 05:06 PM ET

Daryl Hall on his unexpected Grammy nomination, why he might not go to the ceremony, and the current state of John Oates' mustache.

by Clark Collis

Categories: Grammys, Hall & Oates

It is fair to say that Daryl Hall wasn’t exactly glued to last’s night Grammy TV special, at which it was announced that he and John Oates were nominated in the “Best performance by a duo or group with vocals” category for a live version of their 1976 hit “Sara Smile.” “I didn’t even know the nominations were happening,” says the blue-eyed soul man. “I found out when my manager called me. It was a big surprise.” One reason Hall wasn’t all that interested in the Grammys? The Grammys have never been all that interested in him. In fact, Hall has only been nominated twice and has never won. That’s right: Daryl Hall has never won a Grammy! What have the Recording Academy been thinking all these years? “You ask them,” laughs the singer.

After the jump, Hall sizes up some of the other Grammy nominees and bars your writer from ever visiting his house. Boo! READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2009 03:14 PM ET

Like Green Day AND 'Glee'? Then get ready to love this version of '21 Guns' from the 'American Idiot' musical

by Clark Collis

Categories: Glee, Green Day

It seems like a long time ago ago that I was chatting with Billie Joe Armstrong about the stage adaptation of Green Day’s American Idiot CD. The musical actually opened at the Berkeley Repertory Theater a couple of months back, and Spinner is now streaming a version of the song “21 Guns”—which is actually from the trio’s recent 21st Century Breakdown opus— by the cast and Billie Joe Armstrong.

The new take sounds an awful lot like it’s been retooled by the kids of Glee, much to the delight of 99% of my co-workers (I’m rarely able to see the show myself, as it clashes with whatever else happens to be on. Hey, we don’t all have to like it.).

Anyhoo, do you agree that there is something very Glee-ful about the this version of “21 Guns”? And how do you think it compares with the original (the video for which is below)?

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

Dec 3 2009 12:59 PM ET

Whitney Houston's Grammy shut-out: Was she robbed?

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Awards Shows, Grammys, Let's Argue!, Whitney Houston, Whoopsies!

Of many unexpected admissions and omissions in last night’s Grammy nominee announcement, few are as surprising as the total absence of Whitney Houston on the ballot. Granted, her August release I Look to You was not her finest hour, and it yielded few commercial singles; her often uneven performances to promote it didn’t help.

But she’s also the stuff these shows are made of (26-time Grammy nominee, seven-time winner); her label even moved the release of her album up a day to make sure it was eligible, and Look‘s redemption tales seemed calibrated to hit Academy voters right in the solar plexus—and the voting-finger. And yet, not a single nod for the chest-thumping title track or slinky “Million Dollar Bill,” penned by Grammy darling Alicia Keys. So is it the notes Houston hit (or didn’t) that kept her out?

Clearly, what was once one of the greatest natural instruments in pop music is not what it was. But no one ever said that Bob Dylan or Tom Waits sounded like a flock of baby songbirds at sunrise, and artists like Billie Holiday made transcendant art of the quirks and crags inherent in their traditionally “imperfect” voices.

Maybe if Houston had chosen material more like Dylan’s or Holiday’s—something deliberately rougher and more intimate, less reliant on modern R&B polish—Grammy voters would be throwing her a ticker-tape parade today. Or maybe Look‘s material just wasn’t good to stand amongst nominees in the R&B fields like Beyonce, Maxwell, or India.Arie (and Pleasure P, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Fiona, Trey Songz…) Give us your theories below.

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

Dec 3 2009 10:00 AM ET

Stream new Cold War Kids, 'Coffee Spoon': it's a Music Mix exclusive!

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Cold War Kids, Downloads and Streams

Here’s a nice early Christmas gift from the Cold War Kids: Their Behave Yourself EP will be available for download, courtesy of iTunes, on December 21. (Physical product, for those who still care, isn’t out until January 19, oh-Ten.)

But because we strive to be like Santa at all times of the year, the Music Mix is happy to bring you an exclusive preview of “Coffee Spoon,” a track off this upcoming collection of songs recorded after the sessions for 2008′s Loyalty to Loyalty. “They didn’t belong there,” reports frontman Nathan Willett of the four tracks on this EP, “but they kept hanging around, starting trouble; made friends, and insisted that their story be heard.”

Have a listen and decide for yourselves, Mixers: Are you glad this track stuck?

Photo Credit: Matt Wingnall

Dec 3 2009 08:00 AM ET

Exclusive: 'Gossip Girl' co-creator Josh Schwartz gives us his take on the albums that defined the decade

by EW staff

Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Listmania!, Television

For Entertainment Weekly’s Best of the Decade special issue, we asked some of the sharpest minds in film and television to give us their take on the past ten years. Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C. and co-creator of Gossip Girl and Chuck, shared his insights into how and why America became Playlist Nation in the 2000s, and how the rise of digital music threatened to kill the album, but ultimately didn’t. To prove his point, Josh gave EW.com this exclusive list of the albums he feels best defined the decade. To read Josh Schwartz’s full essay on the decade in music, pick up the current issue of EW, on stands now.

In our new Playlist Nation, many felt the age of the album was over, with shuffle-happy listeners too busy downloading singles and ringtones. This is an attempt to present ten albums that defied that trend and defined this decade. Hopefully they will be heard for a long, long time. And no matter when you hear them, they will transport you back to this time. —Josh Schwartz

Best Albums by the Defining Artists of the ’00s

Radiohead, Kid A

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Jay-Z, The Blueprint

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[Schwartz's list continues after the jump...]
READ FULL STORY »

Dec 2 2009 11:43 PM ET

Nominees (Kings of Leon! Sugarland! Maxwell!) talk Taylor Swift and more after the Grammy nomination special

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Grammys, On the Scene

kings of leon The stars filed through the press room after tonight’s hour-long Grammy nomination special (the Grammy ceremony airs live on CBS on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 at 8 p.m. ET/PT) in an efficient, joyous, and slightly dizzying conveyor belt process: Presenter Ringo Starr proudly identified himself as a Black Eyed Peas fan. Nominee and official nutty Frenchman David Guetta leaped on top of Grammy board member Jimmy Jam, who then announced that the Time reunion that started on the 2008 telecast would soon birth an album. Kings of Leon’s Nathan Followill noted that their four “Use Somebody” nominations tonight — on top of the ones from last year, when “Sex on Fire” won Best Group Rock Performance — make a whopping seven noms over two years. “It’s pretty cool to have a record that people can tolerate for that long,” he said. Keri Hilson called tonight the “creme de la creme” in her massive year of dreams coming true. And multiple nominee Drake confessed that back in high school, “I used to dream about hearing my name get called at something like this. My mom can vouch for me. I definitely lost hours of sleep.”