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

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

Archive: February 2010 (71-80 of 115)

Feb 10 2010 06:23 PM ET

Tom DeLonge on Angels and Airwaves' free 'Love,' the blink-182 reunion, and more: The Music Mix Q&A

Categories: Angels and Airwaves, Blink 182, Q&A, Things That Are Free!

Tom DeLonge is a busy guy. Last night around nine, the singer-guitarist (pictured, one from right) helped finalize the track sequencing for LOVE, the album that his band Angels & Airwaves will release online for free this Sunday, Feb. 14, as a complimentary Valentine’s Day gift to fans. (LOVE will also be available for free two days early this Friday on Fuel.TV.) This morning, he met with his other band, blink-182, which reunited for a 2009 tour after a four-year split, to talk about their plans. After that, he rushed off to meet with a few potential partners to secure a theatrical release for the sci-fi film, also titled LOVE, that Angels & Airwaves oversaw to accompany their album. (Trailers are viewable at Apple and the band’s website.) Oh yeah, and DeLonge also plans to “fix the music industry” via Modlife, the website he owns. The Music Mix got him on the phone to hear about all the items crowding his schedule.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling about the new Angels & Airwaves album?
TOM DELONGE: I consider this, at this point, the pinnacle release of my life. There’s nothing that I have put more effort, more time, more heart, and more stress into than this release. It’s been a very long time since a band has attempted to make a motion picture associated with an album — not to mention have the album be completely free of any corporation, 100 percent independent. Artistically, I think this record has far exceeded anywhere I’ve been. So I’m just quietly anticipating Sunday’s release and hoping for the best.

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 10 2010 03:03 PM ET

Dixie Chicks sisters announce details of new project, Court Yard Hounds

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Country, Y'all!, New Stuff

Two Chicks have now become Hounds. Today, Dixie sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire officially announced a new project under the name Courtyard Hounds.

Fans who pre-order their debut album on the duo’s official website, courtyardhounds.com, will immediately receive four album tracks, and have an option to also purchase tickets for an upcoming tour. Their first live appearance will be at March’s SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas; the album comes to stores May 4.

“It was time,” says Robison in a press release. “We had been on hiatus from The Dixie Chicks for about a year, I was getting very restless and needed to be creative for my own sanity. And at the same time I was going through my divorce so it was very fertile ground for writing.”

“Emily was just writing and writing all of these deeply personal and truly beautiful songs,” Martie Maguire adds. ”She was initially going to pitch them to other artists and I kept telling her ‘No, no, you have to save that for you. It’s too good and too personal.’”

Feb 10 2010 11:59 AM ET

Lady Antebellum tops the albums chart again, outselling Lil Wayne

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Black Eyed Peas, Charts, Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift

Lady Antebellum are enjoying another week at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart after selling 209,000 more copies of Need You Now, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Give the country trio a hand: That’s less than half what they sold the previous week, and it’s still more than most artists manage in week 1.

Lady A outsold Lil Wayne, for instance, by a comfortable margin. His rock-ish Rebirth debuts at No. 2 on the chart with 176,000 copies sold. That isn’t a bad number, all things considered, but it’s a tad embarrassing for a guy whose last album shifted a million in a week. Without a hit single on the order of “Lollipop” — and with reviews that ranged from tepid to scathing — it was probably inevitable that Weezy’s Tha Carter III follow-up would be a comparative commercial disappointment. He’ll have a chance to redeem himself on the charts, sooner or (more likely) later, with the long-promised Tha Carter IV, which may or may not come out around the time Wayne finishes the prison sentence he’s expected to start next month.

No. 3 goes to Nick Jonas & the Administration, whose debut Who I Am enters with 82,000 copies sold. There’s no getting around the fact that this represents a dramatic drop from the 247,000 the last proper Jonas Brothers album sold — which, in turn, was a big dip from the 525,000 their previous one managed. Considering that Who I Am is a side project, that 82,000 could be worse. Still, as far as album sales go, it seems Nick Jonas is now substantially less popular than, say, Vampire Weekend.

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 10 2010 11:34 AM ET

Eric Clapton announces 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival lineup: John Mayer, ZZ Top, Allman Brothers Band, and more

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Eric Clapton, Festivals

How many guitar faces can you see in one day? The answer will approach infinity if you make it to Chicago this summer for the latest iteration of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. All day on June 26, axe-centric artists like John Mayer, ZZ Top, the Allman Brothers Band, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Vince Gill, and many more — and, of course, Slowhand himself — will be shredding on stage. This is the third time Clapton has put on the festival, and as with the 2004 and 2007 rounds, all proceeds will go to his Crossroads Centre rehab program.

Click through to the jump for the full line-up of performers, then weigh in: Will you be going this year? Who are you most excited to see? Are there any other six-string slayers you’d like to see at a guitar festival? (I’d vote for Prince, St. Vincent, and Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen, for starters.)

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 10 2010 11:11 AM ET

Spoon, 'Written in Reverse' on Sirius XM: the new single, live and awesome

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Indie Rock, Spoon, YouTube Delights

You’ve seen the official black-and-white clip for “Written in Reverse,” the first single from the Austin-bred indie royals’ recent seventh album, Transference.

But isn’t it better live, in color, with a sleepy-looking, bed-headed Britt Daniel (he still nails it!), a drummer count-off, and background beverages? studio? Well, watch their new Sirius XM in-studio and tell us:

Feb 9 2010 10:10 PM ET

Bonnaroo 2010 lineup finalized: Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews Band, and Stevie Wonder to headline

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Bonnaroo

Attention, Mixers! The lineup for Bonnaroo 2010 was disseminated in an agonizingly slow process over at the Tennessee festival’s MySpace page all day today. (Every six minutes, an animated cuckoo clock went off, and another artist was spit out into a floating cloud.) That lineup is now final, and can be seen, along with my increasingly nutso updates, after the jump.

Who’s going? Who’s excited? And which of your dream acts got left off the list?

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 9 2010 06:04 PM ET

Jewel tells EW about her 'Valentine's Day' soundtrack contribution—and her upcoming album

by Tanner Stransky

Categories: About Last Night, Buzzworthy, Country, Y'all!, Jewel, People, Soundtracks

The Valentine’s Day soundtrack—which, like the movie, features a star-studded line-up (Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson, Amy Winehouse, and Leighton Meester all appear on it) hit stores today. And at last night’s premiere for the movie, Jewel talked to EW about her new country single, “Stay Here Forever,” which she contributed to the mix. “I heard the soundtrack folks were looking for one more song, and I submitted this one and they fell in love with it and made it the lead single,” Jewel says. “That’s pretty cool. I wrote it for my husband, Ty, and used how I feel for him as inspiration. It’s about being in love and how going on a great adventure is fun, but sometimes staying home with the one you love is even better.”

Jewel is also working on her next album—which she said will likely be out in June. “I am not quite finished with it but I am scheduled to put it out in June no matter what,” she says. “I have been cutting tracks in Nashville and finishing them at my ranch in Texas.”

So what’s the vibe of her upcoming disc? “It’s a little country,” Jewel says. “The Nashville and Texas vibes have found their way into the music for sure. There will be a lot of love songs on it, because I have always been influenced by what is happening in my life and right now I am in a very happy place.”

You can sample Jewel’s happy place by listening to “Stay Here Forever,” the track from the Valentine’s Day soundtrack, here:

I sort of dig it, in that fun country-pop crossover way. Do you love it? Hate it? Tell me in the comments below! (Reporting by Carrie Bell)

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

Feb 9 2010 04:03 PM ET

White Stripes vs. Air Force Reserve ad: Musician addresses controversy: 'It's my responsibility'

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Legal Troubles, Television, White Stripes

With the White Stripes threatening “strong action” against a U.S. Air Force Reserve Super Bowl ad that they say ripped off their song “Fell in Love With a Girl,” both the Air Force Reserve and the company that produced the spot have denied knowingly copying the Stripes’ tune. Now a musician who worked on the ad, which has since been pulled from TV and the Web, is taking the blame — but he, too, insists any wrongdoing was unintentional. “It’s my responsibility,” Kem Kraft tells EW. “I’m the one who composed the music. And I had no idea it was like that [song].”

Kraft, 56, who earns his living in Salt Lake City composing and recording music for advertisements and films, was hired to work on the Air Force Reserve ad around last Christmas. “They said they wanted some high-energy music, and I gave them three demos, all of them a little bit different. They asked me to tweak the one that they preferred, so I beefed up the drums or whatnot, added some echo to my guitar part.”

Kraft says he was “absolutely” surprised to hear of the Stripes’ accusations this week. “I went to the website and I go, ‘Yeah, that kinda sounds close.’ [But] I don’t even listen to those guys.” Asked if he had ever heard “Fell in Love With a Girl” prior to the controversy, Kraft replies, “God, I might have somehow or somewhere. I don’t know. That’s not the kind of music I listen to.”

Now Kraft says he’d like to speak with Jack White to clear things up. “I would say, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it sounded like your song. I had no intention whatsoever of copying you. If you need me to pay the money back that I made, which was 2,000 bucks, to you, I will do that if you want me to.’ This has gotten way out of proportion.”

Earlier:
White Stripes declare war on the U.S. Air Force Reserve
White Stripes vs. U.S. Air Force Reserve ad: Who’s to blame?

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

Feb 9 2010 03:04 PM ET

White Stripes vs. U.S. Air Force Reserve ad: Who's to blame?

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Legal Troubles, White Stripes

The U.S. Air Force Reserve has issued a statement in response to the White Stripes’ allegation that a recruitment ad aired during the Super Bowl used an unauthorized version of their song “Fell in Love With a Girl.” Their answer, in brief: Don’t blame us. “The Air Force Reserve, through its advertising agency, hired Fast Forward Music of Salt Lake City to score original music for its commercial,” the statement reads. “There was never any intention to utilize any existing music, or to sound like any music by the band White Stripes, or any other musical performer. Any similarity or likeness to any other music is completely unintentional. This ad was produced specifically for airing regional during the Super Bowl in some local markets. It was scheduled to be pulled after the Super Bowl. It only ran one time.” A spokesperson also acknowledged that the Air Force Reserve removed the ad from its website today in response to the controversy.

Fast Forward Productions, in turn, is pointing the finger at someone else. “We hired a local musician who does stuff for us in the past,” Fast Forward owner Michael Lee tells EW. “He created the spot. Never had I ever heard the White Stripes song before. What we thought we had was original. He claims it is original. He said he didn’t use ['Fell in Love With a Girl'], so that’s all I know.”

We’ll keep you updated as we hear more. In the meantime, do the latest statements change your take on this story?

UPDATE: White Stripes/Air Force ad musician addresses controversy: “It’s my responsibility”

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

Feb 9 2010 12:37 PM ET

White Stripes declare war on the U.S. Air Force Reserve

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Legal Troubles, White Stripes

The White Stripes are fuming over a U.S. Air Force Reserve ad that aired during the Super Bowl, which they say used a re-recorded instrumental version of their breakout single “Fell in Love With a Girl” without permission. “The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support,” the band says in a statement posted on their official site. The statement goes on to threaten “strong action to stop the ad containing this music.” As of this afternoon, the Air Force Reserve has already pulled the ad from the Web. (UPDATE: The ad has reappeared online.)

We’ve reached out to the Air Force Reserve and the White Stripes for further comment. In the meantime, you can watch the Stripes’ “Fell in Love With a Girl” video below. Did you see the ad in question when it aired on Sunday? What do you think of this controversy?

More on this story:
White Stripes vs. U.S. Air Force Reserve ad: Who’s to blame?
White Stripes/Air Force ad musician addresses controversy: “It’s my responsibility”