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

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

Archive: January 2010 (91-100 of 109)

Jan 7 2010 03:06 PM ET

Lil Wayne's 'On Fire' video: Evil Victoria's Secret angel, questionable 9-11 reference

Categories: Hip-Hop/Rap, Lil Wayne, New Stuff, Video Gaga

Acclaimed rapper Lil Wayne has premiered the video for “On Fire,” the second single from his upcoming, long-delayed (it was originally supposed to come out last April) album Rebirth, which finds Mr. Carter dabbling in the kitschy world of ’80s rock.

“On Fire” is heavily sampled (lifting both the synth and guitar riff) from an Amy Holland song (any one remember her? Bueller? Bueller?) from 1983 called “She’s on Fire.” Hip-hop fans may recall the use of that charmingly dated synth-pop tune in Brian De Palma’s Scarface, or if you played Grand Theft Auto III and tuned in to Flashback 95.6, this was one of the songs playing while you mowed down pedestrians.

Lil Wayne does his best to make the tune his own, playing lead guitar and throwing in a credible hip-hop beat, and while he hardly reinvents the song, he does update it for the modern club scene. The video involves Weezy rocking out in an old-fashioned mansion while a woman seduces him clad in black feathery angel wings, looking like a Victoria’s Secret model from the Dark Lord.

Appropriately enough for a song called “On Fire,” the winged-model writhes around in front of explosions and gives off sparks when petted. Lil Wayne informs us this dark angel is, “Hot as hell, let’s call her Helen/Fireman to her rescue like Nine Eleven,” which would probably be offensive if it made more sense.

What do you think? Should Tha Carter stick to the rap game lest he get burned, or does this retro-styled jam make him the prom queen of the synth-hop ball?

Jan 7 2010 10:58 AM ET

Hear part of Swedish indie darlings the Knife's operatic foray: A collision of electronics, arias, and Charles Darwin

by Joseph Brannigan Lynch

Categories: Indie Rock, New Stuff, Things That Are European

The opera that Swedish synthpop duo the Knife helped to write last year is finally getting an official release—so those of us who didn’t have the jack to fly to Copenhagen last fall can hear what we missed.

But if you require immediate gratification, a ten-minute sample of Tomorrow, In a Year is now available online. What does it sound like? Well, it’s about as kooky and cool and you would hope—after all, this is an opera inspired by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species with music composed by everyone’s favorite oddball Swedish brother-sister band.

The leaked track—“Colouring of Pigeons,” done in collaboration with Mt. Sims and the informatively-named Planningtorock—begins with same stop-start operatic vocal bursts that kick off Einstein on the Beach, the Philip Glass masterwork which also merged opera and electronic music. Listen to it here:

READ FULL STORY »

Jan 6 2010 05:53 PM ET

Ke$ha: Could she be the Gaga of 2010?

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Let's Argue!

Between her smashing of La Gaga’s single-digital-sales record (“Tik Tok” sold 610,000 to “Just Dance”‘s 419,000) and the fact that she seems poised to unseat Susan Boyle on next week’s Billboard album charts with her debut Animal, it’s a very good week to be Ke$ha.

But can the Jack-swilling, Diddy-feeling pop-rap minx replicate her number-one magic five times over, as Gaga has? Let’s look at the evidence, shall we? READ FULL STORY »

Jan 6 2010 04:32 PM ET

Boyle tops album charts again, Chipmunks nipping at her heels

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Charts, Soundtracks, Susan Boyle

The first Billboard chart of 2010 looks a lot like the last one of 2009, with Susan Boyle and I Dreamed a Dream sitting pretty at No. 1… except with about a fifth of the sales. Yes, Ms. Boyle’s numbers finally dropped, from over 500K to a relatively paltry 137,000 this week. Did she finally reach her saturation point?

Clearly not yet saturated are our friends Alvin and the Chipmunks, who finally break into the Top 10 with the soundtrack to their “Squeakquel.” Coming in at No. 7 with sales of 51,ooo, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and the Chipettes (don’t miss that “Single Ladies”cover) are enjoying the popularity that comes from being discovered by a whole new generation of children who will someday, hopefully, grow out of their questionable taste.

Elsewhere, your charts are quite familiar-looking: Gaga comes in at No. 2 with 82,000 sales of The Fame, while its accompanying Monster lingers down at No. 9; both Glee soundtracks are in the Top 20; and both Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige remain in the Top 5, albeit with far diminished sales from those halcyon pre-Christmas days.

They’re already predicting a No. 1 record for Ke$ha next week, thanks to the momentum behind “Tik Tok”. Will she finally unseat Boyle? And what music did you use your gift cards and returns on this holiday season, Mixers?

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

Jan 6 2010 04:32 PM ET

Susan Boyle or Taylor Swift? The best-selling album of 2009 is...

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Divas!, Susan Boyle, Taylor Swift

Congratulations, Taylor Swift! Along with everything else you won in 2009 — and holy cow, you won a lot — you now also hold the title of Biggest-Selling Album Maker Person of the Year! Take a bow, princess. You’ve earned it. And it wasn’t even hard: On top of the 2.1 million copies it sold at the end of 2008, Swift’s Fearless moved an impressive 3.2 million over the course of the past year, facing no real competition until the holiday season, when Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream came on like a pack of wild horses, eventually selling 3.1 million. If 2009 had been another couple weeks long, perhaps the old student might have bested the young master, but as it stands (and despite the wording on a press release Boyle’s publicist sent out), Boyle may have the biggest-selling album released in 2009, but Swift has the biggest-selling album of 2009. I feel this distinction will be important to history. Please make a note of it.

It’s easy to be cynical about both gals, of course (and I frequently am). And while the combined sales punch of Swift and Boyle might add up to a slow week for *NSync circa 2000, in today’s music business, what they’ve accomplished — getting everyone (more or less) to agree on something (more or less) — is nothing short of a miracle. Maybe I’m crazy for seeing similarities between them, but something about the humility and relatability of these women has clearly engaged the listening public. Is it that neither vocalist presents their talent as stratospherically out of reach? That we all think with a couple guitar lessons or a lucky reality show appearance, we could find similar fortune? That they both really like ponies? Or did Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle actually make the most appealing music of 2009? What do you think, Mixers?

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

Jan 6 2010 12:33 PM ET

Saruman from 'Lord of the Rings' to release concept album of 'symphonic metal'

by Clark Collis

Categories: Movies, Things That Are British

I’m an absolute Christopher Lee fiend—an appropriate term given the veteran British thesp has portrayed the devilish likes of Dracula, Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings movies. However, I didn’t know that he has a sideline as a heavy metal vocalist. It turns out Lee has performed with both New York metallers Manowar and Italian rockers Rhapsody who recruited the great man to sing on their 2006 opus—and I think “opus” is probably the right word to use here—Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret.

Now the 87-year-old Lee is striking out on his own. In the video clip you can see below the actor reveals that in March he will release a concept CD of “symphonic metal.” The album is called Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross and features Lee singing the part of the titular 8th century European leader. That’s right: Christopher Lee is about to get medieval on your a–!

You can listen to snippets from Charlemagne on MySpace. Personally, I’m a big fan of Lee’s performance on “Act III: The Bloody Verdict of Verden” and in particular his rousing cry of “I shed the blood of the Saxon men!” But, hey, I’ve never heard a song about Saxon men blood-shedding that I didn’t like.” I’ve also embedded below a video of Lee playing with Rhapsody which proves that Lee really is quite a good singer, and that Italians really are crazy as hell.

Check it all out and tell us what you think. Is Lee’s career curve ball an honorable departure or as horrifying as many of the parts he has played?

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

Photo credit: Pierre Vinet

Jan 5 2010 08:24 PM ET

The Chipettes' 'Single Ladies': Worst novelty song since Crazy Frog?

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Let's Argue!, Movies, Soundtracks, Things Nobody Asked For

For reasons that lie somewhat beyond my comprehension, the soundtrack to the Alvin and the Chipmunks “Squeakquel” — including the monstrosity embedded above — looks set to enter the Top 10 this week (according to Hits). That’s more than Carrie Underwood, more than Rihanna, more than both Glee compilations. More than John Mayer. More than almost literally every listenable musical artist on the planet, a category in which I am generously including the Black Eyed Peas. If you have bought the soundtrack to the “Squeakquel,” I am obviously curious to know why…

…but I think I am more curious about the following poll:

If this were 1989, and you were the U.S. military, trying to end your standoff with deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and you could only play one song on repeat at high volume outside the embassy where Noriega was seeking refuge, which would it be?

(Please feel free to nominate your own favorite intolerable song in the comments, if you feel that neither of these would have successfully brought Noriega to his knees.) READ FULL STORY »

Jan 5 2010 05:33 PM ET

Green Day's 'American Idiot' is coming to Broadway: Will you buy a ticket?

by Clark Collis

Categories: Green Day, Stage

After months of speculation, it has been officially announced that American Idiot, the musical based on Green Day’s 2004 CD, will make its Broadway debut on April 20 at the St. James Theatre. (Previews will start on March 24.)

The show enjoyed a record-breaking run at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre in the fall and, given that success, it does not come as a huge surprise that American Idiot is hitting the Great White Way. But when I spoke to the show’s director Michael Mayer last April he sounded far from convinced that the land of Wicked, Billy Elliot and The Phantom of the Opera would turn out to be its natural home. “I’m not sure that Broadway is where we’re going to end up,” mused Mayer, who won a Tony for directing Spring Awakening. “The people will tell us where this wants to be.”

The people, it seems, have spoken. But are there enough of them to sustain a lengthy Broadway run? Will fans of Mamma Mia! line up to see it? Will you? And would it make any difference if they put an exclamation mark at the end of the title? Tell us what you think!

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

More on the American Idiot musical
Like Green Day AND Glee? Then get ready to love this version of ’21 Guns’
Green Day make a musical
Billie Joe Armstrong Q&A

Photo credit: Marina Chavez

Jan 5 2010 04:45 PM ET

What did we leave off our list of Best Songs by 'American Idol' graduates?

by Michael Slezak

Categories: Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, American Idol, Brooke White, Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Jason Castro, Jordin Sparks, Kellie Pickler, Kelly Clarkson, Kris Allen, Listmania!, Music

This just in from the Department of American Idol Blasphemy: Earlier today, I posted a gallery of 28 of the best songs ever recorded by the show’s alumni, and my omission of not just one, but two Idol champs, as well as three Idol runners-up, resulted in the launching of many strongly worded emails and Tweets in my general direction. “You included LaKisha Jones but not **a*a *e*a***?” “How could you leave off *a*ha**ne ***hee?” “Where the heck is **be* S****a**?” some of you demanded to know. And, to my shock, I even managed to offend myself by overlooking season 8′s tragically early evictee Deanna Brown and her bluesy little number “Sometime Ago,” from her recent indie release Traveler. (I’ve tried to make amends by embedding it below.) But hey, that’s how it goes when it comes to the graduates of American Idol U: There are former contestants out there making a whole lotta music, and when a definitive list of some sort or other gets compiled, there are gonna be inadvertent (and, yes, overt) omissions. Click here to check out our randomly ordered playlist, then head on down to the comments section below to tell us which songs and artists you think should’ve made the cut. (Yelling at your humble listmaker is both allowed and encouraged, as long as you follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak!)

Jan 5 2010 04:20 PM ET

The Clash's 'London Calling' turns 30: is it the best album of all time?

by Chris Nashawaty

Categories: EW Recommends, Happy Birthday!, Misc., This Day in Rock History

It was on this date, 30 years ago, that the Clash’s London Calling was first released in the U.S. Three decades on, it remains an indisputable masterpiece. After all, the British band’s third (and best) album is a time capsule pinpointing the exact moment when punk rock grew up. While other bands like the Sex Pistols captured the f-you rebellion and catharsis of punk, the Clash on London Calling aimed higher. Anything was possible when they stepped inside the studio with producer Guy Stevens. The band fearlessly experimented with ska, reggae, and rockabilly beats. And Strummer’s lyrics took on a new political urgency. London Calling was proof that what some regarded as a gutter genre could be sophisticated and smart. In short, that it could be art. With classic tracks like “Spanish Bombs,” “Lost in the Supermarket,” “Clampdown,” “Train in Vain,” “Guns of Brixton,” and, of course, the call-to-arms title song, London Calling was a vinyl-pressed molotov cocktail. In fact, in 2004, we here at EW named it “The Best Album of All Time.” Check out the case we made five years ago here, then let us know if you agree.